Editorial

How we vote -- ballot measures

Measure 14 -- Removes historical racial references from Oregon Constitution: Yes.

Measures 15 & 16 -- Allows the state to issue general obligation bonds for seismic rehabilitation of public education and emergency buildings: Yes on both. The work will eventually be mandated and it has to be paid for. This way does not place any direct burden on state or local governments.

Measure 17 -- Reduces minimum age requirement to serve as State Legislator from 21 to 18: Yes. If a young adult is old enough to vote and serve in the military he or she is old enough to serve in the legislature. Maturity is not necessarily a function of age.

Measure 18 -- Allows establishment of split-rate tax districts: Yes. The measure would be a step toward fixing a major problem for Deschutes County -- unstable funding for the sheriff's department.

It allows the sheriff to ask for a permanent tax district to replace the current serial levy system -- a good thing for the sheriff's office and for the residents of Deschutes County.

Measure 21 -- Allows for "none of the above" votes in elections for judges: No. While it is tempting to rebel against the common pattern of judges winning appointments then running perpetually unopposed in subsequent elections, this is a poor response. Better that strong candidates be fielded to run against incumbents.

Measure 22 -- Requires that judges of the Oregon Supreme Court and Oregon Court of Appeals be elected by judicial district: No. as desirable as geographical diversity might be (especially for us on the East side), this measure threatens to politicize the judiciary, making judges as susceptible to parochial political winds as legislators.

Measure 23 -- Creates health care finance plan; creates additional income, payroll taxes: Yes. It's time Oregonians recognized that decent health care is for everyone.

Oregonians are not so callous to say those without money should simply suffer. Or that hospitals and doctors should give their services for free, hiding that cost in bills paid by others.

Measure 23 is not perfect. Government is not perfect. But it is time we shared health security with the 400,000 Oregonians, including 70,000 children, who have no insurance.

Measure 24 -- Allows licensed denturists to install partial dentures (replacement teeth). Yes. This gives consumers an additional choice in the marketplace.

Measure 25 -- Increases Oregon Minimum Wage to $6.90; increases for inflation: No. Unemployment continues to run high in Oregon and increased minimum wage requirements tend to impede job growth at the entry level.

That means fewer jobs to go around.

Measure 26 -- Prohibits paying initiative signature gatherers by the signature: Yes. This removes a temptation to commit fraud, which has clearly proven to be a problem in the initiative process.

Measure 27 -- Requires labeling of genetically engineered foods: No. This is a symbolic gesture that will not make anybody safer and will simply lead to more regulation and expense. Consumers already have the choice to buy organic if they fear genetically engineered food. J.C.

Yes. We have a right to know what is in our food. In fact, this measure doesn't go far enough. We also need to know which of the chickens we eat are fed antibiotics, and which of the cattle are fed growth hormones. A free society needs information to be free. E.D.