U NDA THE
R OTUNDA
BY SEN. VICKI WALKER
On a Roll
Some lofty goals for the Legislature
T
he 2007 Legislative Session is not your father’s Oldsmobile. Democrats, in
control of both chambers and the governor’s office
for the first time in 16 years, are in charge and
taking no prisoners. Like our national counterparts,
Oregon’s Democrats believe that we have been
given a golden opportunity to reinvest in the
people of our state and our nation. Look out Bill
Sizemore, Lon Mabon, Kevin Mannix, Taxpayers
United and George W. Bush.
We’re on a roll to rethink the way we do busi-
ness. No more slice and dice with our state budg-
ets, siphoning off money to the rich and powerful
and the out-of-state corporations who have their
hands in Oregon’s piggy bank. Democrats want to put an
end to discrimination and to rethink our justice system that is more concerned
about incarceration than facing the underlying causes of criminal behavior. We’re
willing to stand up to George W. Bush and this insane war by drafting resolutions to
protest the escalation of further troops in Iraq. We’re expanding health care to chil-
dren, investing in our education system, establishing a Rainy Day Fund, cleaning up
the environment and building a future on renewable energy.
It remains to be seen whether we can achieve these commonsense albeit lofty
goals in six short months. But if we don’t try, we’ll slip further into mediocrity and
hopelessness and end up thinking that humans can do nothing to change their des-
tiny.
So, just what is the 74th Oregon Legislative Assembly up to anyway? I hope to
answer that question for you in a sometimes humorous, sometimes serious look at
what goes on “Unda the Rotunda,” a phrase coined by retired Capitol librarian
David Herrell. I’ve been asked to provide you a biweekly column of Capitol glimpses,
but my workload may keep it to monthly. We’ll see. It’s 10 at night, I’m listening to
Bob Dylan and Van Morrison on my laptop (I’m hopelessly stuck in the ’60s) and I’ve
not yet left the building, which is not an uncommon occurrence.
Your first responsibility as a reader of this column, however, is to show up at a
public hearing to support Oregon’s Clean Indoor Air Act to repeal the prohibition on
local communities from passing stronger anti-smoking ordinances than state law.
Our Senate Judiciary Committee will be coming to the UO Law School on Feb. 16 for
a public hearing at 9:30 am. Please come share with the committee how you have
enjoyed stepping into Eugene’s night life, bingo halls and restaurants and not com-
ing home smelling like a pack of Camel cigarettes on a bad hangover. Find out more
about this agenda and others on-line at www.leg.state.or.us — your link to the infor-
mation highway about your state government.
And for those of you concerned about the Oregon School Activities Association
redistricting plan that left Eugene schools split into different leagues, forcing stu-
dents to travel hundreds of miles to compete, my Senate Education and General
Government Committee will hold hearings in early March. I’m awaiting the final bill
to be sent to the committee from Sen. Prozanski. Both Supt. Castillo and I have sub-
mitted SB 217 and SB 382 respectively. It promises to be an engaging hearing.
Thank you for the opportunity to serve you in Salem. Please join me and
Reps. Edwards and Nathanson as we host our first Town Hall from 1 to 3 pm
Saturday, Feb. 17 at the Irving Grange, 1011 Irvington Dr. We’ll be joined by
Commissioner Bill Fleenor as our moderator. In the meantime, I’ll see you on the
front lines.
WHO YOU GONNA BLAME?
Vicki L. Walker of Eugene is a state senator representing District 7.
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SEEKING FAIRNESS
By winning, many of the proponents of
Measure 37 may live to regret their success
(“Looming Sprawl,” 1/25). Oregonians now
face the dilemma of either tax increases to
compensate property owners or lower prop-
erty values. For those reasons alone, Measure
37 claims are likely to exaggerate the value of
the losses, many to the point of having no
basis in fact. Studies show that while zoning
creates winners and losers, property values
overall are enhanced by orderly development
accompanied with adequate investments in in-
frastructure, public amenities such as parks,
and private land preserved as open space.
A windfall profits tax on real estate specu-
lation coupled with development fees levied
for community investment in specific infra-
structure, amenities and open space ease-
ments can fully compensate those who lose
their property values and maintain Oregon’s
unique quality of life.
Measure 37 passed because it appealed to
Oregonians’ sense of fairness. Government
handouts to the wealthy and unearned wind-
fall profits are an affront to that sense.
Brian Baker
Eugene
FILLING THE WHOLE
So Whole Foods pulled out. Whether
that’s a good thing or not is a moot point and
isn’t worth debating; what is worth debating
is how to spend the $7 million we were going
to spend on a parking lot.
We asked some folks to offer up their
ideas. My personal two faves:
• Butterfly lot — make into park plus ex-
panded farmer’s market with covering.
• Make the Eugene Hotel a hotel again. If
we are going to spend public dollars on any-
thing, why not take this great historic land-
mark and turn it into the heart of a bustling
downtown district?
Dan Carol
Eugene
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SILENCE ABOUT SEX
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Shame on KEZI-TV news for editing their
Feb. 2 interview with EW Editor Ted Taylor
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Eugene Weekly • 1251 Lincoln Street • Eugene, OR 97401 • 541.484.0519 • fax 541-484-4044
4 FEBRUARY 8, 2007
TO THE EDITOR
to suggest the “Savage Love” column is
harmful to children. Neither KEZI nor previ-
ous EW letters have provided one example of
a harmed child.
However, children have been hurt by a
“community-imposed silence about sex” ac-
cording to former U.S. Surgeon General Dr.
Joycelyn Elders in her foreword to the virtu-
ally banned book Harmful to Minors by
Judith Levine. During the height of the AIDS
crisis, President Clinton fired Elders for sug-
gesting masturbation should be discussed in
safe sex classes as one way to avoid HIV and
pregnancy.
This sensationalistic KEZI report was
probably broadcast to boost the February rat-
ings used to determine how much advertisers
will pay. But it and previous letters also reek
of homophobia and misogyny because Dan
Savage often answers questions on sexual
orientation and gender.
Thomas Kraemer
Corvallis
ONE NEAT PACKAGE
A great opportunity has presented itself to
our fair city, and as usual it knocks loudest on a
closed door. Whole Foods will not be moving
into downtown. This leaves the city with about
$7 million to $10 million we had intended to
spend in the name of revitalization on a dull
and uninspiring parking garage. (Have you
ever seen one which was inspirational?)
Coincidentally, the freshly completed
U.S. Courthouse up the street is drawing
many comments relating to its somewhat
ominous facade. Well, we no longer have to
build the garage, and we can’t get rid of the
courthouse, so why don’t we apply those
funds toward revitalizing downtown by bet-
ter integrating the daring architecture of the
Wayne Morse building into its surroundings?
I seem to recall a wise suggestion from a
group of people who may know a bit about
such things encouraging us to create a green-
space connecting downtown to the river via
the now available Whole Foods site. Not only
could downtown be beautified, creating more
appealing retail and dining space, a new and
permanent home could be included for the