For immediate release:	Contact:
April 19, 2007	Sarah Wetherson, 503/756-8537

Donors Who Gave More than Half the Money to the Measure 37 Campaign File Over $600 Million in Claims, Could Earn Windfall on Campaign Investment

Contributors to the 2004 campaign to pass Measure 37 have filed claims under the measure worth at least $600 million, according to an analysis from the Money in Politics Research Action Project (MiPRAP).

Campaign donors who have filed land-use claims under Measure 37 provided more than half (56 percent) of the funding for the campaign and comprised about 4 percent (or 31) of the campaign’s donors.

“There are many reasons why campaign contributors give money,” said Sarah Wetherson, research and outreach associate with MiPRAP.  “Most of the contributors to Measure 37 have not filed claims.  However, several donors who provided major backing for the campaign are in a position to take advantage of the change in law they brought about.  They are not all the regular folks who just want to build a dream house that we heard about in the campaign.”

MiPRAP’s review of Measure 37 claims looked at all 180 itemized donors to the signature gathering effort and subsequent ballot measure campaign, and included those claims filed by close family members of individuals and officers of the businesses and organizations contributing to the campaign.  MiPRAP estimates that there were 589 donors in a state-defined category of miscellaneous contributors [i] whose small-dollar contributions can be reported as a lump sum, for a total of 769 individual and business contributors to the campaign. 

As noted on chart 1, MiPRAP also compared campaign supporters’ contributions against the monetary value of the Measure 37 claims and calculated that the contributor claimants, at the time of filing their claims, stood to earn a median potential percentage gain on investment of 241,067 percent.

Under Measure 37, a landowner can file a claim with local jurisdictions or the state asking that land-use regulations be waived or that the landowner be paid the difference between the value of the land under land use regulations and what it would be worth if the regulations were removed.

The donor with the largest potential percentage gain on investment, 59,125,503 percent, appears to be Associated Fruit Co., described in the InfoUSA [ii] database as a privately-owned fruit grower and shipper with between $2.5 and $5 million in annual sales.  The business gave $200 to the campaign for Measure 37, and has filed claims requesting either a loosening of land-use laws that restrict development on their land or to be paid $118,251,205 in compensation.

The contributor with the largest total claims found, Stimson Lumber Company, gave $30,000 to the campaign and has filed at least $269 million in Measure 37 claims.

Chart 1: Contributions to the 2004 Measure 37 Campaign, Related Measure 37 Claims and Potential Percentage Gain on Investment

Contributor Name(s)	Contribution to Measure 37 Campaign	Percentage of Measure 37 Campaign total	Value of Measure 37 Claim(s)	Claimant(s) and Relationship(s)	Potential Percentage Gain on Investment
Seneca Jones Timber Co	$321,000	19%	$6,750,000	Aaron U Jones, Founder	2003%
ATR Services Inc, Greg Demers, and Frontier Resources, LLC	$195,481	12%	$2,400,000	Greg Demers, company owner, and Robert Demers, son	1128%
Jeld-Wen Foundation and Jeld-Wen, Inc.	$102,000	6%	$200,000	Jerol E. Andres, President, Jeld-Wen Development	96%
Dr Johnson Lumber Co	$75,000	4%	$890,000	Donald R Johnson, President	1087%
Oregonians In Action PAC, Oregonians in Action (OIA)	$96,589	6%	$5,000,000	Frank Nims, Oregonians in Action PresidentNims Family LTD Partnership (Ross Day, contact for both claims, is director of legal affairs for OIA)	5077%
Rosboro Lumber Co.	$35,000	2%	unknown	filed 3 claims - no dollar amount in DAS data	unknown
Stimson Lumber Company	$30,000	2%	$269,051,463	Stimson Lumber Company	896,738%
South Coast Lumber Co	$25,000	1%	unknown	filed 12 claims - no dollar amount in DAS data	unknown
Murphy Plywood	$25,000	1%	$900,000	dollar amount in 1 of 3 claims	3500%
Giustina Land & Timber Co.	$20,000	1%	$1,510,000	dollar amount in 1 of 3 claims	7450%
Wildish Sand & Gravel	$10,000	1%	$15,400,000	Wildish Land Co.	153,900%
SDS Lumber Company	$7,500	0%	$120,750,000	SDS Lumber Company	1,609,900%
Davidson Industries, Inc.	$5,000	0%	$58,599,016	dollar amounts in 16 of 34 claims	1,171,880%
Indian Hill, LLC	$5,000	0%	$7,100,000	Indian Hill, LLC	141,900%
Agri-Business Real Estate Services and Tony Sibernagel	$600	0%	$1,130,000	Tony Silbernagel, Owner	188,233%
Horning's Hideout	$500	0%	$1,940,750	Jane Horning, Owner	388,050%
Bob Allsup Properties	$500	0%	$4,281,000	Robert Allsup	856,100%
Glendale Farms, Inc	$250	0%	unknown	filed 1 claim, no dollar amount in DAS data	unknown
Associated Fruit Company	$200	0%	$118,251,205	Associated Fruit Company	59,125,503%
Mitchell, Kenneth	$150	0%	$4,409,065	Dorothy Mitchell Trust, John Mitchell, Ray Mitchell, Kenneth Mitchell	2,939,277%
Cronin, Harold	$100	0%	$1,420,000	H.W. Cronin	1,419,900%
Graham, Doris	$100	0%	$294,000	Doris R. Graham	293,900%
Mountain Iron Works, LLC	$100	0%	unknown	filed 1 claim, no dollar amount in DAS data	unknown
Oldenstadt, Dennis	$100	0%	$13,800,000	Oldenstadt Limited Liability	13,799,900%
Pacific Intermountain Mortgage Company	$100	0%	$54,000	Kenneth M Errend	53,900%
Vlastelicia, Jr., John	$100	0%	$2,820,000	Vlastelicia, John J	2,819,900%
Claimant Subtotal	$955,370	56%	$633,836,499	Median Percentage Change	241,067%
Other Contributor Subtotal	$743,367	44%	N/A
Total Contributions and Claims	$1,698,737	100%	unknown

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MiPRAP analysis of 2004 campaign finance reports filed with the Secretary of State and Measure 37 claims complied in the Department of Administrative Services claims registry dated April 12, 2007.

MiPRAP examined Measure 37 claims filed by campaign contributors totaling $636,950,499 when filed.  Of these, claims whose status is unknown or in process make up $552,100,688, or 86 percent, of the total.  Claims that have been approved have a value of $46,818,811, or 7 percent.  Claims that have denied comprise $36,750,000, or 6 percent.  Claims that have been withdrawn total $1,281,000, or less than 1 percent.  There were also 21 claims with no dollar amount stated.

The Money in Politics Research Action Project is a non-partisan, not-for-profit group whose goals are to increase accountability and opportunities for participation in politics.

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