2020 has gone by in a flash — it’s hard to believe that we’re getting ballots in the mail this week. If you haven't gotten it, October 20th is the last day for county officials to mail ballots out. With much of the focus this election season on the presidential campaign, it’s possible some important measures escaped your attention. On your ballot, there are four ballot measures 1000 Friends has endorsed — two in Portland, one in Bend and one statewide:
- Yes on Measure 26-218 | Portland Metro Transportation Bond
- Yes on Measure 107 | Campaign Finance Reform
- Yes on Measure 26-213 | Portland Parks and Nature Bond
- Yes on Measure 9-135| GO Bend Transportation Bond
1000 Friends Endorses Measure, the Portland Metro Transportation Measure 26-218 because it:
- Improves transit through bus priority lanes, converting TriMet’s bus fleet to 100% electric by 2030, and creates a region-wide youthpass, meaning anyone 18 and under can ride for free, 24hrs a day, 365 days a year.
- Directly invests in safety, bringing over 45 miles of sidewalks and 140 miles of bikeways, thousands of streetlights, and hundreds of safety crossings to our roads with an emphasis on making sure folks in the region can get to places of work, play, worship, and shopping without needing a car.
- Promotes effective land use by combining investments in housing and transportation to minimize displacement while creating healthy and livable communities.
- More than 90% of businesses in the region won’t pay a penny for these investments and upgrades. These investments will leverage over $2 billion in federal resources that will otherwise go to other parts of the country.
1000 Friends Endorses Measure 107 because:
Campaign Finance has large impacts on land use, environmental, and planning policy outcomes. Some of the nation’s top PACs that participate in policy advocacy fund initiatives and positions that are antithetical to 1000 Friends’ mission and Oregon’s land use goals. Issues they focus on include: anti-climate change campaigns, anti-renewable energy issues and anti-regulation (which some see land use planning as). Oregon’s relaxed campaign finance limits have created unique issues for many regions in the state related to environmental quality, two good examples are Oregon’s forests lands and airsheds:
- Oregon Ranks #1 in the nation for corporate lumber giving to state legislators.
- State Legislators, DEQ, and some of the State’s largest air polluters often enjoy close connections linked through campaign giving. For example in Pendleton, DEQ worked with a corporate polluter to limit public input on air quality concerns from a manufacturing plant in their town.
1000 Friends Endorses Measure 26-213, the Portland Parks and Nature bond because:
- We value our parks and want to ensure potential budget cuts do not reduce quality and access to parks throughout the entire City.
- The measure addresses Portland Parks and Rec’s budget deficit but does a lot more: two-thirds of the measure will go to reversing a 10-year decline in maintenance of parks, trails, and 8,000 acres of natural areas and watersheds
- It will give Portland Parks and Recreation the needed capacity to maintain the 1.2 million trees it owns and add more trees to properties devoid of them in East Portland.
- Lastly, but importantly, it will make Portland's parks and recreation system more equitable by removing fees as a significant barrier to folks with income challenges
1000 Friends Endorses Measure 9-135, the GO Bend Transportation bond because it:
Bend has an unprecedented opportunity with Measure 9-135 to invest in a transportation system to protect quality of life, create safer streets, and improve mobility and access for people of all ages.
We support the Go Bend 2020 campaign because it funds transportation projects that will improve sidewalks, add bike lanes, improve east-west connections and reduce congestion.
All of these benefits align with Goal 10 of our statewide land use system - ensuring that all Oregonians have a quality transportation system that allows for transportation choices in how to get around town.