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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (June 18, 2009)
slant NEWS BRIEFS The beloved Civic Stadium Coordinators Jesse Hough, Natasha Hultmann and Samantha Chirillo will lead a team of students in community-scale projects in Eugene during NICE’s 10-week Summer Think and Do Program. Projects will include energy conservation and effi- ciency, renewable energy, sustainable transportation, local/organic food, and waste reduction. Chirillo says NICE is intended to “bring community members and students togeth- er to develop grassroots organizing skills in the Think Tanks and utilizing these skills with in the Do Tanks.” She says the program “will make tangible strides toward a more local and energy efficient Eugene.” Mayor Kitty Piercy has endorsed the program, saying “I have no doubt that the NICE will soon become an integral and critical partner helping community mem- bers, public utilities, and local government work toward common goals for a sustain- able and equitable future.“ Neighborhood associations have also expressed interest in working with the NICE. Projects will be showcased at 7 pm Friday, June 19, at EWEB’s Training Room. The focus project involves students engaging low-income families to raise awareness about the economic and envi- ronmental benefits of weatherization, per- forming basic home energy audits, and providing referrals "In the NICE's pilot program in Southeast Portland last summer, we sup- ported a large-scale solar thermal project that would provide carbon-free hot water and air cooling for 300 homes. The project received $12,500 in funding and started a non-profit after the NICE's work, so I'm excited to see what will grow from the Eugene NICE," says Jesse Hough, who will be coordinating his second NICE pro- gram. For more information, visit thenice.org buy raffle tickets at Capella Market on south Willamette. The raffle is for a man’s bicycle from Paul's Bicycle Way of Life. Proceeds go to Save Civic Stadium. The winning $1 ticket will be picked at random at 4 pm Saturday, the same day as the opening homestand for Civic Stadium and the Ems. • The next monthly meeting of the 4J Equity Committee is from 4:30 to 6 pm Thursday, June 18, in the Parr Room at the 4J Education Center, 200 N. Monroe St. “Next Year Visioning” is on the agenda. Time for public comment is provided early in the meeting. • The ninth annual (and final) Day of Solidarity with Jeff "Free" Luers will begin at 7 pm Saturday, June 20, at the Pizza Research Institute, 5th and Blair, $5 at the door. The benefit will feature The Blair Street Mugwumps and Le Petite Mort from Eugene, and Coffin Ship from Portland. Luers is expected to be released from the state prison in December. He was sentenced in June 2001 for his role in the protest arson of three SUVs at a Eugene auto dealership. • Two public forums are planned by the Eugene City Council to hear from the public on moving police offices to Country Club Road, and what the city should do to provide for city offices and a possible new City Hall. One recent proposal would have the city lease space in a downtown com- mercial redevelopment. The first forum is at 7 pm Tuesday, June 23, at the Atrium Building, 99 W. 10th Ave.; and the second is at 7 pm Thursday, June 25, at Sheldon Community Center, 2445 Willakenzie Road. Input will be gathered and consoli- dated in a report to the City Council. ACTIVIST ALERT • More letters to the editor • On the blog: Ted ponders the scary idea of “buying up” in the local real estate market as a way to build equity. Camilla posts the F-bomb that KEZI’s weather guy let fly, with gusto. • Supporters of Civic Stadium have until early Saturday afternoon, June 20, to ON THE WEB THIS WEEK WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • Hanging onto federal payments for rainy days appears to be standard proce- dure for most Oregon counties. To read the local daily, you’d think Lane County was the only county hesitating to fund jail beds. Back on Oct. 18, 2008, The Oregonian reported that Oregon counties could expect to see $740 million in bailout funds over the next four years, and most counties were planning to put the money into reserves rather than spend it on roads and public safety. County officials have been warned that funding from the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 is due to expire in less than four years. The money just buys some time for Oregon counties to try to become more self-reliant. Meanwhile, the Lane County Budget Committee is wrapping up its public hear- ings this week in anticipation of a June 24 budget deadline, a week before the level of state funding will be known. The outcry for funding jail beds is all about dangerous criminals running loose in our community, but FBI statistics tell us violent crime is actually down over the last decade. So what’s going on? It appears a lot of folks are using the budget quandary to advance their personal and political agendas rather than working to solve the serious long-term prob- lems facing the county. Conservatives and Republicans are very unhappy with the new progressive majority on the County Commission and are working strategically to bring back their buddies in the next elections. The deputies, of course, are lobbying loudly to keep their jobs and benefits. The R-G’s relentless fear-mongering is more puz- zling. The attack editorials remind us of the infamous Willie Horton smears used to elect Bush I. Are the editorial writers still angry that voters ignored them and elected Rob Handy to the commission? We never saw this kind of editorial fervor when Bobby Green and other conservatives were cutting funding for public safe- ty. • Raise your hand, please, if you know what the West Eugene Collaborative is. Not many hands up, except those belonging to City Club members who learned about the WEC last week. Maybe that's because we media are generally more interested in conflict, crime and controversy than in wonkish collaborations. Maybe that's because the public has, or is perceived to have, those same inter- ests. The WEC is a real opportunity for change in this community. After 20 years of bitter conflict over the finally deceased West Eugene Parkway, Mary O'Brien, a veteran of national environmental collaborations, worked with Kitty Piercy, Jack Roberts and other leaders to form the WEC. Individuals, organizations and agen- cies put up the money to hire facilitators. After two years of sometimes grueling meetings, these 27 men and women from across the political spectrum have issued a report taking the first steps to "develop an integrated land use and transportation solution, supported by stakeholders, that will facilitate movement of people and commerce from/through/to west Eugene and west of Eugene while enhancing community, business and the environment.” Big bite. The full report is at www.odrc.state.or.us/WestEugeneForum.php We trust that the leadership to implement these recommendations will come from these WEC members who already have invested too much to let the report sit on a shelf: John Allcott, Susan Ban, Alan Buck, Rick Duncan, Gerry Gaydos, Rob Inerfeld, Pat Johnston, Don Kahle, Kevin Matthews, Aleta Miller, Ed Moore, Deborah Noble, Mary O'Brien, Kitty Piercy, Emily Proudfoot, Chris Pryor, Larry Reed, Rusty Rexius, Jack Roberts, Tom Schwetz, Faye Stewart, Paul Thompson, Jim Welsh, Gary Wildish, Sue Wolling, Jan Wostmann and Rob Zako. • Last week in our News Briefs we wrote about the pending legislation that would protect the Metolius Basin from development of two destination resorts. Word this week is that HB 3298 passed in the Oregon Senate. The bill would designate the basin as an Area of Critical Statewide Concern and is now back in the House, where senate amendments have halted approval by one vote. Curiously, do-little Gov. Kulongoski took a stand in favor of the bill while our own Sen. Vicki Walker stood behind the developers and voted with Republicans against the bill. Walker’s apparently concerned that this bill is unfair to the developers of the proposed Metolian resort. But when it comes to major land-use decisions in sensitive areas of our state, the Legislature trumps land speculators. 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 EUGENE WEEKLY JUNE 18, 2009 9
