Is there any actual debate that goes on at these things? I always got the impression it was attended primarily by bloggers who love the sound of their own voice - each getting a chance to speak their own little irrelevant soliloquy.

Primarily by bloggers? Huh?

Nope—we find a person or two to represent each side of an issue, have a moderator who knows the subject well, toss out plenty of tough questions (including ones from the audience), and encourage the debaters to go at each other. Nicely, of course. Sort of.

Yes on Measure 49!

we find a person or two to represent each side of an issue...

unless the subject is immigration, of course.

We already voted on this one. It was called Measure 37 and it passed handily. Deal with it, ya' bunch of no-land-owning urban slackers.

Measure 37, if left unchecked, will re-make Portland and the Willamette Valley in the image of Southern California, ie. unchecked growth, sprawl, increasing traffic and commutes. We all love how different it is here. The horribly written Measure 37 is changing that. It's also primarily benefitting huge timber companies and mega-developers (and their lawyers), not the small landowner it was sold to the voters as. Joe 6 pack, with a small landholding he wants to develop a few houses on, will still be able to under Measure 49. Measure 49 will keep in check those who want to put a huge tract-housing development or a gravel mine in the middle of prime farmland just outside the urban area. Vote yes on 49 and save Oregon!

Replacing the "horribly written" Measure 37 with an even more "horribly written" Measure 49 is not acceptable. Getting rid of 4-10 unit subdivisions that compromise 40% of all claims (and yes, Measure 49 gets rid of all of these) is throwing out the baby with the bathwater. We need a REAL fix.

NO on Measure 49 fix49.com