Commissioner candidates
differ on economic issues
By Paul F.rtelt
Of thi? Kmemld
Lane (bounty Commissioner
Jerry Rust denied claims that he
is responsible for the county’s
economic problems and said he
is not anti-business.
Rust faced his opponent for
the commissioner's seat. Tonie
Nathan of Eugene, in a debate in
the KMIJ Forum Room Tuesday
afternoon. The debate, part of
the ASLJO political symposium,
focused on balancing en
vironmental protection and
economic growth in Lane
County.
Nathan stressed the need for
change in county government
and blamed many of its
economic problems on the
Board of Commissioners and on
Rust, who has served on the
board for eight years.
“In 1977, Rust removed the
best general administrator the
county ever had," Nathan
claimed. “His attempt to run
the county without a general ad
ministrator has plunged the
county into rudderless chaos.”
Nathan also said Rust has
continually opposed economic
development, citing his opposi
tion to plans for building a
resort in the Big Creek area of
the Oregon coast and his 1976
.suit against Data General,
which had plans to build a plant
■ in Eugene.
Nathan blamed this opposi
tion for the high unemployment
that is forcing people to leave
the area. According to a report
by Dunn & Bradstreet. Eugene is
the-fourth fastest shrinking city
Jerry Rust
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Tonie Nathan
in the nation, she said.
"The county is wracked by
global economic forces not of
our making," Rust replied. He
blamed high interest rates and
the decline of the timber in
dustry for the area's economic
problems.
Nathan said she was not anti
environment, but said Rust has
"gone a little bit overboard” in
protecting the environment at
the expense of economic
growth.
"People are sitting with land
they can’t sell, they can’t farm
they can’t cut timber on,” she
said. “They’re just sitting there
paying taxes.”
Rust said his efforts to reform
the Lane County jail are one of
his important contributions to
the county. A task force, of 20
agencies has been working on
options to incarceration, and
this will forestall the need to
add onto the jail, saving tax
payers money, he said.
.“We should not lock up peo
ple who are not a danger to
themselves or society," he saidi
As the only woman, on the
board of commissioners,
Nathan said she would make
the board more sensitive to
issues important to women.
Child abuse is one nationwide
problem that needs to be ad
dressed on the local level, she
said.
But Rust responded that he
had always backed women’s,
rights issues, especially com
parable worth. His candidacy
has been endorsed by the Lane
Women’s Political Caucus, h.e
■said.
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