Democratic Contempt

I totally agree with Michelle Holman (Letters, 10/17) when she blasts elected officials for failing to respect the will of the voters.

Based on Holman’s letter, I’m guessing she leans progressive. If she voted for Democrats for state offices, she and everyone else who did likewise are enablers of the very offenses against which she rails.

Democrats in the 2019 legislative session, including all of them from Lane County, showed unprecedented contempt for the voters. They took extraordinary measures to muzzle the electorate, violated voter mandates, sabotaged and killed a citizen referendum and made it considerably more difficult to mount an initiative drive. 

It was primarily this contempt for voters that drove the Republicans to stage their walkouts. They wanted the voters to be able to weigh in on costly, far-reaching proposals. The Democrats would have no part of it.

Would it be any better without Oregon’s current one-party rule? I don’t know. What I do know is that the supermajority party has repeatedly shown that its members don’t care what the voters think and don’t want citizens to be able to challenge legislative decisions.

The Democrats apparently believe the voters are OK with that — and so far they’ve been right. 

Jerry Ritter

Springfield