Murmurs: Our Oregon Faces State Investigation for Late Ballots

Our Oregon Faces State Investigation for Late Ballots: The left-leaning political advocacy group Our Oregon and its campaign arm, Defend Oregon, have until Nov. 28 to answer written questions from the secretary of state's Elections Division. Investigators want to know how and why the group showed up at the Multnomah County Elections Division on the afternoon of Nov. 7 with 97 ballots the group had collected from voters and was legally required to deliver to elections officials by 8 pm the previous night. Documents show Our Oregon executive director Becca Uherbelau and the group's attorney, Steven Ungar, brought in 92 ballots from Multnomah County voters, four from Clackamas County voters, and one from Washington County. Oddly, one ballot was from the May 15 primary. An Our Oregon spokeswoman says the group will cooperate fully with the investigation.

E-scooters Disappear: On Wednesday, Nov. 21, Portlanders awoke to an e-scooterless city. That's because the Portland Bureau of Transportation's four-month pilot program has come to an end. The trial period was conceived as a way to avert the kind of havoc scooters had wreaked in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Companies begged City Hall to let scooters stay on the street. No dice. Dylan Rivera, a PBOT spokesman, says scooters won't return to the city before the new year. "We are currently focusing our efforts on understanding the data and feedback we compiled during the pilot," Rivera tells WW. He adds that Portlanders who find scooters still sitting on streets or sidewalks should report them to the company they belong to. Meanwhile, Multnomah County Chairwoman Deborah Kafoury shared a photo of herself scooting for the first time Nov. 19—a day before the program ended.

Union Drive for Campaign Workers Stalls: In Oregon, Democrats draw much of their people power and contributions from labor unions. But an effort by the Washington, D.C.-based Campaign Workers Guild to unionize Democratic campaign workers is off to a rocky start. The CWG thought it had a deal to organize workers for the re-election campaign of state Rep. Teresa Alonso Leon (D-Woodburn), which would have marked the first unionized campaign in Oregon. Although three campaign staffers voted to unionize and Alonso Leon agreed to recognize the union, after four bargaining sessions, they still don't have a contract. Sydney Scout, a spokeswoman for the CWG, blames FuturePAC, the House Democrats' campaign committee. "We have been very disappointed in FuturePAC's anti-union actions," Scout says. "There's some disconnect in the values they espouse and the values they are willing to live." FuturePAC spokesman Aaron Fiedler calls that criticism "misinformation." He says FuturePAC is providing Alonso Leon professional advice but notes campaign workers are not FuturePAC employees. "We support the rights of workers to organize," Fielder says.

Give!Guide Tops 3,000 Donors: The Give!Guide campaign is live and accepting donations, and is vying to raise $4.4 million from more than 10,000 donors. So far, the campaign has raised $447,330 from 3,097 donors. You can help us reach our goal and make a difference in the community by donating to one of our 150 amazing nonprofits at giveguide.org.