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Giving power back to the citizens of Damascus Oregon |
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Mayor Wright, Councilor Helm Violate Election Law !
From the “you won't see this in the city supported tabloid” department.
Mayor Wright, then council president Wright, along with councilor Diana Helm formed a PAC (political action committee) to fight against 3 measures written and supported by “Ask Damascus”, a citizen created PAC. The measures allowing the citizens to vote on taxes and defending property rights were vigorously opposed by Wright and Helm along with others on the council. According to state records Helm contributed $150 on 2/25/08 and on that same day Wright filed for a reimbursement from the PAC in the amount of $2,839.00. Dee Wescott donated $200 and Gramor Development, a company in Tualatin that appears to own the recently logged area by 232nd and Hwy 212, donated $1,000.
Signs started to go up and the campaign was underway. You remember their mailing?
But trouble was brewing, while the signs stated “Paid for by Friends of Damascus PAC”, a search of state records showed no such PAC existed and the Secretary of State opened an investigation.
On March 11, 2008 Damascus overwhelmingly passed all three measures much to the chagrin of Helm, Wright and the rest of the Damascus City Council.
Then an interesting thing happened. Friends of Damascus PAC, after losing the election by a large margin and having spent more than they had reportedly taken in, on March 17, 2008 received $1,000 from an out of state (Colorado) contractor. Seldom do you see someone feed a dead horse.
The problem, no one had filed the PAC with the State of Oregon as required by Oregon election law. The Secretary of State's office after a rather lengthy investigation came to a decision on June 6, 2008 resulting in a fine issued to Damascus City Councilor Diana Helm for operating a PAC without filing a statement of organization with the state. Diana received the fine since she was the treasurer even though the PAC was registered at Mr. Wright's address.
On June 10, 2008 “Friends of Damascus filed a statement of discontinuation and the PAC quietly died.
The city council supported tabloid quietly wanted this to just go away and decided no need for you to know.
The city councilors running this PAC were given 60 days to appeal the ruling but no appeal was made.
Click here for a copy of the decision by the Secretary of State. |
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OUR CITY TAX DOLLARS AT WORK click here |
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DAMASCUS THE MOST DANGEROUS CITY IN THE NATION? click here |
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"Road to Bigger, Better Damascus Leads to Dead End" --Oregonian January 16, 2009 |
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A dream that's coming back to bite us--Oregonian January 24, 2009 |
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VoteYes!! Ballots will be in your mailbox February 18th. Spread the Word!! Vote Yes on all four!! |
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