The INDEPENDENT, July 5, 2007
Page 3
Letters
Conservative proud
to serve with Johnson
To the Editor:
A conservative Republican’s
thoughts on Senator Betsy
Johnson.
Over the last seven years it
has been my privilege to work
with Senator Betsy Johnson.
Like myself, Senator Betsy
Johnson represents the Ore-
gon Coast and I can testify that
she has been nothing but a tire-
less advocate for her district’s
coastal residents. She is well
versed on the issues and
brings common sense solutions
to the problems of Oregon and
never misses an opportunity to
bring economic opportunity to
her district or anywhere in the
state.
I am troubled by these unfair
personal attacks on Senator
Johnson and her family. I be-
lieve that it is the job of our
news media to simply report
the facts and let Oregonians
make up their own mind how to
think. Mischaracterizing legisla-
tors and their motives does not
serve the public and is detri-
mental to the legislative
process.
Sen. Johnson is a woman of
the highest integrity. She treats
everyone with respect, regard-
less of party affiliation, and al-
ways has an open door for both
Democrats and Republicans.
To her, a good idea is a good
idea. Period. Even when she
disagrees with me on policy is-
sues the communication is
Salem Scene
By Representative Brad Witt
Oregon District 31
As you already know,
the Legislature has ad-
journed. The final two
weeks were a blur, with
the House considering 20-
50 bills daily, depending
on whether there was
lengthy debate on the is-
sues to be decided. The
days were long, but the
work has been rewarding
and I’m constantly reminded of how proud I am
to represent our district. I’d like to review a cou-
ple of important bills that I was particularly in-
volved with in the final days.
As the primary sponsor of HB 3364A, I spoke
in favor of expanding the Underproductive
Forestland Conversion Tax Credit Program. In
1979, this program was established to encour-
age private woodland owners to convert brush,
burned areas and marginal pasturelands into
well stocked forestland. Most of the land eligible
for this program is family-owned forestlands.
The program has two specific applications.
First, to fully stock land that does not contain
commercial timber stands; second, to restock a
forest destroyed by natural disaster such as wild-
fire. The extension of the credit creates an incen-
tive to complete small projects. Currently, the
$500 application fee costs more than the tax
credit may be worth. This financial disincentive
has caused the number of small woodland own-
ers participating in the program to decline 44%
between 2005 and 2006. Allowing the applica-
tion fee to be included in the program will reduce
the cost of the fee to woodland owners by 50%
and in turn, will provide an incentive to reforest
small acreages, expand the benefits of addition-
al forestland and lead to additional tax revenue
in the future. I am proud to report that HB 3364A
passed the House unanimously.
My position on SJR 18 was not nearly so pop-
ular. Nonetheless, I consider the issue to be of
paramount importance, that in the United States
of America, everyone is presumed innocent of a
crime until proven guilty. Under SJR 18, which is
a referral to the voters, a person’s property may
be confiscated before a criminal conviction.
Back in 2000, Oregon voters approved Ballot
Measure 3, which required a conviction prior to
any kind of property forfeiture. In 2001, the Leg-
placed the burden of proof on the state to show
that the property was indeed subject to forfei-
ture. That’s where we have been until the pas-
sage of SJR 18A.
While I have no problem with our government
seizing property used in the commission of a
crime when guilt has been determined, SJR 18A
seizes property prior to a conviction. This bill
puts us back to where we were before the pas-
sage of BM3. The state can also seize property
that is owned jointly, even though only one of the
parties is being accused. It also allows state and
local law enforcement to share in the proceeds
from the sale of forfeited properties, which is ex-
pressly prohibited under current statute.
I was one of only two Representatives to vote
against this bill, but I did so convinced that one
of our nation’s basic legal tenets is at issue. The
voters and the Legislature have already spoken
on this issue, in line I believe, with my floor vote.
Voters will have another chance to express their
position on this issue in November.
Ike Says…
From page 2
had managed to get the spot in the evening and
we started hauling in crappie and some bluegills.
The boats around us started getting closer and
closer, a few binoculars started coming out and
a few braved the question of what we were us-
ing. Crickets!
