Oregon Taxpayer Awards honors best of worst

By Taxpayer Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

The 18th annual Oregon Taxpayer Award winners based on about 1,000 mail in ballots from supporters.

WORST ELECTED OFFICIAL AWARD WINNER: Governor Kate Brown.
Kate passed a 10-cent gas tax increase, a brand new car tax, a new income tax payroll surcharge, a $330 million health care tax and a $1.3 billion dollar tax on Oregon small businesses. Unlike all previous governors, Gov. Brown tried to hide both her 2019 tax bill agenda and the official State Education Report Card from the public until after the November election.

RUNNER-UP: Ted Wheeler. Portland Mayor.
Wheeler made national news for his refusal to let Portland Police protect Federal ICE immigration officers from violent protestors outside their office. Wheeler again made national news when he allowed far-left Antifa protestors to block traffic and harass motorists as a legitimate form of protest. Wheeler threatened to deny a public meeting permit for a pro-Trump rally. Wheeler was rebuked by a judge for withholding public union records from the Oregon Freedom Foundation.

WORST GOVERNMENT WASTE AWARD WINNER: Homeless Hotel Suites.
Portland homeless were put up in local hotels costing taxpayers nearly 3x the cost of putting them in apartments. This project was so popular that (along with the government’s new “no-refusal” shelter policy) the homeless population has grown into one of the biggest in the nation. It has attracted transients from around the country as nearly half of the homeless are now from out of the area.

RUNNER-UP: Drunk Birds.
$51,000 of Federal tax dollars for a Portland OHSU student’s research project studying the effects of alcohol on bird singing.

RUNNER-UP: 2-year Absent Teacher.
$139,000 to a Portland Public School teacher for staying at home for 22 months because he was deemed too dangerous to be around students. He eventually was awarded $19,000 to retire early.

BUREAUCRATIC BUNGLER WINNER: 55,000 mistaken checks.
Not properly checking people’s income resulted in 55,000 Oregonians getting Medicaid benefits that were not eligible –costing taxpayers $280 Million.

RUNNER-UP: 422-mile state car.
The Oregon Dept. of Motor Vehicles sold a surplus state car with only 422 miles. They forgot to check if the car was disability compliant and had to be sold.

GOLDEN SCHNOOZ WINNER: City workers campaign on company time.
Portland Commissioner Chloe Eudaly used city employees during work hours to go door to door collecting ballots during the election.

RUNNER-UP: Portland straw ban.
Portland has proposed a ban on restaurants offering straws without getting the customer’s permission in advance.

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