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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 7, 2008)
TED TAYLOR Bob O'Brien of CPA speaks at an April forum CPA REPORTS ON DOWNTOWN Citizens for Public Accountability (CPA) devoted the month of April to a series of “Downtown Together” community meetings intended to produce suggestions and priorities for development of Eugene’s downtown. Now the results of those meetings are being distributed to the mayor, City Council, city staff and others with a request: “We ask that the city take these projects seriously and have conversations with the key individuals involved.” Among the dozens of projects and hundreds of ideas discussed, CPA identified six projects (see below) that the city could help bring to fruition through facilitation, funding assistance and other support. All are described in detail at www.lanecpa.org along with an extended list of “Things people want to see downtown,” compiled from the many hours of meetings. • WOW Hall restoration and additions. CPA is calling for the completion of resto- ration and equipping of the historic WOW Hall, now housing the Community Center for Performing Arts. Both interior and exterior work are outlined in the project to “restore and outfit the entire building for functionality and marketability.” • Network Charter School development plans. The school is launching a capital campaign to develop a new downtown campus at a location to be purchased or built. The facilities would include not only the free public high school but also “compatible missions” involving education and training in an ad-hoc alliance shar- ing space and expenses. • DIVA expansion. The project would create an expanded and permanent space for multiple galleries, office spaces for a director, curator and volunteers, and facilities for a permanent collection and secure storage. The center would also include a media arts center and possibly a performing arts stage. Another possibil- ity would be space for the Lane County Historical Museum. • The Tango Center project. The nonprofit dance center is seeking to purchase and restore the historic Eugene Producer’s Public Market, which it has leased since 2003. The center has recently offered space during the day for The Weekday Market, providing space for local micro-enterprises. • Year-round Farmers’ Market. This project would establish a regional market in a permanent indoor-outdoor center downtown, with accessory food processing and storage and related businesses. • The link between the library and downtown. This project would create connect- ing public walks, parks and open spaces between the library and the park blocks and eventually to the Willamette River. New high-rise housing and commercial devel- opment would accommodate and benefit from the park/plaza. SIGN IN FOR DEMOCRACY People wanting to speak out against the string of Kevin Mannix and Bill Sizemore ballot measures on the November ballot are invited to join County Commissioner Pete Sorenson for a “Sign In for Democracy Day” next week. The 12-hour event is set for 11 am to 11 pm Tuesday, Aug. 12 at Cozmic Pizza, 199 W. 8th Ave. in Eugene. During that time, registered voters can sign ballot mea- sure statements that will be printed in the Voters’ Pamphlet. For 1,000 signatures gathered, the $500 state fee will be waived for a statement. “Bill Sizemore and Kevin Mannix, and their right wing financial backers, have dominated the initiative process. We need a progressive alternative,” says Sorenson. “That alternative is supporting ballot measure statements opposing their measures and supporting progressive candidates.” Sorenson says voters can come to express opposition to so-called “merit pay” for teachers and to a measure to ban teaching of English as a second language and to express support for proposals like getting rid of the double majority and Voter Owned Elections. “It will only take a few minutes to allow us to get the word out on the bad bal- lot measures,” says Sorenson. “Let’s use the tools we have to voice our opposition to the bad ideas and promote the good ideas.” Other progressive causes and candidates are welcome to join in the event, he says. 8 AUGUST 7, 2008 EUGENE WEEKLY news briefs ILLEGAL SPYING IN SEDA CASE? Oregon lawyers have filed an attempt to prove the U.S. government was illegally spying on the Islamic group Al-Haramain. The case is the only one in the country still challenging the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program. The group had an Ashland-based office run by arborist Pete Seda. Al-Haramain has been labeled as a supporter of terrorism by the U.S. government, but Seda himself has not been accused of terrorism. Attorneys for Al-Haramain say the government incriminated itself in the case by talking about the wiretapping program publicly. They also claim they found a document, accidentally turned over by the government, that proves the wiretapping. A federal judge has ruled that the docu- ment, because it was classified, cannot be admitted in court. If Al-Haramain’s lawyers can publicly prove the warrantless wiretap program existed, the case can proceed. Seda is awaiting trial for accusations of money laundering and tax fraud while he ran the Islamic charity. Seda, whose deten- tion hearing was drawn out over a period of weeks here in Eugene last August, has asked U.S. District Court Judge Michael R. Hogan to relax the conditions of his release as he awaits trial. The hearings, which debated whether Seda’s religious beliefs made him “a dan- ger to the community,” ended with Seda’s release under restrictions including wear- ing a GPS device and being bound to his residence unless given permission to leave. A key item of the federal government’s evidence against Seda included an email that originated from the address Osama_ bin_Laden_Muslim@hotmail.com — Camilla Mortensen MAYOR OPENS CAMPAIGN OFFICE Mayor Kitty Piercy opened her first walk-in campaign office at 13th and Willamette July 31, saying to the gather- ing of about 70 supporters, “We’re the second largest city in Oregon, known for being a progressive community. Shouldn’t we have a progressive mayor?” Piercy has been a tiebreaker on the City Council and said her reelection is impor- tant to advance a progressive agenda and “get things done” with a council politically polarized. Despite being outspent, Piercy got nearly 800 more votes than challenger Jim Torrey in the May primary, but she came in shy of the 50 percent plus one needed to avoid a runoff in November. WAR DEAD Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq began on March 20, 2003 (last week’s numbers in parentheses): • 4,130 U.S. troops killed* (4,125) • 30,364 U.S. troops injured* (30,324) • 145 U.S. military suicides* (145) • 314 coalition troops killed** (314) • 1,123 U.S. contractors killed (accurate updates NA) • 94,327 to 1.1 million civilians killed*** (94,285) • $542.5 billion cost of war ($540.6 billion) • $154.3 million cost to Eugene taxpayers ($153.7 million) * through August 4, 2008; source: icasualties.org; some figures only updated monthly ** estimate; source: icasualties.org *** highest estimate; source: iraqbodycount.org; based on con- firmed media reports; other groups calculate civilian deaths as high as 655,000 to 1.1 million. WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM
