Letter to Editor:

September 30, 2011

WARNING:  Bandon Taxpayers need to pay attention or pay more in taxes.  The City of Bandon is trying to raise the maximum indebtedness of its Urban Renewal Agency from $6,628,756 to 12,003,981 million dollars and they want to extend that debt all the way out until 2033.  That’s right, they are going to balloon up the budget and your children and grandchildren will have to pay off this financial obligation.  .

The City needs the concurrence/permission of all the other overlapping taxing districts, because Urban Renewal is funded with a percentage of the tax dollars collected from those districts.  Please, call the Bandon School Board and the South Coast Education Service District and tell them:  VOTE NO on the Bandon Resolution to increase and extend the indebtedness of the Bandon Urban Renewal Agency in Area 1.  Both School Boards meet in the second week in October, so there are only a few days left to stop the insanity.

All the Bandon School Board Members can be contacted by calling 541-347-4411, or send an e-mail to schoolboard@bandon.k12.or.us.  All the Board Members for South Coast Education Service District, or ESD, can be contacted by calling 541-269-1611 or emailing: janv@scesd.k12.or.us.  

For more up-to-date information go to:  www.CoosCountyWatchdog.com

Hey Everyone,

Here are some background articles to set the picture of why we are going after Urban Renewal in Coos County and how we are using H.R. 3056 to stop Bandon Urban Renewal from increasing their debt limit, from 5 million to 12 million. There are 7 UR Taxing Districts that using the TIF taxing process. That taxing process/scheme is financially destroying all the other overlapping taxing districts, which supports the schools, hospitals, infrastructure, fire and police.

In Oregon, a stand against urban renewal
http://djcoregon.com/news/2010/08/11/in-oregon-a-stand-against-urban-renewal/

Laws full text before it was amended, then passed.
http://www.leg.state.or.us/09reg/measures/hb3000.dir/hb3056.intro.html


Tualatin, fire officials say urban renewal prospects more promising after meeting
http://www.oregonlive.com/tualatin/index.ssf/2010/04/tualatin_fire_officials_say_urban_renewal_prospects_more_promising_after_meeting.html

This is the type of rezoning that has been proposed in Bandon. We need to have a county wide effort to stop this practice. We have the right to own property, it is a founding principle.



Albany poised to act on controversial rules
http://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/article_cf0c804a-e73f-11e0-8273-001cc4c03286.html

THERE IS ONE URGENT ACTION THAT COULD USE YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION. 

The Bandon Urban Renewal Agency is going to expand the amount of debt the department can accumulate from 5 million to 12 million dollars.  The Agency has to get the approval from all of the other overlapping taxing districts.  The City’s agency will take money from those property taxes collected for the hospitals, schools, roads, law enforcement, fire departments, and 4H. 

We want to stop the school board members who sit on two of these overlapping districts from granting this approval to the City of Bandon.  Please, contact the board members and ask them to vote against the Resolution to increase the Bandon Urban Renewal debt limit. 

The City of Bandon wants to waste this money on redevelopment, basically giving your tax dollars to wealthy developers.  The contact information for the school board members are below.   Both School Boards will meet in the second week of October, so time is of the essence.   

We are focusing on convincing the Bandon School Board District (http://www.bandon.k12.or.us/) and the South Coast Education Service (http://www.scesd.k12.or.us) not to vote for this increase.  This increase in the Bandon Urban Renewal Agency will drain money from all the other overlapping taxing districts, which will put a strain on all the other county services.   

South Coast Education Service District
Board of Directors
Tom Giles
Position 1, Zone 4
3838 Sherman Av,
North Bend, OR 97459
            541-756-6794
            tbgiles@charter.net 

Susan Walberg
Position 2, Zone 3 – Term ends 2011 – Board Vice-Chair
1410 Compass Circle,
Coos Bay, OR 97420
           541-267-1418
            walberg1@charter.net

Jackie Crook
Position 6, Zone 6, Member-at-Large – Term ends 2011 – Board Chair
23710 Carpenterville Rd,
Brookings, OR 97415
            541-698-7710
            mj.crook@hotmail.com

Jeff Davis
Brookings/Gold Beach/Port Orford
            PO Box 1255,
Gold Beach, OR 97444
            541-247-2003
            JEFFDAVIS@ccsd.k12.or.us

Maria Wartnik
Position 3; Zone 2 Bandon/Coquille/MP/Powers
            95420 Hwy 42
Coos Bay 97420
            541-267-2520
            wartnik@harborside.com

Norm Rowe
???

