letters
TO THE EDITOR
EYESORES
I have to say, I was deeply disappointed
in some citizens of our supposedly
compassionate city when I passed the I-5
overpass near Franklin Boulevard and saw
the people who had made it their home
being evicted and having their belongings
thrown away. I rode past the area most days
for the last year, and every time the “bridge
people” smiled and waved. They were
never anything but friendly, and I never saw
garbage littering the area, only a couch and
the occasional bicycle, which one can see on
a good portion of the lawns downtown.
But some people took it upon them-
selves to report them and they are now on
the streets again. Strange, it seems the city
would rather have them sleeping in door-
ways and parks than gathered together in
an unused spot on the outskirts of town.
The news report said that residents
deemed it an “eyesore” but the only thing
there that was eye-catching were the green
and gold fl ags that had been hung up. If
Duck colors are an eyesore, why aren’t
we evicting every frat house in the city?
Speaking of, one of the biggest eyesores
I’ve noticed in this city are the piles of
empty beer cans and other trash that pile
up on the lawns of fraternities and dorms
on campus. Does no one report this or
does no one care so long as it’s well-to-
do students and not the misfortuned
homeless? Either way, it’s sad to see
people who had respectably made use of
kumbaya dammit
a dry area for over a decade being thrown
back onto the rainy streets.
Jesse Holum
Eugene
why Koivu said strawberries don’t do very
well around here.
Chris Piché
Eugene
BURIED GARDEN
EUGENE SLUTWALK
Spring is the right time to start a
vegetable garden with prices rising. So
I entered the lotto and scored a
plot at Mathew’s Community Garden
along the Amazon Trail. The former
tenants planted perennial herbs and
a strawberry patch, although resident
gardener Kurt Koivu said the berries “don’t
do very well here.”
A couple weeks later I arrived
to erect a small greenhouse and found
a sheriff’s work crew digging up the
plot and dumping city leaves laced
with rocks and pine cones on the spread.
My strawberry patch was gone and the
herbs were tossed aside. Fresh cigarette
butts sprouted in their place.
I protested. The deputy pulled out his
map of vacant garden plots slated
for special treatment. Our whole outer
row was on it. Costing the city $850 a day,
they had received orders to “do us a favor.”
How could I complain? The city needed to
get rid of its old leaves, and we didn’t exist.
So, I’ll look for a small rototiller to
shred the matted leaves that should have
been applied last fall. Then I’ll make raised
beds and post a Keep Out sign for slugs,
snails and sheriff’s gangs. Now I can see
On April 4, women in Toronto, Canada
marched in a SlutWalk after a member of
their police force publicly stated women
could avoid rape if they didn’t “dress like
sluts.” I participated in a small SlutWalk
in downtown Eugene donning panties,
fi shnets, a garter belt, and a T-shirt with
“SLUT” written on it.
I discussed the term “slut” with people
in the community and learned some things.
1) Slut is rarely used to describe how many
people someone has slept with. 2) It is often
used to describe how a woman dresses,
moves, talks, etc. regardless of how many
people she has slept with. It’s used to police
and shame women’s bodies, choices, and
actions. 3) People from many backgrounds
slut-shame, including those who claim
to reject the religious right’s tendency to
discourage sex outside of marriage.
It was empowering to reclaim the word
slut, but more importantly, clothes do not
equal consent to any or every sexual act with
whomever comes along. “Yes” equals con-
sent to one specifi ed sexual act and can be
retracted or extended any time. Let’s focus on
policing rapists rather than “slutty” women!
Casie Clausen
Eugene
OVERSTEPPING BOUNDS
Regarding the county lawsuit settlement
(Slant, 4/7): Standard lawyer blackmail
— they should have appealed all the
way. The state Legislature must settle
this issue and not accept this blackmail.
This was not an interpretation — it is
nothing but legislating from the judicial
branch of government — and clearly
unconstitutional.
I ask you — who do you want to be
governed by? Lawyers in black robes
or your elected representatives?? It is
defi nitely time to prohibit lawyers from
having anything to do with the judicial
branch of government. Nothing in the
Constitution mandates that “only” lawyers
can hold positions in the judicial branch of
government. The practice of law, which
is a “for profi t” occupation, should be
totally separate from the judicial branch
of government — which is owned and
paid for by the people — not the lawyers.
