Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 16, 2004)
VOTE BY MAIL FRAUD FOUND IN 15 STATES Has vote by mail opened up Oregon to voter fraud? The New York Times reported on its front page Sept. 13 that officials are con- cerned about mail-in ballot fraud. Mail ballots raise the prospect of partisans purchasing or coercing ballots marked the way they want or collecting ballots from vot- ers in neighborhoods that support their oppo- nent and then destroying or altering them. Prosecutors have brought cases charging fraud with mailed absentee ballots for inci- dents in at least 15 states, the paper reported. Six states require witness signatures for mail-in ballots, 10 states prohibit political op- eratives from collecting ballots and eight states require the identification of people who help a voter complete a ballot, the Times re- ported. Oregon does not have any of these safeguards, but county clerks do try to verify signatures. — Alan Pittman SUSTAINABILITY CONFAB IS DOWNTOWN SEPT. 23 Eugene and the UO will host a one-day conference on “Making Sustainable Development Work: Real World Applications for Eugene-Springfield and Lane County” from 8:30 am to 5 pm Thursday, Sept. 23 at the UO Downtown Baker Center on High Street. Fee of $15 in- cludes lunch. Early registration is recom- mended as space is limited. Joining local city and UO officials in the conference will be Kitty Piercy and mayors and staff from the cities of Burlington, Vt., Olympia, Wash., Fort Collins and Boulder, Colo., Missoula, Mont. (invited), and other communities. Agency directors from the Sustainable Jobs Fund in Vermont, the AceNet economic devel- opment agency in Georgia, and Shorebank • Here are a few of the one-liners John Edwards for veep tossed to a crowd of Oregon donors Tuesday afternoon at the Benson Hotel in Portland: “George Bush thinks he’s Ken Lay and America is his Enron.” “Bush and Cheney are continuing their proud tradition of divi- sion.” “Would be good for the American economy to oursource this administra- tion.” “Bush’s health care plan has been to pray you don’t get sick.” “Every sin- gle vote counts and every single vote must be counted” “We’re going to win because we have to.” Edwards left the Benson to the upbeat sounds of Blues Brothers “Soul Man” and headed to the next round of donors in the next swing state. • Eugeneans in effect thumbed down Mayor Torrey’s agenda last May when they picked Kitty Piercy over Nancy Nathanson, so it would make sense for Torrey to back off on his pet projects. Instead, what we will more likely see is a mad rush to do as much damage as possible before he turns over the office keys to Piercy. One example is the big push from the mayor is to get a memo- randum of understanding signed with ODOT regarding the city contributing to the cost of the West Eugene Parkway. Enterprise Pacific in Washington State will talk about the specifics of their sustainable de- velopment programs and answer questions about the costs and benefits for government, business, and the community at large. The conference will focus on municipal level sustainable development programs; local sustainable business retention and ex- pansion programs; and local climate change programs (which are linked with business de- velopment). Considerable time will be avail- able for dialogue and question and answers. For registration information visit http://cwch.uoregon.edu/conference or call (800) 824-2714 or 346-4231. MARCHÉ TO FEED NEW ART MUSEUM CROWD Eugene’s acclaimed Marché restaurant, where Sen. John Kerry dined recently, will operate a café in the renovated Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the UO begin- ning in October, several months prior to the museum’s scheduled grand opening Jan. 23. The 33-seat café will be open from 9:30 am to 4 pm Monday through Friday until the museum reopens, and then will be open seven days a week with extended hours on Wednesdays to 8 pm and from 11 am to 4 pm on weekends. Visitors can enter through the museum’s new south courtyard. Owner of Marché is Stephanie Kimmel and Marché Museum Café manager will be Leah Pearl. The “Museum of Art and Marché are a perfect match,” says museum Director David Turner in a prepared statement. “Stephanie’s reputation has been built on the highest stan- dards of quality, presentation and service. We share the same values.” Turner says he expects the café to become “a destination for university and community members.” TIMES, VENUES SET FOR ELLSBERG, ET AL for the event include admission to a 7:30 pm panel discussion moderated by Alan Siporin at the A Northwest tour with First United Methodist Church Daniel Ellsberg, Medea at 1376 Olive St. Benjamin and Norman Solomon Sunday, Sept. 26, in Salem, has settled on times and places Ellsberg and Solomon will speak (see story last week). at 7 pm at Cone Chapel in Waller The tour will reach Eugene Hall on the Willamette Saturday, Sept. 25, for three University campus. On Monday events beginning with panel at 7:30 pm, Solomon and talks from 2 to 4 pm at the LCC Ellsberg will visit OSU in Performing Arts Hall. The pub- Corvallis and speak in the lic is also invited to join the three DANIEL ELLSBERG LaSells Stewart Center. On speakers for a light Tuesday, Sept. 28, the three speakers will dinner/dessert/reception from 5 to 7 pm at visit campuses in Portland including a public Cozmic Pizza (8th & Charnelton) where war event at PSU beginning at 7 pm in the Smith heroes Ellsberg and Dr. Eugene Lazowski Center Ballroom. will receive Peace Awards. The $20 tickets • Speaking of the R-G, we hear the “Run Jim Run” full-page ad in late August that included the name “Phukyoo Gymn” ran uncorrected not only once, but twice. We are told the mayor did not find the fake name funny either time. Also, we wondered how big a donation it took to get on this long list. Usually that’s how grass-roots groups pay for thousand-buck ads. Turns out it’s free for the signers. The names came from e-mail responses. And one signer told us he really doesn’t support Torrey, he just likes to see Eugene politics “stirred up.” It’s peculiar that Torrey would even think of signing such a document in light of his earli- er statements (even in paid advertising) that “the money is there … all of it” and that the pro- ject will not cost Eugeneans any- thing — arguments that helped per- suade citizens to (barely) pass a measure in 2001 supporting city efforts to pursue the highway pro- ject. • Did anyone else do a double-take in Monday’s (9/13) belated front page R-G story on campaign contributions? The headline, subhead and first three para- graphs are all about local Republicans contributing to Bush, but the list of big donors below includes Democrat state Rep. Phil Barnhart donating $15,750. If you re-read the fourth and fifth para- graphs you will see the story shifting to include Kerry donations. We asked Barnhart’s office if they got any feed- back. “We received several phone calls on the article,” says Barnhart staffer Sally Nunn. “People were confused; some offered to write letters after con- firming that Phil was not a closet Republican donor.” • City Club is back in session after an August break and some good speakers are in the queue. Rob Hankins, the city’s visionary new cultural services director, takes the mic this Friday; Joan Pierson is pulling together a lively pro- gram on “Dying in Eugene” for Sept. 24. Anyone can sit in the audience for $3 or buy lunch, but membership dues are getting a bit spendy these days ($55 for the first year, $125 thereafter). We hear a scholarship fund has been set up for lower-income people who would like to be active in the club. It’s all confidential. Visit www.cityclubofeu- gene.org for information. SEPTEMBER 16, 2004 7
