letters
TO THE EDITOR
NOT THE ANSWER
There are several problems with the
change proposed by Andy Stahl to save
money by reducing the Lane County board
from fi ve to three commissioners, and
electing them at-large like most counties
(EW news, 1/12). With more than 100
county layoffs expected, eliminating two
commissioner positions isn’t anywhere
near the scale needed to balance the budget.
While it’s true that most Oregon counties
have three commissioners, changing Lane
back to three would make it the most
populous county in Oregon with such a
small board, resulting in commissioners
becoming more remote from voters. The
likely result of going backwards to at-large
elections would be a one-party rule that
would limit the diversity of perspectives
on the board at a time when new ideas are
needed to solve pressing public problems.
The recent confl ict over redistricting
leaves no doubt there are issues with the
way the board is elected. Even though there
are more Democratic than Republican
voters in Lane County, gerrymandering
ensures a Republican majority on the
commission because Democratic voters
are packed into the two Eugene districts.
For example, Pete Sorenson received more
than twice the votes of Sid Leiken, diluting
the relative value of votes in South Eugene
by half.
District-based
elections
are
authoritarian, allowing politicians to
debase voting by manipulating boundaries
to choose their voters. A true reform in
the public interest would advance fair
and effective representation for everyone
by enacting an alternate election method
that doesn’t require districts, eliminating
redistricting
and
gerrymandering
completely.
Brian Wanty
Eugene
SHODDY EPUD
It’s time for Lane County residents
to demand that the Public Utilities
Commission reassign control of Emerald
Peoples Utility District. This company is
not competent to run an electric district.
While the strength of the March 21
storm was unpredictable, the power going
out in Cottage Grove was not. It’s a regular
occurrence, in all weather conditions.
On March 12, during a light drizzle,
power was out. Two weeks earlier, on a
partly cloudy night, the power went out
in the middle of the night. Nothing like
waking up in the morning and the inside
temperature is 55 degrees, and dropping.
This shoddy service is not isolated
to this year. The same has occurred
throughout the four years I’ve lived in
Cottage Grove. EPUD’s annual response?
Hold a community meeting and bring
pizza!
This is more than just inconvenient.
For families with very young or elderly at
home, a cold house and no hot food can
quickly become a health and safety issue.
Homeowners should also be concerned
that EPUD’s growing reputation for
unreliability and poor performance will
lower property values. Who wants to live
in a neighborhood where the power goes
out all the time?
4
MARCH 29, 2012
EUGENE WEEKLY
us, we can know that current operating bag
bans have worked well and are sustainable
— if we have the will, fortitude and
integrity of purpose and vision.
Corvallis’ sustainability goals and our
distinctive reputation are sorely on the
line with this issue. Yes, please do the
right thing and represent our local interest
above corporate profi ts and waste. This is
a small, yet very signifi cant step towards
sustainability for Corvallis, our region and
the planet.
Do not let your love of wisdom and
reason be eroded through opposing tactics
of greed, fear and complicated ignorance.
It is past time to ban the bag now!
Ralph Penunuri
Corvallis
KNOWLEDGE OVER FEAR
EPUD claims these incidents are
an “act of God.” I say they are an act of
incompetence. The entire management
team — from administration to engineering
— should be removed and a service
reliability plan instituted.
Allan Katz
Cottage Grove
SITE REVIEW NEEDED
The residents of Dexter are pleased
that the hearings offi cial has reconsidered
his former decision and now agrees a site
review is needed regarding the rock mining
operation at Parvin Butte. The intention of
the site review land use law is to allow the
residents to have their valid concerns taken
into consideration.
The Demers’ and McDougals’ rock
mining operation is doing everything it
can to bypass this important process. This
is not a typical location for a rock quarry.
Looking around at other quarries, there
are no homes or towns nearly as close as
those near to the historic Parvin Butte.
There are many serious issues that need
to be addressed such as well water quality,
Lost Creek salmon habitat degradation,
noise and air quality to name a few. Some
of the residents have health issues that
would require them to move and have to
sell their homes at greatly reduced rates if
this quarry operation takes place.
