Bad reaction to Governor’s M37 stunt

Governor Kulongoski announced this week a plan to issue a hold on most Measure 37 claims. This hold targets the larger claims which represents nearly 85% of all cases. The reaction was picked up statewide, here is a Medford Mail Tribune quote:

” ‘A bunch of hooey,’ said Dave Hunnicutt, who heads Oregonians in Action, the property rights group that sponsored the initiative passed by 61 percent of voters in 2004. Hunnicutt said the proposal to create an “express line” for single-family sites while suspending until June 30 requests for larger developments penalizes people who may want to do a little more. As an example, Hunnicutt said, a farmer might want to provide home sites for two or more children on his property.”

The O’Donnel & Clark Law Firm, which represents over three dozen Measure 37 clients, issued a press release. The firm states that a recent Appeals Court decision affirmed that Measure 37 claims are vested property rights. The press release stated:

“Said O’Donnell, a longtime land use lawyer and Democrat ‘The folks in Salem have gotten a bad case of elitism, they don’t understand that the people have repeatedly been heard on this and are insistent that some fairness for the owners of property be brought into the land use system. It is incredible that politicians think they have the authority to ‘suspend’ constitutional rights.”

Another O’Donnell & Clark release here.

Obviously the anit-37 folks tried to sue Measure 37 away, and that didn’t work. Now they have to deal with the cases that have built up, and the public gets punished for the politicians’ mistake. Governor Kulongoski complained that something had to be done because the measure was so poorly written. The simple measure was written just fine. The only poor performance in the entire Measure 37 affair is how the Governor and politicians are failing to implement it.

To top it all off, Portland professor and blogger Jack Bodanski made this great joke“