June 2nd, 2019
To: Oregon Senate and House of Representatives
Sub: Senate
Bill 226 – Municipal Euthanization
Authorization
I am asking you and your colleagues to
stop a legislative train wreck in the making and what is the lowest form of
legislative chicanery. I am talking about the gut and stuff bill SB 226. We have not seen this kind of
intentional and systematic destruction of a city in Oregon since the halcyon
days of the Rajneesh.
Do you really want to
put your good name on a bill meant to benefit only developers, anti-government
activists and euthanizes a city against its will? Why do you want to put a
political albatross around your neck for the next year or two as this drags through
the courts? Do you want to explain your vote to your opponent or a reporter in
the next political season.
This bill (SB 226) is
the clone to the one that was struck down by the Oregon Appellate Court. You
are being lured into signing on to a gut
and stuff legislative monstrosity that will (1) be a legal loser – again,
(2) profit land developers, and (3) support anti-government activists bent on
destroying a city. What a trifecta! Ask yourself, who benefits (cui bono) from this legislative
albatross? Certainly the land developers and anti-government activists – but
not you!
For the next two weeks,
as you ponder your legislative responsibility to your constituents, I will
plead my case in the court of public opinion to the last bastion of civic
accountability – the Fourth Estate. I will ask for airtime with Mark Mason
(KEX) and Lars Larson (KXL), and for this open letter to be printed in your
local newspaper. Who knows – maybe Fox News and MSNBC will give us some
airtime. I mean it not everyday that a state legislature euthanizes one of its
own cities against its will.
Hopefully, the voters will listen, read and
remember what you are doing behind closed doors and what happened in the
closing days of the 2019 legislative session. Why spend your political capital
and risk your political future on this political albatross? What is your
political return-on-investment? There
is none! This isn’t physician assisted suicide. The city of Damascus wants to
live. We will see you Monday, June 3rd at 1:00 PM as you try to
sneak this bill through.
Sincerely,
Richard H. Carson, City Manager
richardhcarson@outlook.com
