BY SARAH ROSS

SALEM- In a decision released Tuesday morning, Marion County Circuit Court Judge Mary James denied a motion to allow Petition 50 signatures rejected by the Secretary of State’s Election Division to be reconsidered.

“The failure to demonstrate likelihood of success on the merits requires denial of petitioners’ motion,” wrote James in her opinion letter.

In a hearing Monday, the judge heard arguments from the Secretary of State’s Office saying that even if all of the 12,974 signatures thrown out were reinstated, that still did not give the petitioners enough signatures to be approved for November’s statewide election.

James noted that history demonstrated that “as valuable as Oregon’s electors’ constitutional right to sign initiative petitions is, a right that Oregon courts respect, it is a right that is subject to the responsible regulation by another constitutional officer, the Secretary of State.”

“The Court is mindful of the perception that denying petitioners’ relief may be viewed by some as muffling the voice of otherwise well-intentioned electors who signed these petitions,” said James. But she added, “That discomfort does not relieve the Secretary of State, or the court for that matter, from the responsibility to apply the proper standard of review.”

Initiative Petition 50, also commonly referred to as the redistricting petition, would have put the state’s redistricting process in the hands of a panel of retired judges, if passed in November’s election.

As it stands, that process lies with the Oregon Legislature after the completion of the U.S. Census. If the Legislature is unable to accomplish this task, as it has since 1961, then it becomes the responsibility of the Secretary of State.

Sponsors of the petition had collected and turned in 114,000 signatures to the Secretary of State’s Office, 79% of which were verified. The remainder was thrown out, putting the total count of signatures at just under 92,000. To make it onto the statewide November ballot, an initiative petition needed to have at least 110,358 verifiable signatures.

Spokesman for the Secretary of State’s Office Don Hamilton responded to the outcome, saying that even if all of the signatures were added, they still wouldn’t qualify.

“They were unable to prove that those signatures were critical to qualifying for the ballot,” said Hamilton. “And the judge also said that they were unable to prove that there was any irreparable harm.”

Hamilton also added that lawsuits are not at all uncommon during petition season.

“I don’t think it unusual considering the timing of all of this. There’s been a decision that’s been made and the court is a remedy that they have,” he said.

Ross Day, Executive Director of Common Sense for Oregon, the group that led the effort on gathering signatures, said he was not happy with the judge’s ruling.

“We spent a lot of time and effort trying to get the measure to qualify, and to have a set of signatures thrown out really for no reason, other than the arbitrary decision of the Secretary of State, doesn’t make me too happy,” said Day.

He added that there is without question a problem with the verification process.

“We had 13,000 signatures thrown out, and we still don’t really know why they were thrown out,” he said. “We had rules that were enforced that we had no idea were even in existence until they applied them this time around.”

Day noted that while the group is looking at all of their options for further legal action, he wasn’t sure if they’d move forward on an appeal.

“At some point, we need to focus on the task at hand, which is hopefully changing the way that redistricting occurs so that the politics are taken out of the process,” he finished, adding that this could include trying for something in the next cycle or preparing something for 2021.

Secretary of State Brown has until August 1 to verify and finalize signature counts in preparation for November.

BY SARAH ROSS

SALEM- Secretary of State Kate Brown’s Election Division announced Tuesday that one initiative petition for allowing private casinos has failed to gain enough signatures, yet its sister petition to authorize a Multnomah County casino succeeded and will be on the November 2 ballot.

Petition 77 required 82,769 signatures to be approved for the ballot, while Petition 76 required 110,358. Brown’s office was able to verify 82,865 signatures for the first measure, putting it over the threshold, but 76 failed to meet its required quota with just 104,629.

Good for Oregon, the group promoting the two measures, predicted on their website that over 5,000 new jobs and $74 million each year for schools could be provided by the $9 million in new annual income taxes and $20 million in other taxes a new casino in Multnomah County could generate.

Matt Rossman, sponsor of the petition initiative, said that after consulting their signature gathering firm, Democracy Resources, he and his cosponsor Bruce Studer feel that the Secretary of State’s office made a mistake and that they are exploring their options.

“At this point, I think it’s safe to say that we will be filing a lawsuit to challenge the decision which will more than likely be filed tomorrow,” said Rossman.

Rossman added that he and Studer were pleased that 77 did make it on the ballot; but in order for the Multnomah County Casino project to go forward, they need to pass 76 as well. He also seemed optimistic about getting the measure on Novermber’s ballot.

“We believe in the initiative process and that Oregonians’ rights should be protected, and we know from our signature gathering efforts that thousands of Oregonians have told us that they want jobs. They want these benefits,” said Rossman. “So we’re motivated to get things moving forward.”

