  As first reported Jan. 9 at, the 1-cent-per-ounce tax on
"sugar-added" beverages is being proposed by Gregg Coodley, a
Portland doctor who was active in Multnomah County's recent
effort to ban bisphenol A from sippy cups.  The measure needs
16,851 valid voter signatures to make it on the ballot. Campaign
manager Rich Rogers says he's retained a signature-gathering
firm, Democracy Resources, to help, at an estimated cost of
$30,000.*  Coodley expects the tax to raise $35 million. About
half will go to after-school and physical education programs for
children in the county's school districts. The rest will fund
jobs programs. Multnomah County would administer all the money
raised and set up a "jobs fund" to pay for the unemployment
programs, according to draft language for the measure.  Yet
county leaders are not publicly supporting the measure. "This
just isn't a campaign we're involved in, and we're not taking a
position," county spokeswoman Julie Sullivan says. "We've got a
lot of things going on, and this