OCVA's mission is to 1) promote voting on annexations and 2) protect citizen involvement in land-use issues.  If you're new to our site, we invite you to learn more about OCVA and our mission.  If you have questions, items of interest, a link to share, or need help with annexation and growth issues, please contact us.

OCVA's current priorities:

• Preserving citizens' right to vote on annexations.
• Increasing the number of Oregonians who have the right to vote on annexations, known in these pages as "VoA."
• Working to ensure that all annexation voting and all city-initiated annexation actions are fair to all citizens.
• Ensuring that annexation ordinances are well-implemented and informative.
• Helping citizens control local growth by demanding that SDCs (impact fees) cover the full costs of growth.

Want more information about these topics?  Use the Issues and Initiatives link in the left margin.  Want to learn more about the land use planning community that OCVA is part of?  Visit our resource page.

A quick look at some of the issues we're following...

• Annexation appeal heads to Salem
  (March 20) A small group of homeowners who were recently annexed into the City of Forest Grove against their will filed a Notice of Intent to Appeal with the state Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) Friday, March 8.  Read more…
• Property owners move to appeal Forest Grove 'island' annexation
  (March 18) Seven Forest Grove property owners are appealing a February decision by the city council that brought about 75 acres of county land into the city. … The petitioners are represented by fellow islander and Hillsboro attorney Ben Knaupp, who said Monday that he is pursuing the appeal at no charge to property owners.  Read more…

Are you thinking about putting a VoA charter change on the ballot in your town?  Read this guide to learn how!

Does your town already vote on annexations?  If so, the ordinances that dictate annexation procedures are the key to good annexation policy.  Learn the next step: creating a strong Implementing Ordinance.

OCVA continues to fulfill our prime directive: preserving our right to vote on annexations.  We have also successfully helped annexation reform such as placing restrictions on "island annexations" (ORS-222.750).  And we had some success in addressing growth's impact on schools.  Stay current with changes in annexation laws, voting on annexations and much more.  Subscribe to OCVA's E-mail alert list!

How to Keep Tabs on the Oregon Legislature:  Here's the "main door" to the Legislature: http://www.leg.state.or.us/index.html

In a hurry?  Here's the quick "map" of what to see and where to go:  2013 Legislative Session at a Glance

Want to know how things work?  Try the Citizen's Guide and How an Idea Becomes Law (the Legislative process).

How to find YOUR Representatives or Senator:  Find your legislator

Want to send a message to an elected leader?  Write your legislator

It's HERE!  The Oregon Legislative Information System - OLIS - provides almost real-time legislative information on the session, bills and committees.  See all of the important events of the day during the session.  It's all here: bill text, amendments, measure analyses, committee agendas, meeting materials, recording logs, and committee votes.

Need ideas for your messages to leaders?  You're in the right place!  Follow the Charter Amendment Campaign Responses link to read about common misconceptions about voting on annexations and factual common-sense responses to them. 

We believe "thinking points" are better than talking points because thinking points include convincing explanations so you can "bring your audience along" to the understanding that voting on annexations provides many powerful benefits to citizens and communities.

You will find more "thinking points" in studies of the growth impacts on our Documents page.  Please consider taking time to read and ponder what others have written.  Very soon you will be aware of recurring themes that summarize why voting is so important.

Visit our resources page for links to other activist groups, research reports, articles, legislative scorecards, and more!

Read "Hostile Takeover," our thrilling history of how OCVA was formed and how we beat back legislative attempts to stop us in our tracks.

·This page last modified on 2013-02-20 17:44.