All of the votes have been tabulated, and the results are in for Oregon Special Election 2008. For the most part, voters were definitive in voicing their preferences on the state and local ballot measures. None of the measures were decided by a margin smaller than 12 percent.
Oregon voters passed Measure 49, the controversial land-use law. But the state cigarette tax, Measure 50, was rejected. In fact only three Oregon counties – Multnomah, Wasco and Gilliam – voted in favor of it. Eugene Measures 20-132 and 20-134, the city gas tax and urban renewal plan, were also voted down.
The results in this election, in most respects, ran counter to the better interests of the state. It’s enough to make anyone leery of the influence special interests have on our electoral process.
Take Measure 50, for instance. Had it passed, the 84.5 cents per-pack increase on cigarettes would have gone toward funding Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s Healthy Kids Plan. Revenue from the cigarette tax would have provided some 100,000 uninsured children with health and medical coverage.
But big tobacco bought the vote. Phillip Morris and Reynolds American, two major cigarette manufacturing companies, poured millions of dollars into the campaign against Measure 50. According to an article in the Thursday, Nov. 8 Register-Guard, cigarette companies dished out $6 in advertising money for every registered voter in Oregon. Judging by the results – 60 percent opposed, 40 percent in favor – big tobacco’s campaign against uninsured children was well worth it.
While healthcare is a contentious political issue, it’s not the only arena in which voters dropped the ball. Eugene Measure 20-132 would have addressed the city’s massive road maintenance backlog by raising the local gas tax from 5 cents per gallon to 8. As it stands, the city is faced with around $170 million in unrealized construction costs because of the substandard conditions of many of its roads. But the Oregon Petroleum Association lobbied hard against the bill, insisting a local gas tax increase was an unfair burden on local gas sellers, and a statewide gas tax was preferable. Measure 20-132 was not supposed to be the cure-all end-all to Eugene’s construction backlog. But with the measure’s failure, Eugene City Councilors will have to look elsewhere to close the gap.
Measure 20-134 was doomed in part by its own convolution. Nearly two-thirds of Eugene voters chose to vote against the downtown urban renewal proposal; a shame, considering the positive impact 20-134 would have had on the community. If passed, $40 million in funds already allocated would have been provided to the city for its downtown revitalization plan.
In other words, none of the money would have come through new taxes.
The heart of downtown Eugene is riddled with homelessness, drug abuse and petty crime. The measure would have secured funding to build new stores, with apartments constructed above them. This influx of commercial and residential activity could have reinvigorated the once-lively downtown community; instead, the city will have to make improvements with what scarce resources it has.
Oregonians finally chose to rein in the disastrous Measure 37. But in other respects, Eugene and Oregon voters alike missed a number of chances to make cost-efficient improvements for the community.