Proposed Property Crime Ballot Measure Headed to Court

Portland lawyer John DiLorenzo on Oct. 1 filed a proposed initiative for the May 2025 ballot that would amend the Multnomah County charter to force the county to take responsibility for property crimes.

The initiative says that Multnomah County’s policies have contributed to an increase in property crime and seeks to hold the county financially accountable.

“The county shall insure and indemnify persons and owners or lessors of property for property damage and bodily injury as a result of any crime committed within the county,” the initiative says.

But on Oct. 8 Multnomah County Elections Director Tim Scott rejected DiLorenzo’s filing. In his explanation, Scott wrote that the initiative violates Oregon constitutional requirements that ballot initiatives only deal with a single subject; that a initiatives seeking to amend the charter on more than one subject require separate votes on the respective subjects; and, that initiatives seeking to amend the charter deal with matters that are legislative, rather than administrative. Scott also noted that the initiative fails to meet certain county charter and state law requirements.

On Oct. 17, DiLorenzo filed a petition for judicial review of Scott’s hearing in Multnomah County Circuit Court. That’s a fairly routine procedural step which will require a judge to determine whether the initiative is meets legal standards.

Perhaps the most interesting part of DiLorenzo’s petition: the identity of his attorney.

DiLorenzo hired state Rep. Kevin Mannix (R-Salem), a prolific author of legislation and ballot measures, including Measure 11, the 1994 law that implemented mandatory minimum sentences for violent crimes. Mannix wrote many other crime-related ballot measures over the years, including Measure 61 in 2008, which proposed mandatory sentences for property and drug-related crimes. District attorneys and progressive groups banded together to propose a less draconian alternative, Measure 57, which passed instead.

Mannix, 74, served in the Legislature from 1989 through 1996 as a Democrat and from 1997 through 2001 as a Republican. He then ran for governor (twice), attorney general (twice) and Congress (once), losing each time, before reclaiming a Salem House seat in 2022. In addition to representing DiLorenzo in the pending ballot initiative case, he is running for re-election next month.