What Deborah wants
A very alarming story was buried in the back of The Oregonian yesterday. Two members of the Oregon House of Representatives are refusing to give up their House seats, even though they have moved out of their House districts and therefore are apparently sitting in the Legislature illegally.
According to the story, the two culprits are Deobrah Kafoury, D-Portland, who moved out of her district, House No. 43, to another part of Portland about a week ago; and Jeff Kruse, R-Roseburg, who moved out of his Sutherland apartment to a Roseburg-area farm last October, thus placing him outside his district, House No. 7.
The two of them are acting like it's up to them whether and when they should "resign," but the fact certainly appears to be that they are no longer eligible to serve in the Legislature. The Oregon Constitution was amended by popular vote in 1995 to read as follows:
No person shall be a Senator or Representative who at all times during the term of office of the person as a Senator or Representative is not an inhabitant of the district from which the Senator or Representative may be chosen or has been appointed to represent. A person shall not lose status as an inhabitant of a district if the person is absent from the district for purposes of business of the Legislative Assembly.The measure passed by a vote of 709,931 to 45,311.
The arrogance of Kafoury and Kruse is evident in their statements to the O. Kafoury has decided that she gets to say whether the county should appoint her temporary successor before or after the May primary. She had this to offer: "I want the voters of (House) District 43 to decide who their representative is, and not the Democratic Party or the Multnomah County commissioners. I'm trying not to skew this race, so I want it to be a fair contest."
Who in heaven's name cares what you want, Ms. Kafoury? You are no longer eligible to serve, and you must step down immediately. Your refusal to do so is a horrible, horrible civics lesson for the young people of the state.
Kruse is also above the law. According to the story, he "said Monday that he would resign before the Legislature's June special session but that he wants to work on issues for the next regular session." 'Fraid not, dude. You should have been out of there four or five months ago. You took an oath to support the Oregon Constitution, and now you are knowingly violating it.
How dare these people!
Apparently the two major parties are content to let each other cheat. But where is the Oregon attorney general? Where is the League of Women Voters? Where is the editorial board of The Oregonian? Where is Lars Larson?
Shame on Kafoury and Kruse, and if there isn't swift action to enforce the law, shame on all of us.
Maybe Deborah and Jeff should hear from you. You can e-mail Kafoury here and Kruse here. And you Oregon bloggers, check out the story. Perhaps you need to write about this, too.
Comments (11)
Amen, brother. Totally unbelievable.
Posted by Linda | February 26, 2004 5:40 AM
Hmmm . . . suppose there's a special session, and something passes or fails by one vote, where the result would have been different if Kafoury and Kruse hadn't voted? I can see some interesting litigation coming. Or -- if some civic-minded independent wants to take it on -- an action against the state treasurer to order the treasurer not to pay Kafoury and Kruse on the ground that they are no longer members of the legislature.
Posted by Isaac Laquedem | February 26, 2004 10:25 AM
Jack, note the language of the amendment. "who __at all times____" - easily susceptible to the reading that so long as the Senator or Rep. is a resident of the district for more than -0- time he/she qualifies. Not saying they are right and you are wrong but it doesn't seem that clear cut to me. Haven't looked for any judicial interpretations though.
Posted by Brooks | February 26, 2004 4:12 PM
It's not worded very well, but it can't possibly mean what you're reading it to mean. Plus, I don't think these two are alleging that they're not in violation of the constitutional amendment. They're just giving it the finger.
Posted by Jack Bog | February 26, 2004 5:55 PM
I emailed Rep. Kafoury this morning. So far there's been no repsonse. I'll report back if I get one.
Posted by hilsy | February 26, 2004 6:21 PM
She might not respond to you if you're not in her districts.
Posted by Isaac Laquedem | February 26, 2004 7:40 PM
In her district*s*! LOL.
Posted by Jack Bog | February 26, 2004 8:24 PM
Ah, the kicker is she has moved into my district!
Posted by hilsy | February 26, 2004 8:31 PM
Be sure to tell her that, and that you'll remember this when she asks for your vote the next time she runs. (And she will.)
Posted by Jack Bog | February 26, 2004 8:34 PM
Way to go, Jack! Channel 2 reports tonight that Kafoury is resigning. [No weblink up yet.]
One down, one to go.
Who says no one reads bloggers?
You make WWP proud.
Posted by Worldwide Pablo | February 27, 2004 9:35 PM
However, it's Saturday and still no response to my email.
Posted by hilsy | February 28, 2004 8:25 AM