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Rick on the Issues
Elections |
Empowering Voters |
Performance Auditing
Oregon Sustainability
Initiative | State
Land Board
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| Elections |
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MISLEADING BALLOT INITIATIVES, BLOATED CONSTITUTIONAL
AMENDMENTS, ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES—IS THERE AN ELECTIONS
CRISIS IN OREGON?
Election reforms are needed to ensure that integrity and trust
continue to be hallmarks of our elections process. Necessary
changes include more transparency in the initiative system,
protection of the Oregon Constitution, and cracking down on
individuals and groups that seek to defraud and abuse the
process by turning democracy into a for-profit business.
RICK METSGER WILL PROTECT
THE INTEGRITY OF OUR CONSTITUTION.
The Oregon Constitution should be a framework that defines the
scope of government, not a document limiting the rights of
private citizens or a back door for special interest groups
circumvent the legislative process and elected representatives.
Rick Metsger will protect the integrity of our Constitution by
requiring signature gatherers disclose certain information to
voters regarding the impacts of ballot measures, including
fiscal impacts, before accepting each signature. He will also
require that proposed amendments to the Constitution apply only
to the scope of government, not the behavior of private parties.
RICK METSGER WILL INCREASE TRANSPARENCY AND CRACK DOWN ON
FRAUD AND ABUSE.
Unless voters feel they can trust the elections process, they
will not feel that their vote truly counts. Rick will work with
the Attorney General to prosecute cases of fraud and abuse in
the system more aggressively. He will also make the Secretary of
State’s decision-making process for some issues that directly
affect voters, such as changes to the signature-gathering
process, more transparent by holding public hearings and
soliciting public comment. Rick will never allow electronic
voting machines in Oregon, and there will always be a paper
trail so you can be sure your vote gets counted. |
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Empowering Voters |
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WHY SHOULD
THE SECRETARY OF STATE BE TRYING TO INCREASE VOTER
PARTICIPATION?
Woody Allen once said, “The world is run by those who show up.”
This is especially true in elections; those who show up to vote
responsible for choosing the people who make and enforce the
laws. But voter participation is about more than just showing up
at the polls. It’s about understanding how government impacts
the lives of ordinary citizens on a daily basis. In 2007 a poll
showed that 40% of Oregonians did not know that Oregon has two
U.S. Senators. If citizens don’t know the basics of how they are
represented, how can they be expected to understand who fixes
the potholes outside their houses or ensures that elections are
free and fair? Creating informed, active citizens is one of the
most important roles of the Secretary of State.
RICK METSGER WILL INCREASE VOTER PARTICIPATION BY EMPOWERING
YOUNG VOTERS.
Statistics show that people who begin to vote at a young age are
more likely to be regular voters throughout their lives. But
young people will only go to the ballot box (or the mailbox) if
they understand how voting will benefit them.
As Secretary of State, Rick Metsger will request a non-voting
seat on the Board of Education, where he will push to
reinvigorate civics education and coordinate with our schools to
provide real opportunities for students to see how they can make
a difference in guiding their government. He will also establish
outreach programs in public universities and community colleges
across the state. These democracy centers will work to increase
young voter turnout, but more importantly, they will get new
voters involved at every level of the process.
RICK METSGER WILL MAKE CAMPAIGN FINANCE REPORTING MORE
TRANSPARENT AND USER-FRIENDLY.
As a state Senator, Rick Metsger worked to increase voter access
to legislative voting records and campaign finance activity,
which can be navigated easily on one’s computer from the comfort
of home. This system is known today as ORESTAR and can be
accessed at
www.sos.state.or.us/elections.
As Secretary of State, Rick will take the next step to make the
system more user-friendly and he will launch a comprehensive
outreach program to inform the electorate about how to use
ORESTAR. |
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Performance Auditing |
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WHAT IS PERFORMANCE AUDITING, AND WHY DOES IT MATTER?
