Eugene weekly., February 19, 2004, Page 9, Image 9

The U of O Cultural Forum Presents:
BY ALAN PITTMAN
Decent Digs
Council puts developers ahead of renters.
T
he Eugene City Council put devel-
oper interests ahead of providing
safe and decent housing last week.
The council voted 5-4 to delay creating
a housing livability code that students and
renters have asked for and instead use staff
resources for projects developers and land
speculators want.
The vote left supporters of a housing
code shaking their heads. “Let me get this
right, it’s not a high priority that people in
this community have decent housing with
plumbing and heat and roofs that don’t
leak, but it’s a priority to process a change
for one developer,” Councilor Bonny
Bettman said of a council vote in support of
instead prioritizing changing regulations to
support a developer of a medical clinic.
At a public forum after the vote, UO
student Jesse Harding reminded councilors
that the council’s West University
Neighborhood Task Force had made hous-
ing standards its top recommendation 14
months ago, but the council had done noth-
ing. “It’s really spitting in the face of the
task force and it’s recommendation,” said
Harding, who served on the task force.
UO student Jesse
years. “These are what you have resources
to do in the next 18-24 months,” City
Manager Dennis Taylor told the council of
the top five priority list. “The rest of the
items will not get done.”
City Planning Director Susan Muir told
councilors that items not in the top five pri-
orities “will go on the back burner.”
Bettman said Nathanson’s motion
could kill the housing code proposal. “It
seems to me it’s putting it on life support so
that we can pull the plug.”
Kelly said he was “very disappointed”
in the council decision to put housing stan-
dards “on the slow track.” It’s “bizarre”
that the council “couldn’t give a somewhat
high priority to the idea that roofs should-
n’t leak, heating should be provided in the
winter and you shouldn’t need to go to
court to fix this problem.”
Kelly said that rather than forcing ten-
ants to pursue costly and time consuming
lawsuits against landlords using state hous-
ing codes, Eugene should follow the exam-
ple of Corvallis and set up city housing
code enforcement funded by an $8-$10
charge per year for renters.
THE
SUICIDE KINGS
the professional slam team seen on
HBO's Def Poetry Jam
February 26th • 7pm
Agate Hall, UO
This awesome trio will be judging four student
finalists for a cash prize and also performing
two sets of incredible slam poetry.
Tix at the door only! $1. / students • $2. / general
For more info: www.culturalforum.uoregon.edu
E NR O L LM E N T
FO R T HE 2 0 04 - 05 S CH O O L Y E A R
The Village School is a tuition-free,
Steiner-inspired charter school serving
Kindergarten to Eighth grade.
Harding reminded councilors
the council’s West University
Neighborhood Task Force had
made housing standards its top
recommendation 14 months ago,
but the council had done nothing.
We provide a holistic academic experi-
ence using an arts-integrated curricu-
lum that includes music, movement and
foreign language.
that
The Village School's lottery for the
2004-05 school year will be held
February 27, 2004.
A K-8 PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL
To apply for enrollment for 2004-05,
you must attend a required Parent
Information Meeting.
Parent Information Meetings are scheduled:
City Councilor Nancy Nathanson, now
running for mayor, was the key swing vote
against making a housing code a top prior-
ity. Nathanson, who is backed by property
managers, land speculators and developers
in her campaign, said the housing code
could have a negative “potential serious
impact” and “would bump another high
priority” item from the top five list of city
staff planning priorities.
“I can’t support the motion as it was
made,” Nathanson said. She instead suc-
cessfully argued for a motion for staff to
bring back a “scoping” study on what it
would take to study a new housing code in
order for the council to take another look at
the issue in June.
Mayor Jim Torrey cast the tie-breaking
vote in favor of Nathanson’s slower ap-
proach. “We’re moving way too fast.”
But Councilor David Kelly said the
issue has been before the council for at
least three years and pointed out the neigh-
borhood task force spent weeks discussing
the need. “We are hardly rushing to this.”
Nathanson argued that the vote against
making the housing code a top planning
priority was in fact a vote to make it a high
priority. “We’ve put it on the front burner,”
she said. “That’s really a hurry-up.”
But city staff made clear at the meeting
that items not placed on the planning top
five priority list would not be dealt with for
Councilor Betty Taylor said the current
state housing code “does not work unless
people have money to go to court.”
At the public forum, Maddy Melton, UO
student body president, said she was “upset”
about the council move to delay discussion
of the housing code until the summer when
students are gone and can’t lobby the coun-
cil. “It’s absolutely irresponsible,” she said.
“We’re voters in this community and I think
we have to be taken seriously.”
Shannon Tarvin of Eugene Citizens for
Housing Standards said the city’s 54,000
renters need basic livability standards en-
forced. “We need protection now.”
Kelly said “I can’t think of many priorities
that should be higher” than decent housing.
But the pro-developer council majority
thought of many higher priorities, includ-
ing rezoning property for the developer of
a medical clinic, studying ways to give
more tax breaks to big industry and devel-
opers, and a study to move the urban
growth boundary out so land speculators
can cash in. All these efforts made the
city’s top planning priority list instead of
housing standards.
Councilor Taylor said the housing stan-
dard issue has been before the council for
at least seven years without action. But she
encouraged advocates to “continue to
push” for decent housing. “Please don’t
ew
give up.”
Sat., Feb. 21st, 10am • Tues., Feb. 24th, 6:30pm
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FEBRUARY 19, 2004 9