QUOTE
O' THE WEEK
"More and more of our imports come from overseas."
--George W. Bush, while on a Monday campaign
stop in Beaverton (captured on tape by NPR)
GET
LIT
READING BETWEEN THE LINES OF CAMPAIGN LITERATURE
FOR TRACES OF WHITEWASH.
One of the most emotion-laden initiatives on the November
ballot is Measure 94, the bid to repeal Oregon's tough
sentencing law. Proponents argue that the present system,
voted in by Measure 11, is overly harsh and gives too
much power to prosecutors. They focus much of their criticism
on Measure 11's effect on kids who are tried as adults.
For example, a voter's pamphlet statement submitted by
Vern Beardslee of Southern Oregon Citizens to Repeal Measure
11 says that "four teenage girls under Measure 11 committed
suicide in 1998." It cites as its source an Oregonian
editorial of Feb. 22, 1998.
It's a compelling statement, but it's not true. Although
The Oregonian does mention Measure 11 in its editorial
about Hillcrest Youth Correctional Facility, it does not
say the four teenagers who committed suicide there were
facing Measure 11 sentences. In fact, none of the teens
who took their lives were sentenced under Measure 11,
says Bob Jester, deputy director of the Oregon Youth Authority.
"They were committed as juveniles, not as adults, and
not under Measure 11." Also, he adds, two of the four
suicide victims were boys.
MABON'S
ASSETS!
LON MABON has protected his pretty pennies.It appears
the gates to heaven are being guarded by Oregon's home-grown
Cerberus.
This week Lon Mabon and his wife, Bonnie, were forced
to reveal records detailing the multi-headed Oregon Citizens
Alliance. On Monday, Circuit Court Judge Ellen Rosenblum
kept in place a court injunction that froze $12,500 of
their assets while she sorts out how money flows through
the Mabon empire.
Lon and Bon were hauled into court by Catherine Stauffer,
who in 1992 won a $30,000 civil judgment against OCA henchman
Scott Lively. Stauffer claimed that during the 1990 campaign
for the OCA's anti-gaxy ballot measure, Lively slammed
her up against the wall of the Portland's Foursquare Church
during an OCA rally after discovering she was a freelance
photographer for Just Out newspaper.
Since then, Lively has paid about $10,000 of the judgment,
but the OCA has cried poverty and hasn't paid a dime.
Records released in a Multnomah County Circuit Courtroom
reveal that the group's claim of destitution may be a
bit disingenuous.
According to Brent Foster, one of Stauffer's attorneys,
there are at least five sub-groups, not including numerous
political action committees, existing under the roof of
OCA headquarters in Brooks. Lon is named as director and
Bonnie is named as the treasurer for all of the entities.
The big daddy is the United States Citizens Alliance,
which Mabon testified last week was formed in 1996. Other
groups, such as the OCA and the OCA Educational Foundation,
pay USCA to rent office space and equipment, sometimes
up to $6,000 per month.
So, although the foundation, which was named in the Stauffer
lawsuit, may currently be broke, it has had money pass
through it, Foster says. He estimates that in 1998 alone,
between $35,000 to $50,000 of funds that should have been
available to his client disappeared into the protected
USCA.
Judge Rosenblum has frozen several OCA accounts, including
an endowment by longtime supporter Opal Van Kommer. The
injunction prohibits the Mabons from moving any money
from the fund. The two sides will meet Oct. 2 to further
examine the OCA's assets.
Foster hopes the court will eventually rule all OCA entities
vulnerable to Stauffer's judgment. If it doesn't, he says,
Stauffer will sue again.
For its part, the OCA isn't worried. A high-ranking official
of the OCA, who refused to be named for this story, says
all the money for the current campaign has come to the
new Yes on 9 political action committee and is immune
from the lawsuit. "Right down to the penny," he says.
--Patty Wentz
OFF
YER ARSE
THREE WAYS TO PURSUE LIFE, LIBERTY AND HOPPYNESS
*WATCH THE ACTION: Incumbent state Rep. Bill "the
Bruiser" Witt will take on his challenger, Marauding Mitch
Greenlick, in a no-holds-barred candidates' forum 7 pm
Oct. 5 at Southridge High School in Beaverton.
*CRUISE THE WEB: More than 600 voter's pamphlet
statements hash out the ballot measures. You can read
them online at www.oregonvotes.com.
*DANCE A JIG: Party against Lon Mabon and his
anti-gay Measure 9 campaign. Sunday, Cul An Ti, Biddy
McGraw's house band, and other musicians perform at Ted
Blaszak's place: 410 SE 21st St., starting at 4 pm. Blaszak
swears he can handle a crowd, but call first: 236-7208.
And bring your checkbook. Clarification: The Sept.
27 Jim Hightower appearance at Portland State University
we hyped last week is not a fund-raiser for Measure 6,
the campaign-finance reform initiative.
TRAIL
MIX
*It was just a youthful indiscretion, according to Greg
Smith. The Eastern Oregon GOP legislative candidate
was canvassing in Clackamas County for fellow Republican
contender Jan Lee last Saturday. Hitting the same cul
de sac was Democratic candidate Mike Smith (no
relation.) According to Mike Smith, Greg Smith was not
only passing out Jan Lee campaign literature, he
was also taking away her opponent's pieces. "I circled
back on Valley View Terrace and noticed there was no Mike
Smith literature," says Mike Smith. Greg Smith blames
it on his young son and assures us, "there is no story."
*Could it be any better? Last weekend 12,000 Nader
aiders showed up in Minneapolis, and 10,000 in Seattle.
Next stop: Boston's Fleet Center. He'll stick around Boston
a few more days just in case he gets invited to Tuesday's
presidential debates at UMass.
*Last week, after Trail Mix reported he was stalling,
Mark Hatfield joined all other former secretaries
of state to endorse Measure 6, the campaign-finance reform
initiative.
*Local gal Ruby Miller of the Dalles was on the
White House slumber party guest list that was released
last Friday. Unlike most overnight guests, she hasn't
donated anything to the Clintons. Instead she's given
more than $14,000 to various GOP causes. Erika Batcheller,
spokeswoman for the First Lady, says Miller goes way back
with the Clintons. "She's originally from Arkansas and
is an old friend."
*There are two ways to get an opponent's donor list in
a political race. One is to call them out, like Secretary
of State Bill Bradbury did last week when publicly
he challenged GOP opponent Lynn Snodgrass to publicize
her list like he did. She ignored him, but it got a lot
of media play. The other is to simply follow election
laws and make a formal request. That's what Green Party
candidate Lloyd Marbet did. As required, Snodgrass
complied with her list up through Sept. 12. Marbet has
posted all three lists at www.marbet.org.
*In a move that surprised many local lawyers, the Oregon
State Bar is advocating a repeal of Measure 11. At
its Sept. 23 meeting, the bar's House of Delegates voted
to support Measure 94, saying it would "restore
the balance in the criminal justice system in Oregon."
*U.S. Rep. David Wu's opposition to free trade
with China is costing him high-tech support. The Sept.
21 issue of Roll Call newspaper reports that Intel
held a D.C. fund-raiser for Republican challenger Charles
Starr earlier this month that netted nearly $25,000.
Another Intel fund-raiser, this one in Oregon, was scheduled
for last week.
Got grub? Send it to
pwentz@wweek.com.
