The INDEPENDENT, October 16, 2008
Page 13
Wondering how to vote on all those November Ballot Measures?
From page 4
Measure 62 – Would amend
Oregon Constitution regarding
allocation of Lottery funds to
dedicate 15% of proceeds for
law enforcement and related
programs. The 15% would be
allocated as follows:
• 50 percent to Oregon State
Police for criminal investigation
and forensics, including crime
labs.
• 20 percent for grants to
counties to fund early child-
hood programs for children at
risk. The measure does not de-
fine “early childhood programs”
or “at risk.”
• 15 percent for grants to
counties to supplement existing
county appropriations for the
operations of district attorneys.
• 15 percent for grants to
counties to supplement existing
county appropriations for inves-
tigations and field operations of
county sheriffs.
The Constitution now speci-
fies that 18% of net proceeds
from the lottery must go into an
education stability fund, and
15% into a parks and natural
resources fund. The remaining
67% can be used for job cre-
ation, education and economic
development. Currently more
than 10% of lottery proceeds
goes to debt service on previ-
ous bond issues for the allowed
purposes. Because the educa-
tion
stability
fund
and
parks/natural resources fund
are specified percentages, the
public safety fund would have
to come from job creation, edu-
cation and economic develop-
ment.
Measure 63 – Would allow
many changes to existing resi-
dential or farm structures, and
for new farm structures that will
not be lived in by people, with-
out building, plumbing, electri-
cal and mechanical permits, in-
spections or other approval re-
quirements. Would not exempt
property taxes on the changes.
Would not apply if the total val-
ue of changes in one calendar
year exceeds $35,000, an
amount that would be indexed
annually for inflation. One
$35,000 limit would apply to all
changes on a single parcel, or
adjacent properties with the
same owner.
Measure would not apply to
a story added to an existing
residential structure; would not
allow violation of uniform re-
quirement for property line set-
backs, or uniform regulations
on height limitations. Electrical
wiring in an existing structure or
new farm building would be ex-
empt only if a licensed electri-
cal contractor performed the
work, or inspected and ap-
proved the work. The electrical
contractor would be responsi-
ble for work he inspected and
approved.
Property owner would be re-
quired to give a potential pur-
chaser a detailed description of
changes made without building,
plumbing, electrical and me-
chanical permits, though no
penalties are specified for fail-
ure to do so.
Measure 64 – Would prohib-
it a public entity from using pub-
lic resources to help collect
money for some, but not all po-
litical purposes. Public re-
sources are defined as public
money, public employee time
on the job, a public building,
and public equipment or sup-
plies.
The measure does not de-
fine “public entity”. It would in-
clude all government agencies
(state, county, city, fire district,
school district, etc.) but doesn’t
address organizations such as
Friends of the Library, Friends
of the Scout Cabin, Pioneer
Museum Association, local
units of the Ford Family Foun-
dation, or PTA, all of which use
public resources (buildings, util-
ities, etc.) and sometimes work
on fund drives for specific pur-
poses. Vague definitions could
keep this tied up in court.
Measure 65 – Would change
state law for how all candidates
(federal, state, county, city or
district) for partisan electoral
positions are nominated. Does
not affect nonpartisan posi-
tions.
Currently, major political par-
ties choose nominees in the
primary elections, which may or
may not be open to voters not
affiliated with those parties; mi-
nor political parties choose
nominees according to party
rules approved by the Secre-
tary of State. Candidates not
affiliated with any party qualify
by gathering signatures or
holding a convention. All of
these candidates then appear
on the general election ballot.
Under this measure, the pri-
mary election would be open to
all eligible candidates, and all
would run on the same ballot
(No separate ballots, ie., Re-
publican or Democratic.). All
voters would get the same bal-
lot and may vote for any one
candidate per office. Only the
top two vote getters would then
appear on the general election
ballot.
The ballot would identify the
political party each candidate
has selected on their voter reg-
istration, including non-affiliat-
ed, and would also include all
major and minor political party
endorsements.