Eugene weekly., November 06, 2003, Page 10, Image 10

BY ALAN PITTMAN
The R-G and the Ramp
GSA charges daily with ‘deliberate misinformation.’
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on Kvistad, regional head of the
U.S.
General
Services
Administration (GSA), charged
that The Register-Guard engaged in
“deliberate misinformation” in editorials
pushing for a wheelchair ramp at the new
federal courthouse.
“Some in the community were con-
fused and misinformed,” Kvistad said of
proponents of the ramp during an Oct. 24
press conference in which the GSA
announced it would build a ramp. He
charged that that confusion was “fueled by
what I believe was deliberate misinforma-
tion by some at the local newspaper.”
“It was the editorials that really drove
them up the wall,” said Jack Wilson, edi-
torial page editor for the R-G, in an inter-
view with EW.
Wilson said R-G editors had several
“unhappy” meetings and communications
with the GSA complaining that editorials
pushing for the ramp were not even hand-
ed. But Wilson said the editorials were
urging the government agency to do the
right thing. “I make no apologies for that.”
At the press conference, Kvistad
declined to elaborate on his allegation of
“deliberate misinformation” from the
newspaper. “Far be it for me as a public
official to criticize our media,” Kvistad
said, but referred to a complaint
letter he sent R-G Editor and
Publisher Tony Baker. After
checking with Baker, Wilson pro-
vided a copy of the GSA’s letter.
“I find the editorial board’s
actions unacceptable, irresponsi-
ble and unethical,” Kvistad wrote
Baker on Sept. 16, charging that
the editorials were engaged in
“misinformation and politically
correct posturing” in criticizing
the GSA for providing an elevator
at the front of the building instead
of a ramp.
Kvistad appeared particularly
tioning public support for the project. The
R-G’s news coverage of the announcement
focused on speculation by ramp advocates
that the building was hung up on the
wheelchair access issue.
But Kvistad said at the news confer-
ence that the ramp wasn’t the cause.
“There’s just no way” the ramp would
have shut down the $70 million building,
Kvistad said. “The timing is coincidental,”
he said. “The hold is not related to the
ramp.”
The project was put on hold to urge the
city to guarantee money for construction
of infrastructure to serve the courthouse,
according to Kvistad. “We cannot build a
$70 to $80 million pubic building in an
area where the public infrastructure, and
that includes the transportation infrastruc-
ture, is not settled.”
Construction of a new $8 million high-
way through the courthouse district near
the river has been a controversial issue in
the City Council and in the community for
years.
The GSA’s abrupt turnaround on the
ramp issue appears to illustrate the power
of the R-G’s editorials on the issue. But
Wilson downplays the impact of his work.
“I wouldn’t want to put our editorial at the
center of this.”
JON KVISTAD
‘It was the editorials that really drove
them up the wall,” said Jack Wilson,
editorial page editor for the R-G.’
bothered by a Sept. 16 R-G editorial invit-
ing Kvistad and other federal officials on a
wheelchair tour to demonstrate the impor-
tance of disabled access to public build-
ings.
“I consider the editorial to be irrespon-
sible and unacceptable and I would like a
retraction and clarification to that effect,”
Kvistad wrote. “Given your editorial
board’s past rhetoric, I am doubtful that
the tour would be informative or balanced
and I am just as certain that they publicly
announced the tour — without having
made any effort to learn if the invited
guests could participate — so as to be able
to get a photo of three empty chars and
further inflame some in the community.”
Three days after the Sept. 16 letter was
sent, the GSA announced that it was put-
ting the courthouse project on hold, ques-
10 NOVEMBER 6, 2003
The R-G editorials did not “single-
handedly turn them around,” Wilson said.
The paper was just part of “a really united
community telling the GSA that we want-
ed to do this right,” he said.
“There was near unanimity of support
for a fully accessible building,” Wilson
said. “If we had any part in that, that’s
great.”
Reading the GSA’s letter, it’s apparent
GSA saw the R-G as having a major part
of “inflam[ing]” public opinion for the
ramp. “Your editorial board’s public bait-
ing will not sway our process nor adverse-
ly influence my decision,” Kvistad vowed
Sept. 16. On Oct. 24 he announced, “We
have decided to add this additional entry
option for this select project in order to
meet strong Eugene community demand
for ramp access.”
ew