Eugene weekly., August 21, 2008, Page 8, Image 8

PESTICIDE RALLY BRINGS
PROSECUTIONS
One little anti-pesticide rally has turned into an endless stream of controversy.
In the latest turn of events, a Lane County grand jury investigation handed out
indictments to three people involved in the May 30 rally that ended with the
Tasering of UO student Ian Van Ornum.
Anthony Jameson Farley and David Killian Parziale, both UO students at the
time of the rally, pleaded not guilty on Monday, Aug. 18, to charges of disorderly
conduct, attempted assault on a public safety officer, interference with a peace
officer and felony riot. Parziale’s name was not mentioned in official police reports
on the rally, and he was not one of the participants originally arrested. Van Ornum,
who was also indicted, pleaded not guilty through his attorney on Tuesday. He was
indicted on one count each of misdemeanor obstructing traffic and resisting arrest.
The presence of Homeland Security agents monitoring the peaceful rally in sup-
port of the Lane County Commissioners’ stance on pesticides on roadsides has
raised the ire of activists who also allege police brutality in the arrests of Van
Ornum and Day (David) Owen.
Van Ornum was dragged by his hair by the police, according to witnesses, and
his head was slammed repeatedly against the ground. Owen, one of the founders of
the Pitchfork Rebellion, a rural group allied against pesticide use around their
homes and farms, says he was thrown down by EPD officers and knocked uncon-
scious. Owen was charged at the time with interfering with a police officer, disor-
derly conduct and resisting arrest.
The grand jury has not yet filed charges against Owen, but Homeland Security’s
involvement in the rally and monitoring of the Pitchfork Rebellion has led some to
speculate federal charges could be filed. Owen’s attorney, Lauren Regan, had not
gotten a response to her calls to the DA’s office by press time but says it is possible
that there are more indictments to come from the grand jury.
Witnesses at the rally filed a criminal misconduct complaint against the police,
which also led to controversy when it was revealed that Sgt. Scott McKee, who was
interviewing witness in the misconduct case, was also interviewing for the criminal
investigation. The grand jury did not indict any police officers on charges of mis-
conduct. However, witness Amy Pincus Merwin says she and other witnesses who
filed formal complaints against the police were not called to testify before the grand
jury.
Owen, Van Ornum and Farley were originally charged in Eugene Municipal
Court, but Lane County District Attorney Doug Harcleroad had those charges
dropped so Lane County could pursue the case with a potentially less sympathetic
jury.
The case also made headlines nationally when local videographer Tim Lewis
was subpoenaed by the grand jury for his footage of the event. Lewis, with the help
of Oregon’s ACLU, filed a motion to quash the subpoena under Oregon’s Shield
Law that protects the media from being compelled to give testimony or evidence
from material gathered to disseminate to the public. The subpoena was withdrawn
before the case was heard in court. — Camilla Mortensen
‘STAKE IN THE HEART’ FOR
WEST EUGENE PARKWAY
Two years ago, federal and state highway planners decided not to build the West
Eugene Parkway due to wetlands impacts, costs and local opposition.
But local officials haven’t bothered to remove the controversial project from the
official metropolitan transportation plan (TransPlan). The Eugene City Council voted
5-4 on Aug. 13 to correct that by directing staff to begin the process to remove WEP
from TransPlan.
“We need to put a stake in the heart of this project now,” said Councilor Bonny
Bettman.
Eugene City Manager Jon Ruiz and his staff recommended leaving the WEP in
TransPlan until the next full update of the plan is complete. Staff said the last time
TransPlan was updated, it took nine years to complete the plan. Removing the project
now would force staff to more quickly plan for other ways of addressing traffic
congestion in West Eugene, staff said. “It’s really a lot of work,” said city
transportation planning manager Rob Inerfeld.
Councilors supporting the wetlands freeway appeared caught off-guard by the
vote. “I’m confused,” said Councilor Mike Clark, leafing through briefing material
provided by staff. “I don’t know that I spent adequate time in preparation.”
WEP opponents said that the project should be removed from TransPlan because
it’s unfunded and can’t be built due to federal laws protecting wetlands preserves.
“The reality is that the WEP is dead,” said Councilor Alan Zelenka. “The feds don’t
appear likely to approve it anyway.”
Councilors Bettman, Zelenka, Andrea Ortiz and Betty Taylor voted with Mayor
Kitty Piercy to remove the WEP from TransPlan with Councilors Clark, Jennifer
Solomon, George Poling and Chris Pryor opposed.
“It seems to me that it breaks down along the lines of who supported the old
WEP,” Piercy noted. — Alan Pittman
8 AUGUST 21, 2008 EUGENE WEEKLY
news
briefs
STATE ACLU:
EXCLUSION
IS TOOTHLESS
The recent Eugene City Council deci-
sion to enact an exclusion zone ordinance
for downtown was criticized this week by
the Oregon American Civil Liberties Union
as a “toothless tiger,” flawed in both prin-
ciple and practice.
“On a practical level, we doubt the new
ordinance will accomplish the goal of restor-
ing ‘law and order’ in our downtown core,”
says David Fidanque, executive director of
the Oregon ACLU, in a follow-up letter to
EW cosigned by Paul Rhode, chair of the
Lane County Chapter of ACLU. “The sup-
posed power of this ordinance is that those
found violating an exclusion order could be
prosecuted and sentenced to jail time. But in
the wake of unprecedented budget short-
falls, the Lane County sheriff has cut jail
staffing dramatically, and even the city of
Eugene has been forced to reduce its allot-
ment of jail beds. How then can the sanction
of jail time for exclusion zone violators be
considered a viable option?”
Fidanque and Rhode said there would
be no need for an exclusion ordinance if
Lane County were not in the midst of a
public safety funding crisis. In the past, they
said, “chronic offenders could be prosecuted
under current criminal laws, the judge could
order them to stay away from certain places
and people as a condition of probation, and
there would be a real threat of more jail time
should they violate the judge’s order.”
The ACLU leaders said they are con-
cerned that presumed offenders will have
less due process — including not having
access to a court-appointed attorney before
they are subject to “civil” exclusion orders
— and “there still will be no practical way
to punish the offenders if they thumb their
noses at police and the community.”
Last week, Claire Syrett of the Oregon
ACLU testified at a City Council hearing,
warning that similar exclusion laws have
been ruled unconstitutional or repealed in
other cities following discriminatory
enforcement (see “Preconviction Zone”
news story, 8/14). — Ted Taylor
A PARK UNTIL
THE METER
RUNS OUT
What would happen if we made less
room for cars and more room for open park
space in our urban centers? This is the ques-
tion being asked by participants in the inter-
national PARK(ing) Day call to action Sept.
19. A preview of the event was held in
downtown Eugene Aug. 14 when students,
graduates and friends of the UO Landscape
Architecture School temporarily turned six
parking spaces into miniature urban parks.
WAR DEAD
Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq
began on March 20, 2003
(last week’s numbers in parentheses):
• 4,145 U.S. troops killed* (4,138)
• 30,509 U.S. troops injured* (30,490)
• 145 U.S. military suicides* (145)
• 314 coalition troops killed** (314)
• 1,123 U.S. contractors killed
(accurate updates NA)
• 94,553 to 1.1 million civilians killed***
(94,487)
• $546.4 billion cost of war
($544.5 billion)
• $155.4 million cost to Eugene
taxpayers ($154.8 million)
* through August 18, 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.
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