Vote no to the aughts

Who's ahead in the race for the money?

So far, Joe Buck has collected and spent almost 3X the amount of money as the next best-funded candidate.  Joe's ORESTAR account activity shows an amazing $9,320 collected and over $8,000 spent so far.  Information will continue to come in up to and past Election Day, so expect to see these numbers grow.

Since Joe has so many "Miscellaneous Contributions $100 and under," there are few names to associate with his campaign finances - most likely an intenttional effort to disguise who is funding his campaign.  On his website though, there are plenty of names of endorsers to give one a good feel for where Joe's loyalties lie.  The list of endorsements reads like a Who's Who for the Chamber of Commerce and Keep Lake Oswego Great, and includes past and current elected officials.  The roster of ex-mayors and current city councilors should leave no doubt about what Joe's positions might be if he were elected as his supporters almost uniformly support:

• Bringing a streetcar to downtown Lake Oswego 
• Increasing density in the city, mostly in Downtown and Lake Grove, but also in all the commercial areas that allow housing and mixed use.  
• Liberal use of Urban Renewal Areas (Tax Increment Financing) to push through projects that will continue the complete overhaul of the city into a European Village on steroids. 
• Having current residents and taxpayers shoulder the financial burden for new infrastructure,  new parks and amenities for developers' projects' profitability.
• Density and large-scale growth ("smart growth").
• Metro's agenda for the region.
• Not valuing who we are and what we have, but continually wanting something more - and wanting government (taxpayers) to help foot the bill.  

The 2012 election showed the old guard that they had gone off-track with their direction for Lake Oswego.  While there are many within city hall that continue to thwart citizen wishes for a better future, there has been a steady build-up to regain power lost within the city council.  Clinching a council majority will give the pro-density, pro-streetcar and pro-debt faction the wherewithal to go through with their plans for a high-rise Foothills development, a Portland-to-LO streetcar, urban renewal debt, increased density and more Metro "partnerships."

Ballots will be mailed out in about a week.

This isn't just a speech for 

 Vote NO for Joe Buck, 

it is a campaign to

 Vote NO to Going Backwards 

to 12 years of elites who dominated the city for far too long.  

Don't be fooled by his age - take a look at who is behind Joe Buck's campaign and what they stand for, and then judge him on the company he keeps.  By the way, for someone seeking a non-partisan position, being supported by the Democratic Party of Oregon is not a good thing.  Joe Buck seems like a very nice person - he's just not the person I want to make decisions about the future of Lake Oswego.