Let’s put scientists and engineers in
every position in the judicial branch of
government. Lawyers are not scientists.
Frank Skipton
Springfi eld
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Lincoln, Eugene 97401.
BY DAN CAROL
The Real Score on Civic
A winning game plan buys time
S
o does your head hurt trying to follow all the
different players and the curveballs being
thrown about as 4J decides the fate of the
Civic Stadium property? Well, then this column is for
you — unless you hate corny sports analogies.
Who am I rooting for?
Nobody yet. 4J is currently choosing between
three very imperfect proposals. Ideally though,
some all-star heroics by the City Council and the
city manager will turn our frowns upside down.
Who am I rooting against?
4J. Two years ago the School Board simply
wanted $70,000 a year in expenses removed from
its books when the Ems and their lease payments
left for PK Park. Now they are seeking millions from
the sale of the Civic property, and from the sale
of Willard School property at 29th and Lincoln,
and they are seeking $70 million plus for school
construction on the ballot May 17. Honestly, it’s time
for the School Board to get off the fi eld; we need a
new manager on the fi eld named Jon Ruiz.
Are we really in the bottom of the 9th?
At its last work session, some councilors
expressed concern that it’s too late for the city to
get involved. That’s just off-base. The notion that
there is a fast track for this project if 4J chooses
the Y or Fred Meyer, when the next stage is clearly
messy zoning battles and demolition permit wars,
needs to be dispelled. Let’s remember we are in
Eugene, the town that turned away a downtown
Whole Foods! There’s plenty of time to get this right,
so long as the School Board doesn’t get it wrong.
WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM
As one of the school board
members pointed out at the
recent meeting, 4J’s “process”
doesn’t require them to choose
any of these three proposals if
they don’t suffi ce. So don’t.
We could have a Y, keep the sports fi elds and
fi gure out the stadium’s future without a bum’s
rush led by the School Board, and have local
housing developers get the work and develop the
site in concert with the neighborhood, not against
it. But only the city is in the position to steer the
community to such a great result.
The city? Is this a fantasy league?
I know many of us are inclined to think that the
city and the council will swing and miss whenever
they step up to the plate. But the fact is the council is
on a roll, fi lling two pits and creating buzz by getting
things done downtown. We now need the city to buy
this property outright and appoint a new public-
private commission to fi gure out how to utilize this
great open space for family recreation, rather than
let a cash-hungry School Board take land it got in
trust for $1 and sell it to the highest bidder. Councilor
Alan Zelenka’s proposal to relieve the old Save Civic
Stadium crew who has kept the idea alive, and bring
in a new dream team of community leaders better
able to develop the site and welcome the Y, is a major
league idea.
The secret weapon: We’ve got a loaded bat (and
money in the bank)
Remember 2006 when we all voted for a major
parks and recreation bond? Well, guess what,
it passed — and there’s more than $9 million
sitting in the bank that could be used for
acquiring Civic from 4J. Sound too good to
be true? Well, it wasn’t for John Musumeci,
Suzanne Arlie and their creditors. Just
last November, the council in a moment of
unanimous kumbaya voted 8-0 to spend almost
$2 million to acquire more than 500 acres from
Arlie & Co. south of LCC. This remote property, if it
is ever used, will be used by the public far less than
a family recreation center and sports fi elds will be
at the Civic property.
A winning game plan
A smart fi x on Civic is doable, if the city steps in
and simply uses funds that the voters have already
approved for community and family recreation. This
also happens to be the only option that would put
money back in 4J’s bank account anytime soon and
actually save a couple of teachers this fall; all the
other options will involve contingencies and delays
of one kind or another. (A quick fi x on Civic is not
going to fi x our schools; voting for the school ballot
measures on May 17 will.)
To reach this goal, city councilors (especially
Andrea Ortiz, Mike Clark, Pat Farr and Chris Pryor)
and the city manager (Jon Ruiz) need to hear from
everyone (baseball fans, soccer rooters, Kidsports
fi eld users, history buffs, 4th of July grass sitters,
beer garden alumni, Y supporters and other open
space fans) with an unusual message: we like what
you are doing downtown — do more!
Dan Carol served on the Mayor’s Committee on the Civic Stadium site. He
urges that citizens who love Civic and the Y should call on the City Council
to step up and just buy the property at the next council meeting and write the
School Board to make that their goal, too.
EUGENE WEEKLY APRIL 21, 2011 7