We took the boys up to the spot – which we
were lucky to get each evening – and filled two
five-gallon buckets each time. The bluegills
were becoming suicidal; all you had to do was
dangle a “cricket” a few feet below the bottom of
the boat and they would fight over who got to eat
it. I even caught a few on a bare hook! But
down deep amongst the thousands of bluegills
and average size crappie were the slabs. They
seemed to move in and out, usually at least 25
counts deep and they were just imaginations of
a bite on the end of your line. The other boats
looked on as they caught an occasional fish.
We probably weren’t popular, with the exception
of the few people that we let in on the cricket se-
cret.
Oh, by the way did you Weller boys check the
cricket traps?
Izaak Walton League, Nehalem Valley
Chapter meets monthly on the 3rd Thursday
at 7:00 p.m. Call 503-428-7193 for location.
open, honest and respectful.
The Johnson family has
roots in Oregon that date back
before the 1900s, and Betsy
has carried on a long family tra-
dition of public service in our
state.
I am proud to call her a col-
league and a friend.
I stand in strong support of
Senator Betsy Johnson.
Wayne Krieger
Representative, District 1
Johnson supported
by Gov. Kitzhaber
To the Editor:
I have known and worked
with Senator Betsy Johnson
since I ran for governor in 1994.
She is among the most dedicat-
ed elected officials I know with
an unwavering commitment to
the larger public interest. That
is why I find the recent press
controversy surrounding her to
be so disturbing.
Certainly incorrectly filing
disclosure forms for the wrong
year on a property transaction
needed to be righted. It did not
surprise me that she acknowl-
edged the mistake, took re-
sponsibility for it and corrected
it. The attendant press cover-
age, however, is not only unfair;
it takes this issue entirely out of
context.
Though she doesn’t talk
about it, Senator Johnson is
president of her family’s foun-
dation, the Samuel S. Johnson
Foundation, which has given
millions of dollars to charities
over the years. This year alone,
the foundation will give hun-
dreds of thousands of dollars to
conservation initiatives, rural
hospitals, social service agen-
cies and programs benefiting
children and seniors.
And although Senator John-
son had a privileged childhood,
growing up in a wealthy timber
family, her parents instilled in
her a strong ethic of public
service. Her mother, Elizabeth
Johnson, served in the U.S.
Navy, was elected to the Red-
mond School Board and was
appointed to the Oregon Board
of Higher Education. Her father,
Sam Johnson, served seven
terms in the Oregon legislature
and two terms as Mayor of
Redmond.
Today, as a law school grad-
uate, business owner and heir,
Betsy Johnson could be living
in the lap of luxury. She could
ignore the problems caused by
unemployment or lack of health
care. She could ignore the
dozens of phone calls she gets
each day asking for her help.
Instead, she and her husband
live in a modest house in Scap-
poose. She earns $18,000 a
year as a state legislator and
quietly spends her free time as
a philanthropist.
In 1993, she acquired the
family home in Camp Sherman
and since the death of her par-
ents, has been solely responsi-
ble for the care of 160 acres
near the headwaters of the
Metolius River. Recently she
has been criticized for support-
ing legislation to protect the
Metolius basin from the devel-
opment of destination resorts.
What has been forgotten, how-
ever, is that 50 years ago her
parents donated the headwa-
ters themselves and the sur-
rounding land to the United
States Forest Service to ensure
that this set of crystal clear
springs emerging from the
base of Black Butte would be
protected for all Oregonians to
enjoy.
The remaining family proper-
ty is extremely valuable and
would almost certainly qualify
for a claim under Measure 37.
And yet Senator Johnson rec-
ognizes that it will be even
more valuable to future genera-
tions if it is left just as it is –
wild, natural and beautiful.
There are few people who
choose public service over pri-
vate enrichment – and fewer
still that choose to give away
their family fortune to those
who are less fortunate. Oregon,
more than ever, needs leaders
who hold these values. Betsy
Johnson is one of them.
John A. Kitzhaber, M.D.
Governor of Oregon
1995-2003
Policy on Letters
The INDEPENDENT will not publish letters that include personal
attacks on private citizens. Because of space limitations, prefer-
ence will be given to brief letters, 300 words or less.
All letters must be signed and include a verifiable address or phone
number, and all letters are subject to editing for clarity or length.