TO THE EDITOR
BY TOM LININGER
Roadkill
Herbicides are not the only way
to control roadside vegetation.
N
ext week the Board of County Commissioners
will pass an ordinance limiting the use of herbi-
cides to a “last resort.” Our ordinance will be
the most progressive of its kind in Oregon. Here are
the highlights:
1) Say it, don’t spray it. Under the new ordinance,
county staff must provide compelling reasons before the
Board of Health will authorize the use of herbicide on county
roadways. The Board of Health won’t allow any herbicides unless staff shows that
alternatives have proven ineffective. By the way, who is the Board of Health? It’s
actually the county commissioners. Years ago the commissioners decided we
should give ourselves another name when we’re talking about health-related
matters. Just padding our resumes, I guess.
2) An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of glyphosate. The new ordi-
nance will decrease our reliance on herbicides by increasing the use of preventa-
tive measures. But desk jockeys like me aren’t known for our imagination. How do
we control vegetation without poison? Hmmm, let’s see. Could we pave all the
roadsides? Could we chain up a goat every 50 feet? Could we block out the sun?
Fortunately there are wise people with the Northwest Coalition Against Pesticides
(a group based here in Eugene) who have identified viable preventative measures:
planting native vegetation, controlling weeds with new high-tech machines, etc.
3) Pick your poison. In the rare circumstances when herbicides are necessary
as a last resort, the new ordinance will require staff to choose from a list of herbi-
cides approved by the Board of Health. Once again, that’s the BCC incognito. I’m
glad that elected officials will retain the ultimate control in deciding whether cer-
tain herbicides can be used in Lane County. We’re making a list, we’re checking it
twice, and we’re gonna find out which chemicals are naughty and nice.
4) She blinded me with science. Aimee Code of NCAP has provided us with
helpful scientific research on the effects of herbicide. Oregon also has some
impressive expertise in our public university system. Lane County’s new ordi-
nance will require periodic consultation with the experts to update our under-
standing of the harms (and benefits) of herbicides. You can’t just rely on the
research provided by the chemical industry. In the 1960s, the manufacturers of
DDT arranged for their own employees to eat a huge quantity of DDT in order to
prove it wasn’t harmful to humans. Remember that the next time you think you
have crummy job.
5) Take five. Every year, we’ll take 5 percent away from the total road-miles
where herbicides may be used. This annual goal will help us to achieve a stepwise
reduction over time. We won’t lose sight of the forest through the trees — or the
weeds, as it were.
By the way, the exercise of updating our herbicide policy has given me
renewed appreciation for the great staff in Lane County’s Public Works
Department. They’ve already been more cautious than staff in most other
Oregon counties. The new ordinance will require some adjustments in their prac-
tices, but I think in the long run, county staff will find it to be workable. The only
one who may be disappointed is the guy who drives the spray truck. Like the
Maytag repairman, he shouldn’t get much sympathy when he’s idle, because
that’s a sign our system is working well.
Tom Lininger is the county commissioner for the East Lane District. Rumors that Tom ate huge quantities of
DDT when he was younger are greatly exaggerated. For more information on roadside spraying, see EW’s
award-winning report in the www.eugeneweekly.com archives of April 18, 2002.
Center
for Family
Therapy
U N I V E R S I T Y
O F
EDITOR’S NOTE: It should be noted that My
House got Calendar listings for every event, and
sometimes photos, at zero cost to Mr. Moscato.
A LITTLE RESPECT
I live at 563 Coburg Road, right behind
the construction site. I just wanted to write a
letter in regards to the respect and courtesy
that I feel McKenzie should show to its
neighbors at 555 Coburg Road (namely the
Woodlands Apartments).
These people start at 7 am every morning,
running their cranes and tractors and 18-
wheelers and loaders. They wake us up every
morning at 7 am sharp, running their ma-
chines in reverse, resulting in multitudes of
those beeping back-up sounds.
But they quit every day at 3 pm! Why
should they have the right to wake up the en-
tire apartment building that we live in, and
the nearby ones, and still quit at 3 pm?
Couldn’t they start at 8 am and go until 4 pm?
And, on another note, they do the same
thing on many Saturdays. When will we ever
get a day of peace and quiet, or be able to sleep
past 7 am? Don’t we have a right to a peaceful
and restful place of residence, or do we need to
put up with the disrespect of McKenzie and
the other crews working on that site?
