Editorial—
Board should take
task force's advice
It's i) typical bureaucratic policy Appoint a task
force, wait for its results, then reject them out of hand
Politics, I .a lie County style.
Almost nine months ago, the Lane County Hoard of
Commissioners created a task force to study the home
less problem in the area, and come up with viable solu
tions.
The task force has come up with an expensive, 10
yoar project. The commissioners, save one, have reject
mi it in one form or another.
Ths plan centers on creating a non-profit corpora
tion to develop and build low-cost housing in the area.
The initial coast is $1.5 million, to be culled from vari
ous governments within the county. As can be expect
ed. the city of Eugene will carry a large share of that fi
nancial burdon.
Commissioner Jerry Rust has given his approval to
the plan. But Rust has been drowned out by the other
four members of the board, particularly Bill Rogers,
who favors a smaller, much cheaper plan.
Most of the controversy is over how the progcam
will be funded. The task force has recommendod sever
al ways to raise the needed capital. Almost $750,000
annually would come from county business licenses;
$225,000 would be raised from interest on real estate
sales escrow deposits, another $65,000 would be taken
from county housing authority payments, and $95,000
a year from contributions.
While these moneys, in part, already exists, the
plan also requires a three-year property tax levy, which
would raise about $3.6 million. This item is giving
some of the commissioners fiscal nightmares.
For any commissioners who balk at shelling out
big bucks for the homeless, we suggest a stroll down
13th Avenue between University and Alder. Look
around. See all the people, sitting on the concrete.
This is just one example of the county’s problem.
The board should accept the task force’s proposal.
While the cost of the program should bo considered,
no half-measures will work. The homeless problem re
quires all the resources and enthusiasm the county
government can muster.
The commissioners need to listen to their constit
uency. People are clamoring that something — any
thing — must be done. Now that the board has a viable
plan in hand, it’s time they got cracking.
The problem will not go away simply by ignoring
it, or working on only a small part of it. The plan may
be ambitious, but maybe in a few years, the rest of the
country can look at Lane County as an example of what
a county gpvornment can do to help its inhabitants.
Sure
ReCOGNiZ£
LecH WdL^sa,
R5PPY, PVJT
vino’s mar
OTHftR
supeRwr
X
WISTEC donations needed, appreciated
T.verv once in a while. something comes
along th.it restores vonr faith in people's
generosity
The Willamette S< ience and l ee hnology
Center. ( ommonlv referred to as WISTKC,
closed down in August because it didn't
have enough mone\ to stay open Now. be
cause of donations from i itv and county
governments, as well .is individuals and lo
cal businesses, the non profit science muse
um will reopen in februarv
To that we sav bravo
We've talked about WISTKC before,
when the renter was looking for money to
reopen We supported them in their efforts
then and we applaud their results nun
The list of contributors is long The lame
County Board of Commissioners gave
WIS’ITIC $10,00(1. pushing the total dona
tions to over $00,000 To open its doors
again. WISTKC needed 75 percent of their
$120,000 minimal operating budget The do
nations. when coupled with projected 1000
revenues puts the center |ust over the limit
We re happy the museum will reopen.
There is really no way of calculating just
how valuable the i enter is to the f’niversitv
and its students Anything that assists in
gaming knowledge snmim noi mi cinsim ne
(,111st? nl fiscal concerns.
It's gratifying th.it the local community,
as well as the local governments, realizes
how much WISTKC means to the area.
Hopefully, all the contributions were not
one-time affairs. The organizations and peo
ple who donated this time should strive to
make it <111 annual effort.
The reopening does not get WISTKC out
of the financial maze it's been in for the last
few months Not vet The center still needs
about $:<().()()() to continue to operate. 1'his
money will have to i ome from sourc es with
in the community
Besides the county commissioners.
WISTKC also received money from the
Springfield and Kugene City Councils. This
was the first time the museum got any sort
of money from local government.
That it was done is a welc ome change of
direction If the < it\ and county .ire willing
to make donations, maybe they'll he willing
to subsidize the center.
