This story stems from this article: Bill Sizemore jailed for contempt of court
Key Quote: The dramatic moment just after Wilson finished a more than two-hour recitation of her findings in the case. Two Multnomah County deputies who had been in the back of the courtroom approached Sizemore, who was sitting at a table facing the judge, handcuffed his hands behind his back and led him from the courtroom.
This was in response to a lawsuit filed by Sizemore's longstanding enemies, and one of, if not the, most powerful unions in the state, the Oregon Education Association among at least one other teacher's union.
Sizemore has honestly had this a long time coming. Below is a brief history of Sizemore's OR political activity.1990-Don McIntyre (one of Sizemore's precursors) proposes and helps pass Measure 5 (Similar to the infamous Prop 13 in CA), sharply limiting property taxes and hindering state government ever since.
1994-Sizemore passes Measure 8, later overturned, which would have required public employees to pay part of their salaries. 1996-Sizemore passes Measure 47, a follow-up to Measure 5, which later requires the legislature to propose and pass Measure 50 as Measure 47 proves to be constitutionally unworkable.
1998-Sizemore wins the Republican nomination for OR Governor and loses badly to incumbent John Kitzhaber (D).
2000-The Oregon Education Association and AFT-Oregon file a racketeering lawsuit against Sizemore. The accusations center around submission of false or fraudulent signatures and submission of false tax reports to hide Sizemore's use of political campaign funds for his personal expenses. In 2002 a jury found against Sizemore in the amount of $2.5M, which has had yet to pay a dime of.
2002-Oregon voters pass Measure 26, banning payment per signature for initiative petitions, a measure directly aimed to stop the sort of about perpetrated by Sizemore. Opponents have tried via the courts, thankfully unsuccessfully, to overturn it repeatedly.
2003-The court orders dissolution of Sizemore's Oregon Taxpayers Union-Education Fund for the violations described above.
2004, 2006 and 2008-Sizemore proposes a series of initiatives, all of which fail.
2008-Oregon voters pass Measure 56, overturning the "double majority" requirement at the center of Sizemore's Measure 5/47/50 victories in the 1990s but leaving the property tax limitations themselves intact.
Most recently this story came out, which I previously reported on and so will repeat my thoughts from then:
Sizemore admits to personal use of funds:
Story here: Oregon anti-tax activist Bill Sizemore admits personal use of funds
Anti-tax activist Bill Sizemore is known for many things, such as running a series of insane ballot measures every two years. However, one thing he would prefer not to be remembered for is his mis-use of funds donated to nonprofit organizations under his control, which partially led to a judgment against him several years back for racketeering. Under the terms of an injunction resulting from that lawsuit, such usage of funds was not allowed. Despite this, it was revealed that Sizemore "wrote checks from the foundation account for $660,326, almost all of it for his own benefit. Sizemore also charged another $88,176 to a foundation debit card at Wells Fargo." Included in his purchases was a car for his wife, braces for his daughter, a time-share in Mexico and my personal favorite, 15 1-ounce gold pieces. It seems that perhaps the real reason Sizemore doesn't like paying taxes is that the pesky government insists he follow the law.
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