TO THE EDITOR
BY TOM LININGER
Humble Pie
Commissioner serves desserts,
then deserts.
O
n Wednesday, Aug. 13, I joined my fellow county
commissioners in serving pie to hundreds of
senior citizens at the Lane County Fair. My inep-
titude as a pie cutter prompted one onlooker to call out,
“Don’t quit your day job.” Too late.
I had already submitted my letter of resignation in May,
announcing that I would leave the Board of County Commissioners
on Friday, Aug. 15. I decided to step down in order to take a job as a law professor
teaching ethics and other subjects. A politician teaching ethics — the critics will have
fun with that one.
I wasn’t proud to be leaving the board before completing my term. The first six
months in office is always the hardest part, and I didn’t have much time to enjoy the
job once I figured out what I was doing. One of my friends at UO quoted Thomas
Hobbes to sum up my tenure as a commissioner: “nasty, brutish and short.” As I
talked with senior citizens from the East Lane District last Wednesday, I felt disap-
pointed that I couldn’t spend more time addressing their concerns on the board.
B
ut I was pleased that in my eight months of service, I accomplished several of
my goals. The board put four new police officers on the road in rural Lane
County. We funded programs for abused kids, and we stopped the closure of
rural health clinics. We made safety improvements to some of Lane County’s danger-
ous roads. We took a strong approach to enforcing land use laws. We reduced the
county’s use of pesticides, and we helped to conserve open space. Did I mention that I
caused the sun to rise every day for the last eight months? (Wait, I should share some
of the credit with Sorenson — he’s up for reelection next year.)
I’m not sure who will replace me on the board. A total of 27 candidates applied for
the job. The board has winnowed that list to seven. Some of the finalists are really well
qualified. By comparison to the 131 applicants who lined up to replace California Gov.
Gray Davis, the East Lane vacancy has attracted a pretty staid and respectable bunch.
If any of the East Lane hopefuls are former porn magnates, strippers, child TV stars,
or terminators, they’ve hidden this baggage pretty well.
There’s a lot I’ll miss about the board. I’ll miss the “Dwyerisims.” Bill Dwyer called
Lane County “Camp Run-amok-a,” and he said that solving the never-ending budget
crisis was like “wrestling an octopus.” I’ll miss seeing photos of Bobby Green’s grand-
son. I liked Anna Morrison’s performance in a skit to honor Dwyer when he stepped
down as chair in January. And I had a great time meeting Peter Sorenson’s mom — a
gracious and kind woman who introduced young Pete to politics by dragging him to
meetings of the Coos Bay Water Board.
(www.eef.lane.edu). If you got a check,
please support me in helping our kids and
their schools, which are sorely underfunded.
Through EEF, you can choose which 4J
school to support, and even what program.
It’s easy. Online, use the “designation” field
to let EEF know the name of the 4J school
and program you wish to support.
Do you care about the arts in school, about
science, about math, computers, or reading?
Do you wish to support a music program? Or
you can give without designation and let EEF
fund specific education projects through their
grants program.
Donations can also be mailed to EEF, P.O.
Box 1015, Eugene 97440. Again, if you
would like to make a specific donation, in-
clude the name of the school and the program
on the memo line.
I am going to share this unexpected wind-
fall by giving back to our kids’schools. If you
got a check and don’t feel that you can sup-
port our schools financially, can you give
back in another way? You could help the en-
vironment, our hungry children, our desper-
ate poor. But please, join me and give back10
percent of this refund to help those in need.
Leisha Wharfield
Eugene
HOLE IN JUSTICE
On Friday, June 13, political prisoner Free
(Jeffrey Luers) was transferred to discipli-
nary segregation, commonly known as “the
Hole,” at Oregon State Penitentiary (OSP).
Free was sent to the Hole for an article he
wrote that encouraged people who are in-
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Locally owned and independent since 1982, now with 91,000 regular readers.
6 AUGUST 21, 2003
The strategy of new bike shop owners
Shane Ayrsman and Ben Leonard to sell re-
furbished, recycled, used bikes is a good one.
Who can argue with lower prices and reuse? I
cannot. But these innovative entrepreneurs
must explain how their reuse strategy is not,
and will not become a method to re-sell
stolen bikes and especially stolen bike com-
ponents. Bike theft in Eugene is a serious
Oregon Family Dental, PC
John J. Park, DDS
Y
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STOLEN GOODS?
NOW ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS
ep, I was feeling pretty regretful during my last week in office. But ironically,
this was the first time that I actually earned my kids’ respect for my work as a
commissioner. They hadn’t been too impressed last March when I told them
that daddy helps to spend a budget of $450 million. They didn’t care much when I told
them in May that the board supervises 1,500 employees. Another ho-hum in June
when they learned that daddy helps determine the land use rules for a county as
large as Connecticut. But for one glorious day last week, daddy presided over a table
covered with over 100 pieces of pie, and my kids’ wide eyes made all the months of
door-knocking seem worthwhile.
Tom Lininger served as the county commissioner for the East Lane District until Aug. 15. He plans to
continue to write occasional columns for EW.
volved in direct action to be more thoughtful
in their actions. This would be the second
time this year that authorities at OSP have re-
sponded to political expression with write-
ups and time in the Hole. (Anarchist prison-
ers Rob “los Ricos” Thaxton and Brian
McCarvill were both sent to the Hole for 120
days earlier this year, after allies on the out-
side sent them postcards as part of an anti-
censorship campaign.)
Free is widely considered a political pris-
oner due to the 23-year sentence he received
for an act of sabotage that injured nobody.
The same week as his transfer to the Hole, the
Eugene Human Rights Commission released
a letter in support of a reduced sentence for
Free, and suggesting that the original may
have been based on his political beliefs. Now,
Free is again being punished for his politics.
We encourage all individuals and groups
to stand by Free during this time, and to de-
mand his immediate reentry into general pop-
ulation at OSP. For more info, please visit
www.freefreenow.org
Steven Gider
Break The Chains Collective
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