Citizens for a Healthy County reports that they have been notified by Lincoln County County Elections Clerk Dana Jenkins that his office has confirmed validation of the signatures of 1424 Active Registered Voters in Lincoln County who have signed their approval of the initiative petition entitled “Freedom From Aerially Sprayed Pesticides of Lincoln County”. The initiative, which required 1163 valid signatures, has now become Measure 21-177 and will be placed on Lincoln County’s May 2017 Special Election ballot.Citizens for a Healthy County says they much appreciate the more than twenty volunteers and supporters who helped gather signatures to place this measure on the ballot. They said “This was a demonstration of the ability of Oregon citizens to exercise their right to local self-government through the citizens initiative process.”
Measure 21-177, if passed, would prohibit aerial spraying of pesticides (including herbicides) from an aircraft (helicopter, airplane, drone).
What qualifies as aerial spraying? Putting it briefly in the words of one of their supporters, “If your feet are on the ground, it is not aerial spraying.” Current laws and regulations permit and protect the practice of aerial spraying of pesticides, threatening our public health, violate our constitutional right to to safety, and interfering with our right of local community self-government.
