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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (May 29, 2003)
WHITEAKER POOL? The old Whiteaker School may become a city swimming pool, Willakenzie School could be used for a neighborhood park and portions of Bailey Hill, Willard and Westmoreland School property could be con- verted to low-income housing, according to a city study. The city of Eugene reviewed eight 4J ele- mentary school sites the district has listed as surplus for possible city purchase for parks, recreation or affordable housing. “Many of the school sites offer excellent opportunities for new [low-income] housing sites,” the city study found. The affordable housing would likely be used by many fami- lies with children, helping 4J with its declin- ing enrollment problems. School district offi- cials are “very interested in housing that re- sults in increased enrollment,” the study said. The city would only buy about half to a third of any school site for affordable hous- ing. The rest of the site could be used for mar- ket-rate homes. The city is interested in only the land, not the buildings. The city report describes the older schools as too costly to renovate. School District 4J hasn’t reached final de- cisions on how to dispose of the property. But here’s the city’s view of potential uses for the school sites: • Bailey Hill Elementary rated high for possible use as affordable housing. The city described the site as not suitable for a neighborhood park because it is already ade- quately served by nearby playing fields at Kennedy Middle School and Churchill High School. • Dunn School was rated moderate for low-income housing and low for a park. The neighborhood isn’t well served by parks, but the site is too small and difficult to access. • Laurel Hill School was not suitable for affordable housing or a park. An existing park south of the school already serves the neighborhood. • Santa Clara Elementary was rated as moderately suitable for housing or a park (away from River Road) and deserving of further evaluation • Westmoreland Elementary was identified as a strong opportunity for afford- able housing. The area is already well served by several nearby parks. • Whiteaker School did not meet crite- ria for affordable housing. Residents are al- ready served by nearby parks. But the site was rated high for possible use as a future swimming pool or other recreation/commu- nity center needed in the central city area. • Willakenzie School was rated high for a neighborhood park (fields on a portion of the site) and high for low-income housing. • Willard/Eastside was rated as moder- ately suitable for a neighborhood park on the portion of the site away from 29th Avenue. The site was also rated highly suitable for af- fordable housing. But 4J has listed the site as a “reserve” school location, so it’s unclear when and if the district may sell it. — Alan Pittman LOSING GROUND Senate Bill 100 passed the Oregon Legislature 30 years ago this month, estab- lishing comprehensive land use planning for the state and setting a standard for the nation. But today we’re losing ground, figuratively and literally, in controlling growth, says Bob Stacey, the new executive director of 1000 Friends of Oregon. Stacey, keynote speaker at the Friends of Eugene (FoE) annual meeting May 22, iden- tified several key areas of concern for land use advocates. “Two hundred bad land use bills have been introduced in Salem,” he says, “and many have passed the House.” Stacey says he’s hopeful the Senate and the governor’s veto pen will minimize the damage, but he’s also worried. Stacey described the governor’s new Industrial Lands Taskforce as “well-inten- tioned,” but he fears the public input will be mostly negative. “The radical right will have a field day in the public hearings,” he says. “We need to change the debate away from bad local decisions and rather work to provide a vision for our state and our communities.” BY PAUL NEEVEL Nellie Oehler “I always wanted to be an extension agent,” says Nellie Oehler, who grew up on a dairy farm near Coos Bay. After she studied foods and nutrition at OSU, Oehler spent a year working with poor families in Jamaica. “It’s a wonderful place,” she says. “I learned so much about resourcefulness.” On her return, Oehler was hired as 4H extension agent for Linn and Benton counties. “I’ve been involved in some kind of extension ever since,” she notes, “with time off to raise two chil- dren.” In 1983, Oehler founded Oregon’s first Master Food Preservers Program at the Lane County Extension Office in Eugene. Her current MFP class has 16 students. “In return for the eight-week class, they volunteer 40 hours,” she explains. “We also have about 40 returning volunteers.” Volunteer MFPs conduct summer workshops and maintain a statewide food-preservation hotline that attracts 6,000 calls annually. In addition to her half-time OSU faculty position (she also coordinates the Leadership Education Program), Oehler raises sheep, pigs, fowl, veggies and fruit on 40 acres surrounded by the city of Corvallis. “I call it my lit- tle health club,” she says. “True work is good exercise.” 8 MAY 29, 2003 The lack of public education, he says, is one of the big hurdles facing public accep- tance of good land use planning. And we need to educate both progressives and con- servatives. He figures fiscal conservatives would embrace more stringent planning if they understood the true costs of sprawl. Stacey says “homebuilders and the aggre- gate industry still have a virtual political stranglehold on LCDC” (Land Conservation and Development Commission), but he sees hope in local communities fighting for sensi- ble land use planning Commenting on local land use issues such as the West Eugene Parkway and PeaceHealth’s new medical center plans, Stacey says: “What could be worse than building a highway through wetlands to an area that shouldn’t be developed? How about moving a leading medical center to the very edge of the urban area, to a place accessible only bycars?” — Ted Taylor ADDRESSING THE GAP A serious achievement gap faces students of color locally and nationwide. About 40 percent of white fourth-graders are proficient or above in reading, according to the National Assessment of Education Progress reading assessment, but only 16 percent of Latino and 5 percent African American students read at that level. African American students con- tinue to lag behind other ethnic and minority groups. This pattern is said to begin as early as fourth grade. African American students seldom recover from this educational deficit. Each year a large number of our students fail in our schools, and it has never been more apparent that it will take the village to raise our young African American leaders. The Churchill community believes this commu- nity effort is possible through the promotion of collaboration among community mem- bers, students and school staff. To help create this sense of alliance, the Churchill region is holding a one-day confer- ence 9 am to 5 pm, Saturday May 3, in the Churchill High School auditorium. The con- ference is for African American students, ele- mentary to high school level, and their fami- lies in the Churchill region. The conference goals and objectives are: To increase the amount of parental involvement of African American parents in our schools; to increase awareness of the current pitfalls for our young adults, in hopes of improving African American scholastic achievement; to collab- orate on new strategies for the development of programs for African American students and families that would successfully support the families served; and to find new ways to establish and build student and professional relationships within the African American community in Eugene. Speakers and workshop panelists include Haze Pope, Ph.D., Portland Public Schools psychologist; Winston Cornwall, Oregon Department of Education; A. Halim Rahsaan, Concerned Black Men, Portland; Dwight Lee, Serenity Lane counselor, and many oth- ers. For more information, contact Bahati Ansari at 687-3221. SEEKING JUSTICE A Eugene attorney with a doctorate in biochem- istry is working with advocates in Chile to seek justice for a town contaminated by toxic mining wastes abandoned by a Swedish company. Chernaik Mark Chernaik is a staff scientist with Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (E- LAW). He will join Francisco Ferrada, a Chilean attorney, to discuss the case at a pub- lic presentation on June 3 titled: “Seeking Environmental Justice in Chile.” Chernaik has witnessed firsthand the en- vironmental threats that communities face around the world through his travel to work with advocates in Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Ukraine, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Israel, Peru and Argentina. The presentation is co-sponsored by E- LAW U.S. and the Environmental & Natural Resources (ENR) Program of the UO School of Law. The presentation is free and open to the public at 7 pm Tuesday at the Knight Law Center Room 175 . In 1984, a Swedish multinational mining company began shipping its mining wastes to Chile, purportedly so that a local Chilean company could reclaim gold and silver from the wastes. More than 20,000 metric tons of unprocessed waste were dumped in the northern city of Arica, on the border with Peru. Later, the Chilean government built
