BY MONA LINSTROMBERG
The Politics
of Indifference
Anna Morrison’s extreme record
alienates Mom and Pop.
W
est Lane County Commissioner Anna
Morrison’s recent remark that “I don’t
look at myself as being extreme” has
county watchers scratching their heads.
Speaking at the county’s recent 2005-06
budget-setting Feb. 25 Leadership Team meeting,
Morrison loudly proclaimed, “I would not have
heartburn around getting rid of Lane County
Extension; I would not have heartburn around WIC
[Women, Infants & Children] or teen pregnancy,” almost
gloating over possible painful service cuts to thousands, in keeping with her pro-
posed cuts of April 2005.
Morrison now appears to be attempting an image make-over. Coming on the heels
of a March 17 local press interview in which she claimed that her attempts (rejected by
a board majority in favor of a 9 percent budget trimming) to axe 18 vital programs in
the county’s current 2004-05 budget were simply motivated by a desire to give more
money for county tax collection, a look at those pesky ol’ facts is in order!
While there are few things shorter than some people’s memories, some out-
rages don’t just fade away. EW’s Slant column of Jan. 8, 2004 and other local
reporting documented Morrison’s failed attempt to virtually dismantle and elimi-
nate 18 key programs from county funding. What were these proposed eliminations
(most, certainly related to the County Strategic Plan’s “Life, Health and Safety” cri-
teria), contained in county budget documents for all to verify?
Among Morrison’s 18 “lower priority services” proposed for total county funding
elimination this year were: the Public Health Department’s high-risk pregnancy and
infant care protection program, HIV testing of high-risk citizens, treatment of man-
dated adult sex offenders under the county’s Parole/Probation department, the
county’s Victim Services program, Lane County Extension and its 200 4-H clubs,
electronic supervision of criminals and teen pregnancy prevention. To add insult to
injury, Morrison also proposed total funding elimination for the Lane County Animal
Regulation kennel and rescue services and, in a gesture at open government, called
for terminating the county’s public information officer and Metro Television cover-
age. These programs reach across Lane County touching thousands: WIC is a pro-
gram serving 8,300 clients per month focusing on reducing infant mortality, pre-
venting low birth weight, getting pre-natal care, identifying failure to thrive infants,
and screening for domestic violence and endangering drug/alcohol issues .
The county’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program gives annual exams, birth
control and couple planning and is credited with averting about 470 unintended
pregnancies and 250 abortions per year. “Lower priority”?
The High Risk Pregnancy Program gives intervention/prevention home visits and
is a front-line service to at-risk infants, often in extremely dangerous home conditions.
Victim Services serves some 2,200 citizens each year, around 200 per month,
seeking protective court orders involving battered women and elderly abuse, giving
police arrest authority in potentially deadly situations.
HIV testing of people at high risk for disease transmission helps reduce this
deadly viral epidemic.
Eliminating parole/probation sex offender treatment is a recipe for real danger.
Close contact and strict accountability (including polygraphs) of pedophiles and other
offenders protects the public, especially vulnerable children, from repeat crimes.
OSU/Lane County Extension gives front-line service, working with FOOD For Lane
County at emergency food centers, such as in Junction City, Santa Clara, Veneta,
Florence, Blachly and Triangle Lake — all in Morrison’s district. Nutrition assistance
and food safety programs directly impact some 14,000 people. 4H youth programs
involve more than 700 kids and hundreds of adult volunteers, veering youth away
from at-risk behavior. Extension Services affect 50,000 Lane County residents.
Not extreme? Morrison’s environmental record is among the worst in Oregon. Along
with a 2000-01 conservation rating of 0 percent (OLCV) and blindly embracing
resource extractive industry agendas on federal issues, her local record has recently
gone from awful to atrocious. This year she tried to kill the mainstream McKenzie
Watershed Council’s Blue River area Simmonds Creek fish passage culvert replacement
project, supported by private sector representatives and $300,000 of federal/state
funds that will open up four to five miles of great spawning habitat for trout and
Chinook salmon. In 2003, she attempted to prevent the Green family bargain sale of its
75-year-owned spectacular 856 acre Green Island (at the confluence of the Willamette
and McKenzie rivers) to the McKenzie River Trust involving private/state/federal-and
non-profit funding, despite a 4-1 County Commission supportive vote.
Why the antagonism to Lane County’s most vulnerable? Why the lack of respect
and courtesy to thousands of area volunteers and citizen group members?
Morrison’s extreme politics of indifference is extremely disappointing!
Mona Linstromberg lives in rural Lane County south of Veneta. and is a constituent of Commissoner Morrison.
Information on Morrison’s record can be found at www.co.lane.or.us/bcc/boardordersminutes.htm and also at
www.annamorrison.org
4 JUNE 23, 2005
TO THE EDITOR
STUCK IN EUGENE
Last week my son Jeffrey graduated from
Northwestern University. He was a member
of the Dean’s List several times and I am
proud of his accomplishments. Taking loans,
scholarships and work study, he worked
hours to gain his degree. He is continuing on
with a masters in forensics.
While he spent his high school senior year
in Eugene he attempted to gain employment
at numerous stores and vet clinics and was
continually denied. Graduating top of the
class at South with honors he was never
deemed worthy by the citizens of Eugene to
be given the chance for employment. My son
to this day will not set foot in the town again.
Not only was he denied employment, but
after attending the UO in graduate classes, I
also have been unable to obtain a decent job
in the community. Both of us owe nothing to
the city of Eugene. I unfortunately am stuck
here due to a recent marriage but am working
to remedy that as fast as possible.
Emily Wille
Eugene
ILL-FATED WEP
Your columnist Mary O’Brien hit the nail
on the head (Natural Resistance, 6/2).
ODOT’s proposed $169 million West Eugene
Parkway (WEP) project isn’t passing muster
with the Bureau of Land Management. Ditto
for the Army Corps of Engineers, another proj-
ect partner. Still another cooperating partner,
the Federal Highway Administration, holds its
nose at this proposal and turns the other cheek.
Yet ODOT continues to fritter away tax-
payer dollars planning for a project that is
going nowhere, and has diminishing support
by the month.
Eugene needs an integrated transportation
and land use alternative that will address con-
nectivity challenges along Highway 126/West
11th, can solve future congestion issues, and
preserve the west Eugene wetlands. ODOT’s
proposed WEP fails on all counts.
ODOT needs to account for the concerns
and values of all of this project’s cooperating
agencies, including the businesses and resi-
dents of the city of Eugene. ODOT has a cur-
rent agreement with the Oregon Consensus
Program, which helps facilitate collaborative
agreement-seeking processes among various
stakeholders. ODOT should use them.
The WEP will never be built. It’s time
ODOT faced their denial and accepted their part
in prolonging the pain this community has
endured around this ill-fated project. It’s time for
ODOT to stop wasting taxpayer dollars plan-
ning a dead-end project and support exploring
alternatives that all stakeholders can live with.
Rob Handy
Eugene
RESPECT FOR LIFE
Lance Jacob’s letter (6/16) has more false-
hoods than I care to note. He attempts to
refute Chris Calef’s claim (Viewpoint 6/9)
that Jeff “Free” Luers received a sentence
exceeding that of most murderers, noting that
“Since Measure 11 was passed, the minimum
sentence for murder is 25 years, two years
longer than Luer’s arson sentence.” The truth
is (and this is apparent to anyone who’s done
the research) that most people who commit
arson (and often worse) receive much less
severe punishment than Jeff.
In 2003, some of Jeff’s local supporters
sponsored a project comparing sentences and
found that many people convicted of arson,
manslaughter, and even rape and child
molestation, received sentences significantly
lesser than Jeff’s (sometimes ranging from two
to five years). This project prompted the
Eugene Human Rights Commission to write a
statement supporting a sentence reduction for
Jeff (details available at www.freefreenow.org).
I’m not sure if Jeff “attempted a much
larger arson than what occurred” but every-
one familiar with the case knows that Jeff did
not intend to hurt anyone, he actively tried to
avoid hurting anyone and nobody got hurt.
What is truly disturbing is that people who
deliberately hurt others often get much better
treatment than Jeff, whose actions were actu-
ally motivated by respect for life. Now that is
what’s “simply unacceptable to this peace-
loving community” or at least it should be.
Steven Gider
Eugene