Current Actions

  • PSU Urban Renewal District is not right for Portlanders

    Please take a moment and tell the City why you feel strongly about this issue.  Did you know you can increase the impact your letter will have by doing these two simple things:


    1) Write a unique email subject line

    2) Use the Talking Points below to personalize your Letter


    Your words make a difference!

    Talking Points
    • With Portland schools, parks, and vital services facing drastic cuts we agree with the League of Women Voters that using tax dollars to create an urban renewal district around PSU and the Park Blocks is not the best way of using precious resources.
    • Urban renewal is not intended to be used to improve areas that are attracting substantial private investment.
    • In 2011 alone over 86 million dollars was diverted from our schools and basic

  • Keep Waldo Lake Pristine

    Waldo Lake is one of the largest natural lakes in Oregon and one of the purest in the world. Visitors are attracted to this lake for the solitude and pristine beauty the lake provides, which is why public support for the ban has been overwhelming throughout the current and past process. Please urge the Marine and Aviation Boards to continue the current protections for Waldo Lake. 

    Increase the impact your letter will have on the governor by doing these two simple things:
           1) Write a unique subject line.
           2) Personalize the email body. Include why YOU feel strongly about keeping the rule banning gasoline motors on Waldo Lake. Feel free to draw on your own experiences at Waldo Lake.


     

           

  • Tell Oregon's Treasurer To Re-Affirm His Support For a State Bank


    We came close to passing the "virtual" State Bank bill last legislative session and we can't let up now. The Oregon Investment Act provides an opportunity for Treasurer Wheeler to renew his support for state investment practices that focus on helping Oregon's small businesses and family farms - but that's not what it emphasizes now.

    Increase the impact your letter will have  by doing these two simple things:

           1) Write a unique subject line.

           2) Personalize the email body. Include why YOU feel strongly about an Oregon State Bank.


    Use these Talking Points to tell Treasurer Wheeler to re-affirm his support for a State Bank. It's time to bring our money home and put it back to work for Oregon.
    • Break Oregon’s dependence on Wall St
    • Bring our money home to Oregon
    • Let’s invest in Oregon not Wall St



  • Tell AG Kroger to support investigation of banks' roles in financial meltdown



    Increase the impact your letter will have on the attorney general by doing these two simple things:
           1) Write a unique subject line.
           2) Personalize the email body. Include why YOU feel strongly about investigating big banks' roles in the financial meltdown.

    Talking Points: 
     
    • Big banks need to be held accountable.
    • We need to protect middle-class Oregonians.
    • Our Attorney General needs to stand up for all Oregonians.

  • Wal-Mart isn't a Portland Kind of Business

    Wal-Mart is looking to open 17 stores in the Portland area including one on Hayden Island. But Wal-Mart is not the kind of company our city needs if we're to build a equitable, sustainable, and prosperous economy. Wal-Mart doesn't provide living-wage jobs to Portlanders.

    Tell the City Council that Wal-Mart isn't a Portland kind of business.
    Increase the impact your letter will have on the city council by doing these two simple things:
    1.) Write a unique subject line.
    2.) Personalize the email body. Include why YOU feel strongly that the city should not allow Wal-Marts.
    Talking Points:

    Wal-Mart isn't a Portland kind of business

    Wal-Mart doesn't pay sustainable wages

    Wal--Mart doesn't provide sufficient health insurance for employees

    We need businesses that provide sustainable wages and health insurance

  • It's Time to Move Portland's Money

    Two weeks after Portland mayoral candidate  State Rep. Jefferson Smith publicly challenged Portland to move some of its money from too-big-to-fail banks to local credit unions and community banks, Mayor Sam Adams has said he would pursue the cause.

    The mayor's comments follow on the heels of the Occupy Wall Street movement and related protests against national banks. In the last month nearly 700,000 Americans have opened accounts in credit unions-more than all of 2010. As a result $4.5 billion has gone into local credit unions.  San Jose has moved nearly $1 billion from Bank of America this year, showing how much more can be re-purposed if cities take the lead. Tell the Portland City Council it's time to move our money to a Portland community bank or credit union.

    Increase the impact your letter will have on the city council by doing these two simple things:
    1.) Write a unique subject line.
    2.) Personalize the email body. Include why YOU feel strongly that the city should move its money away from the big banks.

    Talking Points:

    1.The City of Portland needs to put its money in banks that will invest in our community.

    2. Portland needs to move its money from too-big-to-fail banks to local credit unions and community banks.

    3. In the last month 700,000 Americans have opened accounts in credit unions, more than all of 2010. It's time Portland joins this movement.

