Oregon Legislature

Legislators want to hear from you at upcoming Townhall meetings

Alert date: 
September 21, 2013
Alert body: 

Our state legislators hold town halls from time to time, inviting constituents to attend and express their civic concerns. As OFIR learns about the town hall schedules, we will alert members and encourage attendance. Town halls are a great opportunity to meet your legislators and question them in person. If you learn of town halls scheduled for your district, please send the information on to OFIR.

Read more about questions to ask State Legislators at upcoming townhall meetings.


 

Opponents of driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants say they're on pace to refer law to voters

A group opposed to a new state law that grants driver's cards to undocumented immigrants says members are well on their way to collecting enough signatures – and then some – to refer the law to voters for the next general election.

The organization, which calls itself Protect Oregon Driver Licenses, has two weeks left to collect the signatures of at least 58,142 registered voters in order to meet ballot requirements.
 

Read more about SB833 - driver licenses for illegal aliens. Read more about Opponents of driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants say they're on pace to refer law to voters

Drive-thru democracy, it doesn't get any easier!

Alert date: 
September 18, 2013
Alert body: 

PODL will be hosting another drive-thru signature gathering event. This time at the famous Oregon landmark - The Bomber Restaurant in Milwaukie, this Thursday, September 19, noon to 7:00.  Drive in, sign the referendum petition, drive away - you don't even need to get out of your car!

We will be back again on Monday, September 23, noon to 7:00.

The Bomber Restaurant is located at: 13515 SE McLaughlin Blvd in Milwaukie.

Look for the B-17 bomber! Thursday, noon to 7:00.  See you there!

Call Rep. Walden today

We encourage everyone to contact Oregon Congressman Greg Walden’s office and ask him to not give into the push for amnesty by the open border, pro-illegal immigration crowds. The have singled him out as a key voter in Congress. The group is marching from Madras to Bend to put pressure on him to cave into their demands.

At a time when over 20 million American citizens are either underemployed or out of work, we do not need millions of illegal aliens stealing jobs from citizens. It is estimated that 180,000 Oregonians are unemployed and there are an estimated 120,000 illegal aliens working in Oregon. Over the past four years, real wages (inflation factored in), have dropped 10 %.

The presence of tens of thousands of poorly educated non-citizens vying for jobs not only takes jobs but reduces wages.

Make sure to tell his staff that you are a citizen, you vote and you live in Oregon.

Encourage him to be the Representative that Oregon needs...to stand strong for the citizens of Oregon.

Read the article about the three day march to Walden's office.
  Read more about Call Rep. Walden today

C. Oregonians stage march for immigration reform

MADRAS, Ore. - Signs, flags, chants and drums -- the classic parts of a rally. Dozens of Central Oregonians set the beat on Sunday to begin a three-day, 42-mile walk and send a message to Rep. Greg Walden and the rest of America.

It's a march from Madras to Bend, demanding change to immigration laws.

"This is urgent, because every day, over 1,000 people are being deported," said Central Oregon Causa community organizer Greg Delgado.

For 31-year-old undocumented Bend resident Gerardo Zuniga, the message behind the walk hits close to home.

"If my family members were to be deported, that would tear the family apart," Zuniga said. "The kids, especially my little brother, would be stuck here."

It's called the "Walk for Citizenship," led by Causa, a statewide organization supporting Latino immigrant rights.

The group is headed south along Highway 97 for three days, stopping in Culver, Redmond, and finally ending the march at Walden's office in Bend.

"We need to really partner up with our Republican delegates, and make sure they are with us on this issue, because we know they're going to be important deciders for what happens, and we know he (Walden) is a key voice," said Causa Director of Civic Engagement Reyna Lopez.

Currently, Zuniga is going through Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals--also known as DACA -- a memorandum signed by President Obama last year, allowing undocumented residents who came to the U.S. as children and are now pursuing education or military service to legally obtain work in the U.S.

Still. he says there's always a cloud of fear and uncertainty hanging over his family.

"My mom can't drive around," Zuniga said. "And my dad's the only one who has a license, currently. If my mom was to drive and get pulled over, she would be detained and be deported. It's a hard situation to be in."

That's the life for thousands of undocumented Central Oregonians, millions in the U.S., and a couple dozen people sporting butterflies in their walk across the High Desert.

"(Our symbol is) a migrant butterfly,"Delgado said. "The monarch butterfly is a symbol of migration -- that is natural to our human race, and it's just a beautiful symbol for us." Read more about C. Oregonians stage march for immigration reform

Marion County: Husband charged with murder, abuse of wife's corpse

A man accused of killing his wife and hiding her remains in remote Marion County was formally charged Friday with murder and abuse of a corpse.

The charges against Gustavo Villanueva Gutierrez stem from a September 2012 incident in which human remains were discovered by a Mill City hunter while he was hunting adjacent to Niagara Heights Road, about four miles east of Gates.

The remains were identified as those of Gutierrez’s wife, Maribel Gutierrez-Salinas, 39. They lived in Tualatin.

Gutierrez-Salinas was last seen in February 2011, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System website.

