Betty Taylor, Bonny Bettman,
Andrea Ortiz and Kitty Piercy
celebrate May 18.
2004 PNLHA conference will look at the
Pacific Northwest’s labor tradition and its rele-
vance to contemporary times. The conference
will also cover contemporary issues related to
the world of work, labor unions and employ-
ment relations.
Conference topics include healthcare re-
form, child labor in the West Africa chocolate
industry and much more, as well as musical and
theatrical performances and an art exhibition.
The conference is co-sponsored by the
Eugene-Springfield Solidarity Network, the
UO Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation, the
UO History Department, the Lane County
Labor Council, and SEIU 503, Local 085. For
more information on the conference, contact
Bob Bussel at 346-2784.
ULTIMATE FRISBEE TEAM
GOES NATIONAL
The student-run South Eugene High School
ultimate frisbee team is challenging the nation
May 22 and 23 at the 2004 Ultimate Frisbee
High School National Championships in
Corvallis.
Taking place at the Crystal Lake Sports
Complex, the championship is the top tourna-
ment of the year for high school ultimate teams
in the U. S. and Canada. Sixteen men’s high
school teams and 12 women’s high school and
club teams will come together in a display of
athleticism, spirit, and of course, flying plastic.
The Amherst Regional HS Hurricanes
(Amherst, MA) will be defending their men’s
championship title and the Amherst Regional
HS women will be looking for their sixth
straight championship.
After winning the Oregon State
Championships, South Eugene High School,
without the aid of coach or captain, won a bid to
participate in this elite congregation of young
disc-throwers.
See May 22 Corvallis Events this issue for
more information. —Ben Fogelson
CORRECTIONS/
CLARIFICATIONS
•In last week’s WVFF insert, the photo of
band Moksha was incorrectly identified as
Samba Ja. Moksha will perform at 3 pm,
Saturday May 22 on the Amphitheatre Stage.
•Iris Bicksler took the lovely photos of the
Eugene slam poets for last week’s story.
•EARLY AD DEADLINES:
The May 31 Memorial Day holiday means
early ad deadlines for the June 3 issue. For dis-
play ads, it’s 5 pm Thursday, May 27, and for
classifieds, it’s 5 pm Friday, May 28.
Questions? 484-0519.
Kitty Wins
People power defeats developers
in mayor, council races.
BY ALAN PITTMAN
E
ugene elected the first progressive mayor in the city’s
history May 18, defeating development interests after
one of the hardest fought and closest mayoral contests
the city has ever seen.
Mayor-elect Kitty Piercy won 51.4 percent of the vote,
enough to avoid a November run-off against Nancy Nathanson,
who trailed with 46 percent, in unofficial final results. Nathanson
was backed by big campaign contributions from development in-
terests but Piercy prevailed with small donations and volunteer
time from more than 600 active supporters.
Piercy campaigned on a pledge of being a mayor for all
Eugene and after the vote promised to continue that theme of
“trying to find ways for us to move forward together.”
Piercy said one way of moving forward is for the city to move
beyond the West Eugene Parkway. “The Parkway divided the
community right up the middle and it’s stuck,” Piercy said, refer-
ring to opposition to destroying protected wetlands from the
Bureau of Land Management. “That one is never going to pass
muster with the feds,” she said. “It’s time for us to look for an-
other solution” that will respect natural areas and address traf-
fic needs.
Piercy also said she will work for a new housing code for
renters, protecting the city’s Toxics Right to Know ordinance and
on her economic plan for the city.
Newly elected councilor Andrea Ortiz could help Piercy with
her progressive agenda. Ortiz won a 59 percent vote to defeat
incumbent councilor Scott Meisner. With Ortiz, the council may
split 4-4 on many issues with Piercy breaking ties in favor of pro-
gressives on environmental and urban sprawl issues.
Progressive councilors Bonny Bettman and Betty Taylor also
won re-election handily.