Tony Delap
Eugene
NEIGHBORS FROM HADES
What happened to the good old days when
you could count on your neighbors for any-
thing? Where did the Welcome Wagons go?
Smiling handshakes with greeting hellos,
nice to meet you? Where did the casseroles,
light conversation and cups of sugar go?
My neighbors are the Hounds of Hell, the
teenage kid next door stole my daughter’s
bike, plays loud rap music with his gangster
wannabe’s that hang out like crows on their
front porch.
And don’t get me started on the Monster
Truck neighbor next door who has to start his
Beast on Wheels three times a day, just to see
if it still runs. Let’s forget about the go-cart-
with-no-helmet-driving kids, the four
wheeler, and the trailer that is always block-
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ing the second driveway we are always fight-
ing over.
Now I know you’re asking, where do I
live? Which is another issue — right on the
line of Eugene and Santa Clara, in a very nice
and way too small townhouse complex with
no parking. Yeah, we are all renters but do we
have to act like we are? I would hate to see
how these people treat strangers...
I am fed up and I know I’m not alone.
What, were these folks brought up in a barn?
Now, please keep in mind I am not some
over-the-hill lady. I’m just 31 and a member
of the generation that is not going anywhere.
But I do have manners, and I want more from
my community — if you can call it that.
Looking for a three-bedroom, two-bath
with good neighbors!
Lisa Caimi
Eugene
FIRST DIGS
Let me offer a clarifying response to the
letter submitted by Dean McKenzie, past
President of the Archaeological Institute of
America (AIA) Eugene Society about The
Archaeology Channel’s International Film
and Video Festival recently organized by our
organization, Archaeological Legacy
Institute (ALI). First, many thanks to Mr.
McKenzie for attending the Festival and for
his laudatory remarks about the event. His
opinions carry great weight.
Responding to our claim that this was the
first archaeological film festival in North
America, Mr. McKenzie pointed out that the
AIA Eugene Society has had at least two
events where archaeological films were
shown. These events were important contri-
butions and are not to be minimized or dis-
counted. ALI is certainly not the first to hold
public showings of archaeological films.
Archaeological films have been shown in
many places over the years. We meant in-
stead that we are the first in North America to
hold an international juried competition of
such films, patterned after festivals now held
regularly by a network of organizations in
Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland,
Italy, Spain, Greece, and Turkey. We invited
film-makers worldwide to submit their works
to this competition and received an over-
whelmingly enthusiastic response. Of more
than 70 films submitted, we accepted 64 en-
tries from 19 countries and screened 20 films
from 10 countries at the McDonald Theatre
during July 16-19. Awards selected from our
jury and audience went to film-makers from
France, Germany, Greece, and the U.S.
I respect the AIA and am in fact an AIA
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closed, you have a responsibility to do a bet-
ter job in covering local music, arts and cul-
ture. You can start by featuring events taking
place at venues like The Museum of Unfine
Art, the Jawbreaker, Mother Kali’s and
MECCA. Covering these venues would fos-
ter a more informed, vibrant, forward-think-
ing vision of how our community could be.
Marc Moscato
Eugene
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EDITORIAL
Editor Ted Taylor Executive/Arts Editor Lois Wadsworth
Associate Editor Aria Seligmann Contributing Editor Anita
Johnson Staff Writers Alan Pittman, Bobbie Willis
Calendar Editor Ben Fogelson Contributing Writers Brett
Campbell, Rachel Foster, Kate Rogers Gessert, Jerry Harris,
James Johnston, Sharleen Nelson, Mary O’Brien, Vanessa
Salvia, Sally Sheklow, Lance Sparks, Martha Ulman West
Interns Kelly O’Brien, Celene Carillo y
ART DEPARTMENT
Art Director/Production Manager Kevin Dougherty
Graphic Artist/Webmaster James Bateman
Graphic Artists Katie Beckman, Todd Cooper Contributing
Photographers Kurt Jensen, Paul Neevel, Linda Smogor
BUSINESS
General Manager John Herron
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Distributors Laurel Caccivio, Sam Hauk, Sue Hunnel, Terri
Molitor, Yona C. Riel, Will Thornton, Pedalers Express
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6 AUGUST 7, 2003