    4. San Jose has moved nearly $1 billion from Bank of America this year, showing how much more can be re-purposed if cities take the lead.

  • Urge Governor Kitzhaber: Designate Oregon's Marine Reserves Now



    Increase the impact your letter will have on the governor by doing these two simple things:
           1) Write a unique subject line.
           2) Personalize the email body. Include why YOU feel strongly about designating Oregon's marine reserves.

    Talking Points: 
     
    • Population increases, habitat destruction, climate change, increased demand for fresh seafood, and other pressures are growing by the year, and ocean systems need a lifeline in order to survive and thrive into the future.
    • This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to build a system of marine reserves and protected areas that will safeguard the bounty and beauty of Oregon’s coast for generations to come.
    • Coastal volunteers and marine scientists invested 25,000 volunteer hours in public meetings to come to these recommendations.

  • Bottling Gorge Water: Let’s Take A Closer Look

    Increase the impact your letter will have on the governor by doing these two simple things:

          1) Write a unique subject line.

          2) Personalize the email body. Include why YOU feel strongly about bottled water from the Gorge.

    We've provided some starter text and talking points for you to work with. Please take a moment and tell the governor why you feel strongly about this issue. Your words make a difference!

     

    Talking Points and Questions

    • Nestlé would produce more individual-serve plastic water bottles and inevitably more waste.

    • Will the bottles used contain BPA (bisphenol A), a known toxin to children?

    • Will the Nestlé’s plant provide family wage jobs?

  • Ban BPA for Multnomah County Babies

    Increase the impact your letter will have on the commissioners by doing these two simple things:

          1) Write a unique subject line.
          2) Personalize the email body. Include why YOU feel strongly about banning BPA.
    We've provided some starter text and talking points for you to work with. Please take a moment and tell the commission why you feel strongly about this issue and make sure to note you're a constituent. Your words make a difference!

     

    Talking Points

    • BPA is a risk to health, particularly to infants and babies, since it can mimic estrogenic hormones.
    • Current proposed bans would selectively target infant and child products that 
      would not have a large impact on the industry in general. Other products
      and manufacturing methods are readily available (e.g. polypropylene).
    • The industry at large, including Wal-Mart, has already removed BPA from 
      common adult water bottles, but there are many manufactures that have 
      not followed suit.

  • No backroom tax cuts under the "Christmas Tree"

    The last act of this legislature should not be further opening loopholes or handing over tax breaks to wealthy individuals and corporations, especially in a time when inequality of wealth and income have reached unprecedented levels.

    We understand concessions will need to be made on both sides, but a capital gains tax cut, gutting the estate tax and additional business tax giveaways like SB 817 are not and have never been the solution to getting an economy on surer footing. History has shown these cuts not only favor some taxpayers over others, but they're ineffective, unnecessary and irresponsible.

    Increase the impact your letter will have on your legislator by doing these two simple things:

    1) Write a unique email subject line

    2) Personalize the email body - We’ve provided some starter text and talking points for you to work with. Please take a moment and tell your representative why you feel strongly about this issue and make sure to note you’re a constituent! Your words make a difference!

  • Tell Your State Legislators to Approve the State Bank

    Increase the impact your letter will have on your legislator by doing these two simple things:

     

    1) Write a unique email subject line

    2) Personalize the email body (Include why YOU feel strongly about a State Bank)


    We’ve provided some starter text and talking points for you to work with. Please take a moment and tell your representative why you feel strongly about this issue and make sure to note you’re a constituent! Your words make a difference!


    A State Bank is good for Oregon:

    Let's follow the model of the Bank of North Dakota. It doesn’t compete with community banks; it supports them. From 2007 to 2009 — through the trough of the financial crisis — BND’s business lending actually grew by 35 percent.

    A recent study of a similar proposal in Oregon predicted that a fully-operational state bank would help Oregon community banks expand lending by $1.3 billion and lead to 5,391 new small business and farm jobs in the first 3-5 years. This would be accomplished at a profit for Oregon.


    The legislature is talking about going home at the end of the week, but this is a jobs bill still sitting on their desks awaiting a vote.  If they don't act before going home this bill will die. 

    This bill is about investing in Oregon.  It is about investing in small businesses and family farms so they can grow their businesses and create jobs.  But if the legislature goes home early without even putting this bill to a vote they will have missed a huge opportunity to create jobs and support a more resilient local economy in Oregon. 

