Navigate Ballot Measures: Introduction Environment Democracy Education Drugs Crime Public Employees Civil Rights Bond Measures County also see: WW's 1998 candidate endorsements DECODING THE MEASURES Messes with the Constitution Contains a hidden agenda May have unintended consequences Backed by business lobby Backed by labor groups

County Charter Revisions Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know--it's tough to get worked up about revisions to the Multnomah County Charter, most of which are as exciting as a bologna sandwich. But we did our homework just so you wouldn't have to. So please, return the favor and read on. First an explanatory note. Every six years, the state legislators from Multnomah County choose a group of citizens to review the county charter. It's the only government in Oregon that has this kind of independent citizen review. The group, known as the Charter Review Committee, passes its suggestions on to the county Board of Commissioners, which refers it to the ballot. The following are the latest crop of suggestions. 26-76 CLEANS UP CHARTER LANGUAGE This revision throws out the verbal garbage, including outdated rules and references to offices that no longer exist, that clutters up the County Charter. This is a wholly uncontroversial housekeeping measure.   26-77 CLEANS UP MORE CHARTER LANGUAGE This other housekeeping measure eliminates the charter's references to defunct service districts. 26-78 AUTHORIZES THE CREATION OF ANOTHER CHARTER REVIEW COMMITTEE It's a tough, thankless job but a useful one. Hopefully, a new crop of volunteers will be found in six years.   26-79 EQUALIZES COUNTY DISTRICT POPULATIONS There are four county-commission districts, which are supposed to have roughly equal population bases. This measure will make sure the districts are even closer in population by limiting the differences between them to 3 percent.   26-80 ALLOWS COMMISSIONERS TO FILL OWN VACANCIES This revision would allow a county commissioner to designate his or her own interim replacement should he or she leave office for any reason. The charter already allows the board to jointly designate a temporary commissioner if there's between six months and a year left in a term. The board's powers may need to be expanded to allow appointments for longer absences. This measure, however, isn't the answer.  26-81 REPEALS COUNTY TERM LIMITS We're opposed to term limits in the state Legislature, a part-time, low-paying job that benefits from experience. But for full-time county commissioners, two four-year terms are quite enough.  26-82 LIFTS BAN ON MID-TERM POLITICAL BIDS The situation created by Dan Saltzman and Tanya Collier, who decided to run for City Council this year, is the impetus behind this one. The County Charter bars commissioners from serving while seeking another office. Being two commissioners short has hamstrung county business. We don't want to encourage our commissioners to office shop when they're working on important county business.    26-83 ALLOWS THE COUNTY TO HAVE A LOBBYIST Corporations do it, other local governments do it, and nonprofits do it. So why shouldn't Multnomah County be allowed to have a lobbyist in Salem? No other local government has such a restriction. And the county, unlike city governments, relies on the state budget for much of its funding. Savvy voters may point out that Multnomah County has tiptoed around the ban by stationing someone in Salem anyway. They just don't call him a lobbyist. This charade is silly.  26-84 AUTHORIZES COUNTY AUDITOR TO MONITOR PERFORMANCE This instructs the auditor to do "performance" audits in addition to "internal" audits. It makes the language in the charter match what the auditor is already doing.    26-85 ELIMINATES COUNTY RUN-OFF ELECTIONS This creates an elaborate process to eliminate run-off elections by allowing voters to cast ballots for their first, second and additional choices. The upshot--and the reason we're voting against this--is that the person with the most "first place" votes may not win office. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Willamette Week | originally published October 14, 1998