Initiative Petitions can get thrown out if Administrative.

---

Oregon's bureaucratic Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) is tasked with preserving farmland in Oregon, and yet it goes overboard to protect land from housing development that really is not farmable.  Here Dave Hunnicutt, of the Oregon Property Owner Association, explains the absurdity of DLCD:  

 State sues to protect unfarmable “farmland” from needed housing development | The Oregon Catalyst 

(posted by Elvis Clark on August 1, 2024)

The American Forest Resource Council is saying red tape in addressing the buildup of debris in the nation's old growth forests ensures that old growth forests become more prone to burning up.  Here's the link to the American Forest Resource Council's briefing on the federal government's misguided ways of managing old growth forests: 

“Political” Old Growth Amendment fails to address threats to old forests (naturalresourcereport.com) 

(posted by Elvis Clark on July 4, 2024)

But as Randal Otoole writes in the following link, 15-minute cities actually preclude the opportunity to shop for lower prices and also to shop for higher paying jobs:   The 15 Minute City: An Idiotic Dream | Newgeography.com .  

15-minute cities also require a highly dense area of population - not found in all but the mega cities like Paris and New York.

(posted by Elvis Clark on December 16, 2023)

The Oregon Property Owners' Association notes the following:

*   

LCDC Goal 3 has been a problem from the moment it was first introduced in 1975.  The problem lies in the definition of “agricultural land”. The Goal 3 definition of “agricultural land” is so broad that it encompasses hundreds of thousands of acres of land in Oregon that have no value for farming and have never been farmed.  In fact, when combined with the broad definition of “forest land” in Goal 4, nearly 97 percent of all private rural property in Oregon is zoned as “farmland” or “forestland” under Goals 3 or 4. LCDC is Oregon's Land Conservation and Development Commission.

*

  The result is that LCDC requires counties like Deschutes County to zone rural areas as “farmland” that have zero possibility of ever being used for profitable farming. Farmers are smart – if the land can’t be used for profitable farming, it isn’t going to be farmed. Nevertheless, the state makes all counties zone land for farming that isn’t any good for actual farming. 

Because of Governor Kotek and Oregon's declared Housing Shortage, there is the beginnings of some signs that maybe, just maybe, Oregon land use laws will be softened to allow for more housing construction in the outlying areas of Oregon's cities.  The Governor's Housing task force which is scheduled to make recommendations to the Governor at some point is discussing allowing cities to build outward into their urban reserves, over riding Metro's Urban Growth Boundary possibly.

Softening Oregon's land use laws, in the name of increasing housing supply, would be great for those not wanting to have their neighborhoods crammed with new housing complexes.  Accommodating population growth by building cities outward and not just inward, would no doubt lessen the cramming of newly arriving peoples into existing cities with subsequent increased burden on roads, streets, parks and other City infrastructure.

As a side note, I discovered from a long time City planner, recently, that one way to stop a big housing complex from being constructed in a neighborhood may be to look at the deed of the property that is proposed for such development and see if the deed doesn't actually forbid the building of such housing.  Sometimes property deeds contain language which forbid certain construction on the said property.  For instance, some deeds contain a building height restriction.

Unfortunately, using deeds as a way of negating City planning approvals requires someone like me to do a lot of deed record searches, and this would require a lot of extra time I myself don't have.  Maybe neighbors could organize to spread out the work of deed searches.  Just a thought on my part.

(posted by Elvis Clark on November 24, 2023)

It is clear that the U.S Supreme Court - the Supreme law of the land - rules that nearly all gun control laws enacted by so-called Progressive state legislatures and/or "Progressive" initiatives, as that of the state of Oregon, are unconstitutional.

And yet the Oregon legislature still dominated by so-called Progressive Authoritarian legislators and Governor continue to "Flood the Zone" with new strict gun control laws, essentially taking away the right of ordinary citizens to have arms to defend themselves.  "Flooding the Zone" is a tactic which makes  it hugely costly for those trying to protect the Second Amendment (the right to bear arms) - as defenders of the second amendment must take their cases against restrictive gun control laws all the way up the court system to the U.S Supreme Court.  Many Federal Appeals and lower Courts are dominated by so-called Progressive Authoritarians in black robes.

And so, a state judge in Harney County stopped the implementation of Oregon Measure 114 which severely limits the ability of ordinary citizens to have arms to defend themselves, as prescribed by the Second Amendment to the U.S constitution.  This Harney County judge questions the constitutionality of Measure 114 and issues a temporary injunction against implementing Measure 114.

So, what does the so-called progressive Oregon legislature do in response.  It drafts a new proposed law (Oregon Senate Bill 438) which would require all gun control law challenges to be first brought to Marion County Circuit Court (according to the Oregon Fire Arms Federation's interpretation of the amendment linked below here).  Why Marion County Circuit Court?  Because Marion County Circuit Court is usually dominated by so-called Progressive judges, who are gun grabbers in most all cases.

Here's the link to Oregon Senate Bill 438:    

https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023R1/Downloads/ProposedAmendment/24269

________________________________________________

I mention the phrase "No One is Above the Law" because this is what the mainstream media and so-called Progressive authorities are saying or suggesting in the case of the criminal indictment this week of former President Donald Trump - ie they are saying Trump is Not Above the Law.  Yet these same so-called Progressive authorities approve of Sanctuary Cities and defying the U.S Supreme Court on gun control laws - both of which smack of so-called Progressives being 'above the law.'

________________________________________________

Now the Last gripe of mine for today.  This involves Milwaukie's so-called Native Lands Acknowledgement.  There is a push to make citizen committees recite the Native Lands Acknowledgement before the committees can start their work meetings, on such topics as fixing our streets for safety.  I am a member of Milwaukie's Public Safety advisory Committee, and I can tell you that I volunteered for this group to help ALL Milwaukie residents and visitors.  The Native Lands Acknowledgement to me is like some kind of Woke jive to make property owners feel guilty for our great, great ancestors having connived their way into taking over present day Milwaukie property lands from native American Indians.  This is probably true, but there are an infinite number of injustices in mankind's past.  Why focus on the past, rather than build a better future.

Here is Milwaukie's Native Land acknowledgement:    

"The City of Milwaukie respectfully acknowledges that our community is located on the ancestral homeland of the Clackamas people. In 1855, the surviving members of the Clackamas signed the Willamette Valley Treaty also known as the Kalapuya etc. Treaty with the federal government in good faith. We acknowledge that the territory covered by the City of Milwaukie is on the ancestral homelands of the Clackamas people. We offer our respect and gratitude to the indigenous people of this land."

I have been trying to come up with a way to protest this woke type jive.  And so, my idea is in the photo to the right above (a t-shirt with A Florida state flag).  I plan to buy and wear this Florida t-shirt when faced with woke events.  Why?  Because Florida Governor Desantis says enthusiastically that "Florida is where Woke goes to die."

(posted by Elvis Clark on April 1, 2023)