Secretary of State Bill Bradbury
2008 Ballot Measures and Their Financial Implications
On October 16, 2008 the City Club will welcome Secretary of State Bill Bradbury for our third Thursday Forum. Bradbury will review the 2008 ballot measures and provide insight into the relative costs of the initiatives if they should pass.
The twelve 2008 Ballot measures address a variety of issues including: mandatory or increased sentencing, use of lottery funds, open primary, building permit requirements, teachers' pay raises and income tax deductions. As expected, there are strong opinions on both sides of many of these issues as well as cost factors that impact implementation.
Please join the City Club to hear from Secretary of State Bill Bradbury and participate in discussion about these ballot measures and their impact on the citizens of Oregon.
View the 2008 Ballot Measures in Summary
The Forum will be held at St. Charles Center for Health and Learning. Check in begins at 11:15 for the 11:30 lunch and program. Preregistration is required for this event. Registration options are:
1) Prepay with a Credit Card for the Forum
2) Notify the City Club of your attendance through the Contact Us link and indicate the names of those attending. (Cash or check is accepted at the door)
3) Call the City Club to preregister 541-633-7163. Indicate the names of those attending and pay at the door with cash or check.
The Cost of this Forum is $13.00 for members, and $25.00 for nonmembers the payment includes lunch.
Speaker Bio
Bill Bradbury was appointed Secretary of State in November 1999, elected to a four-year term in November 2000, and reelected in November 2004. As the state's second-highest-ranking constitutional officer, Bradbury is auditor of public accounts, chief elections officer, and manager of the state's corporate filings and official legislative and executive records. Along with the Governor and State Treasurer, Bradbury oversees management of state-owned lands as a member of the State Land Board.
Secretary Bradbury is leading the nation in protecting public confidence in elections with a Fair & Neutral Elections Administration pledge. He also serves on the Board of Advisors for the nonprofit Vote By Mail Project, which is bringing the many benefits of Oregon's Vote By Mail system to other jurisdictions.
Secretary Bradbury's continued priorities include protecting the integrity of Oregon's elections process and increasing voter participation, improving the performance of government through strategic auditing and ensuring the responsible stewardship of state-owned lands. He also continues to emphasize making the information collected by the Secretary of State's office more readily accessible to the public on the Internet, whether in elections and campaign finance, audit reports on public agencies, corporation filings, or government archives.
As Secretary of State, Bradbury has identified millions of dollars that could be spent more efficiently or effectively and made numerous recommendations on improvements in government processes through hundreds of audits of state agencies.
In 2000, Secretary Bradbury saved taxpayers $700,000 in postage for the Voters' Pamphlet.
Under Bradbury, fees charged to start a new business have dropped from as much as $440 to $20 (but beginning January 2004, the legislature raised these fees to $50). In 2001, he updated the Business Entity Registration and Information (BERI) system, lowering costs, increasing efficiency and improving its accessibility. Currently, he is working on a one-stop online portal, the Central Business Registry, which will address all of your business registration needs.
Bradbury has been a national leader on election reform, testifying on Oregon's unique vote-by-mail system before Congress and several federal commissions following the 2000 Presidential election. He has advocated for a centralized voter registration system - completed and functioning as of January 2005 - as well as the elimination of punch card ballots and improved access to voting for people with disabilities. He is extremely proud that, since 2004, Oregon is one of the few states where all counties vote with reliable and trustworthy paper optical scan ballots. Bradbury has been a tireless advocate of cleaning up the initiative process while protecting this fundamental Oregon right.
From 1995 to 1999, Bradbury served as Executive Director of For the Sake of the Salmon, a Portland-based non-profit organization dedicated to finding common ground for salmon restoration in Oregon, Washington, and California.
Bradbury served in the Oregon legislature for 14 years. He represented portions of Oregon's south coast as a State Representative from 1981 to 1985 and as a State Senator from 1985 to 1995. Bradbury served as Senate Majority Leader from 1986 to 1993 and as Senate President from 1993 to 1995.
As a legislator, Bradbury led successful efforts to develop the Salmon and Trout Enhancement Program (STEP) (1981), to establish Small Business Development Centers at all Community Colleges (1983) and to put together a relief package for displaced timber workers (1987). He also helped pass measures preventing offshore oil drilling and planning for state-owned ocean resources (1989) and enacting the Oregon Watershed Health Program (1993).
Prior to serving in public office, Bradbury worked as a television news reporter, director, and producer in various locations including San Francisco, Bandon, Eugene, Coos Bay and Portland. From 1978 to 1995, he wrote for and produced Local Color, a video news service covering rural areas of Oregon.
Bradbury was born in Chicago, Illinois. He grew up both in Chicago and in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Bradbury graduated from the University of Chicago Laboratory High School and attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. In 1971, he moved to Bandon, Oregon and ran his own restaurant.
Bradbury is married to Katy Eymann of Mohawk Valley, Oregon. He has two grown daughters from a prior marriage, Abby and Zoë
SUPPORT MATERIALS / LINKS FOR BALLOT DISCUSSION
Interested voters can find a wide array of information / opinion / and blogging about most measures. Below is a link to the Secretary of State Election Division site. General information is available about each of the measures.
Elections Division - Information by Measure