Matt Rowe
            PO Box 715 
            Coquille, OR 97423
            541-260-3673

All the Board Members can be contacted by emailing: janv@scesd.k12.or.us


****************************************************************************************************************************
BANDON SCHOOL DISTRICT #54 BOARD MEMBERS:

Wayne Robbins, Chair

Robin Koch, Vice-Chair

Kate Valleli

Troy Russell

Francis Stadelman

Fred Carleton

Misty Berry

 

To contact board members, send an e-mail to schoolboard@bandon.k12.or.us.

Read the file below to see what the City of Bandon is planning.....

Here is the exact reason why we need citizen watchdog group keeping an eye on our leaders.

Oregon Public Meetings law keeps 'the public business in the public light'
http://www.kval.com/news/local/114245204.html

We have to stay vigilant. 

We are still constructing the website to fit our needs, so please be patient with all the changes.  I should have the first Newsletter coming out this week.  It is a time consuming task to add all those email addresses from all the group lists that we have accumulated over the last several years.  

Eventually, we will be having some speakers and rallies to drive up the support for our effort.  If anyone knows of a group that would benefit from hearing a speaker on The Problems with Urban Renewal, then please contact us with the info. 

Here is a story on the Oregon Kicker.  I will try to keep up with current news stories that relate to the problems all of us have to face in Coos County.  

http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/09/does_oregons_financial_instabi.html

The title  of this article should put fear in the heart of every property owner. Even if, you are not convicted of committing a crime, you can still have your property seized by law enforcement. When the economy takes a dump, governments will use these types of tactics to get revenue. This will lead into eminent domain, which is a tool of the Urban Renewal Agencies

This is why we have to act now to protect our property.  


Civil Asset Forfeiture: Policing for Profit

Did you know more money went to Government Redevelopment than want to Hospitals in Coos County?

Urban Renewal gets 5% of the property taxes in Coos County and the Hospitals take only 3%.  Were did the money go?........READ THE FILE BELOW AND YOU WILL SEE THE ANSWER.....

Oregon Secretary of State's office finds Clackamas County erroneously accepted signatures for urban renewal initiative
http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-city/index.ssf/2011/09/oregon_secretary_of_states_off.html 

There is fewer people in Coos County and it should be easier to collec signatures.   We need these laws to control  these unfettered budgets.....

Check out this story on the new Oregon sustainability center.
http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=131619770234696500

It was a sunny, windless day in Bandon, so that is always good news.  Also,  we have lined up our first speaker for the election year

Randal O'Toole will be here in Feb. of 2012 and I'm still waiting for a response from our legal expert as to when he can come down to Coos County for an informal lecture. 

Remember, to call the South Coast ESD shoolboard and convince them not to vote for any increase in Bandon's Urban Renewal debt.....

Those Brookings Tea Partiers really put on a good event. Their guest spoke on the PERS program in Oregon and it was enlightening and enraging all at the same time.

The politicians are really ripping us off.   If We The People don’t wake up there will be hell to pay…..

 

Their group will be coordinating with some of us in Coos County to take on the plight of Urban Renewal.

Hey Everyone,

I'm going with Joan Calhoun to the Tea Party in Brookings.  We hope to be working with a group in Curry County to get a measure on the ballot.  

It looks like a nice day so far in Bandon, let's hope it is the same down the coast.

I'll try to get some video of the meeting....

Hey Everyone,

This is the letter the City of Bandon sent to all the other over-lapping taxing districts

Hey Everyone,

I went to an organizing meeting tonight and everyone there seemed to be excited about our next campaign. Right now we are waiting for the legal committee to finish the Ballot Initiative, so we can start the petition process.

If you don’t know the basis of our argument against Urban Renewal, then read the paper written by Randal O’Toole. It is in the attached file. He is one of many who have seen the detrimental effects of Tax Increment Financing.

If you want some current history on this issue in Oregon then go to this website and do a search for Clackamas County & Urban Renewal. http://oregoncatalyst.com/

If anyone needs to contact me, please email me at obetewic@msn.com.

We are working on several projects and one of those is building the website.  Please be patient for any confusing changes.

You can contact me at obetewic@msn.com. 

Thanks,

Sincerely, Rob Taylor