First, let me start by saying thank you to all of you that came out and did “Drive 4 UR School” last Saturday. The weather the night before and the morning of scared off a few folks but those of you that came out raised over $3,500 for our local schools!! Yeah!! Education is a great investment!
So, I am again asking for your help on behalf of all our community and it will not cost you a dime, just some time. Take the time, read the report (we have posted on our Gresham Ford Facebook page) from our Mayor in Gresham on how car thefts are NOT being prosecuted because of a loophole (a judges interpretation that unless you say you stole the car – you have just borrowed it without permission, thus not a car theft-thus you are not prosecuted).
This interpretation started around 2014-15 and guess what, car thefts have increased dramatically (Gresham is 8th in the Nation for Thefts and Portland is 5th) since prosecution is not in the picture for the people stealing cars. Yes, cars and trucks are our business but this hurts all of us when thefts go up so do insurance claims and when claims go up – guess what, insurance rates do also. In addition to costs such as deductibles, costs for repairs not covered by insurance and just the time and wages lost when folks are having to handle the horrible inconvenience of having their car stolen.
So what can you do? Contact your local State Representative, the legislation to correct this problem is in HB2328 and be sure to state you want it passed unamended so there are consequences for car thieves’ actions! While we would all think this is a no brainer…it did not get passed in the last legislative session because of lack of focus! So please help – our community does not need to be in THIS Top Ten Category! Thank you!