We haven't seen the exact annexation maps, but the target area appears to encompass at least 15 square miles. Once again, this major policy decision was not made in public by those we elect, but behind closed doors by city staffers. The question of who benefits from these mass annexations is long overdue for real debate and some genuine coverage by the establishment media. The Growth Lobby can rest easy. It is now May, with two months to go until signatures are due for the initiative, and the urban growth measure needs 126,000 signatures.
Any realistic appraisal deems the initiative dead.
Its supporters, sadly, have not put enough time into the effort and they've failed to raise enough money to pay pro-UGB petition passers to get this sucker on the ballot. To do a statewide initiative with volunteers takes more than a few months. It's about to get very hot and the cost of professional signature-gatherers goes up in direct competition with all the petitions for other issues that are on the street right now. We don't know who botched the UBG gig. There should have been real fund-raising going on while the lawyers at the Center for Law in the Public Interest were finalizing the initiative's wording.