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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 30, 1981)
Poll records involvement Citizens happy with hearing process By MARIAN GREEN Oflhe Em«raM Ever wonder who shows up at the city council and other city government board meetings besides council and board members? They generally are college educated, male, between 24 and 45 years old and propon ents of whatever issue is up for discussion, according to a recent survey The City of Eugene's Citizen Involvement Committee ques tioned people who showed up at meetings of the planning com mission, city council, city coun cil hearings panel and zoning appeals board and at all city land-use hearings According to the findings released last week, most per sons answering the question naire were satisfied with the hearings process — 80 percent said they received adequate notification of the hearings, 98 percent said the hearings were held at a convenient hour (7:30 p m seemed to be the best time), and about 90 percent said citizens and decision-makers had enough time to discuss is sues, Murdoch says Of the 438 persons who answered the questionnaire. 84 percent said they had attended college The majority of respondents (57 percent) were between the ages of 25 and 44, 26 percent were between 45 and 65 years and 9 percent were 65 and older Two-thirds of the respon dents were males About 70 percent of the re spondents called themselves lay citizens, while 30 percent identified themselves as profes sionals involved in planning, real estate, land use or other allied professions But regard less of their profession, 84 per cent said they felt on equal footing with others at the hear Student kidnapped after class A University woman was kid napped as she left a Gerlinger Hall physical education class Tuesday, according to Eugene police The student was taken to a Eugene residence, where she managed to escape and walk back to the University, accord ing to Sgt Rick Allison of the Eugene Police Department Allison said a white male in his late 20s grabbed the arm of the victim at about 9:30 p m as she left her class He then forced her across campus, Allison said The woman was pushed into the man's car and driven to a house Although the man tried to keep her at the house, she resisted him and escaped through an unlocked door, Alli son said Due to fright and confusion. the woman walked across town and did not return to campus until early Wednesday morning, he said The woman described the kidnapper as a white male of slender build with dark brown, medium-length hair The Eugene police currently are checking leads in the case. Allison said ings, Muraocn says Half the respondents who said they had testified on an issue were proponents, while 39 percent stated they were op ponents Most proponents were applicants for various land-use permits and/or representatives The opponents were adjoining property owners and affected neighbors "It does point up that most people have to be directly in volved to be affected," Murdoch says The CIC is recommending the city send out more letters dir ectly to citizens in addition to posting meeting notices on bul letin boards and sending letters to people who are directly af fected, Murdoch says The nine-member advisory committee — comprised of one city council member, two plan ning commission members and six citizens — monitors citizen involvement in all phases of the land-use planning process and advises the Eugene City Council on these issues Respondents suggestions include holding procedural briefings in advance of the hearings (this already occurs at This bed sold elsewhere at over $300! 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WaterBetf FACTORY 4 BASIC WATERBEDS, complete! . 5 Woodsmen WATERBEDS, complete! $179.50 8 ROGUE WATERBEDS (sold elsewhere $399) $267.50 _ OPEN EVERY DA Yl BUY AT FACTORY DIRECT PRICES... -SOME EVEN BELOW OUR ~ WHOLESALE PRICE!—L 4404 Main Street, Springfield Pu«CMASf autmor»/aTi6n must rnwimyj*/, onuwiny iouui tal time for opponents and using an overhead projector to display discussion materials City Council member Mark Lindberg said although the ci ty's meetings "generally are conducted very weir for cit izens who are highly educated and involved in the community, "the problem is that our citizen participation programs are not reaching a whole other strata of citizens of Eugene " Lindberg suggested that the city and neighborhood organ izations "bolster" their out reach efforts Another council member, Gretchen Miller, echoed Lind berg’s concerns "It's beneficial to the com munity as a whole, in addition to input from those who are dir ectly involved, to also get input from all kinds of citizens with all kinds of backgrounds," Miller says "Doing it tor a few years, I know it's time consuming and exhausting to become involved in an issue and follow it through," she says "That's a lot to ask of peo ple " Depression grips mills PORTLAND (AP) - The roar of chain saws in the woods and the whine of trees being sliced into boards in Oregon sawmills are the sounds of money in this timber-rich state But the forests and mills are quiet this fall The timber industry — by far the largest industry in Oregon — is suffering through its worst period since the Great Depres sion of the 1930s And those who know say things are going to get worse The problem, all the experts agree, is the extremely high in terest rates that have dried up loans for housing More than one-third of the lumber and plywood produced in the Pacific Northwest goes for housing Oregon and Washington produce half of the nation's plywood and one-third of its lumber "We've had recessions in the past We re getting into the throes of a depression," said N.E Bjorkland, executive vice president of the Industrial Fo restry Association — which represents about 100 timber companies