  • No Blank Check for the CRC

    10 reasons we need to re-think the Columbia River Crossing:
    1. Too expensive: The Columbia River Crossing is a gigantic project and we can’t afford it; bridge construction represents only 10-20 percent of the total project cost.
    2. Smaller solutions work: Most of the traffic over the bridge is local and can be fixed with smaller, less expensive solutions.  Yet there has been no meaningful discussion by planners of alternatives like a freight lane, retro-fitting, or other alternatives that exist.
    3. It will go over budget: ODOT is two times over budget on three of its largest projects, studies of mega-projects like the CRC over the past 70 years have found 90% of them go over budget.
    4. Fixing the bridge is cheap: Demolishing the bridge costs the same as retrofitting the bridge to be seismically safe.
    5. There are worse bridges: The Oregon Department of Transportation has identified 29 structurally unsafe interstate bridges in Oregon, the I-5 bridge ISN’T on that list (but the Marquam bridge is)
    6. A bridge for Washingtonians: The bridge mostly benefits commuters in Washington’s Clark County, but Oregonians will foot most of the cost.  And while the Columbia River Crossing wouldn't benefit the whole state, the whole state will pay.
    7. Tolling causes chaos: Unless I-205 is tolled, traffic would flood over to that freeway crossing.
    8. Spreading Sprawl: The Columbia River Crossing would ignite Vancouver sprawl. Indeed, Clark County developers will benefit from avoiding Oregon’s income tax and urban growth boundary.
    9. Light rail is uncertain: There’s no commitment from Vancouver/Clark County to build light rail.
    10. Communities don’t want it: The Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods, which represents 12 neighborhood associations, has taken a position against the bridge.

    Increase the impact your letter will have on your legislator by doing these two simple things:

    1) Write a unique email subject line

    2) Personalize the email body (Include why YOU feel strongly about the CRC)


    We’ve provided some starter text and talking points for you to work with. Please take a moment and tell your representative why you feel strongly about this issue and make sure to note you’re a constituent! Your words make a difference!

  • Demand a Vote on BPA Ban

    Call your state Representative. Ask if he or she has signed the petition and urge them to do so. If they refuse, ask why not — and let us know on our Facebook page. (We're asking that you phone because, at this stage, this is the most effective way to get your voice heard.)

    This is a good, simple bill. SB 695 protects infants and toddlers at a time in their lives when their bodies are vulnerable to chemicals like BPA.

    Call your state Representative. Insist she or he sign the discharge petition and ensure a vote on SB 695.

    Take action now. Call your Representative and tell them to sign the discharge petition.

    Use the tool to look up your State Legislatures phone number and send them a quick message -- MAKE SURE TO ALSO CALL THEM

  • Save the 3-Creeks Natural Area

     Increase the impact your letter will have on your legislator by doing these two simple things:

    1) Write a unique email subject line

    2) Personalize the email body (Include why YOU feel strongly about the Sunnybrook extension)

    We’ve provided some starter text and talking points for you to work with. Please take a moment and tell your County Commissioner why you feel strongly about this issue. Your words make a difference!


    Talking Points

    • Regional governments are spending millions of dollars to save and restore Oregon white oak habitats. Clackamas County should not be spending 10 million on an ill-conceived road that would harm one of the last, best oak habitats in the region.

    • 3-Creeks Natural Area provides hiking, birding, wildflower viewing, and wildlife viewing opportunities within the urban landscape. The Sunnybrook Extension would cut off the community from this regionally significant recreational resource and sentence this vital public space to obscurity.

    • The old growth trees at 3-Creeks have been estimated to be up to 500 years old.

    • Clearing forest lands for a new road would direct more storm water run-off into the already failing Mt.Scott-Kellogg Creek watershed. Pulling the plug on the Sunnybrook extension would prevent further degradation of this salmon habitat and reduce flood risk.

    • The Sunnybrook Extension is a remnant of an outdated transportation plan that never considered impacts to the regionally significant 3-Creeks Natural Area. Clackamas County needs to ensure critical public natural areas are protected before proposing new roads.

    • Oak woodlands have been designated a “special habitat of concern,” which the County should protect to comply with its obligations under statewide planning laws.

    • The Project Advisory Committee, every neighborhood association near the 3-Creeks Natural Area, the local county Community Planning Organizations and the City of Milwaukie have unequivocally opposed the road for several years, yet the County has repeatedly ignored the public’s concerns.

  • Protect Our Most Vulnerable Families with HB 3642

    Increase the impact your letter will have on your legislator by doing these two simple things:

     

    1) Write a unique email subject line

    2) Personalize the email body (Include why YOU feel strongly about TANF)

     

    We’ve provided some starter text and talking points for you to work with. Please take a moment and tell your representative why you feel strongly about this issue and make sure to note you’re a constituent! Your words make a difference!