• Tuesday’s election results sent a strong message to the city — and country. Decided
victories by progressive mayoral candidate Kitty Piercy, City Council incumbents Bonny
Bettman and Betty Taylor, and newcomer Andrea Ortiz, who ousted comfy Scott Meisner,
prove Eugene is ready to head in a new direction. With this election, citizens have voiced
their desire to protect the environment, to create sustainable jobs and to keep power
where it belongs — in the hands of the people.
That populist message also resounded within the presidential race. Although Kerry
soundly defeated Kucinich, Kucinich’s strong showing — roughly 16 percent as we went to
press Wednesday — is a loud enough note to be heard nationwide. We give kudos to
Kucinich for sticking to his principles and echoing Oregonians’ cries for healthcare for all,
protection of the environment, and last but not least, our fervent desire to get out of Iraq
and begin creating a lasting peace in this world.
We also extend our gratitude to the winners and the losers in this election who’ve
dedicated so many days, months and years to public service and to the many volunteers
who labored so diligently for their candidates.
“I’m really excited,” said Ortiz, and added she’ll have a “huge
learning curve” as a new city councilor but learned through her
campaign what people in her ward want. “They want people who
are willing to listen to them and have a conversation,” she said.
Ortiz thanked her campaign manager Michael Carrigan for
his work. Carrigan said Ortiz won because she and her volun-
teers worked harder than incumbent Scott Meisner to win sup-
port. It’s almost unheard of for a Eugene council incumbent to
lose re-election, but Carrigan said the results prove “a chal-
lenger that works really hard can win. My faith in American
Democracy has been strengthened.”
Incumbent Scott Meisner attributed his defeat by Ortiz to un-
popular council votes he took and voters wanting change rather
than re-electing a councilor to a rare third term. Meisner said he
feels satisfied that he helped accomplish his main goal as a
councilor — building a new library — and added, “I’m fine with
this.”
Taylor said she won re-election despite being heavily out-
spent because the intelligent voters in her South Eugene ward
support what she supports. “People care about the environment
and workers rights and human rights,” she said.
“I’m honored to have such strong support,” said Bettman of
her re-election with 67 percent support. “I ran a positive cam-
paign focused solely on my values and my record.”
Taylor said the potential for a progressive majority vote on
the council could be a big change for local government long
dominated by development interests. “It totally changes the bal-
ance. It isn’t automatically a Chamber of Commerce organiza-
tion,” Taylor said.
“I don’t know that Kitty or Andrea are a shoe-in on any par-
ticular vote,” Bettman said. But she added that she’s optimistic
that the council can now work together on positive changes for
the community. “I’m excited for the future of Eugene,” she said.
Councilor David Kelly attributed Piercy, Ortiz, Bettman and
Taylor’s victories to a new political activism on the left in
Eugene. “The change was because more progressive folks got
organized and got involved,” Kelly said. “There was a breadth of
volunteer activity that I haven’t seen before. Something clicked.”
• Clay Myers came to Eugene last week like the political warrior he once was to an-
nounce his exit from the Republican party. He met with President Frohnmayer at the UO
and spoke to a gathering of old friends at the Wayne Morse ranch.
Quoting Morse, he said the party left him. After more than 50 years as a Republican,
he switched to Independent registration and is now an “ardent Democrat,” working for
the election of John Kerry. He says more than 50 of his Republican friends are doing the
same. Some prominent Eugene R’s confirmed that switch at the Morse party.
Myers became a national leader of the Young Republicans during and after his years
at the UO in the late ‘40s. After Governor Tom McCall appointed him secretary of state,
he won two terms on his own. He also served as state treasurer, but Vic Atiyeh beat him
in a run for the nomination for governor.
Myers doubts that moderate Republicans like Atiyeh, Norma Paulus, Frohnmayer and
himself could be elected in Oregon today. Is this party, which he says has abandoned its
principles, salvageable? Myers says, “Yes, in our grandchildren’s time.”
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
MAY 20, 2004 7