Civic
m Commission approves civic center bond
center for June ballot, decision rests with Council
By MARK STEWART
Of the Emerald
The Eugene Civic Center Commission
voted Tuesday to recommend to the
Eugene City Council that an $18.5 million
bond issue be placed on the June 27 ballot
to finance construction of the Civic Center
project.
Civic Center development director Dean
Baumgartner will make the recommenda
tion to the city council today at noon.
The project includes a 2,500 seat concert
hall, a 500-seat multi-purpose theater and a
rehearsal center, underground parking and
plaza decking.
Two commission members feared that
placing the bond on the June 27 ballot
would be too soon after the 4-J School Dis
trict $5.9 million bond vote Tuesday and the
vote for $29.5 million in waste water bonds
set for May 23.
Commission member Scott Fletcher said
the commission should take more time to
develop the bend proposal and member
Arlen Swearingen told the committee he
had reservations about the June 27 date.
“I hope we can keep the bonds separate
from the other money issues,” said
Swearingen.
Another reservation Swearingen has
about the date is a lack of time to solicit
private funds for the center.
“We need more time to make a stronger
attempt to solicit private funds and gifts," he
said.
Commission member Nils Hult told the
commission that the potential for private
funds would not develop until the facility is
built.
“We won’t get one nickel in private funds
until there is an assurance that the thing will
be built,” said Hult.
Another problem, seen by commission
member Horace Robinson, is the total cost
of the facility (about $23 million) is "more
than adequate ' Robinson said voters
would be more inclined to pass the bond if it
were for less money.
Commission chairer Les Anderson,
former Eugene mayor, told the commission
that he's “never found a good time to submit
a budget,” and feared that placing the bond
on the ballot after the suggested June 27
date would give the bond less of a chance
of passage.
Anderson also said that the issue of cost
could be overstudied and that would lead to
voter confusion.
“We’ve had debates and come to the
conclusion very democratically.” said An
derson. "It’s time to get together and sug
gest a package. $18.5 (million) is only an
architect's figure. The facility could be built
for $12 (million) or $25 (million) or whatever
figure the voters arrive at.”
The commission changed the wording of
me recunimwiuauun iu enmmaie reter
ences to phases of the project to keep it
understandable for the voter.
The recommendation:
• Says the civic center should include all
phases previously proposed (the concert
hall, the theater, underground parking and
the banquet/convention facility).
• Urges the city council to apply for fed
eral Economic Development Assistance
funds.
• Urges the city to encourage private de
velopment of a hotel west of the center site
and arrange for the issuance of funds for
the banquet/convention facility.
• Encourages the city to establish a
non-profit corporation for the purpose of sol
iciting private funds for the center.
• Urges the city to pursue the method of
financing which would promote the most
timely and financially advantageous com
pletion of the center.
Are you ready for Taco Fever?
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30 Country Club Rd.
behind the Turkey Inn
Open 8:30 am to 11 pm
Page 4 Section A
Safe driving course
decreases accidents
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Are Oregon state employees better drivers
because Gov. Bob Straub got a speeding ticket three years ago?
Straub was ticketed for speeding during the 1974 election cam
paign. In 1975, he took a safe driving course offered by the state
Highway Division.
He thought the course was beneficial and ordered all state em
ployees who drive on the job to take the course.
Three years later, 10,000 employees have taken the course.
“The results have been startling,” says Gil Bellamy, administrator
of the Oregon Traffic Safety Commission.
In 1975, the accident rate among state drivers was 4.9 for each
million miles driven. In 1977, it was 3.2 per million miles.
The industrial rate, says George Wolnez, coordinator of state
safety programs, was 7.4 accidents for each million miles.
One state employee was killed last year in a motor vehicle acci
dent.
In past years, says Bellamy, three or four state employees were
killed annually.
Wolnez credits the program for a reduction in accidents and medi
cal and repair costs.
The course emphasizes defensive driving. It is offered every other
month in Salem for about 100 employees. They have an eight-hour
class, four hours one day and four the next, at the Employment Division
auditorium.
Many of the instructors are law enforcement personnel or ambul
ance attendants.
The defensive driving course is not an expensive state program
mandated by the Legislature.
The students are given a $1.25 workbook distributed by the
National Traffic Safety Council. There are films and posters.
About the only other expense to the state, other than the
employee's time lost from work, is a portion of the salaries of Wolnez
and Bellamy and their secretaries. The program is a small part of their
jobs.
In the course, drivers are told about the effects of liquor and drugs,
where to watch for pedestrians, the need for seat-belts and about
tailgating, or following too closely.
They hear about the two-second rule.
“When you’re driving, pick out any object,” says Wolnez. “A utility
pole, a sign. Count one thousand and one, one thousand and two after
the car in front of you passes the object. If you pass the object faster
than two seconds, you’re following too closely.”
Another fine point of defensive driving, Wolnez says, is when
you’re making a left turn at an intersection, do not turn the steering
wheel until you're ready to go into the turn.
“That way,” says Wolnez, “if someone hits you from behind; you
won’t be pushed in front of an oncoming car.
"And don’t assume the other driver is going to stop at a red light
“Personally,” he says, “I assume that everybody else driving is an
escaped mental patient."
The students are drilled on reaction time.
Tests show that at 55 miles per hour, you will travel about 200 feet
before stopping — if you react quickly, have good tires and brakes and a
good road surface.
Employees who regularly drive on the job are asked to take the
course every three years.
“It’s like a booster shot," says Bellamy.
Assembly to discuss ROTC
The University Assembly will
hear two proposals regarding
ROTC and one motion concerning
faculty general elections at
today’s meeting.
j The POTC motions, made by
1 Andy Thompson of the University
Counseling Center, concern the
ROTC advisory committee and
the appointment of ROTC instruc
tors.
The meeting will be at 3:30 p m.
in Room 150 Science.