    How does TANF help Oregon?
    • TANF protects over 54,000 vulnerable children in Oregon.
    • TANF helps families stay together during a crisis.
    • TANF help family members suffering from a disability while they wait for the federal SSI/SSDI.
    • TANF helps the economy (Every $5 in TANF funding generates $8 in local economic activity).

  • Protect Children, No BPA in Sippy Cups

     Increase the impact your letter will have on your legislator by doing these two simple things:


    1) Write a unique email subject line

    2) Personalize the email body (Include why YOU feel strongly about banning BPA)


    We’ve provided some starter text and talking points for you to work with. Please take a moment and tell your representative why you feel strongly about this issue and make sure to note you’re a constituent! Your words make a difference!


    Talking Points
    • BPA is a risk to health, particularly to infants and babies, since it can mimic estrogenic hormones.
    • Current proposed bans would selectively target infant and child products that would not have a large impact on the industry in general. Other products and manufacturing methods are readily available (e.g. polypropylene).
    • The industry at large, including Wal-Mart, has already removed BPA from common adult water bottles, but there are many manufactures that have not followed suit.
    • The Oregon Senate has already passed the ban bill. Canada and the EU have passed bans and bans are being considered in several other states

  • LNG is a bad idea...bad,bad,bad.

    Write a little something.

     It's a bad idea.

     It's also not a very good idea.

    It's a slam dunk not to have LNG.

    Lee Beyer, Chair (D – District 6)

    Capitol Phone: 503-986-1706

    Jason Atkinson, Vice-Chair (R –District 2)

    Capitol Phone: 503-986-1702

    Ginny Burdick (D – District 18)

    Capitol Phone: 503-986-1718

    Chris Edwards (D – District 7)

    Capitol Phone: 503-986-1707

    Fred Girod (R – District 9)

    Capitol Phone: 503-986-1709

    Bruce Starr (R – District 15)

    Capitol Phone: 503-986-1715

    District Phone: 503-352-0922

     

     

     

  • Stop the LNG Pipeline Fast-Track in the State Senate

    Use the points below to craft your own short message.

    (Sending a personalized email to your senator will increase the impact of your letter.)

    • HB 2700 must be amended to exclude LNG.

    • If the bill is not amended, it must be defeated again.

    • LNG pipelines through rural Oregon will damage farms, forestry, and nurseries.

    • The State of Oregon has documented that LNG is totally unnecessary for our energy needs.

    • The safety concerns posed by pipelines endanger rural Oregon


    The LNG pipeline power-grab in HB 2700 is now in the Senate Business, Transportation, and Economic Development Committee. We encourage you to call the Committee members as well as take action. Their contact information is below:


    Lee Beyer, Chair (D – District 6)

    Capitol Phone: 503-986-1706


    Jason Atkinson, Vice-Chair (R –District 2)

    Capitol Phone: 503-986-1702


    Ginny Burdick (D – District 18)

    Capitol Phone: 503-986-1718


    Chris Edwards (D – District 7)

    Capitol Phone: 503-986-1707


    Fred Girod (R – District 9)

    Capitol Phone: 503-986-1709


    Bruce Starr (R – District 15)

    Capitol Phone: 503-986-1715

    District Phone: 503-352-0922

     

     

     

  • CRC Needs a Course Correction

    Increase the impact your letter will have on your legislator by doing these two simple things:

          1) Write a unique subject line.

          2) Personalize the email body. Include why YOU feel strongly about revisitng the CRC plans.

    We've provided some starter text and talking points for you to work with. Please take a moment and tell your legislator why you feel strongly about this issue. Your words make a difference!

     

    Talking Points

    • It must be affordable by both states

    • It must improve cross-river transportation

    • It must manage traffic congestion

    • It must not simply transfer traffice problems to the Rose Quarter area

  • Support Farm to Schools

    House Bill 2800, the Farm To School And School Garden bill, allocates funds toward these goals. The bill provides grants to local school districts to purchase Oregon-grown or processed food for school lunches, and to develop and provide food, agriculture or garden-based educational activities.


    This bill helps Oregonians by:
    • Investing in Farm to School and School Garden programs supports Oregon food producers.
    • It strengthens the Oregon economy by spurring job growth in many different sectors, including farming and transportation.
    • It fosters healthy eating habits in children.
    • Farm to School programs help to strengthen Oregon’s food systems and reduce food insecurity.
    • Farm to School and School Garden programs connect crops, cafeterias and classrooms to educate students about agriculture and nutrition.