We congratulate those who made the re
opening possible. But we also urge them es
pec ially the local governments, to continue
their c harity
Letters
Turning point
November '( 1‘I8‘I should no
down m histon ns .1 turning
| to i nl in u 01 lil <111.111 s I I1.1t s it
( airhai hev s approved plan ol
removing tile Ii.i111 e 1 s between
bast and West is followed Ii\
Bush and otliei Western li'.iiI
i-l s 1 einoval ol ban icis ol nils
llllsl
Anicrii ails rspi'i lallv Orego
Ilians stand In gain il an is o
ntimii slnit is made Irom a pro
Wai mu lent weapons build up
basi'd on fear ol (nimmunism
to one llial duals with sei.uril\
at hninu In investing in i*du< .1
lion housing thn ruhabilila
lion ol 1 it ms and ton 11s im
provement of our roads,
bridges. sewers and unviron
muni
\\ hat ai t iiuvond thu opuning
ol thu Borlin Wall, and 1 isii In
l.ui h Walusa. is nouossan to
provu to us that thu Kasturn
HKm is taking thuir fingur otf
thu trigger and extending a
handshaku lor trade agree
munts'
Our bimgri'ss just passed a
lull spending St I billion on
the Stealth Bomber and $1H
billion on Star Wars when our
“enemv" is turning more dum
Ill I.till
(iprning ill tin' Imn i mil,on
sin111lil get llic stage lor rcwril
111)1 I Ilf si I 11 >I I Ilf |.l|l(lllfsf ( ,111
mil pei'torm us bet .iiisf tlu'ii
government invfsls heavily in
i omp,mirs th.it rescan li .mil
develop i onsuinnr goods .mil
spend onK live pen cut on
ilifii military
With rfiiivestnifiit of our lax
dollars avvav from the militarv
milusiii.il complex. we won t
li.ivr to temporarily depend on
state s.iiii tioiied lottery nun
mu ks that lax people's false
hopes
The wall has lieen broken to
rest rut lure a more sound Imm
datum ol hope and economit
stability I’resitient Hush does
not h.ive time to put Ins feet m
Malta, lie needs to loll up Ills
sleeves with Gorbachev and
pound swords into plow shares
brad Perkins
Kugene
On DeFazio
The recent artic le by |ohn
Higgins ( "Aide to Del a/io as
sesses new III Salvador upris
mu ODE. Nov 15). although
factually cornet in reporting.
i ic.ilcil .1 dislim ti\ l.ilsc mi
pression regarding Kep l)c
I a/.ios responsiveness In the
i i i11< ,iI situ.itiihi in I I Salvador
Kcp Del .IZUI IllIN IlCCIl .it tlic
forefront of i ongressioii.il el
lolls to reverse the iiiteiven
tloiust poll! ies of the Reagan
.uni now liush administrations
his i o sponsorship of House
Joint Kesolution \o "i4 pro
hitiiling in1111.ir\ .issislaie e lot
Ml Kalv.iiiol is onlv one ol
main sin h efforts
Kep l)el a/io’s stall hotll lo
(.ills and in Washington, lit
has displayed no less than the
utmost professionalism and re
sponsiveness to constituenf
com erns regarding I S in
volvement in HI Salvador and
in all other issues, for that mat
ter
I sincerely apologize for any
confusion my statements to the
I'mvr.tld may have i aused
Phillip K. /erho
l Iniversity of Oregon
University of Kl Salvador
Sister University Project
Misinformed
Tills letter is addressed to all
of the people w ho attended the
ilisi ussion .liter the movie "Du
I he Right Thing" on Morulav.
Nov ti and to the I'niversity
i onummilv in general
During the dist ussion. some
one made the point that rai ism
111 not e\< lusive to plat is othei
than the I'niversity and that
rai ism o<a nrs here loo I le
< ited the Women s Center as a
plai e v\ here people ol i oloi are
not represented This person is
misinformed'
As a woman of color em
ployed In the Women's Center
I feel it is my duly to let him
and everyone know that I am
one of seven women of color
represented (hurt'! The Worn
i*n's Outer also well limes and
provides services for women of
am age. religion, sexual orien
tation. or who are diflereiillv
■tilled
We hold diversitv as a high
prior it \ and our stall and sci
vit es reflect that prioritv I real
i/e that this person made a val
id point, but in doing so lie
gave false information to at
least ton people Misinform.)
lion can he as damaging as rai
ism
Carol Cheney
Women's Center
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