How we vote

Governor: No endorsement. Governor Ted Kulongoski has not been a leader, and he does not deserve to keep the job. Ron Saxton's demagogic slide to the right makes us distrust the direction of his leadership.

Oregon needs a real change of leadership, which is why we supported the campaign of Ben Westlund. We hope we have that opportunity again.

State Representative, District 53: Bill A. Smith (see The Nugget, October 25).

U.S. House of Representatives:

Greg Walden.

Deschutes County Commissioners:

Position 1: Dennis Luke.

Position 3: Tammy Baney. Baney has proved herself in her work with the Commission on Children and Families, and her work with that agency has created ties with Sisters that make her the candidate most likely to be responsive to local interests.

Home Rule: No. While electing commissioners by district seems on the surface to offer Sisters more representation at the county level, making the positions part-time and devolving power to unelected administrators is likely to have the opposite effect.

We believe voters in Sisters are better off being able to elect all three commissioners under the current structure.

Sisters City Council: Bill Merrill; Lon Kellstrom; Dave Elliott (see The Nugget, October 25).

Ballot Measures 9-40; 9-41 - Sheriff's permanent taxing districts. Yes (see The Nugget, October 25).

Ballot Measure 9-44 - Sisters Fire Hall expansion: Yes (see The Nugget, October 25).

Ballot Measure 39 - Prohibits public body from condemning private property to convey it to private part: Yes. Condemnation should be a rare, last option only for the most pressing of public infrastructure needs.

Ballot Measure 40 - Election of Supreme Court judges by district: No. Voters should elect the best judge, regardless of geography. The legislature is the branch that brings geographical representation, not the judiciary.

Ballot Measure 41 - Allows income tax deduction equal to federal exemptions deduction: No. This sounds attractive to the individual tax payer, but its consequences could be catastrophic in Sisters. Sisters school budgets are just getting stabilized; the reduction of state revenue by hundreds of millions of dollars will have a direct - and negative - impact in Sisters' classrooms.

Ballot Measure 42 - Prohibits insurance companies from using credit score in calculating rates or premiums: Yes. There is small correlation between a driver's credit-worthiness and the likelihood he will file a claim. Use of credit in insurance calculations makes the most vulnerable in society prey to higher insurance rates. Fairness aside, this makes them more likely to drive uninsured - and uninsured drivers are the biggest cause of higher rates.

Ballot Measure 43 - Requires 48-hour notice to parents before providing abortion: No. There is nothing easy and clear-cut about this matter. Parents who are responsible for the well-being of their children should know if their children are seeking an abortion. Yet trying to legislate good communication in families exposes children who are not from good and loving homes to the risk of terrible retribution for their actions.

To expect a frightened and desperate teen to navigate a state bureaucracy to obtain a so-called "simple judicial bypass" is unrealistic.

Measure 43 does little to protect teenage girls and too much to put them at risk.

Ballot Measure 44 - Allows Oregon residents without prescription drug coverage to participate in prescription drug program: Yes. This measure costs the state nothing and allows access to lower cost drugs.

Ballot Measure 45 - Term limits. No. Voters should be able to decide whether or not they want to keep a legislator working for them. Term limits don't get rid of career politicians - they make them angle for new jobs. The last thing we need is more shortsightedness on the state legislature.

Ballot Measures 46-47 - Campaign finance reform: No. These measures are a constitutional train wreck that are likely to make the influence of "big money" greater rather than less. Experts agree that limitations on individual contributions are certain to fail constitutional muster and be repealed. That means that restrictions on certain groups will be in place while a wealthy individual will remain free to influence an election with big wads of cash.

Reform has to be effective, not just a gesture. These measures won't work.

Measure 48 - Limits increases in state spending. No. Like Measure 41, Measure 48, would have a devastating effect on Sisters schools, not to mention other state services. The likely blow to Sisters schools amounts to hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not more than $1 million.

If such cuts are enacted, we will lose many teachers and programs, reducing the quality of education in Sisters to the level of mediocrity - or worse.

And that is just one of the effects of this disastrous measure.

We don't have to guess what will happen; look at Colorado, which passed an identical measure. The results were not pretty.

Jim Cornelius, News Editor