    Increases the impact your letter will have on your legislator by doing these 2 simple things:

    1) Change the email subject line

    2) Personalize the email body (Why do YOU feel strongly about Farm to Schools?)

    3) Call your legislators and urge them to support farm to schools.

  • Portland's $100 million water treatment plant isn't necessary

    Portland has enjoyed over a century of clean, safe drinking water piped directly from the Bull Run Reservoir. The recent EPA Surface Water Treatment Rule is a blanket regulation covering over 14,000 separate water systems nationwide aimed at stamping out a bacteria, Cryptosporidium.  However scientists in Oregon worked with the EPA to develop the most rigorous testing for the bacteria in the nation and in over 750 separate samples over the past 12 months didn’t find any Cryptosporidium.  Portland’s water already receives minimal treatment to remove any bacterial threats. The current regulation would be overkill, forcing the city to spend money while we’ll end up footing the bill.

    Quench your thirst for good governance by signing the petition below. Let our city and state leaders know you want to see them talk to the EPA and sink wasteful spending before we’re all washed up.

  • Tell Your State Legislators: When balancing the budget, keep Tax Expenditures on the table

    As Oregon grapples with a $3.5-billion dollar budget deficit, Oregon's Legislature needs to keep Tax Subsidies on the table when looking for cuts.

    We suggest at least the following questions should be asked of any tax subsidy:

    1. What is the behavior the tax subsidy is intended to encourage?

    2. Does it actually do that? (And, might that behavior happen anyway?)

    3. What public benefit – social, cultural, economic – will such behavior deliver?

    4. Is that benefit, when measured against the loss of revenue that would otherwise be available for education, public safety, human services, and other state responsibilities, worth the cost?

    Write youre legislators and encourage them to keep Tax Subsidies on the table. Here are helpful sources for writing your letter:

    NOTE: To better find your elected officials, you may need to look up your Zip +4 (click to look it up).

  • Support the Sellwood Bridge

    We’re looking for Clackamas County folks who recognize that our problems are experienced together, so our solutions must be created together.  


    We need volunteers to SIGN UP to contact your friends and neighbors.  We’ll send you further information to help guide you as well as keep you apprised of the latest developments. Help make sure that Clackamas contributes its fair share to the repair of the Sellwood Bridge.
  • Help Stop the Attacks on Citizen Involvement in Land Use Appeals

     Opponents of Oregon’s innovative land use planning program have wasted little time in launching an all out attack in the 2011 Legislative Session. 

    We need your immediate help to defeat three proposed bills that would undermine citizen access to the land use appeals process, threatening the foundation of citizen involvement in land use decisions. Click to take action now.

    On Tuesday, February 15, the House Judiciary Committee will hold its first public hearing on the proposed bills (HB 2181, HB 2182, and HB 2610). The public hearings are scheduled at 1pm in Room 343 at the State Capitol. 

    • HB 2181 would make citizens that appeal a local land use decision to the Land Use Board of Appeals liable for attorney fees of the prevailing party if they lose their case, even when LUBA acknowledges that the case had merit. Current law only holds project opponents liable for attorney fees if their case is determined to be frivolous. 

    HB 2181 would shut down virtually all citizen land use appeals, by raising the stakes for ordinary citizens who want to stand up to illegal land use decisions being made in their communities.

    • HB 2182 is an elitist proposal that reserves access to LUBA for the rich. It would change current law so that opponents to a land use decision must either be an adjacent landowner or be required to pay a large deposit to bring a case before LUBA. Farmers leasing land, a common circumstance throughout Oregon, will likely not be able to appeal decisions that affect their farming operations, and local advocacy groups with limited funds will likely not be able to raise the necessary deposit to do so, either. 
    • HB 2610 would establish that for housing and industrial land use decisions within an urban growth boundary - and for aggregate mining anywhere - appeals to LUBA may only be brought by individuals who either own, rent, or lease property within 1000 feet or can show their property would be adversely affected economically by $5000 or more. Under HB 2610, only the wealthy that can show a large impact on their pocket book will be abl to appeal local land use decisions. 

    Please join us in telling the members of the House Judiciary Committee to protect the ability of all Oregon residents to defend their communities from illegal development:

     

     

  • I Support an Oregon State Bank

    The “too big to fail” banks got billions in bailouts but they still refuse to provide credit to small local businesses and farms.  An “Oregon State Bank” would keep the money that Oregonians pay in taxes and fees in Oregon, and that would allow community banks and credit unions to extend credit to those seeking to create jobs in Oregon.  Support Onward Oregon: sign our petition asking the 2011 Legislature to develop a State Bank that will put Oregon’s money to work for our state.