Welcome !

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 "de-formalizes"

SB 1573 basically nullified the right of cities to vote on annexations, which was one of OCVA's primary missions.  In view of that, and of Jeff's passing, the Board has been re-evaluating OCVA's mission.  One decision we've made is to reduce our operating expenses by ending our formal registrations with Federal and State entities.  This means that we can no longer formally accept donations.  If you have questions, we encourage you to contact us.

The Latest News from our Member Cities

• (2020-07-30) AS WE SEE IT: Home rule is no more in Oregon
  Vice Chair Jeff Lamb describes the recent Oregon Court of Appeals decision on SB 1573 and its effect on home rule in Oregon.
• (2020-05-20) Committee approval of city budget is tragic
  OCVA board member Catherine Biscoe argues that in the era of COVID-19, the City of Philomath should be prioritizing essentials such as water filtration over pre-COVID items.  Unfortunately, the recently-passed budget does not reflect that new reality.
• (2019-12-29) Growing pains: Can Albany afford to grow, and what happens if it doesn't?
  Yet another article about how growth that doesn't pay its own way puts stress on schools and other city services.
• (2019-07-14) Housing game-changer: New bill eliminates single-family zoning
  Read about how cities are reacting to the passage of HB 2001, “which essentially eliminates single-family housing zones.”
• (2019-07-13) VIEWPOINT: Oregon's acclaimed “local control” may be nullified
  Vice Chair Jeff Lamb describes SB 1573's impact on the long-established tradition of home rule in Oregon.
• (2019-07-08) As I See It: Transparency key as Philomath grows
  “During the June 24 City Council meeting, Councilor Marion Dark made a motion attempting to establish audio recordings for all city meetings, adding Public Works and the Finance/Administration Committee, where many real city finance decisions are made.  … After 30 minutes of discussion and objection, City Manager, Chris Workman had convinced three councilors to vote the motion down.”
• (2018-11-07) Philomath cleans house
  Voters choose 5 out of 7 candidates supported by sister organization Grow Philomath Sensibly!
• (2018-11) Wheeler Citizens for Responsible Development testifies before City Council
  and responds to the City's Short Term Rental Survey. 
• (2018-10-03) As I See It: How Philomath's floodgates opened
  Read this editorial by Vice Chair Jeff Lamb describing SB 1573's impact on his home town of Philomath.
• (2018-07-09) Quad Mill annexation issue heats up
  Learn the latest about Philomath citizens' fight to stop the Quad Mill annexation, and the contaminants reported back in 1989.
• (2018-02-05) Corvallis City Council votes to take annexation decisions away from citizens
  Councilors voted 7-1 to stop sending annexation requests to the voters pending the outcome of city appeals of a 2016 state law that sought to limit voter-approved annexations.
• (2017-01-24) City of North Plains is an up-and-comer
  New mayor says small town is growing, on track to double in size in the next five years.
• (2015-11-04) Sherwood annexation measure defeated easily
  The proposed annexation of more than 100 acres of land just south of Sherwood's current city limits has been decisively turned back by voters.  With relatively few votes left to be counted, Measure 34-242 had 3,310 "no" votes to 1,488 "yes."
• Annexation survey sparks discussion in Springfield
  A survey from the City of Springfield asking for citizens' perspectives on annexation of some properties to the city has returned the topic of annexation to the foreground in the city.  OCVA has been involved in annexation matters across Oregon for nearly two decades and has released a summary of "pros and cons" of annexation.  It is our hope that our analysis will facilitate more informed discussion and decisions.  Read our analysis here.

The Latest OCVA News

(2020-07-06) We have updated our Oregon annexation procedures document to reflect recent changes in the law.

We are pleased to introduce our newest affiliate: Grow Philomath Sensibly.  GPS, as they are affectionately known, formed about a year ago in response to a proposed 660 house development in Philomath.  With Jeff's help and mentoring, they organized and defeated this misguided proposal.  They have formed a PAC to raise money to support their efforts and donations are being accepted on their web site. 

GPS is yet another example of citizens getting together to regain control over how their city grows.  Their efforts are reminiscent of the early beginnings of OCVA, where citizens of the areas surrounding Springfield and Philomath were threatened with unwanted development.

We would also like to extend a hearty welcome to our newest Board members: Richard Flacco and Nathan Hightower.  Welcome aboard, gentlemen!

What We Do

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.

Getting YOUR Right to Vote

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!

Tools You Can Use

How to Keep Tabs on the Oregon Legislature:  Here's the "main door" to the Legislature: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/

Want to know how things work?  Check out How an Idea Becomes Law, a summary of the Legislative process.

Want to find out who YOUR Representative or Senator is?  Find your legislator

Want to know more about a particular bill?  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.

Want to keep track of a committee's work or a bill's progress?  You can do it using OLIS.  At the top of each OLIS page is a set of buttons:

Choose "Bills" or Committees", then find the bill or committee you want.  Once you're on that page, you'll see "Follow this Bill" or "Follow this Committee" at the top rgiht of the page:

Click the "e-Subscribe Email" link, fill in your e-mail address, and click Submit.  You'll receive an e-mail whenever there's activity on the bill of committee. Simple!

Want to send a message to an elected leader?  Look up your Representative or Senator, then use their "Email:" link to send your message.

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.

Other Resources

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

Our Humble Beginnings

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

Updated April 9, 2023