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
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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