Should Patti Smith be on the Joint Committee on Land Use Fairness?
by Rick RayFebruary 8th, 2007 at 09:25:58
I live near Corbett, Oregon. Most of the area is either in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area or in the exclusive-farm-use or forest zones of Oregon’s statewide land-use planning system. Many good friends and neighbors are frightened by the extensive number of Measure 37 development claims and feel like they will be surrounded by subdivisions. Some of these claims seek to build 35 to 150 homes on this “protected” farm or forest land. One friend has a claim near her rural home that has been filed by the family of Oregon State Rep. Patti Smith of Corbett. My sources say that her family has two additional claims under M37 in the area. Patti Smith serves on the Oregon Legislature’s Joint Committee on Land Use Fairness. Is this not a conflict of interest? Do you think Patti Smith should be on this committee?
You can contact members of the Joint Special Committee on Land Use Fairness by visiting this page in the Onward Oregon Action Center. The committee has been given the task of taking input from the public and making recommendations of any changes to the Measure 37 law. Let them know your concerns about Measure 37 and its impact on Oregon. I have attached some talking points that may help you in crafting your message.
Minimally we should ask them to:
Temporarily suspend Measure 37, and development resulting from already-approved land use waivers, to allow the Legislative Assembly time to craft even-handed fairness legislation; and
Schedule hearings throughout Oregon so that citizens can voice their concerns about Measure 37 and help develop a comprehensive reform effort.
Update: On 2/8/2007 the Oregon Court of Appeals decided that M37 does not trump the federal rules that apply to the Gorge Scenic Area. The claims mentioned above are outside of the scenic area, and are therefore still threatening.
Members of the Committee and email addresses are:
Sen. Floyd Prozanski-D, co-chair: sen.floydprozanski@state.or.us
Rep. Greg Macpherson-D, co-chair: rep.gregmacpherson@state.or.us
Sen. Larry George-R, vice chair: sen.larrygeorge@state.or.us
Rep. Bill Garrard-R, vice chair: rep.billgarrard@state.or.us
Sen. Roger Beyer-R: sen.rogerbeyer@state.or.us
Sen. Betsy Johnson-D: sen.betsyjohnson@state.or.us
Sen. Kurt Schrader-D: sen.kurtschrader@state.or.us
Rep. Brian Clem-D: rep.brianclem@state.or.us
Rep. Arnie Roblan-D: rep.arnieroblan@state.or.us
Rep. Patti Smith-R: rep.pattismith@state.or.us
February 8th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
At the very least, she ought to recuse herself from any decisions that are made if she involved in several measure 37 claims. Even the hint of impropriety sends a bad message to the citizens of Oregon.