Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 26, 2004)
Friday night McCamant will talk about design concepts, successfully completed co- housing communities in the U.S. and the per- sonal experience of living there. McCamant and Durrett will also talk on the Corvallis co- housing project. For people interested in developing an urban cohousing community in Eugene, a meeting will be held at 7 pm Thursday, Feb. 26. Call Henner 345-6466 for location. For more information about McCamant’s lecture call Judy Hecht at 754-3028. — Kate Storm CORRECTIONS/ CLARIFICATIONS • Credit where credit’s due. The photo of Paul Prince that ran with Brett Campbell’s column (2/19) should have been credited to www.artlightstudios.com, and the photo of Marilyn Picariello (Kali’s Cries, 2/19) was taken by Susan Detroy, http://members.efn.org/~dets/ • In last week’s Morsels column, The Dive Bar & Grill should have been iden- tified as in the former location of West Bros. BBQ at 844 Olive. Mona Lizza is still next door. • In a Feb. 19 news story EW quoted City Councilor Bonny Bettman, “Let me get this right, it’s not a high priority that people in this community have decent housing with plumb- ing and heat and roofs that don’t leak, but it’s a priority to process a change for one devel- oper.” The quotation should have included a question mark at the end. • We hear Glenn Klein of Harrang Long Gary Rudnick P.C., Eugene’s city attorney, is being offered payment by PeaceHealth to write an amicus brief for the Oregon League of Cities in favor of PeaceHealth and Springfield’s development and land use plans. We haven’t heard back from Klein in response to our ques- tions, but we expect to hear that there is no illegal conflict; and that his work will be reviewed by the League’s Legal Advocacy Committee. Oregon’s weak laws on conflict of interest allow such arrangements, but this one appears to be impossible to justify. Klein and his law firm are paid by Eugene taxpayers to represent the best interests of Eugene. We suggest our city attorney should be scrambling to block PeaceHealth from leaving Eugene and burdening taxpayers with millions in transportation and infra- structure costs that will result from their move to the banks of the McKenzie. Instead, Klein appears to be working to support the move. Eugene’s city manager has the power to stop this kind of conflict. Will he? • We’ve been trying to figure out why there’s so much resistance to the idea of Eugene hiring an independent city auditor. Other cities and counties have hired auditors to make their local gov- ernments more efficient, more responsive to the public and more transparent, and have saved millions in the process. Portland city auditor Gary Blackmer spoke to City Club last Friday, and after his talk we asked him why his ideas are not always welcomed, even when the benefits are clearly documented. “There’s a ques- tion about another layer of bureaucracy, someone messing with the single vision of where you’re going,.” he says, “someone who may be saying things that aren’t exactly what the common knowledge or understanding is. An iconoclast isn’t accepted by anybody, unless you’re an iconoclast yourself.” So, it appears the resistance may not be based on any conspiracy to hold onto power or keep us in the dark, but rather a discomfort with doing things differently. How do we overcome fear of change? With in- formation, clear communication and persistence. Good job, City Club, for getting this discussion out in the public. We were disap- pointed, however, that KLCC was not able to broadcast Blackmer’s talk Monday evening. Another time, perhaps? TOWN HALL MEETING: State & County Issues o • Dan Carol roasts Ralph Nader in his “Kumbaya Dammit” column this week, but let’s not forget what Nader has given our nation in his lifetime of public service ac- tivism. He might not get our vote this time around, but he deserves our attention and respect as one of our few national leaders fear- lessly speaking out against corruption and injustice. Just as Dean set a fiery tone for the Democratic primaries, Nader is serving a role as well, along with Dennis Kucinich, reminding us of how far we still have to go to achieve true democracy. • McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center’s interest in the EWEB site along the Willamette River is exciting to think about, and what a boost it would be to downtown, though it’s hard to imagine that all the pieces of the puzzle could be put together in the quick time-frame required. Meanwhile, it’s worth noting that the City Council has made establishing a new Eugene hospital in the cen- ter of the city its highest priority this year, but they didn’t indi- cate which hospital. It’s not inconceivable that PeaceHealth might abandon its plans for a sprawling Springfield medical cen- ter and build in Eugene, maybe at the EWEB site. • DA Doug Harcleroad, speaking this week about the violent death of Paula Benetiz at the hands of her stalker ex-husband, Tomas Ortega-Benitez, said “This woman should not be dead. If we had adequate jail space in this county, she would not be dead.” (R-G, 2/24). Overcrowding is not going away soon, but one response to this tragedy would be to adjust the matrix system to add more points to those inmates with a history of stalking and restraining order violations. But with another round of county budget cuts coming up, even tweaking the matrix system might not prevent the next brutal case of domestic violence. SLANT includes short opinion pieces, observations and rumor-chasing notes com- piled by the EW staff. Heard any good rumors lately? Contact Ted Taylor at 484-0519, editor@eugeneweekly.com Author Leslie Fields Reading and Book Signing “Surviving the Island of Grace” Thursday, Feb. 26, 7:00-8:30pm Hilyard Community Center 2580 Hilyard St., Eugene Tonight! Lane County Commissioner Peter Sorenson and State Senator Floyd Prozanski host a Town Hall Meeting to discuss state and county issues. Comments and questions from the general public will follow brief remarks. For More Information call 682-4203 Darin J. Ward DDS PC, F.A.G.D. Fellow of the Academy of General Dentistry Health Centered Dentistry 300 Country Club Rd. Ste. 290 Eugene, OR 97401 At Health Centered Dentistry, we focus on your overall wellness. By taking a holistic approach and arranging for health rather than merely treating disease, we offer an opportunity to restore your oral health to its optimum. We look at the whole picture, consider systemic health and underlying factors, and take steps to perfect your smile while preventing problems before they occur. Friendly faces welcome you in a relaxing, stress-free environment to ensure you are as comfortable as possible. Call today and experience the benefits we offer with the extraordinary people and unique setting only Health Centered Dentistry can provide. (541) 686-2441 8 FEBRUARY 26, 2004 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 2 •• FREE Knight Library Browsing Room, University of Oregon Fields relates the poetic beauty of her sometimes treacherous existence in the family fishing operation off the coast of Kodiak Island, Alaska. UNIVERSITY OF OREGON BOOKSTORE UOBookstore.com
