letters
TO THE EDITOR
his car. My feet were still on the pavement so
I literally started running for my life afraid
that if I fell off the front of his car I would
fall under his right front wheel. After being
pushed 25 feet I fi nally managed to roll
over and off the right of the vehicle onto the
ground as his car fi nally came to a stop.
The ambulance came, though I was
up on my feet before it arrived. Two cops
arrived. Information forms provided by
the offi cers were exchanged. The driver
was apparently more shaken than I, for
I couldn’t even read his handwriting. I
asked the offi cer to get the man’s phone
number at least.
I’m extremely lucky not to have
suffered any broken bones though lots
of aches and pains showed up. But the
viewpoint
crowning touch — the driver didn’t
even get cited! This has to have been an
oversight on the offi cer’s part.
I suppose I should drop the matter, but
two things I’d like answers to: Why did
it take so long for the driver to stop, and
why wasn’t he issued a citation? Hitting a
pedestrian in a crosswalk?
No longer driving, I carried no
insurance so have no agent to take issue
with the driver’s insurance company.
Naturally, I haven’t heard “boo” from
them so I’m left holding the bag (empty).
Dave Heying
Eugene
DO TELL
I have to ask. When will gays be free?
I have to tell you that my own house is
divided over the argument whether gays
are born gay, or choose to be gay.
One side of the debate quotes scripture
to make being gay immoral, a mental and
spiritual affl iction, repentance and therapy
being the “cure.”
I believe that sexual gender attraction
is a genetic trait, much like skin and eye
color. And like eye and skin color, there
are many variations.
Our society is still evolving from
the dark ages of race discrimination,
separating people by color. It is way past
time to tear down the wall that seeks to
separate and discriminate against people
because of their sexual attraction.
Michael T. Hinojosa
Drain
DEFENDING PATIENTS
The workers at McKenzie-Willamette
Medical Center who staged a one-day
strike on Nov. 17 are fi ghting for all of us.
The reality is that any of us could end up
in the hospital, and our stay there could be
a matter of life and death.
The labor unions at McKenzie-
Willamette are the strongest force
defending good patient care. To fi nd out
how you can support the hospital workers,
and get other labor movement alerts, you
can sign up for the email list of the Eugene-
Springfi eld Solidarity Network/Jobs with
Justice (maybe four to six message per
month) at www.solidaritynetwork.org
Milton Takei
Eugene
BY ROB HANDY
Charging Ahead
Commission made progress in 2010, but what’s coming?
O
ver the holidays I was asked by several folks
whether I still have the heart for being a
progressive Lane County commissioner,
given the political realities of our time. In answering, I
realized I am not discouraged. Politics – even dealing
with dirty politics are part of the job. Regardless
of political mud-slinging, I remain committed to
protecting forest and farmlands, protecting the
quality of our air and water, developing sustainable
transportation and economic policies that are
locally based and protecting services to children and
families vital to our community.
What’s important is to simply keep going; there
is much work worth doing as a commissioner. I am
working every day for the things we believe in, and I
plan to continue as long as the people of my district
will elect me.
Along with sharing some of the highlights from
2010, I want to alert people that the make-up of the
commission is shifting in 2011. There will now be a
majority of the board with clear connections to land
speculators as well as corporate timber and extraction
interests. Their campaigns were well-funded by
these interests. This translates into a need for all of
us to be ever vigilant. We need to keep careful watch
over upcoming debates and decisions and not lose
the ground we have recently gained to re-localize our
economy, sustain our natural resources and provide
services to those in the most need.
Handy Highlights from 2010:
• Provided funding to NextStep Recycling,
Ninkasi Brewing and Arcimoto to help them leverage
investments in local job growth, for facility expansion
and to help launch a stage 4 electric vehicle prototype
and move Arcimoto closer towards production — and
more family wage jobs.
• Advocated for a revitalized agriculture sector,
where we grow, process, distribute and consume
locally in an integrated food system. We held three
town hall meetings on this topic this year and
provided funding for Camas Country Mill to help build
a new grain and bean milling facility near Junction
City, understanding that a 1 percent increase in local
food production/consumption equates to an $11.7
million positive impact for Lane County’s economy.
