What a turnout we had for our first petition drive in Bandon last Saturday to get the needed signatures for a ballot measure.  This is the FIRST referendum the city of Bandon has ever seen.  (They are so used to just passing measure after measure without voter approval.)  I think we have left them in a fairly bewildered state.....but back to the topic.....9 folks turned out to canvass door to door in Bandon to get signatures!  Did we get enough?  Rob Taylor will be commenting on that soon, so I will leave that up to him.  But I will say this:  the public response to us has been very edifying.  Just to update you on "terminology."  Here is the difference between an "initiative" and a "referendum", which we get asked alot.  Once the Bandon City Council voted on extending the Urban Renewal Debt from $5 mil to $12 mil, that became law.  A "referendum" is when concerned citizens get enough signatures to submit to the elections clerk to then "refer" the entire matter back to the voters, via an election ballot.  Thus, a referendum.  An "initiative" is similar, but it is a measure put on the ballot that is not law yet.  The concerned citizens are "initiating" an idea that has not become law yet.  Thank goodness Oregon is one of the most liberal states (and I use the word "liberal" in a good way here) in the Union for letting its citizens get things on the ballot, recalls, initiatives, referendums, etc.  And by gosh, we are using that process to the max right now.  Stay tuned for updates on the state of our referendum........

We have 2 weeks to get all the signatures on our Bandon Urban Renewal referendum.  Either call Rob Taylor at his home to sign the petition (541-347-9942) or email him at:  urpetition@msn.com.   Even better--take 5 minutes of "training" and we can send you out in the community to garner signatures yourself.  We need around 200 valid signatures (must be a Bandon city resident and registered to vote.)  That is actually a fair amount, so please help--every single signature is now valuable.