From West by Northwest.org Voices of the Northwest Sadler's Sense: Measure 45, The Way We Never Were By Russell Sadler Oct 30, 2006 Ballot Measure 45 restores term limits on Oregon legislators -- six years in the House and eight years in the Senate. In 2002, the Oregon Supreme Court overturned the 1992 term limits approved by voters. The high court ruled the sponsors of that initiative violated a provision of the Oregon constitution that limits initiatives to amending one section of the constitution at a time. The preamble to Measure 45 says, “Limiting the terms of legislators expands opportunities for public service, reduces the influence of lobbyists and the power of incumbency, and encourages fresh energy and ideas thorough varied public representation...” Oregon’s decade-long experience with term limits suggests that’s a quaint political theory mugged by a brutal gang of facts. During the decade term limits were in effect, the Oregon legislature became an artificial, self-induced revolving door of inexperienced, poorly informed lawmakers all struggling with learning the basics of Oregon government at the same time. Inexperienced legislators became the pawns of the majority leadership which was in turn beholden to the national partisan interests that supplied their campaign cash. The needs of ordinary Oregonians took a backseat to bitter partisanship. With so many inexperienced lawmakers, lobbyists found they had become the legislature’s institutional memory. Many lobbyists told me they were spending more time just explaining the basics of long-standing issues to green lawmakers than they spent lobbying for their clients’ interests. Ironically, the lobbyists didn’t like their newly acquired role. In the Voters’ Pamphlet, you will see a large number of well-established trade association lobbyists urging you to vote “no” on Measure 45. They want more experienced lawmakers who have enough background to be more independent of the legislative leadership. In an op-ed piece promoting Measure 45, Libertarian Paul Farago writes, “Regular open-seat elections began to bring forward a greater diversity of qualified candidates, and resulted in opening the House and Senate to women and minorities who had been long excluded from the old-boy network.” Sorry Paul. It’s the way we never were. During the decade term limits were in effect, candidates for the Legislature were less qualified, if anything, because fewer of them had any experience in local government like city councils or school boards. The demographics really didn’t change much with term limits. The number of women and minorities was not significantly different. Nor was the average tenure of legislators significantly longer or shorter. Term limits simply forced a large number of legislators out of office just as they were getting enough background and experience to do their jobs effectively. Term limits is a sweet solution looking for a problem. Oregon really doesn’t have a cadre of “career politicians,” largely because legislators are paid part-time salaries for part-time jobs. The legislature turns over when lawmakers decide they cannot continue to serve on the money they make and either return to make a living in the private sector or run for a higher office that pays a living wage. The voters decide who moves up the political ladder to a rather small number of full-time jobs held by people who could be classed as “career politicians.” The voters rarely choose Libertarians. And that’s what galls Farago and his bankroller, New York real estate developer Howard Rich. The Libertarian Party is Oregon’s third largest political party. Yet there is just a scattering of Libertarian office holders on city councils, school and community college boards or appointed to planning commissions. There are no Libertarians in the Legislature or in statewide office. Voters don’t elect them when they are on the ballot. No Libertarian candidate has ever won more than 10 percent of the vote for any major office. That says a lot about the Libertarians’ rigid “I’ve-got-mine-Jack-you-get-yours” ideology and Oregon voters’ reaction to their gospel of selfishness. Libertarians want to create artificial turnover to create artificial vacancies to increase their own election opportunities. That’s all term limits is about. Self-appointed “citizens activists” like Paul Farago, Bill Sizemore and Don McIntire have been active in Oregon politics nearly two decades now -- a far longer term that they would permit legislators chosen by the voters. They helped turn Oregon’s initiative process into a private, parallel shadow government, bypassing the checks and balances of the legislative process. Shouldn’t people with that kind of power over our lives be limited in the number of years they can be self-appointed “citizen activists”? No! Wait! That would be an unconstitutional infringement on their rights of free speech and free association, wouldn’t it. Wouldn’t it? Copyright ©2006 by Russell Sadler Russell Sadler is a journalist and a lecturer at Southern Oregon University. You may write him c/o publisher at westbynorthwest.org. Visit Sadler's Sense columns at West By Northwest.org: Sadler's Sense: A Squandered Legacy? Sadler's Sense: A Snapshot of Electorial Politics and Power in Oregon Sadler's Sense: Sea Change Sadler's Sense: Ben Westlund's Bid for Governor and Why He Makes Sense Sadler's Sense: Croesus and Responsibility Sadler's Sense: Can We Kick the "Kicker" Habit? 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