91视频

Group targets urban renewal in Oregon City

In addition to seeking a change in how urban renewal works in unincorporated Clackamas County, former Oregon City mayor John Williams is taking aim at his hometown.

Williams is working with a group of Oregon City citizens to try to put an urban renewal measure on the Nov. 8 ballot. The group last week received permission from the city to circulate its petition and gather signatures.

The ballot measure would require a vote by citizens when city officials want to issue an urban renewal bond for a specific project. According to Williams, citizens vote on every other bond, so they should be allowed to vote on urban renewal bonds.

The group would need to collect approximately 2,500 verified signatures to gain a measure on the ballot. Williams wasn’t sure if the group would have enough time to qualify for the Nov. 8 ballot, but he said it would try.聽

While a citizens group is only days away from submitting signatures for a ballot measure that, if approved by voters, would require major urban renewal decisions in Clackamas County to go before voters, county officials are looking to craft a competing measure.

During a recent work session, the Clackamas County Board of Commissioners directed staffers to draft a ballot measure that would trump the one being pushed by former Oregon City Mayor John Williams. The county’s plan would be to preserve the public involvement aspect of the citizens’ measure, but retain feasibility of urban renewal.

If the citizens’ measure were approved by voters, the creation of any urban renewal area, or an expansion or amendment to an existing URA, would require majority approval from county voters. The measure would apply only to unincorporated parts of the county because urban renewal is handled by city governments when areas are within particular cities.

Williams expects to have 3,000 to 4,000 more signatures than the 9,378 required when he turns them in. He said he is confident that he will meet Wednesday’s deadline for submission.

Meanwhile, Clackamas County’s legal counsel is working on its own measure that legal representative Scott Sedaris says would negate the one Williams is spearheading.

鈥淚f both were approved, we would have a provision in ours that says ours trumps,鈥� Sedaris said, before joining commissioners in laughter.

According to Dan Chandler, the county’s newly appointed strategic policy administrator, the preliminary idea is to create a measure that would require votes only from those within the boundaries when a URA is created or amended, and not from the entire voting population.

The reasoning, according to Chandler, is that officials would be challenged to convince voters in one area to approve a plan that would only benefit another.

鈥淭hat inequity would encourage those outside the area to not support it,鈥� he said.

The legal counsel compared the strategy of a competing ballot measure to Measures 47 and 50 in Oregon. Measure 47 was brought forward by citizens and approved by voters, and then, after the Oregon Legislature noticed problems with implementation, it drafted and approved Measure 50. It captured the spirit of Measure 47, but worked better in practice.

Chandler also issued a memo that touched on other ideas, like requiring that no new taxes be imposed after a URA is approved, as well as requiring that the life of an urban renewal plan be linked to the completion of projects. Until a final measure is brought before the board of commissioners, however, it’s not known what will be included.

But that hasn’t stopped Williams from sounding off on the proposal.

鈥淚t just seems so ridiculous, all I can do is laugh,鈥� Williams said. 鈥淚 mean, they admit it’s something that would trump ours. They’re supposed to be working for the people, not against them.鈥�

Chandler admitted that the county would have to act fast to place a measure on the Nov. 8 ballot. The Clackamas County Board of Commissioners directed legal counsel to start drafting proposals, which are expected to be presented at a work session in the coming months.