Local Control of Lottery Dollars

It is time for those of us in rural Oregon to take responsibility and charge of our needs. We have stood by and waited too long for Salem to take notice of the difference in rural and urban communities. They have continuously ignored our pleas to help stabilize funding in counties dependent upon our natural resources for county funding, yet they push for clean energy reforms which are not proven to be cost effective, and will roll out by 2025. To add insult to injury, they classify them as emergency measures, to take effect immediately, and push them through the short legislation session. Do they not understand the word emergency? Where was the $2 billion that would have given rural counties the ability to provide basic public safety services to its citizens, and saved nearby jurisdictions from sacrificing their own public safety concerns and dollars? Why did we not see the PERS financial time bomb addressed? This will financially affect every city, county, state agency (and yes that means taxpayer), as they scramble to fund PERS liabilities now, not 2025. Could it be because their own pocketbooks are at stake? It is time for a grassroots movement to bring local control back to local communities. We can begin by reclaiming 50% of lottery funds being taken from our local counties currently going into a "honeypot" in Salem. Go to www.lotterylocalcontrol.com to learn how much money that means to your county. Then download the e-petition, sign and send it to the Lottery Local Control Committee. We need to show Salem that rural Oregon has a voice, and demand it be heard! It is time.

Valerie Lovelace

Grants Pass, Oregon