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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (April 27, 2006)
Election Endorsements Below are our recommendations for candidates in contested races and one local money measure in the May primary. Ballots go in the mail April 28 and must be received by the Lane County Elections Department by 8 pm May 16. In non-partisan local races, any candidate who gets more than 50 percent of the votes cast goes on to be uncontested in the November general election. Governor, Democrats. Pete Sorenson We endorse Pete Sorenson because we share his positions on all the big issues and because he had the guts to open up this race, taking on an incumbent governor, even forcing him to move to the left. Long before Jim Hill decided to run against Gov. Kulongoski, Sorenson was kick-starting the conversation that people all over this state should be having with their political leaders. He uses humor, often directed at himself — that’s rare in modern politics. And he will stick to the right position even if it leaves him at the short end of a 4-1 vote, often the case in the Lane County Commission. saved rural residents millions of dollars. The incumbent Faye Stewart is a timber baron heir heavily backed and beholding to lumber, development and gravel pit interests. County Commissioner, West. William Fleenor Bill Fleenor came to Oregon for the natural beauty and quality of life and wants to serve the public interest by protecting that strong driver of the economy. Fleenor has expe- rience as head of a large business, on the board of the coastal public utility and holds a doc- torate in animal physiology. Morrison, who previously lobbied for the timber industry, has a far-right voting record and is heavily obliged to the logging, gravel pit and developer interests bankrolling her election. Pete Sorenson County Assessor. Anette Spickard With a bias like ours, should we be advising votes for any of the three Republican can- didates! Probably not. Mannix, Atkinson, and Saxton are all tilting so far to the right to win in the Republican primary that they escape our radar. But we do have one small sugges- tion for our 13,000 or so Republican readers. Keep your eyes on state Senator Ben Westlund from Bend. A former Republican, he’s running for governor as an independent in November. That way he escapes the primary, saving his more moderate self from the Republican right. Anette Spickard, a Democrat in this nonpartisan race, has the endorsements of the retir- ing county tax assessor and a diverse array of local officials including all five county com- missioners, the district attorney and mayor of Eugene. She has management experience as deputy assessor for the past year, number crunching experience as a trained accountant, and elected and budgetary experience as a 4J School Board member. We hope the experi- ence of chronically underfunded schools impressed upon her the need to not let lax assess- ments drain property tax revenues. Spickard’s opponents are Republicans Gary Cook and Bill Mahn, both of whom have more experience with property appraisal but less of the management and political experience needed for this job. Superintendent of Public Instruction. Susan Castillo, nonpartisan Eugene Councilor, Ward 3. Alan Zelenka Ideal result would be if Susan Castillo would win 50-plus percent of the votes in the primary so she could forget about campaigning and continue her work for “stable and ade- quate funding for our schools.” Her only opponent, Deb Andrews, is not even a close sec- ond to Castillo. It’s difficult to measure how successful a super- intendent of public instruction is in this educationally deprived state, but Castillo is smart, high energy, experi- enced in the legislative process, respected, and always upbeat for the possibilities of funding solutions. We endorse her again for this spot and hopes she keeps on moving up in public life. Alan Zelenka is endorsed by the Oregon League of Conservation Voters and local pro- gressives including Mayor Kitty Piercy and Councilors David Kelly and Betty Taylor and County Commissioner Pete Sorenson. Zelenka has experience as a neighborhood leader and in environmental conserva- tion for the Emerald People’s Utility District. He calls for putting the people’s interests above special inter- ests. Both Zelenka and his opponent Bruce Mulligan have served as chairman of the city of Eugene Budget Committee. On the committee Zelenka showed a willingness to undertake a much needed examination of the efficiency of the city’s exorbitant police depart- ment whereas Mulligan couldn’t throw enough money at the cops. Zelenka’s other opponent, Jana Jackson, appears to be running on a campaign of opposing police reform in Alan Zelenka the wake of officer sex abuse scandals. Governor, Republicans. No preference Supreme Court Judge, Position 6. Gene Hallman The only contested Oregon Supreme court race, this one is interesting. Oregon is one of only three states without a woman on the supreme court and this time a woman, Virginia Linder, is running. Eugene has a hometown guy, Jack Roberts, going after this seat, and EW is likely to support our locals. But this time, our favorite is Gene Hallman, a Pendleton attorney who would be the first justice elected outside the Willamette valley in nearly two decades. For 30 years Hallman has been work- ing in the trenches representing individuals and small businesses in hu;ndreds of cases. He’s not a part of the Salem-Portland legal establishments, but he has bipartisan support from all over the state. As Judy Snyder, past president of the Multnomah bar association, says, “There’s no candidate in this race who has done more to advance the cause of women and to fight discrimination and unequal treatment.” Susan Castillo Eugene City Councilor, Ward 6. Rich Cunningham Rich Cunningham has experience as a school board member, economic development official, school softball coach and father of disabled kids. The conservative Democrat promises to bring less far right-wing positions to this Bethel-area seat on the City Council. Incumbent Republican Jennifer Solomon is the granddaughter of timber baron Stub Stewart and was one of those people financing the anonymous and divisive attack ads from the Gang of 9. Her election was bankrolled by timber, development, gravel pit and sprawl interests for whom she is a reliable vote. EWEB, Wards 4 & 5. Ron Farmer Lane County Circuit Court Judge. Alan Leiman or Debra Vogt It’s a little dangerous predicting how voters will vote, but we’ll do it anyway. Four can- didates are running to succeed Judge Bryan Hodges on the Circuit Court, so it’s likely that none will receive more than 50 percent of the vote, thus forcing a runoff between the top two in November. Based on Bar polls, campaigns, chatter and our own research, Alan Leiman and Debra Vogt are the top contenders. We see strengths in both candidates, and even the “loser” in this election is likely to end up on the bench soon since several judges are facing retirement. We’re split at EW, so we humbly suggest that you vote for either Leiman or Vogt in May and we promise to dig for more definition before November. See our story this week for information on all the candidates. In challenging an incumbent EWEB commissioner in an otherwise uncontested race, UO student and environmentalist Ashley Miller has her heart in the right place. But in this case, experience counts, and Ron Farmer is simply better qualified to sit on the utility board. His eyes may glaze over at the word “environment,” but he seems loyal to EWEB’s mission of diversifying renewable energy sources and improving energy conservation. And Farmer, a bank president, has good fiscal sense. He joined the board shortly after the 2001 energy crisis, and was instrumental in getting the utility out of debt and into calmer financial waters. Every board needs its fiscal leader, and Farmer has proven his capacity to fill that role as an EWEB commissioner. Bethel Local Option Levy, 20-109. Yes County Commissioner, East. Ron Davis Ron Davis’s positions on growth, freeways, tax breaks, hospital sprawl, tax increases, crime prevention and other important county issues favor the public interest, the environ- ment and good government. The personable hospital lab scientist has deep roots in Cottage Grove and experience as a teacher and one of the founders of EPUD, a public utility that’s Bethel School District residents will see a five-year property tax levy on their ballots that would generate about $1.6 million a year to support staffing levels and programs, buy new books and computers, and fund the Bethel Math Project to boost achievement. In our time of crisis in public school funding, districts need all the help they can get. Meaningful action on education by the Legislature is likely still years away. APRIL 27, 2006 13
