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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 6, 2003)
CITY TO TRY AGAIN WITH POLICE STATION The city of Eugene has twice failed to con- vince voters to pay for a new police station. The last time a bond measure failed by a 24 percent margin. But that’s not stopping the city from asking the voters again. The city staff and council last month moved forward with plans to put a new station before voters next fall. The building will cost at least $34 million, not including millions of dollars more that the city plans to spend on an adjacent parking garage to serve the building. The new cop shop will be double the size of the old police digs but will cost the average taxpayer more than $1,000 to repay loans for the structure. The city plans to kick in millions of dollars more into the fund for the police headquarters by saving money through reduced services to taxpayers and through otherwise diverting internal money that could have been used to serve taxpayers. The campaign to convince voters to pay for the building has already begun with a renewal of shaky arguments that the existing police sta- tion/city hall could collapse in an earthquake and can’t be renovated. But the arguments for a police station may have only grown weaker with time. The city is already building a spa- cious new $4 million police building to move workers from the basement of City Hall. — Alan Pittman DECLINE TO SIGN, SAY CHILD ADVOCATES Stand for Children, the grassroots child ad- vocacy organization key to pushing through local tax measures to support schools both in Eugene and Portland, is urging people not to sign the petition to repeal HB 2152. Oregon conservatives are petitioning to put a measure on the ballot that would undo the Legislature’s bipartisan three-year tax hike to support schools and human services. “Stand for Children is an army of doers which up to now in Lane County has been working under the radar but has produced in- credible results,” says Steve Barnes of the group. Barnes says the organization banked 10,000 phone calls during the campaign to pass Measure 20-67 last year, which will generate $31.4 million over the next four years for local education programs. Stand for Children state Director Joy Marshall calls the two-year-old non-partisan group the “AARP for children’s issues” and hopes the group’s grassroots organizing will help build pressure to find permanent solutions to Oregon’s underfunding of education and human services. • The city is resuming its recruitment efforts for a new police chief, and we can expect the same secretive process as before and proba- bly worse since city staff is paranoid that media attention will discourage some candi- dates from applying. But this hiring decision has huge implications for the future of Eugene and deserves to be an open process, as it is in many other cities. Let’s interview the top candidates in a public forum and give reporters a chance to investigate them. And if the police union has issues, let them be raised and addressed in public. This is what democracy is all about. • McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center is cel- ebrating a major victory in an antitrust law- 8 NOVEMBER 6, 2003 “We’re doing the right stuff,” she says. “We’re doing concrete things, we’re organizing, we’re bringing these issues to the people.” As part of its outreach program, the group recently sponsored the appearance of Joshua Redman and his Elastic Band jazz trio at The Shedd. OFAM sponsored a reception for the musicians after the concert, and an opportunity for Stand for Children to pitch its work. Redman is a Harvard graduate, law student and civil rights advocate in addition to being a top-rated jazz musician. “Joshua is a wonderful example of what’s right when the investment is made in kids, edu- cation and particularly music education,” says Barnes. Local high school music students were involved in promoting the concert, and OFAM CEO Jim Ralph made half-price tickets avail- able for students. The group’s latest campaign is called Decline to Sign and is focusing on educating voters on the importance of supporting the tax increase that’s needed to keep classroom sizes reasonable and keep schools from cutting days or weeks of instruction. Decline to Sign literature notes that public schools have already lost millions in recent years, high quality education is needed to gener- ate and keep jobs in Oregon, opponents have no alternative plan to fund schools and human ser- vices, and “it is affordable — most taxpayers will pay $3 a month.” For more information about the campaign and Stand for Children, contact Marshall at 912- 2921 or joy@stand.org or visit www.stand.org — Ted Taylor CIA SNEAKS IN, OUT CIA Director George Tenet came to the UO last week to address attendees of the Association of American Universities, who met at the UO for the first time. Approximately 40 of the 62 member campuses from across the U.S. were represented, says Harry Battson, UO asso- ciate vice president for strategic communica- tions, a position formed a year and a half ago. The UO is the only Oregon university affili- ated with the organization, which comprises the top research universities in the U.S. But no one knew Tenet was coming. University personnel were told not to tell — so they didn’t. The R-G reported that AAU