Eleanore Hunter and David Yaden, both hard-core crime-train supporters, showed up at yesterday's meeting of The Zero's editorial board, questioning why measure 3-401, which requires a vote before public funds are spent on crime-lines and other pet projects - and which they vehemently oppose - was even on the ballot in next month's special election. It'd be kind of endearing, were it not for the fact that they know full well why it's there: sponsors of the measure hap planned for it to be on the ballot in May, but the legal maneuvers of Hunter and pals closed that option; moving it to the September slot.
Certainly, supporters of the measure could have held off until November, but they rightly believed that several Clackamas County commissioners couldn't be entrusted with such a delay. Last week, they were proven correct as three commissioners rammed through a decision to sell several million dollars' worth of bonds to fund the crime train; a deal which was supposed to have been done less than a week prior to the September election.
Just one little problem: the good commissioners may have violated state law. And today, a lawsuit was filed to prevent the commissioners from consummating the sale. H/T: TMI for the lawsuit link.
Attorneys for Thelma Haggenmiller want the bond sale halted unless the county can demonstrate why the sale is valid. Haggenmiller argues that the board, which approved the sale this week, failed to give Clackamas voters the chance to petition a revenue bond sale before the bonds went out for a public sale. Haggenmiller’s attorney Kristian Roggendorf pointed out the state law regarding bond sales require such petitions.
“Although the county describes these proposed bonds as ‘obligations’ they fall within the statutory definition of ‘revenue bonds,’ and must be treated as revenue bonds,” Roggendorf said in a release. “Under Oregon law, county citizens have the right to refer all revenue bonds to the voters, no matter what misleading label is slapped on them,” he added.
“Those commissioners really stepped in it this time,” Haggenmiller, a McLoughlin Area Business Alliance founder, said in a release. “Once again, they want Clackamas residents to pay for a light rail line without the chance to vote on it. Voters have the right to petition these bonds under state law, but those commissioners do not care about such things. They only care about making TriMet happy.”
Hunter and her pals will stop at nothing in their efforts to ram their Ecotopian vision down the throats of an unwilling citizenry.