Gutierrez, 42, was arrested in Laredo, Texas, on Aug. 26 after a Marion County grand jury handed up a secret indictment with his charges.

The Laredo Morning Times described him as a truck driver who was operating an 18-wheeler when local authorities pulled him over near Interstate 35 in North Laredo.

He was extradited to Oregon to stand trial. He is lodged in the Marion County jail without bail and is next scheduled to appear in court Sept. 29.

Gustavo Villanueva Gutierrez - ICE HOLD

  Read more about Marion County: Husband charged with murder, abuse of wife's corpse

Return filled referendum petition signature sheets by Sept. 27

Alert date: 
September 16, 2013
Alert body: 

Volunteers have been working hard to collect the 58,142 signatures Protect Oregon Driver Licenses needs to get SB 833 on the ballot next fall.

If you have filled signature sheets, please sign them and send them in by Friday, Sept. 27 so we can begin processing them before the Secretary of State's deadline of Friday, October 4th.

Please continue to collect signatures up until the deadline.  We need all the signatures we can get.

But, please send in now, any filled sheets you have accumulated so far.

Thank you for all your hard work, your time and dedication to get the job done!  We can't do it without you!

A happy outcome is just around the corner, if we all keep working up until the deadline.

 

 

 


 

Making himself at home

If one were to drop in at one of La Grande’s various advisory committee meetings, there’s a new face in town.

He’s been at City Council meetings, the big Main Street meeting, even an Urban Renewal Advisory Commission meeting.

Eddie Garcia moved to La Grande in June — and it hasn’t taken him long to get to work for his new home. He was appointed to the city’s parking, traffic safety and street maintenance advisory commission earlier this summer and will launch a radio talk show Thursday.

“It’s just an opportunity to invigorate people to have a discussion,” Garcia said of the show, “Speak Your Mind,” which airs from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Thursdays on 1450 AM in Union County and 1490 AM in Baker County.

“I’m asking questions because if I’m going to be here and be productive, let’s bring in business,” Garcia said.

Business and moving La Grande forward will be a broad topic Garcia plans to cover on his show. But stemming from that is the parking issue raised at the August public meeting for La Grande Main Street, the presence of Eastern Oregon University,and the Blue Mountain Humane Association.

“I just hope I can be a part and do something,” Garcia said.

Already Garcia has met with the sheriff, police chief, other community leaders and residents.

“There’s a bunch of folks I’ve met that have good ideas,” he said.

But not all of them are willing to go on the air to voice them.

Garcia’s civic involvement isn’t necessarily new.

“I do political consulting for a living,” he says.

He moved to La Grande from Nashville, Tenn., where he was a consultant and wrote Christian music.

“I was able to balance music with politics,” he said.

And fortunately, he can work from wherever there’s Internet, making him flexible to make it to afternoon meetings of the Urban Renewal Advisory Commission. As he continues working on races in Florida and Tennessee, he says he’s pulling from those experiences.

“If I learn something about the mayoral race there, could that apply here?” he asks.

The flexibility also provides some time to plan his show.

The first topic for the Thursday show is the new law that will allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s cards in Oregon. Jim Ludwick, with Oregonians for Immigration Reform, will be Garcia’s first guest.

Immigration is a hot topic nationwide, but for Garcia, it’s personal. He and his parents immigrated to the United States when he was 2 years old. But Garcia isn’t convinced that undocumented people should be granted driver’s cards.

Garcia’s hope is for “Speak Your Mind” to become a place of discussion for the community about the topics that matter to the community — be they La Grande Main Street, parking, immigration, law enforcement or whatever else may come up.

His new home is getting better as each day passes.

“It’s growing on me as I meet new people,” he said.

And he understands that people may not always see eye to eye.

“In the end we may agree to disagree,” he said. Read more about Making himself at home

Volunteers make the world go 'round

OFIR and PODL extend a heartfelt thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers working so hard all over the state gathering signatures for the SB 833 referendum petition campaign.  We certainly couldn't get the job done without YOU!

Please, don't let up for even a minute!  Keep up the good work and know that the end is near and victory is in sight. 

Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend!
  Read more about Volunteers make the world go 'round

OFIR Meeting - Sat., Sept. 14 at 2:00pm - Special Guest Rep. Thatcher

Alert date: 
September 8, 2013
Alert body: 

Please plan to attend OFIR's upcoming meeting Saturday, September 14 at 2:00pm in Salem, OR at the Best Western Mill Creek Inn just across from Costco.

Chief Petitioners Rep. Kim Thatcher and OFIR VP Richard LaMountain will be our special guests!  Rep. Sal Esquivel, the third of the three Chief Petitioners volunteered for four hours in our State Fair booth, but will be unable to join us Saturday due to a scheduling conflict. 

We will give an update on the referendum petition campaign and salute our awesome volunteers and contributors.  Please bring any filled signature sheets with you to turn in for processing.  If you need additional supplies we will have them on hand for you.

Thank you to each and every one of you that are working so very hard to ensure the success of this campaign.  We have only one 3 weeks left, so we must really put the pedal to the metal until we are over the finish line.  Do not let up, victory is in sight!

 

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