letter to the Oregonian on measure 49
Voters didn’t understand
Measure 49 has passed. And it passed by a wide margin, with mainly urban Oregonian voting on a measure that they did not understand. How do I know that they did not know what they were voting on? Because the measure was unreadable.
A highly trained lawyer would spend many hours attempting to understand the requirements dictated by the rambling switchbacks in the language of the bill. The sweet-sounding ballot title in no way represented the ballot language.
The manner in which this measure was created and presented to the voters is another sad chapter in the destruction of this state. It seems that as a valid philosophy, “The end justifies the means” should be stamped on the liberal establishment in Oregon.
MICHAEL HARTFIELD Dundee
Without saying a single word about Measure 49 pro or con, I need to say what a stupid argument this is, something that boils down to: Measure 49 was written in legalese. Indeed it was. And it is now situated in the lodgers of Oregon law, replacing large swarths of similar legalese, and placed before and after similar legalese — actually, about where Measure 37’s language lay.
If Oregon had voted to turn down Measure 49, it would have been a vote for rambling switchbacks readable only by highly trained lawyers. Just as it is with Oregon voting for the measure. I do not understand this man, Michael Hartfield of Dundee. Rant and rave, applying new standards for that which you are for and that for which you are against. I assume he was all for Measure 37 — maybe he read it and understood every word of it and the permetations that lawyers would argure with it for the next century, but he would have been the exception. Likewise his case against Measure 49… that which the peons should not discuss amongst themselves because they’re not literate enough.
November 10th, 2007 at 8:06 am
You watch and see how this all shakes out. The state touted 49 as a fix for the little people. Fast track them to the one house they’ve been trying for years to build. I think the fix is just that…they’ve fixed us for good. Or at least until the lies are revealed and another round of ballots can be voted on.
Stall, delay and lie is the mantra of the group that believes in saving dirt. They have no morals or ethics. Given some time 49 will show the entire US population just how evil these people are. 49 is filled with deception and it’s the little people who will continue to carry the entire burden of Oregons land use system.