I plan on posting 6,000 names online to supplement ORESTAR.

If election law does not work to compel the names to be posted on ORESTAR then maybe public records laws might allow me to get them and post them.

May 6 SoS assertion that government has no limits.
May 16 public records request upon the city.

Can those six thousand people speak for anyone other than themselves, or more particularly speak for me? I have a protected right not to associate with them.

Next question, to be asked specifically of the publicly funded candidates/committees: Can they keep their poll results secret? I can contend that it is a public record and that they are the custodian of the results; certainly no less so than they are the custodian of the desks and such that the city elections officer is demanding that they return at the conclusion of the election.

You've been partying with Richard Ellmeyer and Tenksey, haven't you?

If the Fritz fits,
You must acquit.

I'm short staffed at the office and working late, so all this campaign stuff has just been stacking up in the mail box. I'm getting tanked on coffee and looking through all this recycle bin stuffing that's going to go the way of the Domino's coupons and Comcast flyers.

A thought... You're spending public money. Shouldn't we be using public funds, assuming we should have VOE, to influence conservation, "green" living, and all that? In other words, if you're going to spend the public money on VOE, why not do so in a way that weens the political machinery of Portland off of wasteful, old-fashioned campaign tactics? Limit printing and distribution of these brochures to nursing homes and places where internet access and usage is low. Force campaigns to compete in cyber space, cut down on the waste stream, save a few trees. That's what I call being truly progressive. I'm sure a good number of these things end up in landfills, backyard burn barrels, gutters, empty lots, etc.

...And not one of these glossy, inky, brochures says "Printed on Recycled Paper." That is a major marketing faux paux, especially if you're running for office in Portland, Oregon.

Anyway, I give the Biggest Paper Waster Award to.... Jeff Bissonette, the man who's "leading the charge to bring green jobs to Oregon."

Mister Tee,

I party-on, with words. For example:

"Can Campaign Finance Reform Coexist with the First Amendment?" By Charles F. Hinkle

The public records request does not come packaged with a statutory right of the defendant to claim attorney fees from the plaintiff. This is just avoidance of (potential) tactical stupidity that could place my access to food and shelter at greater risk than is absolutely necessary. I do prefer to live an existence that is higher up on Maslow's hierarchy of needs than the very bottom rung; even if I am flat broke. My disposable income is already a negative.

"After all, its your money" indeed.

It ain't any better in Clackamas County or Lake Oswego/West Linn. The campaign porn litters my mailbox by the truckload daily. I've filled an entire paper recycling container with just campaign flyers and other campaign literature. And we don't have VOE, and won't anytime in the future.

Smilin' Mike Dimbulb seems to have taken your advice, Jack.

Now if he could only explain how all the tens of thousands of dollars he's taken from unions are somehow "cleaner" than corporate money. Last time I looked the unions coerce their members to contribute through their mandatory dues. I can't recall dirty corporate money being quite so tainted. Same human race running both outfits; odd distinction, that.

I'm considering for the future automatically voting for whoever sends me the least mail.

Aren't the names of the 1,000 people who signed up to win the candidates financing public? If not, that would surprise me.

A few notes from the Gateway Fun-O-Rama parade earlier today...

Sho had a vocal entry in the parade of about a dozen people. Unfortunately, he wasn't one of them.

Sam Adams walked the route.

Charles Lewis was there, as well as Jefferson Smith, who got everyone amped up by doing cartwheels.

Amanda had TWO entries. She rode through in a convertible and then hustled around to jump back in about halfway through and walked with some supporters. She had the largest group of supporters in the parade by far, it seemed.

Gotta say I was disappointed that Sho wasn't there...

I'll tell you one way you can eliminate ninety percent of those campaign mailers:

Register as a Republican.