Candidates for the Springfield seat on the Lane County Board of Commissioners squared off Thursday at the Springfield City Club. Among other things, they sparred over the citizen initiative process.
A group tried to put a citizens’ initiative on the May ballot to ban aerial spraying of pesticides in Lane County. A circuit judge struck it down for not meeting state requirements. Joe Berney said he’d like the board to be more open to citizen initiatives and help to craft such measures. Incumbent commissioner Sid Leiken said this would be a mistake.
“I hope you clearly heard what my opponent stated because he just opened the door for Oregon for Immigration Reform, Oregon Firearms Federation to come in here and say you know what, we want that too.”
Berney rebutted: “I said we will have legal staff work with citizen initiative so they are structured properly and can move to ballot. Mr. Leiken, I would suggest that if that occurs, no doors are being opened up to no frivolous initiatives.”
Election Day is May 15th.