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This is truly a grassroots effort, we couldn't get all this work done without the help of the many communities throughout Oregon. Click on the Community Tab above and learn more about the communities moving forward Community Bill of Rights.



Working at the State Level

The Right of Local Community Self-Government Constitutional Amendment would codify into law the right to local, community self-government, enabling local governments to protect fundamental rights and prohibit corporate activities that violate those rights.

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What are Community Rights?

Environmental rights, worker rights, rights of nature - what does this mean, and how does it work? Why do we need Community Rights? Learn more about why communities are taking things into their own hands! Find out More

Communities in Action

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The Oregon Community Rights Network is made up of community rights chapters and individuals. The chapters are local, independent community rights groups who have agreed to be part of the network. Each Chapter has a representative who sits on the Board of the ORCRN. These are currently active community rights chapters:

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ORCRN News

Right to Ban Aerial Spraying Passes in Lincoln County

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact: Mary Geddry

marygeddry@gmail.com

541-551-1492

Voters in Lincoln County have adopted Measure 21-177 by 61 votes. The delay in the final ballot count came as voters who had not signed their ballots were given the opportunity to sign. Voters had until 5pm this evening to make their ballots official with a signature. The vote count at the end of election night had the measure passing by 27 votes.

“It’s been over thirty years since aerial spraying of pesticides have been poisoning our county, so waiting a few more days to confirm that the people of Lincoln County are ready to put that toxic legacy in the past has been well worth it”, says Rio Davidson of Citizens of a Healthy County. “Our right to a healthy environment is key to our quality of life and livelihoods and the people in Lincoln County are done with the timber industry sacrificing our future.”

Measure 21-177 prohibits the aerial spray of pesticides in-order to secure the right to clean air, water, and the overall right to health of people and ecosystems. The common practice of the industrial timber industry is to aerial-spray toxic pesticides (1 to 2 applications yearly for the first 3 to 5 years of growth) on clear-cuts to kill off vegetation “competing” with the growth of newly planted and young commodity crop trees.

“A line has been drawn in the sand by the people of Lincoln County that says our right to decide on protecting our right to clean water, personal health, and protection for ecosystems is more important than allowing a corporate agenda to continue to cause harm to the community.”, says Nancy Ward, board member of the Oregon Community Rights Network (ORCRN).

Despite the affirmative vote of the people of Lincoln County in saying yes to Measure 21-177, Citizens for a Healthy County and the ORCRN are anticipating that the timber industry or supporters of the timber industry will not honor the new law prohibiting aerial spraying and will file a lawsuit to block or overturn the law. Such a lawsuit will pit the right of a community self-government authority to protect health, safety, and welfare against corporate activities that threaten or harm the community’s rights.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

To learn more about Measure 21-177 go to www.yes-on-21-177.org.

“Wins” in Lincoln and Coos

Ballot measures to secure a right to a sustainable energy future went down in  Coos County and the right to be free from aerial spray of pesticides in Lincoln County is currently passing by 27 votes!

Tuesday, May 17, 2017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact: Mary Geddry
marygeddry@gmail.com
541-551-1492

CORVALLIS – Voters in Coos and Lincoln counties cast votes for citizen qualified ballot measures in the May election where over $1.3 million dollars was spent by corporate interests to defeat them. Measure 6-162, Coos County’s Right to a Sustainable Energy Future ordinance, was rejected by a vote of 76% to 24% and Measure 21-177, Freedom from Aerial Sprayed Pesticides of Lincoln County ordinance, is currently on the road to passing by 27 votes. About one hundred ballots are in question (mostly do to lack of voter signatures), and once those issues are resolved there will be a final ballot count, which isn’t expected until the end of May.

“Once the smoke clears what we are going to see is even more people in Coos County determined to secure our community rights, our right of local self-government. We see that as a big win from last night not how the vote turned out”, says Mary Geddry of Coos Commons Protection Council, drafters of Measure 6-162. “Strange as it may sound, we have the opposition to Measure 6-162 to thank for waking more of us up to the fact that we don’t live in a democracy especially when you witness first hand a Canadian fossil fuel company buying an American election.”

Measure 6-162 in Coos County would have secured a right to a sustainable energy future. The law would have protected that right by prohibiting non-sustainable energy projects including the proposed pipeline and LNG export terminal at Jordan Cove.

“Though we have our fingers crossed that we will prevail, this campaign has already been a win because we raised not only the health issue of aerial spraying in the public’s consciousness but also the lengths the corporate timber and chemical industry will go to to cover up the truth”, says Maria Kraus of Citizens for a Healthy County, proponents of Measure 21-177. “Something has shifted in this community and people really feel like they need a larger role in determining the future of this county.”

