Number of the Beast: 37

In today's Oregonian the editorial page takes on Measure 37, the property rights law passed two years ago that allows individual landholders to sidestep land use planning laws - to build subdivisions in ancient forests, strip malls outside urban growth boundaries, and so on.

The tenor of the editorial made me wince a little bit. According to the editorial, "...the rush to file Measure 37 claims before today's deadline shows it wasn't so much about righting wrongs as it was about razing farms and forests and enriching developers."

Well duh!

Today marks the two-year deadline for filing claims under Measure 37, in keeping with a clause that was part of the original bill's language. Does that mean the damage is over? Nobody seems quite sure.  According to an Associated Press article from November 20 I read, landowners with claims can still file after December — they'll just be facing more paperwork.

There's been a fair amount of hand-wringing in the media about Measure 37 and how it's raping the state's heretofore acclaimed land use laws. But in the two years since the ballot measure was passed, I don't feel like I've seen anyone, from elected officials to community activists, pick up the fallen flag and say, "Let's do something!" Maybe I don't understand politics well enough, but why hasn't there been an effort to repeal this f---ing thing? I remember hearing that the legislature was reticent to repeal something the voters had passed, but I think they ought to realize the voters were duped. Might things change now that the Democrats have regained power in Salem and Ted Kulongoski has been re-elected?

I can't imagine why battling the cancer of Measure 37 isn't Kulongoski's top priority. I defy anyone to prove succictly and believably that this new law benefits the people of Oregon. It reminds me of a line from one of those crappy Star Trek movies (I think it was The Search for Spock) about the "good of the many" versus the "good of the few". There is no other issue in Oregon politics that makes me angrier than knowing that Measure 37 is alowing a select few landowners to ruin a land use system that we've spent decades building.

Why is there not a task force, a protest march, or petition drive to combat this law -- hell, a frickin' bake sale! I know it's all too easy for me to just sit here at my computer typing away and accuse others of not doing anything. But I sure wish somebody with the power and the pulpit to do so would take on this menace and rid us of these subdivisions and saws hacking away at Oregon's beauty.

Comments

[Peter Bray]

Many in the environmental movement didn't actively campaign for Kulongoski precisely because he did nothing to stop Measure 37. In fact, once it passed, he actually tried to EXPAND M37's damage.

He went against his own party and proposed, via Senate Bill 1037, that M37 claimants could transfer their waivers to new developers: it is the ambiguousness of this that has kept much M37 development at bay. It was the Dem Senate that BLOCKED Kulongoski's efforts.

Remember, Kulongoski has made Oregonians in Action Dave Hunnicutt "proud". Can we expect anything good from this do-nothing leader? Not likely.

Incidentally, 1000 Friends of Oregon is proposing legislative goals for M37 TODAY... watch their web site for more info. They haven't announced yet.

Since I933 failed in Washington, and similar measures failed in blood-red Idaho and California, you would expect a repeal to happen. But frankly our politicians are probably too chicken.

[Huma]

Hey, don't you dare insult Star Trek. This isn't a pop-culture bitch a thon, you know.

[Itchen]

FYI, California is a bloo state.

[Brian]

No offense meant, Trekkies. I actually like the original TV show and a couple of the movies (II and IV). Kaaaaaahhhhnnnn!!!

[jim]

Peter, I thought the legislation was a compromise that basically allowed waivers to be transferred in exchange for smaller developments. Yea, M37 is bad, but aren't you going a little overboard with your criticism of Kulongoski on this? Your comment reminds me of how Nader supporters got GWB elected. Well-intentioned, but not helpful.

[Peter Bray]

Well, K is currently elected, so there's no harm in criticizing him. K might have seen 1037 as a "compromise", but there was a reason 1000 Friends and the Dem Senators rejected it, and there was a reason that Oregonians in Action SUPPORTED it... because K. felt it necessary to get buy-in from OIA rather than greenies who he felt were he had in the bag.

Btw, 1000 Friends today asked for M37 to be put on hold for the timebeing so the legislature can figure things out. you can read about their measure 37 goals here.

(P.S., when i said "blood-red Idaho and California" i didnt mean to imply that CA was blood-red.)

[mykle]

it's not Kulongoski's job to repeal M37, it's ours.

more details from 1000 Friend of Oregon:

http://www.friends.org/issues/M37/officials.html

get on the phone!

[Adron]

Then of course it did win a majority... and remember, Portland only makes Oregon a blue state by a slight margin, and a LOT of blues and reds believe strongly in property rights.

Oregon has a horrid reputation for property rights (along with the feds & their interstate plowing infrastructure choices)