One week before election day

Here I go again! One week left to vote. Please do vote. And remember, in Florida you might be a felon and not even know it until you try to vote.

Here I go again! One week left to vote. Please do vote. And remember, in Florida you might be a felon and not even know it until you try to vote.

Measure 21 and 22 are curious beasts. Sponsored primarily by the supporters of the failed "Measure 7" (require the state government to compensate land owners for losses as a result of regulations). Measure 7 is currently tied up in court. These measures would weaken the judiciary by creating districts for Supreme Court and Appeals Court. The districts would be drawn by the legislature and would undoubtedly be inspire partisan battles (much as the congressional districting does today).

Measure 21 adds the "None of the above" choice to the ballots. Now, that's not a bad idea, especially since often the choices on the ballot leaves much to be desired. Yet, if this was a genuine attempt to improve democracy in our state, the petitioners would be promoting "None of the above" for -all- state offices. They are targeting the judiciary in an attempt to throttle the courts. Bill Sizemore, Bob Smith, Oregonians in Action among others are behind these measures. Vote No on both.

Measure 23 is an interesting idea. Currently the average Oregon family has an income of $44,000 and medical expenses of $4,500 per year. Under Measure 23, the cost of health care would average $2,500. Vote Yes.

Measure 27 is just plain common sense. We know how much water has been added to our bottled juice in the grocery store, we know if something contains Red #2, we know if it has MSG. We should know if it has products with spliced genes too. The cost per person for this measure: $0.71 per year. Vote Yes for access to information about your food.

If you have any questions, please feel free to write back or call. I've got a lot more information about this and other measures and candidates and will be more than happy to share it all with you!