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BY ALAN PITTMAN
Checking the Mayor
Mailers
Does Piercy=No Jobs and Torrey=Bush?
J
im Torrey and Kitty Piercy are
slamming each other in mailers in
the tight mayor’s race.
Here’s some fact checking — fi rst of a
Torrey mailer attacking Piercy on jobs and
then of Democrat Piercy’s mailer linking
Torrey to George Bush.
Torrey Mailer
Claim: “Piercy=No Growth=No Jobs=No
Hope” and “she keeps making it harder for
Eugene business to create jobs.” False.
Explanation: State data indicate that
during Piercy’s three years in offi ce, Lane
County added an average of 198 jobs per
month. During Torrey’s eight years as
mayor, the county added an average of 176
jobs per month. While Torrey was mayor,
the local jobless rate increased, according to
state data.
Claim: “Eugene is facing a major jobs
crisis. Much of it is a direct result of poor
economic planning and a leadership failure
by Mayor Piercy.” False.
Explanation: Local unemployment has
recently increased due to the fi nancial crisis,
but no economist has blamed the global credit
crisis on Eugene Mayor Piercy. Eugene’s
economy has actually faired better than
many other cities that lacked urban growth
boundaries to control excessive housing
speculation, according to news reports.
Claim: Piercy is “strongly aligned with
hardline no-growth advocates.” False.
Explanation: Piercy split with many
local progressives in backing enterprise
zone tax breaks for Hynix and subsidies
for big downtown developers. Piercy has
lead a successful city Sustainable Business
Initiative to grow green local jobs. Piercy
has supported city subsidies for developers
working to fi ll downtown pits.
Claim: Under Piercy Eugene has “no
land available to attract suitable employers.”
False.
Explanation: City staff have estimated
that to meet employer needs Eugene has
a “generous surplus of commercial and
industrial land,” 122 and 2,404 acres
respectively.
Claim: Because of “bad policies” from
Piercy, “Eugene has lost 1,000 jobs to
Springfi eld.” False.
Explanation:
PeaceHealth
and
Symantec announced that they were moving
to Springfi eld while Torrey was mayor. Since
1990, Eugene’s population growth rate has
outpaced Springfi eld’s. According to Census
data, almost two-thirds of Springfi eld
residents work outside of Springfi eld, most
likely in Eugene.
Claim: Because of “bad policies” from
Piercy, “Hynix closure means another 1,000
jobs gone.” False.
Explanation: Hynix closed due to falling
chip prices and cheaper labor in China. At
an Oct. 1 Fox TV debate and at the Sept. 12
Eugene City Club Debate Torrey told Piercy
the loss of Hynix was “not your fault.”
Claim: Under Piercy “Eugene has
become elitist and non-cooperative with our
regional neighbors.” False.
Explanation: The bill to split Eugene
and Springfi eld planning was pushed “at
the request of Oregon Home Builders
Association,” the state’s leading development
lobby, according to the Legislature’s offi cial
ledger. The developers and Springfi eld
conservatives backing the split excluded
and did not cooperate with Eugene on the
legislation and rejected compromises.
Claim: “Mayor Piercy has NEVER even
mentioned jobs as a goal in her state-of-the-
city addresses!!!” False.
Explanation: In Piercy’s 2008 state of the
city speech, a list of goals was topped by: Eugene
“supports the growth of sustainable businesses
as a key to strengthening our economy.”
Piercy Mailer
Claim: Torrey “ran for the Legislature
as a conservative Republican;” supported
“the policies of George Bush including the
invasion of Iraq;” and “gave the maximum
contribution allowable to George W. Bush’s
reelection.” True.
Explanation: Torrey ran as an anti-
choice Republican in 2006 for the state
senate and lost. At a Sept. 29, 2006, City
Club debate, Torrey said he supported the
Iraq invasion. In 2004 Torrey donated $2,000
to Bush’s re-election campaign.
In addition, Torrey spoke at an October
2004 South Eugene High School election
forum in support of George Bush’s re-
election, according to State Senator Floyd
Prozanski and Democratic activist Val Hoyle.
Torrey attended a Republican gathering and
praised Bush’s state of the union speech in a
Feb. 1, 2006, R-G article. Torrey’s campaign
is run by a Republican political consultant,
and he’s endorsed by local Republican elected
offi cials. Torrey has repeatedly refused to say
who will get his vote for President.
Claim: “Fix the potholes? Torrey left us
the potholes!” True in part.
Explanation: Under Torrey, the road
repair backlog grew almost 2,000 percent,
from a few million dollars to about $100
million. Under Piercy, the repair backlog
grew about 70 percent to $170 million. This
year, the city will spend $5.5 million on street
repairs under Piercy, twice Torrey’s pothole
spending level.
Claim: “Under Kitty Piercy, Eugene
Police department staffi ng has actually
increased.” True.
Explanation: When Torrey left offi ce
in 2005, the Eugene police budget was $25.7
million. After three years under Piercy, the
police budget has grown to $42.4 million.
Claim: “Torrey has been spending a
fortune on a campaign that is long on attacks,
but short on the truth.” True.
Explanation: Torrey has spent a record
half-million dollars. Most of the money has
come from developers, gravel pit owners,
construction companies and other pro-sprawl
and anti-environmental interests, according
to campaign fi nance records. The money
has funded many attack ads with many false
claims.
ew
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BUSH RIDES A TREK...
EXPLORE BETTER OPTIONS!
Come Into The Shop
And Show Your Support
GREAT STREETS
A City Design Lecture by Allan Jacobs
Wednesday, November 5, 2008. 7:30pm.
University of Oregon’s Baker Center,
975 High Street, Downtown Eugene
Allan Jacobs is the author of Great Streets and The Boulevard Book. He was the Planning Director
for the City of San Francisco and a Professor and Chair of the Department of City and Regional Plan-
ning at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the Principal of CityWorks, a planning and urban
design fi rm in San Francisco. He has designed numerous great streets, including Octavia Boulevard in
San Francisco and International Boulevard in Oakland. In this lecture, Professor Jacobs will discuss
the role streets and boulevards play in the development of livable cities.
All lectures are free and open to the public. Free parking is available - if needed, please use 10th Street to access
the parking lot directly behind the Baker Center. Presented by the University of Oregon School of Architecture and
Allied Arts, the Lane County Farm Bureau, and the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium
EUGENE WEEKLY OCTOBER 30, 2008 13