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