letters
TO THE EDITOR
Yet, as the entire human race, its leaders
and all its highest institutions around the
world foresee this doomsday we have the
UO pushing to spend $200-300 million for
new basketball and baseball stadiums. How
about spending $200 million on effi ciency,
conservation, solar and research to save the
biosphere?
We have Eugene, Lane County and
ODOT run by the most educated minds in
the county planning to spend $800 million
on new freeway projects. No mention in
their documents about the end of cheap oil
or the collapse of the biosphere.
We have EWEB telling us that they
must have a brand new $85 million palace
on undeveloped land in west Eugene. Is
this preparing EWEB ratepayers for future
shortages of water and hydroelectricity
when the glaciers feeding our community
are gone? What about spending $85 million
on energy conservation, effi ciency and
solar?
We have agencies federal (BLM, USFS)
and state (ODF) again run by the most
educated minds in the state pushing for the
good ol’ days of extraction on our publicly
owned lands so that a handful benefi t while
ecosystems and salmon runs collapse.
What are our elected leaders doing to
prepare us? And why are the media not
exposing this insanity instead of covering
stories about downtown or cops or politics?
Shannon Wilson
Eugene
to move on. She has been a courageous
champion of the people and will be missed
dearly by many when she is gone. I don’t
know all the reasons motivating Bonny, but
we can be confi dent that the ridiculously
low salary isn’t diffi cult to leave. Our
beloved former City Councilor David Kelly
moved on not so long ago because it was too
hard on him fi nancially. His replacement
Alan Zelenka has not fi lled his shoes thus
far.
Large numbers of people in Eugene have
been quite dissatisfi ed with city politics and
rightfully so, but if we want real change
we need to seriously consider paying city
councilors a salary somebody can live on.
We expect our councilors to make some of
the most vital decisions that help determine
the future of our city, but we only want to
pay them $13,000 or $14,000 annually.
Reagan-loving
Republican
City
Councilor Mike Clark was elected
[unopposed] in a ward that voted a majority
for John Kerry in 2004. If we paid a
reasonable wage, we probably could have
drawn some progressives into that race and
could now have a strong progressive majority
on the council. The same case can be made
for the mayor’s position — lots of important
diffi cult work but little compensation.
We are asking for more trouble as long
as we continue with the status quo.
Joshua Welch
Eugene
ns in Eugene and Springfie
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OUR PARKS ARE FINE
BIKING UPHILL
EW readers regularly write about the
joys and benefi ts of bicycle riding. Alan
Pittman celebrates cycling and bemoans
Eugene’s lack of will to implement plans
which encourage more trips by bicycle.
The Jan. 31 EW reported on an effort
under way to open Willamette Street for
periodic non-motorized Walk-N-Roll
Sundays.
On streets in the Morse Ranch area of
south Eugene there are a couple of hundred
residents who want to be invited to the
party: men, women and children who want
to be able to safely bicycle on Crest Drive,
Storey Boulevard and Friendly Street.
Narrow traffi c lanes, curvy streets and
uphill grades where bikes go 5 mph and
cars 27 mph currently make for few cyclists
on those roads.
The council is about to pass an ordinance
spending nearly $3 million to completely
rebuild those streets and yet keep the same
narrow lanes and unsafe conditions for
bicyclists. These streets absolutely must
have a bicycle lane on the uphill traffi c side
throughout the project. Parks, schools and
businesses on Willamette Street beckon
residents who are stuck with using their
cars.
Speak up for these citizens’ rights. Write
to or call the mayor and councilors (682-
5010, mayorandcc@ci.eugene.or.us). Please
ask them to include an uphill bicycle lane on
all rebuilt streets in the Morse Ranch area.
Paul Moore
Eugene
BONNY’S DEPARTURE
I am sad to see that my wonderful City
Councilor Bonny Bettman has decided
Mark Gillem toured urban parks in
Oregon and Washington to help him
envision what could be done for downtown
Eugene (“Priming the Pump,” 1/24). But
somehow he appears to have overlooked
Eugene. A visit to Eugene would show him
that our downtown parks are unique and
valuable.
His critique of Eugene downtown parks
doesn’t mention the Park Blocks, site of the
Saturday Market and the Tuesday Farmers’
Market. There’s no more vital “cultural
heart of the city” than what goes on there.
The children’s reading court at the Public
Library and the plaza at Broadway and
Willamette are other public spaces that he
shouldn’t miss. He dismisses Skinner Butte
Park as being “hidden behind a hill” when
it’s a short, easy walk from downtown on
High Street. Although Alton Baker Park
is, as he says, across the river, it’s pretty
close to downtown over the DeFazio Bike
Bridge.
Most important, it’s essential to
understand the development possibilities
that Eugene is working to realize. For
example, the opportunities are ripe for
connecting Eugene’s downtown to the river
and its incredible park system through
development of the Courthouse District and
the EWEB site.
Eugene’s downtown parks and urban
spaces are not perfect, but Gillem’s dismissal
of them shows ignorance of much of what
makes downtown Eugene unique and full of
possibilities. To build a better city with vital
public places we have to start by looking at
the outdoor spaces that we already enjoy.
David Amundson
Eugene
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EUGENE WEEKLY FEBRUARY 21, 2008 5