This Sunday, May 5th, 2024, you can head out to North Plains, Oregon, and take part in an awesome afternoon which will include a Tractor Parade, small-town charm, and a free concert featuring Jacquie Roar, a local star that made it to the finals of the TV hit show The Voice. Rand Brown, another local singer of great repute, will also be playing. While you’re there, you can take in the fresh country air and enjoy a small-town environment that is truly unique, a quaint downtown with shops, watering holes, huge murals, and more. North Plains, Oregon, has earned the reputation as one of the last great small towns in the Portland Metro Area, built by agriculture, farmers, loggers, and local business people who have that small-town grit but the biggest hearts around. That all is on the line as some City leaders, industrial interests, and land owners looking to cash in have forced through an 855-acre growth plan against the wishes of a large percentage of locals.
The Locals
The event this weekend is being sponsored by the Friends of North Plains Smart Growth, and it is designed to rally the local voters to Vote NO on Measure 34-327. Friends of North Plains Smart Growth is a grassroots groundswell group comprising local farmers and town folk. Truly, these people know what is at stake and care enough to speak up and fight back. I met them at City Hall the morning they turned in the Voter Referendum, signed by 400 locals, giving them the right to put the massive growth plan to a vote. Moms with babies, little ones at their feet, and farmers with chicken manure on their boots made up their ranks. Hollywood could never recreate the authentic moments we shared and who they are.
The group is not a NO-GROWTH group. No, far from it. They are supporting smart growth for North Plains. They are not well funded and are fighting for this vote and their futures, for the right to live in their town free from Chemical Plants and Data Centers like those that blot out the skyline in North Hillsboro just across the Sunset Highway. Here is what they have stated on their website:
A NO vote on Measure 34-327, to prevent a huge expansion of the city’s Urban Growth Boundary by 855 acres. This expansion would more than double the size of North Plains without a plan for what kind of businesses will come, or who will pay for it.
• A smaller, more targeted expansion that first improves conditions inside North Plains. A NO vote on the city’s excessive, poorly-planned expansion helps get us there.
This concert and tractor parade is one way they can fight back against a now corporate machine running against them in a way that Oregon has never seen before. Folks, they are up against it, and this is nothing short of a modern-day David VS Goliath story.
You can get involved, hold a sign, or donate some bucks to help them stand up for their town and the Oregon Way! Click Here
The Outsiders
While the locals are not well funded, the YES For North Plains group is. Locals are listed on this website https://www.yesfornorthplains.com/endorsements and all the positive talking points, as expected, are there. What is not there is a disclosure of how the money is coming in. This little town ballot measure has now attracted money from the super-powerful Portland Metropolitan Association of Realtors. I have been a member of PMAR for years now. I have NEVER seen this group pour this much money into anything like this small-town vote. Here are the group’s Mission Statement:
PMAR is committed to fostering an inclusive and welcoming environment that represents all of our Realtor® members, homeowners, and the community.
The group donated 10,000 dollars to the YES side a while back, and in a massive follow-up a couple of days ago, they added another $42,000. The $52,000 so far makes this issue one of the largest fights/causes they have ever taken on. For my part, let me apologize to the people of North Plains. This is not what Realtors are about. We are about building community- not tearing apart. We are about supporting our communities’ well-being and unity, not stepping into a fight and forcefully dividing the town with our collective funds. Something is very wrong here- this is not like PMAR. This smells bad- and I am going to find out what is driving this and why the PORTLAND Metropolitan Realtors felt the need to come in and financially sway this outcome.
Ok- on to the FUN part!
The EVENT
All the info is right here – EVENT INFO
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1671092349961413/
Jacquie Roar: 4:30 – 6:00 PM (no cover charge)
Parade – free!
Antique, big tractors, candy, and lots of family fun!
Date: Sunday, May 5th
Time: 2:00 PM until approximately 2:30 PM
Route: Starting at North Plains Elementary on North Avenue, continuing east until taking a right
on Main Street, and then turning left on Commercial Street and traveling east three blocks.
Get out the Vote Concert with Jacquie Roar and Rand Brown
Free concert in support of a No vote on Measure 34-327—against expansion. Sponsored by
Friends of North Plains Smart Growth.
Date: Sunday, May 5th
Performances:
Rand Brown: 3:00 PM – 4:15 PM
Jacquie Roar: 4:30 – 6:00 PM
Location: The Last Waterin’ Hole, 31594 NW Commercial St., North Plains, OR 97133
Hi Derek – you need to proof your article. Where you have “While your (you’re) there you can take in the fresh country air, “. And this, “one way they can figth back”. Then there’s planning “comisisoners”. Anyway, my comment isn’t to look for the errors but more to say I am in support of the town North Plains and disapprove of big industrial development for Washington county taking down the beauty of the valley there. Can the vote be expanded to all of WACo,?
Thank you! Our spell checker was on a break. That is what happens when you work 40 hours for free to get the local news out every week! I appreciate it.