Oregon City citizens, Mayor Doug Neeley claimed at the Aug. 1 City Commission meeting that you are too dumb and lazy to vote on creation of urban-renewal debt, so he opposes a November city ballot measure that if approved, will give you that basic democratic right.

Mayor Neeley also says that urban-renewal debt does not take money from schools. He is wrong on both counts. Moreover, he has supported concentration of urban-renewal debt decisionmaking into fewer and fewer—including unelected— hands.

A gaping loophole in the city charter requires a public vote on all bonded debt except for urban-renewal debt. The November city ballot measure would close that loophole by adding your right to vote on urban-renewal bond issuance.

Neeley’s insulting claim that we citizens are too ignorant and apathetic to vote, is ridiculous. Citizens know that creating urban renewal debt ultimately diverts property taxes and since it’s our money, we ought to determine whether the public benefits of a proposal are worth the cost to homeowners and renters.

According to the Portland chapter of the League of Women Voters, statewide approximately $180 million in property taxes were diverted by urban renewal from city, county and school services in 2011 alone. Schools statewide lost $70 million due to urban renewal debt. Portland’s city auditor recently warned that rising urban-renewal debt is weakening Portland’s ability to provide basic services. That same specter looms over Oregon City if the urban-renewal debt, city-charter loophole is not plugged.

Yet instead of increasing citizen democratic rights, Neeley and the Oregon City Commission have done just the opposite, by recently restructuring the city’s Urban Renewal Commission (URC) such that it is now possible for as few as three individuals—two of whom are unelected—to create up to $130 million in urban-renewal debt. The unelected deciders are appointed by the city commissioners, all five of whom also serve on the URC along with the two unelected persons it appoints. A quorum is four.

The unelected URC members are totally unaccountable to the voters, and developers desiring corporate welfare at your expense, will place great pressure on the City Commission to appoint “friendly” people to those posts. Without your right to vote, urban renewal is essentially a slush fund there for abuse by crafty property lords who buy land with the expectation that their “friends” will authorize its development with diverted property tax revenue that otherwise would pay for essential services.

Are you too dumb and lazy to vote? Prove Mayor Neeley wrong this November by voting YES on Measure 3-407, the Oregon City urban renewal voter rights measure. It’s your money, so close the loophole, prevent cronyism, and end corporate welfare.

Oregon City resident J. Kevin Hunt is co-chief petitioner for Initiative 2011-1, which is now Measure 3-407.