FEES DISCOURAGE
DOCUMENT ACCESS
The city of Eugene is clamping down on
public information with an elaborate new fee
schedule. The high fees for public records
could hide government misdeeds behind exor-
bitant charges to the public for documents that
actually belong to the public to begin with.
While commercial photocopy shops charge
5 cents a page, the city wants to charge 25
cents. A mug shot will cost $10. A tape of a
minute-long 911 call will cost $60. The sched-
ule appears to even allow the city to charge for
hiring a private attorney to black out sections of
public records that the city doesn’t want the
public to know about.
The high fees appear to violate the state
Public Records Law. The law requires that fees
for public records be based on an agency’s “ac-
tual costs” in providing the documents. But the
new fee schedule appears arbitrary and says the
city’s fees will be based in part on “the revenue
needs of the city.”
While the fees allow the city to charge pro-
hibitive fees to hide embarrassing documents,
city propaganda remains free. Citizens “will
not be charged for documents the city provides
for public relations purposes,” the policy states.
Comments on the new fee schedule can be
submitted until this Friday, Jan. 23 to Eugene
City Manager Dennis Taylor, 777 Pearl Pearl
St.; Eugene 97401. The fees take effect Feb. 2.
— Alan Pittman
BARNHART FAVORS
MEASURE PASSAGE
Who pays for hospital and clinic costs when
uninsured low-income Oregonians get sick or
injured? We all do, says Phil Barnhart, state
representative for central Lane and Linn coun-
ties.
“Hospital rates go up to cover non-collec-
tables,” says Barnhart in his most recent leg-
islative report. “The costs shift to employers
and those who buy their own health insurance.
Lately, the cost shift has been about 20 cents of
each premium dollar and will be much more if
Measure 30 fails.”
Barnhart, a Democrat, predicts that more
than $200 million will be cut from the
Department of Human Services, mostly from
the Oregon Health Plan, if Measure 30 fails.
The cuts will eliminate coverage for more than
6,300 Lane and Linn County residents while
ending prescription drug coverage for another
42,000. “For every dollar Oregon spends on
health care for the poor,” he says, “the federal
government pays $1.71. These federal taxes
will be spent somewhere else and will not help
boost the Oregon economy as they do now.”
Also endangered are nearly all the small,
low-cost programs that treat the chronically
mentally ill or disabled, along with treatment
for drug and alcohol addiction. “People who
currently live quietly in our communities will
be ‘treated’ in jail after becoming disruptive, or
in much more expensive hospital settings.
These low-cost programs have reduced crime
and helped families cope.”
Barnhart
maintains
a
website
(www.philbarnhart.com) with links to more in-
formation about the budget and Measure 30.
— TJT
NEW GROUP FOCUSES ON
VICTIMS OF LANDMINES
A new non-profit group in Eugene is orga-
nizing events and trying to build support for
helping Cambodia’s landmine victims.
Friendship with Cambodia is hosting a bene-
fit dinner at 6 pm Saturday, Jan. 24 at St.
Mary’s Episcopal Church, 13th and Pearl.
The event includes an Indian dinner and
presentation by Kristen Leadem, director of
Clear Path’s project in Cambodia to raise
funds for vocational rehabilitation for land-
mine victims.
Friendship with Cambodia was founded
last September by Bhavia Wagner, author of
Soul Survivors: Stories of Women and
Children in Cambodia. Wagner has been
doing volunteer work in Cambodia for the
last 12 years.
“My response to the current state of the
world, where war and violence are so wide-
spread, was to start an organization to counter
that aggression with understanding, coopera-
tion and kindness,” says Wagner. “We al-
ready have a great group of volunteers who
are committed to making the world a better
place.”
Suggested donations are $10 to $20 for
adults, $7 for students and limited income.
For more information, call 343-3782.
OVERSTOCK SALE
PEG MORTON LEAVING
FOR TRIAL IN GEORGIA
A candlelight circle of hope and support
was held this week for Eugene resident Peg
Morton who is leaving for Columbus, Ga., to
face a trial for civil disobedience Jan. 26.
Morton was among 40 people arrested Nov. 23
at a protest against the Army School of the
Americas (SOA), now renamed the Western
Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation.
The school has trained hundreds of military
men and dictators who have gone on to commit
human rights atrocities in Central and South
America.
More than 170 protesters calling for the
closing down of the school have served a com-
bined 70 years in prison. Morton, who has been
arrested before at the military base, faces up to
six months in jail and a $5,000 fine for criminal
trespass, a federal offense.
Morton, a Quaker scholar and retired social
worker, says she’s willing to go to prison and
will spend her time there collecting stories of
incarcerated women.
Morton plans to return Friday, Jan. 30. A
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ACTIVIST ALERT
• Coming up Jan. 23-24 is the “Visions of
Eugene Center: A Public Design Charette” spon-
sored by the city and billed as “an exploration of
ideas for a civic center encompassing a new city
hall, police services building, and other local
government facilities.” Issues include Eugene’s
artistic, cultural, social and governmental values;
open spaces; great streets; sustainability; and “
contributing to the variety of downtown.”
Architects, planners and citizens are involved.
Begins at 3 pm Friday, Jan. 23 at the Eugene
Public Library, continues all day Saturday at the
Atrium Building. Contact the city at 682-5547 or
e-mail michael.j.penwell@ci.eugene.or.us
• Advocates for passage of Measure 30 are
gathering for a vigil from 4:30 to 5:30 pm
Wednesday evenings at the Federal Building
Plaza at 7th and Pearl downtown. The assembly
will continue Wednesdays until the Feb. 3 elec-
tion. For information, call 686-9721 or e-mail
vanhoute@onlink.net
james von boeckmann
FROM
Bean Counter
Tax Services
gathering of supporters is planned at 1:30 pm
that day at the Amtrak bus station in Eugene.
attorney at law
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