• We hear the Rev. Chumleigh is starting
his own after-hours supplement to the
Oregon Country Fair next door at the Secret
House Winery in July. Not a bad idea, espe-
cially for all of us who get swept out the
gates at 7 pm because we’re not part of the
“in crowd.” Now there will be music, vaude-
ville, dance and even booze just down the
road. Some might choose the cool “Fringe
Festival” over the hot, dusty, swoon-inducing
daytime counterculture extravaganza. But,
the big bucks to get into the for-profit Fringe
(whoa, $25 for Saturday night) tends to
make it just another exclusive party that
poor folk and teens will try to crawl into
through the poison oak. And OCF has spent
years cultivating detente with neighbors and
cops. Will wild revelers and stoned drivers
from the Fringe trash a fragile truce? We
shall see ...
• Eugene city staffers have been drag-
ging their feet for many years on completing
the Natural Resource Study Draft Inventory,
spending hundreds of thousands of dollars
of state money and asking for endless exten-
sions. Development interests, traditionally
closely allied with city planners, have resist-
ed this state-mandated process for years,
even though the inventory only provides lim-
ited restrictions. The delay tactics have paid
off as many of Eugene and Springfield’s
urban natural areas have been bulldozed,
clear-cut, paved and culverted since the
process began. Finally the inventory went to
the City Council this week and developers
once again found sympathetic ears, this time
among build-anything-you-want councilors.
Councilor Gary Pape suggested it was better
for the city to buy land it wants to protect
rather than impose restrictions to “keep
someone from doing what they want with
their property.” That kind of thinking became
obsolete in 1973 with the passage of our cel-
ebrated land use legislation, Senate Bill 100.
• It’s puzzling why President Bush main-
tains a high approval rating despite policy
atrocities at home and abroad. A big piece of
the puzzle is the calculated misinformation
campaign disseminated by the White House
and GOP leaders, and continued by main-
stream media. A May survey by the
University of Maryland of 1,256 respondents
concluded that a third of the American pub-
lic believes U.S. forces found weapons of
mass destruction in Iraq, and half of those
polled believed Iraqis were among the 19
hijackers of 9/11. Pollsters and analysts figure
many people are confused by conflicting
reports and Bush administration allegations.
The disconnect between fact and fiction
shows the glaring need to relentlessly edu-
cate people about government and public
policy. Democracy is in trouble when infor-
mation can be so easily manipulated.
• Earlier this month the province of
Ontario’s Court of Appeals ruled that same-
sex marriages are, in fact, legal, and Canada
has now joined Belgium and The
Netherlands in liberalizing marriage laws.
American gays can now travel to Canada
and get hitched. But U.S. jurisdictions will
still not honor same-sex marriages; and even
in Canada, conservatives are calling for new
legislation to overthrow the court ruling. On
both sides of the border, conservatives are
indignant and outraged that anyone would
challenge their narrow ideas of who can join
in civil and legal partnerships. Let’s celebrate
Canada’s ruling and work to see that we fol-
low suit.
LEIKEN DISLIKIN’
In a recent listserve discussion on the
Coalition for Health Options in Central
Eugene-Springfield (CHOICES) website,
Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken revealed
more than a little irritation with the Board of
County Commissioners’ involvement on the
PeaceHealth appeal before the Land Use
Board of Appeals (LUBA).
CHOICES posted a May 23 e-mail from
Leiken responding to a phone call made by
Commissioner Tom Lininger regarding the
LUBA appeal. Leiken writes, “You have me
more confused than anything else concern-
ing … why the commissioners would even
have an interest in appealing or being in-
volved in an appeal concerning a
Springfield development … [w]hen rural res-
idents start paying city taxes, and pay for ser-
vices, then I will be more than happy to lis-
ten. I guess I will look at decisions made in
Oakridge, Creswell, Cottage Grove and other
communities, and if I don’t like the outcome,
then I will demand to be involved in the deci-
sion making.”
Leiken concludes by writing, “I would hope
you could spend more time focusing on opening
the courts back to five days a week, making sure
the sheriff has enough money … and making
sure the most vulnerable and needy within Lane
County will have benefits available — not fo-
cusing on a Springfield development.”
In a June 6 posting, Lininger responds to
Leiken: “The County’s letter to Springfield
earlier this year set forth a number of con-
cerns that we believe are worth reasserting
before LUBA. The decision to join in the ap-
peal was not any easy one for me, and that’s
why I called you to share my preliminary
thoughts and ask for your input …” — BW
CORRECTIONS/CLARIFICATIONS
In the June 12 news article “Union Support
for Mother Kali’s,” last year’s situation with for-
mer bookstore staff was described as a “refusal”
to work during the height of the textbook rush.
We’ve since been told that it was not a refusal.
Rather, former employees simply chose not to
work from the store — opting instead to work
from home — for one day because of mounting
frustration over unaddressed labor grievances.
SLANT includes short opinion pieces and rumor-chas-
ing notes compiled by the EW staff. Heard any good
rumors lately? Contact Ted Taylor at
484-0519, or e-mail editor@eugeneweekly.com
JUNE 26, 2003 9