Be wary of petitioners.

Byline: The Register-Guard

An Alabama man's recent guilty plea in Portland to forging signatures on initiative petitions should alert Oregonians to be on guard when asked to sign petitions. It also should alert the Legislature to stiffen the law governing signature collectors.

Paul Frankel, a 29-year-old from Auburn, Ala., was sentenced to two years' probation in exchange for his cooperation with the Oregon Department of Justice's inquiry into fraudulent activities related to the initiative process. If Frankel can actually help the department in rooting out initiative fraud, the lack of jail time will be appropriate. According to a Justice Department spokeswoman, Frankel's case "is a tip-of-the-iceberg thing."

Frankel's crimes, which were captured on videotape by opponents of initiatives put forth by anti-tax and anti-government activists Bill Sizemore and Don McIntire, were two-fold. In one instance, Frankel signed another man's name on a petition after the man had told Frankel his name but left without signing the initiative. Later, a Justice Department investigator gave Frankel his name at Portland's Lloyd Center, but didn't sign the initiative. The investigator later found his signature forged on one of Frankel's petitions when he examined petitions at Sizemore's office. Signing another person's name on an initiative petition is a felony.

In another scam, Frankel employed a kind of bait-and-switch tactic. He would entice people to sign an appealing, but non-existent, initiative dealing with, say, lowering the gas tax. Beneath that signature sheet were signature pages for legitimate initiatives. After the phony sheet on top had been signed, Frankel would flip the pages to the real petition sheets and tell the signer to sign here, here and here to verify the signature.

The lesson is that Oregon's initiative process, once a source of pride because of its empowerment of grass-roots citizen groups, has been usurped by deep-pocketed special interests who hire signature gatherers to meet the required signature thresholds. Many of the paid signature collectors are from out of state and are collecting signatures solely for money, not because they believe in the cause the initiative is promoting.

The first step needed is for the Legislature to regulate signature gathering to the extent the courts will allow. All citizens are guaranteed the right to engage in political activity such as passing petitions. But mercenary signature gatherers are subject to labor laws, which means the state can regulate the terms of their employment in ways that reduce the temptations of fraud. Petition passers who are paid by the hour, for instance, would have less incentive to cheat than those who are paid for each signature.

The second step, and just as important, is for Oregon voters to be wary of tactics such as those Frankel used. If you're suspicious of the signature gatherer or the cause he or she claims to be supporting, don't sign the petition. Also, be aware of the Frankel-type bait-and-switch. You only have to sign a petition once. And you don't have to give your name orally to any signature gatherer.

The bottom line is to be cautious. If you support the petition's purpose and the signature sheet looks legitimate, sign it. If you smell a scam, don't.