President Nils Hasselmo said Tenet addressed “larger policy issues” rather “than offering specific direction for research efforts.” The only person from the UO, however, who knows what Tenet actually said is President Dave Frohnmayer, who was at the meeting, but out of town this week and could suit against rival PeaceHealth. Regardless of how the verdict plays out in the appeals process, McKenzie-Willamette had its day in court and PeaceHealth was called to account for its arrogance and unfair business prac- tices, all of which affects local medical costs and choices in health care. PeaceHealth has a great charitable heritage under the Sisters of St. Joseph and the organization has done a lot for our community over the years. But lately it appears PeaceHealth is doing a lot to our community — forcing upon us an over- ambitious development with outrageous hid- den costs to taxpayers, aligning itself with a notorious land speculator, and now alienat- ing other health care providers in the com- munity. Let’s hope this verdict serves as a wake-up call for PeaceHealth’s board and ad- ministration to put away the Monopoly game not be reached for comment. Battson says he doesn’t know what Tenet spoke to the attendees about, only stating strate- gically, “It was my understanding that he was invited to discuss the role of universities in the international context. I don’t know what he said. I wasn’t there.” International students comprise 7 percent of the UO student body. Perhaps Frohnmayer will reveal Tenet’s points when he returns to town. —Aria Seligmann LETTERS SENT TO SUPPORT BARRY’S Concerned Eugene residents have under- taken a letter writing campaign to keep Barry’s Espresso and Bakery at the Willamette Plaza site through PC Market of Choice’s expansion and Rite Aid’s redesign over the next few years. The letters have been sent to several Eugene city officials, including Mayor Jim Torrey, as well as to Trond Ingvaldsen, assistant vice president of real estate for The Standard Insurance Company, owners of the Willamette Plaza prop- erty. Ingvaldsen, in an e-mail response to Torrey regarding residents’ concerns, writes, “Barry’s Espresso and the other tenants located in the Rite Aid building are subtenants of Rite Aid, and Barry’s has never leased space from Standard Insurance Company. Rite Aid will downsize ….. Unfortunately, the new store will not be able to accommodate the existing sub- tenants, including Barry’s Espresso.” Regarding a national coffee chain replacing Barry’s, Ingvaldsen writes, “Barry’s is not being replaced by a national coffee tenant. Standard Insurance Company has not negotiated with, nor entered into any leases with any national coffee tenant.” However, Ingvaldsen does include, “Although it is our prerogative to talk to any tenant interested in the Willamette Plaza, our own local coffee tenant Supreme Bean, who has been a tenant in our center for more than 10 years, will have first right to negotiate lease terms for a full service coffee store in the Willamette Plaza when space is available.” Barry’s will remain in the Willamette Plaza Rite Aid at least through next summer, and owner Barry Siegel has opened a second shop on campus. — Bobbie Willis TWO 9/11 EVENTS IN THE SPOTLIGHT A free public symposium on “the other Sept. 11” (the coup in Chile in 1973) began this week at UO and continues with a keynote address at 7:30 pm Thursday, Nov. 6, at the Knight Library Browsing Room. The speaker will be Peter Kornbluh of the National Security Archive. The topic “The Pinochet File: A Declassified Dossier on Atrocity and Accountability.” The title of the symposium is “Democracy and Human Rights in Latin America: Lessons from the Past and Prospects for the Future (30 years after Sept.11, 1973).” The symposium includes a series of lectures and begin a new era of cooperation, collabo- ration and partnership. of at UO? Inquiring minds? Hard questions? Accountability? • CIA Director George Tenet was at UO for a secret meeting with university presidents last week. He was in and out before the press and public even knew. What kind of message does this send to the students, faculty and community? The university bent over and agreed not to tell anyone who “didn’t need to know” about Tenet’s visit. Well, here’s some news: We all need to know. We need to know the CIA’s role in decades of disastrous foreign policies. We need to know if CIA and FBI coordination has improved since 9/11, and if so, why was it so bad before? We still need to know why CIA intelligence was so in- accurate regarding Iraq and WMDs. We need to know the CIA’s role in funding decisions for university research. What’s Tenet afraid • New rumors in the 2004 election land- scape: Commissioner Anna Morrison pon- dering a run for the state Senate in District 24? That’s fellow Republican Ken Messerle’s seat. Bobby Green may run unopposed for his commish seat. We hear Scott Meisner has taken out filing papers for re-election to City Council Ward 7, but hasn’t filed them yet. He could see some stiff competition if he de- cides to run. Councilor Nancy Nathanson also has state House or Senate ambitions, we hear. Meanwhile, the Oregon League of Conservation Voters is busy compiling city and county voting records on local environ- mental issues. Want a preview? Work the crowd at the OLCV fund-raiser party Nov. 14 in Eugene. See next week for details.