In an earlier interview with The Oregon Politico, spokesman for the Secretary of State Don Hamilton said lawsuits are not uncommon during the petition season, as legal action is a tool petitioners have in protesting decisions.

BY SARAH ROSS

SALEM- A hearing on the future of Petition 50 ended Monday afternoon, but no ruling by Judge Mary James has been made yet.

Petition 50, which would put the power of redistricting in the hands of a non-partisan panel of retired judges, was spearheaded by former Rep. Kevin Mannix and Common Sense for Oregon.

Just hours before the petition received a hearing in the Marion County Circuit Court, Secretary of State Kate Brown released a statement officially saying that the petition had failed to gain enough signatures to be placed on the November 2^nd statewide ballot.

The Secretary of State’s Election Division stated that just over 79% of the 114,973 signatures submitted were “determined to be valid.” This put the valid number of signatures for the petition at 91,617, falling short of the 110,358 needed to get the measure on the ballot.

A ruling in favor of Secretary of State Brown would put the petition in its final resting place for the time being. If the judge rules against the first-term Secretary of State, the Elections Division would have to review petition sheets that had been excluded originally.

BY RACHEL CHEESEMAN

SALEM - The State Land Board, composed of Governor Ted Kulongoski, Secretary of State Kate Brown and Treasurer Ted Wheeler, voted unanimously Tuesday to authorize the initiation of rulemaking and the amendment of rules governing the leasing of geothermal resources.

Director of the Department of State Lands Louise Solliday explained that the rules hadn’t been updated since 1974 and were out of date in many aspects, from royalties and per-acre revenues to application requirements and processing.

“It’s just a lot of outdated requirements, so it’s just bringing them into the twenty-first century,” Solliday said.

A rules advisory committee will be created, including members from various state agencies such as forestry and education, along with industry representatives, to draft a new set of rules.

After this draft is completed, there will be a period for public comment and public hearing.

“We try to make folks broadly aware that there’s rulemaking going on,” Solliday said, explaining that notice of the public hearings will be announced on the department’s website, as well as on the Secretary of State’s bulletin.

The process, she said, can take anywhere from six months to a year.

BY SARAH ROSS

SALEM- Director of State Lands Louise Solliday testified before the State Land Board Tuesday about the market gains for the Common School Fund’s annual portfolio in the 2009 calendar year.

The data released showed the net returns gained just over 30 percentage points from 2008. While this is a large return compared with most years, financial experts consider it to be a correction of the markets in 2007 and 2008. In 2007, the Common School Fund had just under 3 percentage points in net returns, while in 2008 the Fund lost over 32 percent.

The Department of State Lands Report stated: “Calendar year 2009 did its best to relieve some of the sting left behind from 2007 and 2008. While much ground remains to be made up, from mid-March on, the equity and fixed income markets soared.”

The State Land Board is a meeting of the state’s highest officials, Governor Ted Kulongoski, Secretary of State Kate Brown, and Treasurer Ted Wheeler. The Board meets every two months to determine policy over state lands.

The Common School Fund is a fund managed by the Department of State Lands, putting money toward public school education in Oregon. Money in the fund comes from the mineral, timber, and other resources harvested on certain state lands and waterways.

BY SARAH ROSS

EUGENE- An announcement Wednesday by Oregon’s Secretary of State Kate Brown applauded a federal court ruling to uphold regulations on paid petitioners brought about in 2007’s Legislative Session.

Judge Michael R. Hogan found that the restrictions were justified: “State interest in maintaining the integrity of the petition process are significant and outweigh the burden these statutory requirements to keep and submit detailed accounts place on chief petitioners.”

The restrictions, which were drafted in part by then-Senate Majority Leader Kate Brown, included banning those convicted of fraud, forgery or identity theft from being paid to gather signatures.

Additionally, it requires paid signature gatherers to register with the State and to complete an instruction course on election law. Chief petitioners are also required to provide payroll records proving that signature gatherers aren’t paid per signature, a practice banned in 2002 by a voter-approved Constitutional amendment.

Attorney Ross Day represents Russ Walker and Glenn Pelikan, who began challenging the law back in 2007. Day said he was surprised at the federal court’s ruling but thinks he still has a good case. He plans to appeal to the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals. When asked how far he is willing to take the case, he said he could see appealing it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“What [this law] does is drive up the cost of putting a measure on the ballot to the point where the average Oregonian isn’t going to be able to do it. Only the wealthy and unions and so forth are going to be able to access the initiative process, which is absolutely not what we want to see happen.”