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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 28, 2004)
news briefs KERA ABRAHAM Delores Huerta WOMEN RALLY FOR KERRY Local women gathered in Eugene with national female political leaders to get out the vote for John Kerry Oct. 19. The press conference, titled “Women on the Move,” was held at Marché, a restaurant owned by local entrepreneur Stephanie Kimmell. Presumed Mayor-elect Kitty Piercy opened the conference. “This election gives us the opportunity to vote in a president who will address poverty, support education and good jobs, and protect our rights,” she said. “Real leadership is on the way with John Kerry.” California Assembly member Hannah- Beth Jackson blasted Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act. “It’s a failed educational policy, • Our cover story this week examines the environmental implications of the election, and if you’ve been waiting for a reason to vote, here it is. On the national, state and local levels, almost everything on the bal- lot has an impact on the health of our ecosystem, which in turn has an impact on the health of ourselves and future genera- tions. Set aside all the convoluted argu- ments regarding flip-flops, war medals, campaign finance shenanigans, who prays more, who’s better on the economy, who’s “out of touch with their constituents,” etc. and look at which candidates and mea- sures show empathy and respect for human life on a basic level. And look for inconsistencies. Can a candidate really be “pro-life” and also ignore pollution that sickens and kills thousands? Isn’t war the ultimate environmental disaster? Politics is baffling, but sometimes the choices are clear. Show you care and get that ballot off your kitchen table and down to a drop box. • Eugene City Club could take a clue from the League of Women Voters in Coos Bay. Both sponsored debates between Peter DeFazio and Jim Feldkamp last week, but the coast LWV closed their meeting to sign-waving and partisan cheering. The Eugene City Club, usually such a civil 10 OCTOBER 28, 2004 and it’s one that is insidious in its attempt to take away what is the cornerstone of democ- racy, and that is public education,” she said. Labor leader Dolores Huerta, who fought for farmworkers’ rights alongside César Chávez, said, “Bush says he’s the war presi- dent? He is. He is, because he’s got a war against the environment,” she said. “He’s got a war against civil liberties, a war against civil rights, a war against immigrants … a war against labor unions … and, of course, he has a war against women.” California Congresswoman Jane Harman addressed what she views as Bush’s faith- based government. “It seems to me that strategies that a civil government follow have to be rooted in fact, and they have to be rooted in science, and they have to be rooted in a careful, careful study of very complex problems. Not rooted in some religious view of good and evil,” she said. California Sen. Dianne Feinstein lam- basted Bush’s international relations. “There has never been a time in my lifetime when America has been more alienated or more hated abroad than we are today, and virtual- ly every single poll in virtually every single nation will show that,” she said. “That’s brought about, I think, by the persona of the individual at the head of government.” Feinstein concluded with a call to vote for John Kerry. “This election, I truly believe, is the biggest election in your life- time,” she said. “I don’t think this election can be won without a solid vote from the Pacific Northwest states.” — Kera Abraham WHERE’S HARCLEROAD? The last-minute campaign to write in Charles O. Porter for district attorney on the November ballot is leaving proponents flus- place, was dominated by Feldkamp sup- porters who came early with big signs made for TV, took seats and signs upfront in the Hilton, even gave a Feldkamp cheer and responded inappropriately during the debate. Not that it made any difference. Peter was so on top with his grasp of the issues and his dedication to the working people in the Fourth District, a district, incidentally, that went for Bush last time. • Jay Bozievich, the quirky LCC board member who actually voted against increased funding for higher education last year, is back in the news again calling local Kerry supporters “terrorists.” Bozievich, quoted in the R-G and in e-mail discussions, was referring to a scuffle that broke out between Bush and Kerry sign carriers on Ferry Street Bridge Oct. 22. Both sides are claiming the other side started the brawl, but regardless, calling sign carriers “terrorists” is absurd, idiotic, and local R’s would be wise to publicly distance themselves from Bozievich and his reckless, irrational rhetoric. • We had one more chance to be grateful for our Congressman DeFazio last week- end when David Cay Johnston, Pulitzer Prize winning reporter for The New York Times, spoke on the campus. Author of a tered. Not only is former DA Doug Harcleroad MIA from his elected post, he’s also missing from the ballot. Other local candidates who garnered more than 50 percent of the vote in the pri- mary appear unopposed on the ballot. They include city candidates Kitty Piercy, Bonny Bettman, Andrea Ortiz and Betty Taylor; and county candidates Peter Sorenson and Bobby Green. Sorenson says the Lane County DA, who actually works for the state, falls under dif- ferent rules. “The state DA election law says that if the DA gets more than half of the vote in the May election, then he is elected and his name is not on the November ballot. The County Charter is just the opposite. Since I had no opponent on filing deadline, my name was taken off the May ballot and new book called Perfectly Legal about the covert campaign to rig our tax system to benefit the super rich — and cheat everybody else — Johnston laid out the case against our country’s corrupt politi- cal but legal tax-collecting system. Peter talks passionately about the same issues. He is one of the few congressmen who gets it, is not corrupted by money, and has the guts to oppose the system, even when his own party is wrong. • What are we hearing on our editor’s voice mail this week? A local doctor is concerned that we are not giving enough press to the benefits of Measure 35. A woman who recently moved called to warn people that the Post Office will forward mail, but not ballots, but people can pick them up at the county Elections Department. A local man said he’s a loyal Republican EW reader and wants people to know that “Republicans are not all bad.” A woman complained about our “sexist and distasteful” Best of Eugene cover last week. “It looks like that man is looking up her skirt.” (Actually a guy was wearing the size 13 red and black boots in the photo.) Another woman said she’s “tried calling 10 Democratic offices and no one ever answers.” We might not answer either, appears only on the November ballot.” State election rules for other elected posi- tions, however, are different than the rules for DAs. Judges who win in May remain on the ballot in November, and are subject to write-in campaigns. Bernard Nickerson of Eugene was pro- moting an effort to write in the aging Charlie Porter for DA (see Slant last week) as both a tribute to the former congressman and also a protest against Harleroad, who resigned after winning the May election and is taking a six-month vacation, citing exhaustion and burn-out. Nickerson complained of Harcleroad’s “manipulation of the political process with a surprise sabbatical and expedient executive appoint of a chosen successor to the elected office he just abdicated, which must be con- J o l t t h e V o t e • In the mood for Halloween mis- chief? Check out the free “Jolt the Vote” gathering from 5 to 9 pm Saturday, Oct. 30 in a wooded for- est in Pleasant Hill at the corner of Hwy. 58 and Parkway. Halloween displays from several community organizations will highlight the “horrors” of the Bush administra- tion’s record on the environment, human rights, women’s rights and labor. Some fun stuff, too. Lost? Call 746-0345 for directions. but leave us a message, day or night, at 484-0519, ext. 23. 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
