County commissioner candidates
Omlid: unemployment the main problem
To Kenneth Omlid, Republican
Lane County commissioner
seeking re-election, the issues the
county is currently dealing with
are the main issues in the election.
These include unemployment and
economic development, solid
waste disposal, sewage disposal
and social services programs.
Unemployment is the most
serious problem facing the
county, according to Omlid. "We
must look at meeting the need for
more jobs in the county, we must
get the unemployed employed in
new areas and reduce the welfare
rolls," he said.
To provide more jobs, Omlid
favors seeking new industries to
locate in the county. "I don't
believe in putting a fence around
our community,” he said.
‘"Planned growth is healthy." He
said the county is currently
looking at ways to attract in
dustries that fit into the 1990 plan
for county growth. “A community
in which industry plans with us,
rather than dictates to us, would
be a better community."
The second main issue facing
the county is the solid waste
disposal problem. Omlid favors
passage of the $3.5 million bond
issue to fund a resource recovery
and recycling plant to solve the
long range problem and use of the
interim land fill site recently
acquired in the Bethel-Danebo
area to deal with the current
problem. He also favors switching
from a system of fees and serial
levies to finance solid waste
Courtright: mass
transit over metro
Darwin Courtright, Mayor of
Springfield and Democratic
candidate for County Com
missioner, expressed strong
interest in mass transit for Lane
County, more control for elected
officials, opposition to taking of
the Ayre's property, the need for
recycling, and the need for a new
budget for Lane County, in a
recent Emerald interview.
We now have metropolitan
transit, not mass transit in Lane
Darwin Courtwright
County, said Courtright. He
suggested the use of "mini
express” busses, which are large
passenger vans that would stop at
appointed blocks during the off
hours of the day and night. This
would reduce the amount of gas it
would take to run regular busses,
and it would be more practical, he
said.
An alternative means of funding
mass transit should be con
sidered, said Courtright. The
funding spent on large super
highways would be better spent
on mass transit, because of the
shortage of available land and the
expense, he said. He suggested
that alternative funding could also
be obtained from a utility bill or
the tax program.
Courtright advocated that the
control of county government be
given back to the elected officals.
Sometimes bureaucratic com
mittees are appointed by county
commissioners that don't answer
the people's wants, he said. He
feels a county commissioner
should be well informed by
citizens of their needs and wants,
and he should follow through in
fulfilling them.
We should be looking to the
future for a plan that would
provide the county with a library
that served the community, as
well as the school, said Cour
tright. There is no such plan
available now, but the school
district and the county should
work together to see if such a
library is feasible, he said.
A long range approach to a
means of solid waste disposal is
needed now, said Courtright.
Recycling a portion of our waste
is part of the answer, he said. The
taxpayer must be shown the value
of recycling and the lowered cost
to him in the long run, he said.
"I don't believe we should relax
pur institutions on ecology, said
Courtright. Industries have
been cooperative, because they
realized the government would
shut them down if they didn't, he
said. Now the community people
must realize that they must do
their share in protecting and
improving the environment, he
added.
Courtright believes that there is a
need for a better approach to the
budget for Lane County. A full
program budget instead of the
current line item budget would
assure that any transfer of funds
from one area to another comes
to the attention of a county
commissioner and the public. The
full program budget also shows
up any weaknesses in a depart
ment.
Courtright is hoping to bring
improvements to the county and
more voice to its people, if elected
as county commissioner.
Courtright has always lived in
Oregon, where he spent 28 years
working in his own business,
Courtright's Market. He's been
active in politics for 10 years,
serving as a councilman for seven
years, and mayor of Springfield
for the past three years.
disposal to a slight increase in the
property tax.
The problem of sewage disposal
is another important issue facing
the county, said Omlid. "I've
probably been pushing harder
than anybody for a solution to
this." He said the county must
negotiate with cities with sewage
treatment facilities in order to
lease use of these facilities to
suburban and outlying areas. By
setting up county service districts
for administration, the people in
the district would pay the ad
ditional cost.
Because of the federal revenue
sharing plan, the county
government must now assume
the responsibility of providing
social services. "We've done a lot
already, but we must continue to
gear up to be able to fulfill our
responsibility," Omlid said. His
main job in this area is to help
decide which programs are
needed and to ensure the county
receives all the money it needs
from the federal and state
government to fu^d these
programs. He feels that dental
health and mental health
programs especially need to be
enhanced.
Other issues the county needs to
consider, according to Omlid, are
extending mass transit to rural
areas and building a new county
jail.
“There is a desperate need for
extended bus service as soon as
possible," he said. The fairest way
Ken Om/id
to fund this would be to obtain
more money from the State High
way Fund and from income tax
money.
A new county jail should be high
on the county's priority list, said
Omlid. "The current jail is not up
to standards and putting money
into it would be paying for a dead
horse." Paying for the jail, Omlid
said, is a matter of setting
priorities within the funding
stream we now have.
In addition to continuing to work
on current projects, Omlid said
there is a long list of areas the
county could get involved in. He
said passage of a noise pollution
ordinance and meeting the
recreational needs of equestrians
and motor-cyclists will be among
those next on the list.
Responding to criticism from his
opponents that he ^maintains a
"closed door" to citizens, Omlid
said, "Since I've been in office,
we've had a strict open meeting
policy, conducting all of our
business in public. I encourage
citizen participation in all areas of
county government."
Judy Hucka
Wood: transit a concern
"There is an ‘extreme need,
especially among the elderly and
handicapped, for bus service in
rural areas."
With those words Bob Wood,
Democratic candidate for county
commissioner, pointed up two of
his major concerns —transit and
the disadvantaged.
"The county Should subsidize
LTD (Lane Transit District)
operational expenses to meet
these needs," Wood continued,
"but unfortunately transportation
now has a limited priority."
The real crunch for elderly and
handicapped county residents
comes when they can't get to
regional shopping areas for the
services they need, he said.
"We shouldn't force people to
move into Eugene just because
the services they need are here,"
Wood said. He suggested bi
weekly bus service as a possible
solution.
"The county commissioners
have the power to cooperate with
any or all local governments with
whom they have common in
terests," he stressed. As an
example of where the county
could help the city. Wood
suggested extending a bike path
through the West Eugene satellite
area along Amazon Creek to
Elmira.
Wood, presently a Eugene city
council member, proposes more
aggressive county government in
the areas of utilities and housing
as well.
In utilities. Wood has called for a
county-wide sewer system, and
expressed concern in the out
come of the $3.5 million recycling
program bond to be put before
the voters at the primaries.
"It will be interesting to see if the
voters will accept alternatives,"
Wood said. He thinks solid waste
disposal has an extremely limited
future.
As a candidate for com
missioner, Wood said he feels his
record on the City Council shows
Robert Wood
that he shared in a leadership role,
establishing joint funding of city
and county social agencies.
As an individual commissioner,
Wood said he would bring the
proposals to the people.
"I would be out talking to people
and would try to change the
commissioners' meeting time
(from 9 a.m. Wednesday mor
nings) so that more people could
testify," he added.
Wood is also concerned with a
countywide library system. Wood,
36, has been a resident of the
Eugene area for 10 years. He
manages a low-income housing
project in Springfield called
Rainbow Village and taught
social studies and language arts at
Spencer Butte Junior High
School. Wood has a master's
degree from the University in
education. Before attending
college, he was a fireman and
truck driver.
Diane Kutsky
If you don't vote
who will?
Come listen to the man who can
send a message to Washington that
Washington will understand
WAYNE MORSE
democratic candidate for U.S. Senate
WILL SPEAK AT A RALLY
Wed., May 22
150 Sci.
12:30p.m.