Recommendations on November Ballot Measures

By guest opinion,

Measure 54 Recommendation: Yes vote.
Standardizes voting eligibility for school board elections with other state and local elections.
Why? Some of Oregon’s election laws are outdated and no longer comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed by U.S. Supreme Court cases and changes based on the voting rights act. Even if you disagree with the substance of the changes, they are fairly clearly required to meet federal law.

Measure 55 Recommendation: Yes vote.
Changes operative date of redistricting plans to allow affected legislators to finish term in original district.

Why? This measure prevents the possibility of having a legislator have a split district after the census and any associated redistricting.

Measure 56 Recommendation: No vote.
May and November property tax elections are to be decided by majority of voters voting in the relevant election.
Why? This deceptive ballot title is actually the measure that eliminates the “double majority” turnout requirement which if eliminated would make it much easier to pass tax increases.

Measure 57 Recommendation: No vote.
Increases sentences for drug trafficking, theft against elderly, and specific repeat property and identity theft crimes, more.
Why? Measure 57 must lose because measure 61 is better and only one of these two can become law. Measure 57 allows multiple offenses before getting tough. The measure is soft on crime when compared to 61, and spends much of the money on drug treatment for criminals rather than punishment.

Measure 58 Recommendation: Yes vote.
Requires english immersion for non-english speaking students.
Why? All of our students deserve the chance to master English and have the skills to succeed. The ESL programs have proven to be wasteful and most harmful to the non-English speakers.

Measure 59 Recommendation: Yes vote.
Makes federal income taxes fully deductible on state return.
Why? Income taxes you pay to the federal government should not be considered in your taxable income and again taxed by the state.

Measure 60 Recommendation: Yes vote.
“Teacher compensation must be based on classroom performance” .
Why?Education reform may be the “civil rights issue of our time” and Republicans lead the charge. Attracting and retaining the best teachers possible is critical for our schools to excel. Unions have cemented contracts into our school districts that create teacher tenure and pay based on nothing more than seniority and education regardless of how well a teacher can actually teach. The most brilliant piece of this ballot measure is the flexibility it leaves for school districts to decide the best way to measure a teachers classroom performance.

Measure 61 Recommendation: Yes vote.
Mandatory sentences for drug dealers, identity thieves, burglars and car thieves.
Why? Measure 61 is tough on crime, particularly the “˜new crimes’. Puts 3000 convicted criminals behind bars rather than parole.

Measure 62 Recommendation: Yes vote.
“15% of lottery profits set aside for crime prevention, investigation and prosecution” .
Why? Measure 62 constitutionally dedicates money from lottery profits to crime prevention and law enforcement. Previously this money simply went into general fund.

Measure 63 Recommendation: Yes vote.
Property Rights measure allows minor improvements to property without building permit.
Why? We need to reduce the costs and burden on businesses and residential development created by our state central land use planning system. Minor improvements can be done without state oversight.

Measure 64 Recommendation: Yes vote.
Campaign Finance Reform measure prohibits using taxpayer-funded resources to collect political funds.
Why? Unions should not be able to use to tax money you give to pay public employees and government services to collect campaign money.

Measure 65 Recommendation: No vote.
Creates the “top-two” primary system.
Why? A top two primary system would create two major campaign seasons and greatly increase the cost of campaigning. A top two primary system would drastically reduce the impact and influence of all political parties and prevent them from identifying and selecting their own candidates. Measure would prevent minor parties from ever getting candidates on the November ballot