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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 29, 2007)
27 percentage points lower than the parks vote. The no vote in south Eugene was pushed higher by heavier than normal no votes in the Bethel and north Eugene precincts. In three precincts in west Eugene and Bethel, the measure failed with more than 80 percent voting no. In 13 precincts — covering the Whiteaker neighborhood, west Eugene and the River Road/Santa Clara areas — the measure failed with more than 70 per- cent voting no. The voting pattern showed a huge disconnect between council conserva- tives, some of the strongest supporters of diverting taxes to developer subsidies, and their constituents. Bethel Councilor Jennifer Solomon strongly supported the measure, but 79 percent of voters in her ward voted no. Southwest Eugene Councilor Chris Pryor was another strong supporter, but 67 percent voted no in his ward. Similarly, 62 percent voted no in supporter Mike Clark’s ward and 63 percent voted no in supporter George Poling’s ward. Councilor Andrea Ortiz, with a ward stretching from Whiteaker to River Road/Santa Clara, voted in support of the developer subsidy after some waver- ing, but 72 percent of her constituents voted no. — Alan Pittman CHEMICALS ON COUNTY ROADSIDES? Despite all the evidence about the toxicity of herbicides, will Lane County resume roadside spraying for weed con- trol? On Dec. 5, the issue of how Lane County manages its roadside vegetation will come before county commissioners in their role as Lane County Board of Health. Lane County has used alternatives such as mowing, pulling and planting other ground covers since Aug. 31, 2005, with chemicals only as a “last resort.” ODOT and private companies do use herbicide sprays along roadways and on MORONES ON IMMIGRATION Human rights activist Enrique Morones will discuss the humani- tarian and political aspects of border is- sues at 6 pm Thursday, Nov. 29 in Room 175 of the Knight Law Center, 15th and Agate on the UO campus. Morones is the former president of the San Diego Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and former director of Hispanic and multicultural marketing for the San Diego Padres. He is also the founder and director of Mexico’s Border Commission, an advisory group to for- mer Mexican President Vincente Fox. In 1986, he founded Border Angels, a nonprofit organization to assist with food, water and other supplies placed near U.S. borders with Mexico to save migrant lives during harsh weather con- ditions throughout the year. In addition, Border Angels volunteers were active in the efforts to provide emergency supplies to those in need such as mi- grant workers during the recent Southern California fires. “Enrique Morones’ visit to the UO campus is an important testimony of how the issue of immigration is no longer only of interest to those who live in border states next to Mexico,” says education professor Edward Olivos in a prepared statement. “Oregon is becom- ing a diverse state, and it is apparent that we must become part of the dia- logue of how we can approach the issue of immigration — documented and un- documented — with compassion and ci- vility.” A reception in the Knight Law Center’s Lewis Lounge will follow the lecture. The event is sponsored by the UO’s College of Education, the ASUO Multicultural Center, MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan), Amigos Multicultural Services, CAUSA, the UO ethnic studies program, UO Gender, Families and Immigrant Project of Center for the Study of Women in Society and the UO Center for Latin American Studies. “The internet says I can get the car I want at a price I like, but the 3 dealers I called said it’s impossible.” That’s why I called Oregon Roads. Order any new or used vehicle from the agency that delivers. Drive Oregon Roads! 6th & Jefferson, Eugene 683-CARS • 800-944-0227 • The decision by acting City Manager Angel Jones to not seek the permanent job will allow the City Council to hire an outsider for a much needed shake-up of City Hall. For this powerful, unelected position, the city needs someone open to city reforms such as real police accountability, an independent performance audi- tor and in-house city attorney. The new city manager should be focused externally to serve the council and citizens first rather than entrenched city executives. • We’re happy to hear Citizens for Public Accountability is bringing Gary Blackmer back to town to talk about his work as an independent performance auditor in Portland. Blackmer, along with Mayor Kitty Piercy, will speak at the CPA annual meeting and party at 7 pm Thursday, Nov. 29 at Tsunami (see News Briefs last week). One of the biggest problems facing Eugene city government is its chronic lack of accountability. Our council/manager form of government does not provide the kind of oversight required in a truly democratic process. We don’t need to toss out our city government, but we can improve it greatly with some basic reforms. Among them is the hiring of an independent performance auditor, someone not under the thumb of the city manager. Such an auditor would look closely and objectively at each city department, and finally we would get an independent analysis of basic questions: Is the Eugene Police Department adequately staffed, working efficiently and properly super- vised? Are our outsourced city legal services competent, and cost-efficient com- pared to other cities our size? Is our relatively high number of city employees jus- tified? Is Public Works operating as efficiently as possible? Is the bidding process for city contracts fair and equitable? A good auditor can’t perform miracles, but he or she can uncover inefficien- cies, avoid lawsuits, save millions of dollars, and help restore public trust in local government. • In a format designed more for questions than answers, UO President Dave Frohnmayer and Athletic Director Pat Kilkenny plus a fleet of UO staff members and the design team met last Monday with Fairmount neighbors concerned about the elephant soon to settle in east Eugene. Best case scenario, Frohnmayer said, is that ground will be broken for the new basketball arena after the Olympic Trials next summer. It will open in fall, 2010, on the old Williams Bakery site on Franklin. All the predictable issues of parking, traffic, noise, litter, pollution of all kinds, and general destruction of the neighborhood came up at the public rela- tions meeting. The UO has bought the Romania site and will acquire the ODOT land adjacent to it, the president said, with present plans to provide parking where the auto dealer once parked their vehicles. He promised that the UO plan for the area “will be coherent” with the city of Eugene plans for the Walnut node. One other important “present plan” put forward by Frohnmayer is that the new 12,500-seat arena will be “egalitarian” with no sky-boxes and a reasonable ticket- pricing structure. The meeting was congenial with surprisingly little hostility considering the size of the elephant. It’s the answers to the neighborhood’s questions put to the UO and its athletic department that will bring on the debate. • KOPT to be sold to OPB? We blogged about this Monday (at blogs.eugene- weekly.com), and by the time our paper hits the streets Thursday the sale will likely be old news. In short, KOPT AM 1600 has agreed to sell to Oregon Public Broadcasting. KOPT will become another public radio station in collaberation with KLCC. KOPT is owned by Churchill Media and is an Air America affiliate. The sta- tion also had a strong local news and progressive talk show element until August, when a string of award-winning broadcast journalists were laid off. Will the new KOPT revive local progressive talk radio? We certainly hope so. Meanwhile, former KOPT newsman Rick Little has taken a temporary post on the PR team at PeaceHealth, but other top-notch broadcast journalists are still circling Eugene and Springfield looking for a place to land. • After urban renewal passed in Springfield but not in Eugene, the conservative, have-Eugene-be-ruled-by-Springfield-crowd is arguing that it’s about trust. Springfield’s conservative Republican officials have it whereas Eugene doesn’t, goes their argument. We suspect it’s more about apathy. Look at the 20,000 flyers Springfield recently sent out to get people to an important urban renewal hearing. Only a handful of people reportedly showed up to speak. • Speaking of war funding, Sen. Gordon Smith has voted four times in 2007 to keep troops in Iraq and prolong the war, despite his public statements against the war. We hear local peace activists are planning a demonstration at 11:30 am Wednesday, Dec. 5 at Smith’s office at the U.S. Courthouse in Eugene. To find out more, email brent@dpo.org or visit StopGordonSmith.com • If you’re hankering for another national champion collegiate team from Oregon (having just lost one in football and gained one in cross-country), tune in at 6 pm Friday, Nov. 30, to national TV and catch the University of Portland women’s soc- cer team play UCLA in the quarter-finals. Last weekend they were wonderful to watch in their 3-0 win against Tennessee in Portland. Equally great are the fans, including a wild band of drummers. 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 NOVEMBER 29, 2007 13