Neighbors of such destructive land use
must be allowed, without hesitation, to
have their concerns addressed in a formal
fashion. A company with integrity and
morals would comply graciously with a
site-review process. Something is seriously
wrong with our land-use laws if a site
review does not take place.
Donald Alexander
Dexter
FOREST LAND-GRAB
A test of the mettle of a person occurs
when he chooses the correct course of
action, despite the fact that it is less
convenient. This is the case with Pete
Sorenson’s opposition to the foolhardy
O&C trust scheme to convert federal
forests into private-lands logging reserves
in order to fund county budgets, and to
deliver a bonanza of federal timber to the
timber industry.
Sorenson is not someone who would
ever advocate nullifying all federal
environmental laws, as the O&C Trust
scheme requires.
For the 15 or 20 years I have known
Pete, he has been a consistent, reasoned
advocate for protection of our environment:
clean water, clean air, abundant native fi sh
and wildlife, and adequate supporting
habitat.
Funding counties via a land-grab
resulting in the clearcut logging of 1.5
million acres of federal forests is certainly
convenient — just let Reps. DeFazio,
Schrader and Walden have their way, and
the money will fl ow.
But convenience isn’t what matters;
integrity is what matters. It is no surprise
to me that Sorenson will take the time to
patiently work out alternate measures for
funding county services — measures that
meet the county’s needs while protecting
prime environmental values.
Sorenson is a leading advocate of
logging federal forests where that is
appropriate, for example, thinning all
the clearcuts created (and planted with
Douglas fi r) from 1960 to 1995 — 35 years
of logging, with planted trees now as old
as 52 years.
Pete Sorenson has the fortitude to
make the correct choices, even if they are
diffi cult.
Tom Giesen
Eugene
PLASTIC BULLIES
To the Corvallis mayor and council:
I reiterate my strong support for all our
citizenry and our environment — through
the Corvallis City Council’s original
request of the Administrative Services
Committee to develop a plan to reduce the
use of plastic bags in the Corvallis area,
through a retail plastic bag ban.
Our city’s distinction as a recognized
progressive leader in sustainability and
liveability through reasoned and objective
planning and application will be severely
compromised if we can be so publicly
bullied by aggressive out-of-state corporate
interests, such as Hilex Poly, who share
neither our vision nor our integrity.
Whatever obfuscation and adversity these
profi t and waste-based interests throw at
The mainstream media is fraught with
omissions while frequently straying from
the truth. It is also owned and controlled by
a group of wealthy power-brokers who are
not looking out for the best interests of the
people and planet earth. Given this reality,
we must actively seek truth that resonates
with us.
At http://bit.ly/y5Kzh0 you will fi nd an
article listing story headlines on 320 CEO
and executive resignations from banks and
fi nancial institutions, internationally, in the
last half year. There were 92 resignations
in February and 77 resignations in the fi rst
two weeks of March.
At http://bit.ly/xEqqlw is a scientifi c
study which shows how a tightly-knit
‘super entity’ of 147 fi nancial institutions
control over 40 percent of the global
economy. This was published Oct. 11, 2011
in the New Scientist.
Goldman Sachs has seen 14 executives
resign, Bank of America six, J.P. Morgan
six and Citigroup three. Twelve executives
from central banks around the world have
resigned or been killed. Russia has issued
an arrest warrant for George Soros.
This has not been analyzed or reported
in the media, because the media is being
controlled. The cabal who has brought us
environmental destruction, war and poverty
will no longer be tolerated on earth. There
is much backstory to this. I encourage you
to seek knowledge over fear.
Adriane Myers
Eugene
PHOTOSYNTHESIS DIVINE
I did my eighth and ninth grades in a
Catholic school. Even though my education
included religion, we did have the benefi t
that the principal, an ordained priest, had
been trained in biology which he taught
for a while before taking on the robes. One
time while he was visiting my classroom
a student asked “if it’s true that humans
come from monkeys.” I was expecting to
have to defend evolution in which I deeply
believed but was pleasantly surprised when
the priest said that Darwin’s theories are
not in confl ict with the belief in God or in a
higher organizational intelligence.
My main interest was chemistry and
to this day I remember the fi rst equation
which I learned and which would guide my
transformation into an environmentalist.
These teachings explained the most
important secrets of how all forms of life,
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