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Medford legislator at heart of debate By Dani Dodge The biggest brouhaha in Rob Patridge�s 2� years on the Medford City Council was when Castle Superstore came to town. The shop, which features sex toys and erotic videos among its wares, moved into an abandoned grocery store at Biddle Road and Progress Drive two years ago. Angry residents screamed that they didn�t want the store. "We had more people turn out for those meetings than any other issue while I sat on the council," said Patridge, now a state legislator. "But ... on advice of legal counsel, there wasn�t much we could do. "It galvanized the community because the community doesn�t like to feel powerless and right now the community is powerless." The Oregon Constitution�s free-speech protections prohibit cities and counties from telling sexually oriented businesses like nude bars and video shops where they can locate. Voters have twice opposed measures to change the free-speech clause of the state�s constitution. But Patridge said he believed it was time to give the issue one more shot. When he took office in 1999 as Medford�s state representative, he did just that. The result is Measure 87 on the Nov. 7 mail ballot. Patridge said he and other legislators met with groups on all sides, including the ACLU and the entertainment industry. They tailored the legislation more narrowly than previous measures to address concerns of librarians and bookstore owners, Patridge said. Still there was opposition, in the Legislature and Southern Oregon. Rep. Judy Uherbelau, D-Ashland, was the lone dissenter when the measure emerged from committee in April 1999. Uherbelau, like Patridge a lawyer, said that the public should decide whether businesses survive or die by their patronage. And she expressed reservations about changing the state�s constitution. "It weakens the fundamental protection of free speech contained in the Oregon Bill of Rights since 1859," she said at the time. "I know there are those who argue that we are merely zoning and not doing anything to free speech. But what you are zoning is content � and that is free speech." A spokesman for Medford�s Castle Superstore declined to comment on Measure 87. If passed, the measure will let city councils and county commissions decide where to locate sexually oriented businesses. Officials won�t be able to ban them outright, but they would be able to relegate them to places like industrial areas that would be more appropriate than downtowns, Patridge said. "People don�t want this beautiful downtown we�ve spent all this time and energy and money supporting turned in to a red-light district," he said. Existing businesses won�t be moved, because cities would incur "huge damages," he said. But the measure would let communities determine their own futures. "It gives all Oregonians an opportunity to take back control of their communities," Patridge said, "and determine proper locations for these types of businesses." Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA