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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1982)
Oregon daily . _ emerald Friday, October 1, 1982 Eugene, Oregon Volume 84, Number 21 Government officials unite in opposition to Ballot Measure 3 By Michelle Matassa Of the Emerald Ballot Measure 3 came under the gun Thursday night as a panel of four local government officials discussed the effect of the property tax limitation measure on their agencies The panel, consisting of Lane County Commissioner Scott Lieuallen, Eugene City Council member Cynthia Wooten, Springfield mayor John Lively and Mike Williams of Eugene School District 4J. presented its case against the ballot measure to the Lane County Democratic Central Committee Higher education was not represented at the meeting but University professor Carl Hos ticka, who served as panel moderator, briefly described the impact of the measure on state colleges and universities Hosticka said $400 million in revenue cuts will have to come from somewhere and higher education is a big part of that The measure, if passed, would roll back property values to 1979 levels and limit annual property tax increases to 1 Vi percent of assessed value Lieuallen said he opposes the measure not only because of its potential for destruction but because of its many defects." He criticized the proposal s wording, arguing that it would be hard to incorporate into the Oregon Constitution and said it possessed "terrible inequities " Because passage of the proposal would decrease property values, land which was improved after 1979 would be unfairly assessed, Lieuallen explained "We do need tax reform in Oregon Property taxes are high in Lane County," he said "This is a terrible way to approach it." Lively added an unlikely, r ironic scenario Springfield had a total revenue of almost $20 million in 1979-80, Lively said This figure has decreased enough by now that 1979 property values could actually be a step up the revenue ladder for his com munity. he said Lively admitted a more likely repercussion of the measure's success would be cuts in all services, with police and fire departments hurt most Wooten claimed a potential revenue loss of $16 million for Eugene if Measure 3 passes That would result in half of the city's employees losing their jobs and the elimination of the Eugene Economic Develop ment Program, she said The development program in cludes plans for downtown development, small business assistance, employee training and destination point activity'' (to make Eugene into a tourist destination) Referring to the proposal s offer of relief to taxpayers, Wooten pleaded "I know $300 at the end of the year sounds good, but the real beneficiaries of Ballot Measure 3 are the cor porate property owners and we will lose again." Because District 4J depends on property taxes for 40 percent of its revenue, it would be "most heavily hit" by Measure 3, Lieuallen said The question of what a reduction of $10 to 12 million dollars in revenue means to school employees and students? Williams estimated 400 fewer jobs, 10 to 15 more students per class, eliminating electives and cuts in athletic programs. "The school board una nimously opposes it; we re not unanimous on anything." Photo by Mark Romeo rocks, shivers The dance floor was packed with slammers, bashers, twisters and the like as Romeo Void blew the doors off the EMU Ballroom Thursday night. More than 700 fans of the San Francisco based band came out to rock, stomp and howl to some of the most powerful music to shiver the timbers of staid old EMU. From their first number, opening act Pun ishment Farm set the tone for the show — and it was good rockin’. The Eugene group played a crowd-pleasing “jazz" version of the Who's “My Generation ” Frank Zincavage’s bass and Larry Carter’s drums really had the ballroom hopping. The chairs that were set up were soon pushed back as the dancers had their sway Romeo Void closed their set with "Never Say Never." But the ballroom crowd wanted more — and wouldn’t be denied. They bellowed and clapped until the band came out for two more numbers. Romeo Void gave the crowd more — finishing their Eugene performance with Elvis Costello’s "Pump It Up.” It was Void’s third Eugene appearance Emerald Photo The University Art Museum will air its rooms and reopen next Monday with an exhibit by international artist Fritz Scholder. Museum staff wakes up to renewed employment When Richard Paulin, direc tor of the University's Art Mus eum, wakes up this morning, he will do something he hasn’t been able to do in two months — he will go to work. On Monday, Oct. 10, Paulin will open the museum doors to the public for the first time since July 30 Like many Oregonians, Paulin and the rest of the museum staff lost their jobs to the economic recession. When money had to be cut from the University’s budget, it was decided the mus eum should close during August and September Today, Paulin and the mus eum staff will be back at work dusting off cobwebs and clean ing up remnants of construction work which has been going on since the museum’s closure. Cleanup and preparation for exhibits will continue for a little more than a week. While the museum may have looked dormant from the outside, construction workers have been busy inside Paulin says he has been making the most of his time off. He has been catching up on his reading and playing tennis, he also traveled. "I did things I was always go ing to do and never got the time to do them,” Paulin says. But this morning, Paulin will be enjoying the dust, and the re-opening of the art museum.
