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
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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.