The Audits Division in the Secretary of State’s office is
responsible for ensuring that government agencies use taxpayer
dollars the way they are directed by the Legislature, and by the
taxpayers themselves. However, these audits only investigate
whether an agency is using the money the way they are required
to by law, not whether the money is achieving what Oregonians
want it to achieve. Performance auditing is a tool the Secretary
of State can use to make sure that when taxpayer dollars go
toward a business tax credit or an agency budget, we’re getting
the most bang for our buck.
RICK METSGER WILL USE AUDITS TO HOLD BUSINESSES AND
GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABLE.
When we entrust businesses or government agencies with our
dollars, we deserve to know that they’re delivering on their
promises. As head of the Audits Division, Rick will verify that
when the state makes an investment, those investments produce
tangible results; for instance, he will use audits to ensure
business tax credits produce real job growth, and will hold
government agencies accountable for reducing their carbon
footprint. |
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Oregon Sustainability Initiative |
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WHAT DOES
THE SECRETARY OF STATE HAVE TO DO WITH SUSTAINABILITY?
One of the Secretary of State’s lesser known duties is serving
as Chair of the Sustainability Board. The Sustainability Board
was created by Governor Kitzhaber in 2000 and confirmed by
Governor Kulongoski when he entered office. It is tasked with
providing advice and recommendations to businesses and state
agencies about ways to become more sustainable. However, the
Board has no budget and no enforcement authority, so a vision
for a sustainable Oregon has not reached its full potential.
HOW CAN THE SUSTAINABILITY BOARD BE MORE EFFECTIVE?
The Sustainability Board should be a place where the great green
economic ideas of the next generation get a hearing. This
includes ideas about sustainable economic development and
creating green-collar jobs as well as recycling and using
energy-saving light bulbs. Changing the mission of the
Sustainability Board to focus on creating a statewide vision for
sustainable economic development will not only give the Board a
meaningful role, it will highlight the need for long-term
economic planning and include setting benchmarks for
sustainability
RICK METSGER WILL COMBINE SUSTAINABILITY WITH ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT TO CREATE JOBS AND MAKE OREGON A LEADER IN GREEN
TECHNOLOGY.
Currently, the Sustainability Board is located in the Oregon
Economic and Community Development Department (OECDD). This
department is large and is currently being asked to oversee two
different kinds of development: economic, such as job creation,
and community, such as building sewer lines. Rick Metsger will
split the OECDD in half, uniting the Economic Development
portion with the Sustainability Board to form the Oregon
Sustainable Economic Development Commission, chaired by the
Secretary of State. The Commission will push economic planning
25 years into the future, encourage the growth of green-collar
jobs, and set statewide benchmarks that move both government and
business toward more sustainable practices so that the Oregon we
know and love will be here for future generations. |
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State Land Board |
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WHAT IS THE STATE LAND BOARD?
The
State Land Board is
responsible for managing all of Oregon’s public lands. Oregon
has over two million acres of public land across the state,
including forests in Western Oregon, rangeland in Eastern
Oregon, and control of all the land beneath Oregon’s navigable
waterways. The Board makes decisions on a wide range of issues
affecting public lands, from deciding grazing and mineral rights
to locating marinas and awarding leases of land for private use.
WHY DOES THE STATE LAND BOARD MATTER?
The State Land Board is one of the most important
responsibilities of the Secretary of State, established in
Oregon’s Constitution. The Secretary of State, along with the
Governor and the State Treasurer, is responsible for overseeing
and managing the over two million acres of land owned by the
state. It is critical that this land is managed wisely, because
the proceeds flow into the Common School Fund, which supports
rural schools across the state. If state lands do not generate
enough income, the impacts are felt directly in Oregon’s rural
classrooms.
RICK METSGER WILL PUSH FOR A RESPONSIBLE, SUSTAINABLE
MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR STATE LANDS
We need to strike a balance between the competing needs of our
states natural resources and conservation efforts. The
responsible use of our natural resources is an important source
of revenue for Oregon’s rural schools, but we must also ensure
that our state lands will be a sustainable resource for future
generations. As Secretary of State, Rick Metsger will work with
his colleagues on the State Land Board to develop a “responsible
practices” model, which will provide a roadmap for using state
lands in a sustainable manner. |
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