Oregon daily emerald., February 28, 1978, Page 8, Image 8

Striking inmates end fast, begin feast
By KEVIN HARDEN
Of the Emerald
A hunger strike by nearly all 140 occup
ants of the men’s dormitory complex of the
Lane County Jail has ended after almost
four days of fasting, the Lane County
Sheriffs department said Monday.
The strike, which began at dinnertime
Friday, was called by the prisoners after
county officials and an Inmate Advisory
Council failed to provide a solution to the
over-crowded condition in the jail.
‘‘It’s over as far as we re concerned,”
George Chortos, administrative aide to
Sheriff Dave Burks, said Monday. “As of
suppertime Sunday the inmates started to
eat again.”
Although the majority of inmates have
begun to eat, Chortos said, 11 inmates are
continuing the strike.
One inmate, who refused to be identified,
telephoned the Eugene Register-Guard
Friday night, saying the striking inmates
wanted several complaints answered by
county officials. The complaints include
over-crowding of prisoners in the dor
mitories, inadequate medical care and poor
quality in the jail, the inmate said.
A list of 19 demands were presented to
the jail supervisors Saturday night, the in
mate said, but no action has been taken as
yet. The demands on the the list range from
better medical and recreational facilities for
the inmates, to letting inmates take cigar
ettes and combs to the courtroom for
their trials.
The inmates are also demanding that
they be allowed longer time for long dis
tance phone calls, that they get out of their
cells for longer periods of time and that a
typewriter and up-to-date legal information
be provided to them.
According to the inmate, who said he
was acting as a spokesman for the par
ticipating inmates, jail conditions have wor
sened since January.
County officials have seen the list of de
mands, Chortos said and a meeting be
tween the jail staff and representatives of
the inmates will be held before the end of
the week.
A similar strike over the same conditions
was called last December, the inmate said.
That strike ended after three days also
when the inmates were promised their de
mands would be met.
Gubernatorial hopefuls declare positions
By ANN TRENEMAN
Of the Emerald
Now that Tom McCall has offi
cially entered the Oregon guber
natorial primary race, battle lines
between the candidates are being
drawn.
Republican candidates are out
to beat McCall in what is termed
by Gov. Bob Straub’s campaign
manager “a very exciting Repub
lican race.” Democratic candi
dates concur Straub is their prim
ary opponent.
Officially declared Republican
candidates are state senator Vic
tor Atiyeh; state representative
Roger Martin; former Gov. Tom
McCall; William Jolie, Willamina,
and L.D. (Bud) Cretsinger, Man
zanita. Democrats vieing for the
primary nomination are Marvin
Hollingsworth, Portland; E. Buck
Lambert, Salem; Gov. Bob
Straub; Eugene County Commis
sioner Robert Wood and James
Smith, Canon Beach. The filing
deadline for candidates is March
15.
McCall, who recently an
nounced his unsurprising inten
tion to run, will soon be campaign
ing on a one-to-one basis
throughout the state, according to
Kim Skeritt, McCall's campaign
manager. “That’s the way he likes
to do it,” she said.
1 When asked if McCall thought
he had the Republican nomination
in the bag she answered, "He
wouldn’t be in it, if he didn’t.”
1 McCall’s primary theme is
growth to provide jobs without in
juring Oregon’s environment,
Skeritt said. When asked if his age
(64 years old) would be a touchy
campaign issue, as many candi
dates are trying to make it, she
answered, “the polls show it is not
an issue, but he has had a physi
cal and is in terrifiic shape!”
State representative Roger
Martin’s campaign manager Mark
Cushing said, “We don’t believe
McCall has got this sewed up,” but
acknowledged “Our chances are
not that great — it would be an
upset of the first degree if we
win....”
Martin, who decided yesterday
to stick in the race despite national
and state pressure to withdraw
(see adjoining story), believes the
o
only difference between McCall
and Straub is style. Cushing cited
the “400 fold” increase in gov
ernment size during the past 12
years of Straub-McCall leadership
as an example.
Martin urges decentralization of
state government and advocates
an "almost war-like stance”
against what Cushing termed,
“the increasing federal authority
over state decisions.”
Victor Atiyeh could not be
reached for comment.
Len Bergstein, Straub's cam
paign manager, said Straub’s
main campaign problem is “a lot of
Oregonians probably don’t know
what a good thing they’ve got.” He
said the campaign will stress
Straub as an “accomplish-oriented,
quiet, hard-working governor.”
When asked about other candi
dates’ criticism of the Straub
administration’s government ex
pansion, Bergstein replied,
“That’s a statistical game. You
can play around with those figures
until you’re twisted up in knots.”
He said that in fact money has
gone toward property tax relief,
local government aid, health care,
basic school support and senior
citizen aid. "I’d be interested to
hear what they would cut,” he
added.
Eugene County Commissioner
Bob Wood said he feels Straub
hasn’t been doing his job and is
“an embarrassment to Oregon.”
Wood’s success during the
primary hinges on his ability to get
state-wide name familiarity and an
understanding of the issues, he
said.
“His primary issue is preventing
the problem before they get
started rather than implementing
“reactionary legislation.”
Marvin Hollingsworth, said he
feels Straub will be "tough to beat”
but plans on winning the primary.
Hollingsworth, who has been cam
paigning for a year, is running a
“grass-roots” campaign centered
around crime, property tax and
less government. He favors the re
turn of the death penalty and set
ting up casino strip gambling in
Oregon with the proceeds to go
towards school financing.
“I’ve researched this is Nevada
and I think we can eliminate the
property tax,” he said.
William Jolie, who is running a
low-profile campaign on $500
from Willamina, said his main is
sues are survival and the com
promise with sin in our society. He
said both Straub and McCall were
mandate politicians who would
have to live with their record and
said neither posed a threat to him
in his bid for governor. Candidates
Lambert, Cretsinger and Smith
could not be reached to comment
on their chances in the campaign
race.
Martin opts to stay in race
noger rvianin, HepuDiican candidate tor gover
nor, announced Monday he will not bow out of the
Oregon gubernatorial race in response to state and
federal pressure to abandon his campaign.
Martin, a state-representative, decided to "go
for it” after spending “all last weekend thinking this
thing out,” Mark Cushing, Martin’s campaign man
ager said.
“There has been national pressure to “go easy
on McCall,” Cushing said. “Evidently they think Mar
tin is going to rough up McCall up in the primary.”
Martin said Republican supporters in Portland and
Eugene say he and state Sen. Victor Atiyeh, also a
Republican candidate for governor, will split the party
vote, making it easy for former Gov. Tom McCall to
walk away with the nomination.
"There has been state pressure for Vic and
Roger to walk into a room and have only one come
out the candidate,” Cushing added. Carol Whitney,
Atiyeh’s campaign coordinator, said Atiyeh will stay
in the race because “Roger is the one way down in
the public opinion polls.”
r
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