Columbia County Citizens for Human Dignity

(Scappoose, OR) Local businesses and community members across Columbia County were disappointed to learn of the passage of Measure 5-190 today. The rejection of its partner measure, 5-191, was good news.

“This poorly-written measure preyed on voter anxiety during really tough economic times,” stated Marcy Westerling, a No on 5-190 and 5-191 campaign spokesperson. “While Oregon has a long history of citizen action via our ballot measure system, our communities are not well served when deceptively simple solutions are peddled to voters.” Craig Frasier noted that “Passage of Measure 190 is another reminder that we have a long way to go in winning people’s hearts and minds for immigrant justice. We must find a way to address the growing economic insecurity of the entire community, or the impulse to blame and scapegoat groups will continue to grow.”

Community members and local businesses had pointed out that these measure(s) were confusing and full of unintended consequences. Unfortunately, we may not have communicated the damage measure 190 will cause for local-businesses and the economy of Columbia County we are confident that both these measure(s) would have been rejected.

What happens now that they have passed is unclear. Measure 190 is so flawed that it cannot function as statute. And other communities that have implemented similar measures have paid a heavy price, having to cut funding for local schools and law enforcement.