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217 Main Street
PO Box 168 Molalla, OR 97038 Phone:
503.829.2301 |
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| Breaking news: Secretary of State critical of 'fake voters' pamphlet' |
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| Consulting firm owner 'furious' with Secretary's stance; see full story in Saturday's Pioneer
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The Oregon Secretary of State called it a statement.
The Clackamas County Clerk called it a clarification.
Statement or clarification, both documents warned Molalla citizens of a "voters' pamphlet" put out by the Citizens for a Clean Molalla, a group urging Molalla Citizens to vote no on ballot measure 3-219.
A press release distributed Wednesday night and written by Mary Conley, chief of communications for Secretary of State Bill Bradbury, was critical of the CCM's voters' pamphlet. It follows:
"Secretary of State Bill Bradbury today criticized a fake voters' pamphlet recently mailed to Molalla residents. The purported voters' pamphlet presents only one side of the arguments on a measure facing Molalla voters on Sept. 19, 2006.
'This is political deception. Pretending to distribute an official voters' pamphlet when they're really advocating one group's political beliefs is degrading to the trust Oregon voters have in our system,' said Bradbury. 'It's just plain wrong.'
"Clackamas County has mailed out an official voters' pamphlet that includes information about initiatives facing voters in the upcoming special election. It is now available to all through its Web site at www.co.clackamas.or.us/elections/pamphlet/voter.htm.
"In the meantime, Molalla voters should be alerted to the deceptive pamphlet - which clearly only describes one particular side of the debate on Measure 3-219 - currently in their mailboxes and take it for what it is: advertising."
Roger Martin, owner of Martin & Associates -- the consulting firm that helped put the pamphlet together for the Citizens for a Clean Molalla -- expressed anger over the Secretary of State's position, saying that CCM abided by the direction of Clackamas County Elections.
"I am furious that Secretary of State Bill Bradley had the audacity to stick his nose into this without trying to figure out anything else, and I've told that to his office," he said. "He's interjected himself into a local election without any knowledge about what the issue is about, and hiding behind the fact that he thinks we are misleading people, which we obviously did not intend to, and didn't by the material that is printed."
In most respects, the pamphlet looks like Clackamas County's official Sept. 19 Voters' Pamphlet; however, all of the arguments appearing in CCM's version are for a no vote, while all the arguments appearing in the official version are for a yes vote. Also on the CCM's version is a statement above the where addresses names that reads, "This voter's guide was produced and paid for by Citizens for a Clean Molalla and NOT in conjunction with Clackamas County" - a point that Martin called key.
Creating such a pamphlet is not illegal, but representatives from the Oregon Secretary of State called and the Clackamas County Clerk offices called it "unethical."
If the measure passes it would amend the city charter, prohibiting the city of Molalla from discharging treated or untreated sewage into the Molalla River. It would also force the city of Molalla to come up with a new wastewater treatment plan as the city is scheduled to start wintertime discharge of effluent, sewage treated at the wastewater facility, in November per its permit with the Department of Environmental Quality.
For full story see Saturday's Pioneer.
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