Eugene weekly., June 28, 2007, Page 10, Image 10

• The fate of the Amazon headwaters is still in limbo this week after Mayor
Kitty Piercy asked the Eugene City Council to delay discussion of eminent
domain to acquire two properties targeted for development. Makes us wonder
what’s going on behind the scenes. Piercy and progressive councilors appear to
be running into resistance from the city manager, city staff, anti-environmental
councilors and the development community. A delay is not necessarily bad; this
acquisition needs to be done right.
Meanwhile, let’s look at the arguments. Does south Eugene already have
too many parks and open spaces? Not if you don’t count Laurelwood Golf
Course and regional parks such as Hendricks Park and Amazon Park. And the
Amazon headwaters will not be a park in the traditonal sense; its real value is in
preserving an ecologically fragile area and the source of Amazon Creek. But
isn’t Amazon Creek already irreparably polluted? Every year progress is made in
cleaning up the Amazon and its riparian habitat, and polluting its source is a
step in the wrong direction. Isn’t eminent domain a shameful violation of prop-
erty rights? It’s been used before in Eugene for the public benefit, the last time
to acquire property for the new U.S. Courthouse. Shouldn’t people be allowed to
build on their property zoned for housing? Hillside development on wet, unsta-
ble soils can lead to landslides (as it has recently in Springfield), and the city
could be held liable if housing is allowed on these properties, and the city has
been warned. Solid science has shown the danger of slides in this area.
• Merging of Eugene and Springfield fire departments? The more we look at
this hasty proposal, the worse it sounds, particularly since Springfield has decid-
ed to go its own way on urban planning (see our cover story last week) and
could quickly sprawl by as much as 1,000 acres. Sprawl puts a big and expensive
burden on emergency services and makes it harder to keep response times
down. It’s difficult to predict what the long-term financial implications would be
with a merger. How does Springfield’s fire equipment and fire infrastructure
compare to Eugene’s? What happens if Springfield voters (or Eugene voters)
turn down future tax levies to support fire and EMT services? Who gets left
holding the flaming bag? Eugene and Springfield already have mutual aid agree-
ments. Let’s take our time before committing to a financial partnership.
• PeaceHealth is denying rumors that the RiverBend Medical Center project is
way over budget and donors are being offered “special incentives” to write big
checks. Au contraire, says PeaceHealth spokesman Brian Terrett. “We’ve made a
couple of adjustments based on cost inflation, but we are still well within our
original contingency budget,” he says. “The capital campaign is only focused on
purchasing new technology and equipment that will help make the new Sacred
Heart Medical Center a state-of-the-art hospital. Even if there were overruns,
fundraising wouldn’t be used to cover those increases.” Construction on the
$350 million rural north Springfield hospital began in July 2005, and the open-
ing is expected to be in August 2008.
• Speaking of PeaceHealth, a Weekly staffer recently had some surgery at the
old Sacred Heart. The staffer was surprised when, a few weeks before the sur-
gery, a letter appeared in the mailbox asking for payment of half the estimated
cost of the surgery (after insurance) before the procedure. Though there’s a dis-
claimer saying not to put off or cancel the procedure because of the pre-bill
(instead, the letter suggests, call and work out a payment plan!), we wonder just
how many people do that. The staffer, who grew up Catholic, doesn’t remember
learning about payment-must-be-received-before-we-help-you in all those years
of Catholic schooling. Perhaps that was simply a lapse in the staffer’s
Catechism?
• The more than half a million bucks being spent resurfacing rural Seavey
Loop Road out toward Mount Pisgah has gotten a few people wondering about
county priorities. That road doesn’t get much traffic other than park-goers and
local residents. Speculation regarding the road includes Wildish Co. reviving
plans for a big RV park north of Pisgah, but that rumor appears unfounded at
this point — though the fate of the Wildish land north of Pisgah and along the
Middle Fork of the Willamette is still uncertain. A more credible rumor is that a
longtime resident of Seavey Loop Road is filing a Measure 37 claim and wants to
build 88 houses on idyllic farmland not far from Mount Pisgah/Buford Park. Stay
tuned.
• Puzzling decisions that appear to contradict each other came out of the
U.S. Supreme Court this week. On one hand, the court ruled that a key provision
in McCain-Feingold campaign financing reforms of 2002 restricts free speech;
on the other hand, the court ruled it’s not free speech for a student to displayed
a sign (“Bong Hits 4 Jesus”) that his principal found offensive, even if the act is
off school grounds and after school. What’s this all about? Conservatives on the
high court are flip-flopping on the First Amendment depending on how it suits
their political and religious purposes. Nothing new here, of course, but such bla-
tant judicial activism erodes the public’s faith in our court system.
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
10 JUNE 28, 2007
news
briefs
PIT PUPS ARE
LOVE-A-BULL
There’s a new “Pit Crew” in town. The No
Kill Community Coalition (NKCC) has
formed a committee to promote the adoption
of pit bulls in Lane County.
According to Robin Loving, a member of
the Pit Crew, pit bulls make up more than half
of the dogs found in shelters. One of the goals
of the NKCC is to find homes for adoptable
animals, in addition to providing low-cost
spay and neuter services and educating pet
owners.
“There is so much disinformation and out-
right lies” about the dogs, said Sondra
Arrache, another member of the pit bull com-
mittee. “It makes it difficult to find homes for
them.”
In order to help pets find homes in Eugene,
a local group called Save the Pets has teamed
up with Lane County Animal Regulation
Authority (LCARA) to list adoptable animals
online. Save the Pets also brings animals to
off-site adoptions like the one every Sunday
from 10 am to 3 pm at Key Bank, 1380
Coburg Rd.
Arrache pointed out that the media con-
tributes to the pit bull problem, often misiden-
tifying dogs as pit bulls in order to make more
dramatic headlines. A recent R-G (7/3) article
about “vicious dogs” featured a dog muzzled
on the front page. Arrache said 20 people she
spoke to thought it was a pit bull. The dog dis-
cussed in the article was not a pit but was in
fact a Chesapeake Bay Retriever.
The goal of the pit bull committee is to get
the word out that pits make good pets.
“They are good family dogs because they
trust everybody,” said Liesl Wilhardt of Luv-a
Bull dog rescue. She speaks from experience –
she often has more than a dozen pits at her res-
cue.
“Pit bulls,” said Wilhardt, “make good
therapy dogs.”
“They are a very successful breed for res-
cue,” Wilhardt said. Many potential dog
adopters worry about adopting an adult dog
because they are afraid they won’t bond.” Not
a problem with pits, according to Wilhardt.
“They can bond extremely deeply and very
quickly,” she said. “That’s something people
need to know about these dogs. They just love
people.”
To find out more about the NKCC and the
“Pit Crew,” go to www.nokillcoalition.org/
For information on adopting a pit contact Liesl
Wilhardt at lieslw@rio.com Or go to
petfinder.com where you can find the dogs
from Luv-a-Bull as well as the dogs from
LCARA listed by Save the Pets.
– Camilla Mortensen
W. EUGENE
GROUP
GATHERS
The West Eugene Collaborative, aka WE
Group, is having its next set of meetings this
week in Eugene. The group is seeking to
bring together many people representing
local government, businesses and residents to