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