Currently, 90 percent of the money spent on food in
Lane County goes out of our local economy.
• Expanded primary health care to 20,000 Lane
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County residents, including opening our
Charnelton Health Clinic in Eugene,
and expanding the Riverstone Clinic
in Springfi eld.
• Helped Lane County save $1
million on safety improvements
for the city of Coburg west of I-5,
protecting the beautiful Coburg
Hills from sprawl spreading up its
fl anks.
• Advocated to use transportation
dollars for improved transit service and
for safer alternatives for bikes when traveling
on busy arterials.
• Led efforts to protect funding of services for
women, children, families and veterans.
• Led efforts to revitalize our Lane County Commission
for the Advancement of Human Rights (CAHR).
• Led efforts and worked with war veterans in the
LGBTQ community to pass a Lane County Resolution
in support of the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
• Helped create the Lane County Area Commission
on Transportation (ACT), ensuring designated
seats for environmental, land use, pedestrian/bike,
trucking and rail representation.
• Worked on the Belt Line Corridor Steering
Committee to address interim safety and congestion
improvements for Belt Line near Delta Highway and
identify long-term solutions.
• Raised the red fl ag at the county on renaming
the Belt Line and spending enormous amounts
of money with no public input into the process. I
wrote and passed the county resolution that passed
unanimously against this decision by the state.
Things to Watch in 2011. With this newly constituted
Board of Commissioners, the potential danger ahead is:
• A return to the old ways of tax breaks and waivers
for wealthy and large corporations. As a county, we
cannot afford it and historically (Sony, Hynix) we have
seen that this doesn’t work; we need to support the
sustainability and expansion of existing businesses
in Lane County.
• A shifting of most or all costs from developers
to new homebuyers, renters and Mom and Pop shops
for roads, sidewalks, curbs. Developers should pay
their fair share; they are the ones making the profi t.
• Proposals for a law enforcement special taxing
district that will divert scarce public dollars to
unelected and unaccountable decisionmakers and
away from public budgets. Including public oversight
ensures funds for prevention, treatment, community
corrections and services for victims of crime. Clearly
a need for jail beds is essential, but public
safety is more than jail beds — it is a
holistic system, and all of its parts need
resources.
• Cuts that will starve programs
that serve families, kids, veterans,
women victimized by violence, people
with mental health challenges, the
chronically homeless and other
extremely vulnerable members of
our community. This decision will likely
be framed as one of public safety vs.
community services. The reality is, the more
desperate people are, the more crime increases.
• Rubberstamping of urban growth boundary
(UGB) expansions of cities countywide which
could destroy more of our shrinking farmland and
forestland. There is room for growth — but it has to
be thoughtfully decided and never rubber-stamped.
• Lack of support to ensure high standards for air
and water quality, leading to higher health care costs
and lessening of our quality of life.
• Weakening our unions. Now, more than ever, we
have to protect family wage jobs and benefi ts. The
more people we have in that category, the more
robust the local economy.
• Eliminating the citizen advisory committees
that inform commissioners on a myriad of important
issues from human rights to transportation to the
epidemic of childhood obesity.
• Eliminating the TV and web broadcasts of
commission meetings which will greatly weaken the
public’s accessibility to our process and decisions.
One important lesson I have learned this year
is not to take political machinations personally.
Progressive commissioners and other electeds all
over the country are being targeted simply to change
the political landscape to one friendlier to the far
right. I urge us all to be media savvy and vigilant in
watching how the Palin tactics of our times are being
played out here locally. Support your progressive
politicians in whatever way you are able — we need
to maintain our seats at the table and look out for
the interests of the majority of the people. A robust
democracy depends on the involvement of the
people — and we need you now more than ever. I look
forward to continuing the good fi ght into 2011 and
beyond. Come join us.
Rob Handy serves on the Lane Board of County Commissioners. He can be
reached at Rob.Handy@co.lane.or.us
EUGENE WEEKLY JANUARY 6, 2011 5