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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (March 13, 1997)
THURSDAY, MARCH 13,1997 INDEX Opinion 2 News 3 Sports Extra 7 Classifieds 14 Horoscope 14 Crossword 15 TODAY The Vietnamese Student Association is holding a meeting today from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in Room 260 Condon Hall TOURNAMENT HOOPS The men’s basketball team’s season came to an end Wednesday night with a 71-61 loss to Hawaii in the National In vitation Tournament. WEATHER Cold & Wet. High 50. Low 30. Town Hall Meeting ... . _ _ v(LiiuI rui_i.cn/cmeraia ward 3 City Councilman Bobby Lee speaks with some citizens who attended the Town Meeting, held at the Eugene Public Library Wednesday evening, concerning Measure 47 budget cuts. Citizens voice opposition to core cuts ■ CONCERNS: Town Hall meeting attendees expressed support for the library, youth recreation, disability programs and outdoor programs By Eric Collins Community Reporter They came to show the value of their programs, and they came to vent their frustrations, yet citizens involved in a joint ward meeting designed to increase public involvement in the Measure 47 service-cutting process understood the tough choices members of the City Coun cil are having to make. Councilmen Bobby Lee and Scott Meisner, with Mayor Jim Torrey weigh ing responses in the audience, listened to all 44 speakers’ opinions Wednesday night in the city-sponsored Town Hall meeting which drew about 130 people to the Eugene Public Library. Citizens from Wards 3 and 7 expressed major opposition to culture and leisure services slated for heavy reductions or eliminations. Not only was the library continually praised as a “core” service in the quality of life of Eugene, but citizens were not accepting cuts in disability pro grams, youth recreation or outdoor pro grams. “When I think of things on this list that I would be willing to let go of, I see some thing like the Eugene Celebration,” said Anne Dochnahl, a 13-year Eugene resi dent. “In my opinion we can’t justify throwing a party if we can’t afford basic services.” The city is bracing for a $10 million re duction in property tax revenue due to the passage of Measure 47. The Council must reduce next fiscal year’s city ser vices in order to account for the lost rev enue. Measure 47 limits the amount of property taxes the city of Eugene can col lect and curbs future tax increases to 3 percent. Citizens representing neighborhood as sociations also came out in full force to show the value of the $87,000 they re ceive each year. George Towe, vice-chair of the Crest Drive Citizens Association, Turn to CONCERNS, Page 4 Council chooses cross site ■ MOVE: The city chose to move the cross to the Eugene Bible College, but the plan must still be approved By Eric Collins Community Reporter It’s up to the courts now, Mayor Jim Tor rey emphatically pronounced Wednesday afternoon as the City Council unanimously approved Eugene Bible College property as a recommended relocation site for the Skinner Butte Cross. Tuesday night the Skinner Butte Cross Relocation Committee voted four-to-one in tavor or recom mending the bible college, located on Bailey Hill Road, to the council. “The committee did a great job in a short timeline,” said Gretchen Miller, chair of the relocation commit tee. “There’s a lot of people in town who 1 think deserve some kind of word THE PROCESS ■ WHAT: Recom mendation ‘or a | new site for Skin ner Butte cross ■ WHERE: Eu gene Bible College ■ HOW: Approval of the council rec- I ommendation by the U.S. District j Court ot thanks because . the attitude and co operation throughout have been good.” The seven-member panel chose the col lege site over three local churches, Santa Clara Church of Christ, Calvary Chapel and Garden Way Church. The city was forced to remove the cross due to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Ap peals ruling last August,which held that the cross' location on city-owned property violated the separation of church and state clause of the Constitution. In a Feb. 20 rul ing, U.S. Magistrate Thomas Coffin told city officials to devise a plan to remove the cross. The question on at least one councilors mind was if this was the final solution to Turn to MOVE, Page 6 Gang activity, violence pose ‘serious threat’ to Eugene community ■ YOUTH: Signs of increasing gang activity have school officials and police concerned about Eugene’s young people By Ryan Maughn Community Reporter When Francis Hartely Gisbourne, 70, was lured out of his house in Cheshire in October of 1992 and beaten to death with a pipe by an admitted member of the Los Angeles-based Crips gang, it was a wake up call to the community that even sleepy Eugene can’t hide forever from the threat of gang violence. In the last three to five years, the schools and the police department have seen a rise in gang activities. “We are seeing more tag ging, more aggressive behavior and more assaultive behavior, especially among younger people,” Jan Power of the Eugene police department said. “We have seen a dramatic increase in graffiti around the school,” said Lynne George, principal of South Eugene High School. While gang violence in Eugene doesn’t compare to that of larger cities across the country, these early signals have alerted police that gang activity is growing in the city. “We now have well over 400 document ed gang members in this area.. .who are re sponsible for a disproportionate amount of crime in the city,” Sgt. Dave Poppe of the Eugene police department said. Because of Eugene’s mobility, however, gang activity is not centralized in any one region. Gang violence is a serious threat to a community, according to Sgt. Poppe, but urn to YOUTH, Page 3 WENDY FULLER/Emerald Community Service Officer Tom Boerman speaks to 6th graders at Cal Young Middle School about the dangers of gangs.