Measure 21-177 would prohibit the aerial spray of pesticides in order to secure the right to clean air, water, and the overall right to health of people and ecosystems. The common practice of the industrial timber industry is to aerial-spray toxic pesticides (1 to 2 applications yearly for the first 3 to 5 years of growth) on clear-cuts to kill off vegetation “competing” with the growth of newly planted and young commodity crop trees.

“These recent campaigns to secure community rights in Coos and Lincoln counties have helped bring to light the disparity of power that we all face in our communities today, despite the issue, which is that our system often aligns corporations, government, and the law against the interests of people, communities, and the natural environment”, says Dana Allen, board member of the Oregon Community Rights Network (ORCRN).

Through a petitioning committee of the ORCRN a state constitutional amendment is being proposed that would secure the right of local community self-government. Such a change would allow for communities to advance greater protections and rights on the grounds of health, safety, and welfare than the state, and to be able to do so without the interference of corporate claimed “rights”. The local self-governing authority would only allow for advancing protections and rights but not for undermining or taking away such protections and rights as already secured by state or federal governments.

Along with the state initiative petition campaign, local community rights petitioning efforts are underway in Columbia and Lane counties. Columbia residents are and have faced a number of fossil fuel projects, and are advancing a right to a sustainable energy future ordinance for the November 2017 ballot. Lane is actively petitioning for a ban on aerial spray of herbicides and the right of local community self-government, aiming for the May 2018 ballot.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
To learn more about the ORCRN please visit www.orcrn.org. Information on the ballot measures in Coos County and Lincoln County: yeson6-162.org and yes-on-21-177.org. Information on the right of local community self-government state constitutional amendment can be found here: www.oregoncommunityrights.org

ABOUT THE ORCRN – OREGON COMMUNITY RIGHTS NETWORK
The ORCRN is a 501(c)(3) made up of community rights activists from various communities in Oregon. The mission of the ORCRN is to support and empower communities to secure local self-determination and self-governance rights, superior to corporate power, in order to protect fundamental rights, quality of life, the natural environment, public health, and safety.

Right of Local Self-Government Initiative Vindicated

Court rules in favor of constitutional amendment effort, calls out State’s obstructionist actions.

CORVALLIS – The citizen-led petitioning initiative effort to amend the Oregon constitution to secure the Right of Local Community Self Government has been cleared by a Marion County circuit court judge to gather signatures for the November 2018 ballot.

The Oregon Secretary of State’s office denied petition circulation back in April 2016 on the claimed grounds that the initiative did not meet certain procedural requirements.  An oral hearing was held in front of Judge Bennett of the Marion County circuit court back in November 2016. The wrongful claims of the state denied the opportunity to move forward on the statewide citizen initiative for the November 2016 ballot.

A key question of the case also dealt with whether there was an overreach by the State in its authority to interfere with the lawmaking process, in this case the lawmaking powers of the people of Oregon.

Judge Bennett wrote in his decision that,

“It is tempting to delve into the language and meaning of IP 55 [Right of Local Community Self-Government amendment]…However, those are subjects for the Citizens of Oregon to consider and debate. It is not for a few members of the executive or judicial branch to chill public discourse…The Citizens of Oregon, in their legislative capacity, bear the burden of debating these issues and determining the course of action. Limiting, stopping, or redirecting discussion on IP 55 [Right of Local Community Self-Government amendment] through Executive Action or Judicial Opinion is contrary to, and chilling of, public political speech.”

Oregon’s Right of Local Community Self-Government amendment to the constitution would secure the  right of local communities to move forward protections, on the basis of health, safety, and welfare, to a higher degree than the state. The amendment would also limit the ability of corporations to override that right of lawmaking powers. The right of local community self-government would allow for the expansion of protections or the defense of existing protections if the state lessens such protections, but it would not allow communities to adopt laws that would lessen already instituted rights and protections recognized by state, federal, or international law.

Oregon has a long history of using state preemptive power, often at the behest of corporate interests, to put in place a ceiling and/or outright prohibition on the decision making powers by communities on critical issues. Recent and substantial preemptive laws have come against local control of GMOs, citizen votes on annexation, raising minimum wage, rent control, and toxic pesticide practices by industrialized agriculture and timber.

“We knew we were right and the State was wrong, and it feels good to be vindicated” says Rob Dickinson, petition coordinator for Oregonians for Community Rights. “This effort to have our right of local community self-government constitutionally recognized is long overdue both for what we’ve suffered here at the hands of the state government as well as what we are seeing unfolding today at the federal level where it comes to the rights of people and the natural environment.”

Dickinson goes on to say, “With the green light to gather signatures it’s time to put in the hard work to qualify the amendment for the ballot and then pass it!”

To qualify for the November 2018 ballot the petition initiative will need to collect about 125,000 valid signatures.

At the time of this announcement the state has not made it known if they will appeal the decision.

Thank you to Ann Kneeland for representing us and doing a magnificent job!!