As 1000 Friends of Oregon works to defend and improve Oregon's land use planning system, other groups are working to weaken the program and make Oregon look like Anyplace, USA.  The most strident and vocal of those groups is Oregonians In Action.

Q:  What is Oregonians In Action (OIA)?

A:  Oregonians In Action (OIA) consists of several interrelated nonprofit organizations and PACs, most having either "Oregonians In Action" or "Oregon Family Farm Association" in the name.

Interlocking nonprofits OIA and the OIA Education Center were founded in 1983; the OIA Legal Center, another nonprofit, was formed in 1989.  The groups are based in Tigard.

In 1997, OIA formed a political action committee (PAC) to work on ballot measures and candidate campaigns.  In 1999, recognizing the power of the "family farm" image, OIA started a front group called the Oregon Family Farm Association (OFFA) and a related PAC.  In 2002, OIA opened a branch office in Medford.

OIA has formed and dissolved several PACs as needed.

Q:  Who are the principal people involved?

A:  Larry George, Dave Hunnicutt, Bill Moshofsky, Frank Nims, and Dale Riddle.

Larry George has served as Executive Director of OIA since 1993.  George, the son of State Senator Gary George, lives in Portland.  Like Bill Sizemore, he owns a political consulting firm, George Advertising, with which he has supplemented his pay using OIA money.

David Hunnicutt of Portland is OIA's lead attorney, and sometimes works using his own letterhead as David Hunnicutt, Attorney at Law.  He ran unsuccessfully for the Oregon Court of Appeals in May 2002.

Vice-President Bill Moshofsky, a lawyer and retired Georgi-Pacific vice president, and OIA founder and president Frank Nims, a timber and farmland owner in Sherwood, are the other two principal public faces of OIA.

Dale Riddle of Eugene's Seneca Jones Sawmill is one of the most active board members, especially with fundraising.  Other board members have included James Huffman, the dean of the Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College, who has ties to the Heritage Foundation; Rita Sawyers, an anti-Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area activist from Hood River; and leslie Lewis, a former state legislator and current Yamhill County Commissioner.

Former state representative Jim Welsh served as the lobbyist for OFFA during the legislature.

Q: How much money does OIA have?

A: In 2000, OIA-related organizations spent over two million dollars; in non-election years, OIA spends significantly less.

Given the plethora of organizations and a tendency to move money between them, it is difficult to gauge the total amount of money spent by OIA.  In 2000, a relatively standard year, the three nonprofit organizations, (OIA, the Legal Center, and the Education Center) raised a combined $751,000 and spent $681,000.  That same year, four OIA PACs spent $1,379,374 combined.  Like most PACs, in non-election years, OIA's PACs spend a fraction of that.

Q:  What does OIA spend its money on?

A:  Mainly lobbying, ballot measures, newsletters, media, and lawsuits.

OIA has focused on opposing land use planning for almost 20 years.  OIA has also worked to oppose or weaken laws protecting salmon, standards for forest practices, and limits on grazing.  It recently has jumped on the judicial reform bandwagon, and its original bylaws include a variety of causes, including pro-gun advocacy.

The OIA Education Center sends a newsletter to over 15,000 homes six times a year, coordinates public meetings and forums, creates letters to the editor, and buys video and radio ads.  The Legal Center files several lawsuits each year on a variety of land use issues.

OIA-PAC gives money to various ballot measures and candidates, from county commission races to the state legislature, and directly to the Republican Party.

Q:  What ballot measures has OIA worked hard on?

A:  Four statewide measures and two local measures.

While paying minor roles in previous ballot measures, OIA has been most active on the ballot since 1997, when it pushed the Legislature to refer Measure 56 to the 1998 ballot.  Measure 56, which requires state and local governments to mail costly and biased notices to landowners prior to making land use decisions, passed without significant opposition.  Using the initiative process in 1998, OIA tried to gut land use planning with a convoluted administrative rules initiative, Measure 65, which voters rejected.

In 2000, OIA redrafted and reran the administrative rules attack as Measure 2, failing again.  OIA also teamed up with Bill Sizemore to pass Measure 7, the sweeping "takings" law.  The measure has subsequently been overturned in court and is currently on appeal.

In the fall of 2000, OIA missed a deadline to place an anti-density measure on the ballot in the Portland Metro area.  Measure 26-11 was subsequently placed on the May 2002 ballot, where voters rejected it handily.  OIA worked against Measure 26-29, an alternative placed on the ballot by the Metro Council, which voters passed by a  two-to-one margin.

While OIA and Bill Sizemore drafted several anti-land use initiatives for the 2002 statewide November ballot, they failed to qualify any.  OIA is vowing to place measures on the 2004 ballot.

Q:  Where does OIA's money come from?

A:  Several sources, though the largest contributions come from timber companies, timber executives, and developers.

OIA claims to have several thousand donors among their groups, thanks to an aggressive direct mail strategy.  OIA also has friends throughout the timber industry, including Aaron Jones, Greg Demers, Harry Merlo, Samuel Wheeler, Bill and Arthur Moshofsky, and executives of other timber companies.  In addition, several developers and right-wing funders and foundations support OIA's work; Robert Randall, Wes Lematta, Jeld-Wen, Jay Westons, Loren Parks, the Barber Family Trust, Florence and Dan Dolan, and Oregon Taxpayers United have all contributed significantly to OIA's work in the past.  Finally, the Homebuilders Association of Metropolitan Portland has given OIA tens of thousands of dollars.

Q:  Who collaborates with OIA?

A:  Various right-wing figures, including Bill Sizemore, Don McIntire, Loren Parks, Aaron Jones, the Cascade Policy Institute, and Steve Doell.  OIA also works closely with the Homebuilders and Realtors.

The Oregon Building Industry Association (OBIA) and Oregon Association of Realtors are also commonly represented at the annual OIA conference, and often collaborate with OIA at the state legislature.

Source:  Summer 2002 Landmark, a publication for those who care about Oregon's communities and countryside, 1000 Friends of Oregon.

Also see:
03/13/01 - Commentary: Frivolous lawsuits undermine democracy - OIA Opposes SLAPP Suit Bill