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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 15, 2004)
CITIZENS CALL FOR A NEW VISION FOR CITY This year’s Citizens’ State of the City Address at Harris Hall Jan. 12 had an unspo- ken theme of “we can do better,” and in- cluded an unusual diversity of speakers. The presen- ters called for building neighborhoods and local culture, peace ac- tivism, racial and transgender justice, protection of urban nat- ural areas, more pro-labor candidates for public office, hos- pital planning that benefits citizens over cor- porations, and improvements in air quality. The presenters this year, introduced by Ruth Duemler, were Kara Steffenson of Friendly Neighbors for Peace, Hannah Persson of Community Organization of Lane County (CALC), Gary Gillespie of Eugene Springfield Solidarity Network, Lauri Segel of 1000 Friends of Oregon, and Becky Riley of the River Road Community Organization and Friends of Rasor Park. New this year was a presentation on social justice from a gender perspective. “Marginalized groups, such as immigrants and transgendered people, bear the brunt of oppressive systems and it is hardly no- ticed,” said Hannah Persson who also noted the “lack of commitment to social justice that we have here in Eugene.” Persson talked about the failed attempt this past year to add gender identity to the city code on non-discrimination. “A small but vocal group of people opposing transgender protections were able to persuade the mayor and City Council to exclude transgender pro- tections,” she said. “The opposers accom- plished this by creating a serious public dis- comfort and phobia about transgendered peo- ple using public restrooms — an issue that has very little relevance to what the code pro- visions would actually do, such as making BY PAUL NEEVEL KIMBY MAXSON Eugenean Kimby Maxson began to study midwifery while she was pregnant with her daughter Maraya. “I’ve been a midwife for 13 years now,” she notes. “Maraya has been invited to a dozen births — she can take care of the 3-year-old.” In 1998, Maxson had surgery for ovarian cancer. “Last June was five years for me,” she marvels. “That means I beat it!” Since the operation, she has given birth to a second daughter, Jade, and added massage thera- py to her practice. After a good friend died of breast cancer last February, Maxson turned her attention to complementary care for cancer patients. “Gail got mas- sage, acupuncture, and nutritional help,” she explains. “I believe it gave her a better quality of life.” Within months, Maxson launched the Hearts and Hands Comfort Center, a resource to connect cancer patients with volunteer caregivers. (Call 343- 0886 for details.) She currently logs 20 hours a week scheduling care and applying for non-profit status. “We have around 25 volunteers and eight patients,” she reports. “We think that people should have everything available to improve their lives, regardless of their financial means.” • McKenzie-Willamette/Triad was hoping to nail down its new hospital site by the end of 2003, and a decision might be near. We hear the board is leaning toward the Delta Road site, and even claiming that physicians prefer Delta, but we think board members will be making a strategic error if they do not locate south and west of the Willamette. Land is available off lower Chambers in an area that is the geographic center of Eugene and has excellent access via 6th, 7th, 11th, 18th, Chambers, Northwest Expressway, River Road, etc. The site is close to the highest population center of Eugene, already has good infrastruc- ture, and is relatively undeveloped. PeaceHealth is likely hoping McKenize-Willamette picks the Delta site. If most Eugeneans have to cross a river and maneuver freeways to get to either hospital, it’s not that big a deal to continue to RiverBend. Locating a new hospital and trauma facilities south and west of the river would be good business strat- egy as well as benefit the people of Eugene. • Congrats to Bonny Bettman who this week finally got her turn as president of the City Council. Last year she got pushed out of the normal rotation in a spiteful political move by council conservatives. This year it might have happened again, but Scott Meisner was absent, Gary Papé 8 JANUARY 15, 2004 discrimination of transgendered individuals illegal in employment, housing and other im- portant public sectors.” Speaking on the city’s environmental health, Becky Riley lauded the city for im- provements in water quality and bike paths, but said we can do much more. She called for the city to not only educate the public about toxic runoff from yards, but also “set a high standard and lead by example by adopting a policy to minimize its own use of weed killers and fertilizers in city parks and … minimize new paving projects in the city.” Riley said the ongoing discussions about getting “back to the river” have led to “de- structive proposals” for more development along the river — such as the Riverfront Research Park and the recurring proposal for a new Valley River Bridge over the Willamette. “Let’s challenge our ‘pro-business’ city leaders to also be ‘pro-environment,’ ‘pro- public health’ and ‘anti-pollution,’” she said. “these goals should not be mutually exclu- sive.” nominated Nancy Nathanson but she declined, George Poling nominated Bettman and it passed unanimously. Bettman then nominated Poling for VP and the whole shooting match was over in about the time it takes to read this. • Did Nancy Nathanson decline a nomination to become council president because she plans to run for mayor in ’04? That would only be the case if Jim Torrey announces this week that he won’t seek a third term. Torrey delayed his press conference until just an hour after we go to press this week, perhaps on purpose to leave us guessing. Regardless of the mayor’s decision, it’s time for new, and true leadership in Eugene. Torrey has a war chest from de- velopers and old timber money, but marginal popularity. He ran unopposed in 2000 and only garnered 37,000 votes out of 60,000 ballots cast. He could face an embar- rassing loss in 2004 if he decides to run again and pro- gressives field a serious candidate — a loss that could hurt his ambitions for state office. Meanwhile, Kitty Piercy has surpassed the $20,000 in pledges she said she would need to raise before announcing a mayoral bid, but was waiting this week to see what Torrey did before making an an- nouncement. • Chemical de-icers for Eugene city streets and bridges? The council was too eager to give this proposal a nod for Lauri Segel talked at length about citizen participation in land use planning and cited the West Eugene Parkway issue as an exam- ple: “We need to work together to craft alter- native plans focused on fixing existing prob- lems in west Eugene without causing more problems. We can and must protect our valu- able wetlands and remaining fragments of native prairie. We must solve existing access and mobility problems. These challenges can be accomplished by starting with community dialogue and foregoing high stakes ballot box campaigns.” Segel also talked about the current shuf- fling of medical facilities in the valley and the problems that have arisen. “Now, more than ever, it is imperative that citizens get in- volved in pending hospital siting and related land use and transportation planning deci- sions.” — TJT COLLINS RAPS UO IN WU COVER STORY Former UO law professor Robin Morris Collins talks about the UO and its lack of even temporary, experimental use. Calcium magnesium acetate might be a big improvement over rock salt and other road agents, but the jury is still out on its long-term environmental effects. One thing we do know about such chemicals is that they are harmful to vegetation. That should be enough of a red flag to justify a call for more study. • One of the largest timber sales ever offered in the Northwest is the proposed salvage logging of more than 500 million board-feet of timber from the burned-over Biscuit Fire in the Siskiyou National Forest. The Forest Service originally called for a much more modest salvage of 96 million board-feet outside of roadless areas, but an OSU team funded by timber money is pushing for the much larger sale. The remaining timber is of relatively little value and would be expensive to access and log, particu- larly in the roadless areas. Is this just another attempt to nullify Clinton’s Roadless Area Conservation Rule? Salvage logging is ecologically risky under the best of circum- stances, and in this case we’re talking about the Kalmiopsis — a rugged but fragile low-elevation wilderness area that is globally unique habitat for rare flora and fauna. Leave it alone for Mother Nature to heal. SLANT includes short opinion pieces, observations and rumor-chasing notes compiled by the EW staff. Heard any good rumors lately? Contact Ted Taylor at 484-0519, editor@eugeneweekly.com
