Eugene weekly., May 10, 2012, Page 7, Image 7

COMMISH HANDY
SUES OPPONENT
PAT FARR
North Eugene Commissioner Rob Handy is suing
opponent Pat Farr. He alleges Farr is sending out false
statements to voters and using false statements in his polls
through the Lindholm Company.
A colorful mailer that recently landed in voters’
mailboxes courtesy of a PAC supporting Farr’s bid for the
seat on the Lane County Board of Commissioners accuses
Handy of everything from being “named in a sexual
discrimination lawsuit that cost taxpayers $244,000
dollars” to costing the county $1 million.
According to court documents, what actually happened
was that a woman named Linda Wagner sued the county
and the entire board of commissioners — which is the case
when someone sues the county — and the county settled
with her. The case alleged discrimination based on sexual
orientation, not “sexual discrimination,” as is written on
the mailer.
Another of the misleading accusations is that “Lane
County government has paid out $1 million in settlements
in the past two years including Rob Handy’s costly ethics
violations.” The $1 million refers to all the lawsuits settled
by Lane County, regardless of whether Handy was
involved. The rest of the mailer’s allegations are in a
similar vein.
Kate Kelly, a spokesperson from the Handy campaign,
says that Farr “has gone too far by making statements
verbally, as part of pseudo polls, and in writing to voters
that are not distortions but complete untruths. There has to
be a line — and he has crossed it.”
She adds, “This is why we are filing this suit — as a
community we have to have some standards about what
we will accept as part of campaign rhetoric and out-and-
out lies will never be acceptable.”
— Camilla Mortensen
COUNTY CUTS AFFECT
HORSES?
About six horses with chunks of their coats missing and
protruding ribs were surrendered by their Springfield
owner to neighbors after repeated complaints were filed
against her to Lane County Animal Services (LCAS).
LCAS and the Lane County Sheriffs Office are facing
county budget cuts, and local equines might be falling
through the cracks.
The complaints of alleged neglect by Rose Buckholtz
have been an ongoing ordeal, according to LCAS
Supervisor Rick Hammel.
The neighbors who filed the complaints have been
taking care of the animals ever since Buckholtz gave them
up, according to Darla Clark, who runs the horse rescue
organization Strawberry Mountain Mustangs and has been
in contact with the group of neighbors. According to Clark,
some of the horses were near death and a colt was too
weak to stand and had to be carried away.
Two horses currently remain with Buckholtz, says
Hammel, and she has agreed to not have anymore than the
two indefinitely. “To this point she’s been cooperative,” he
says. “We’ll see how she can do with these two horses.”
But according to Clark, LCAS is not being aggressive
enough in taking legal action.
“LCAS is not documenting these cases, and they’re
slipping through the cracks and they’re becoming bigger
and bigger problems as time moves on,” she says. “It’s just
never resolved.”
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“We don’t do any criminal investigations,” Hammel
says of LCAS.
But horse abuse and neglect is pursued and has resulted
in convictions in nearby Oregon counties. Last October a
woman was put in jail for six months for horse neglect in
Douglas County, says Clark, and in Marion County she has
worked with the sheriff, who recently had a case where the
defendant received two years for neglect.
“[In areas] all around Lane County this is being taken
really seriously,” she says.
Hammel points to budget issues and says the Lane
County Sheriff’s office has been aware of the problems of
neglect pertaining to this event. The problem is under
investigation, according to Hammel, but he doubts legal
action will be taken because of a lack of county resources.
“I don’t think the sheriff has detectives he can spare for a
horse abuse case,” he says.
— Ted Shorack
NORTH EUGENE
COMMISH RACE
GONE WILD
The race for the North Eugene seat on the Lane County
Board of Commissioners has become a brawl, with
revelations of drunk driving and allegations of wrongdoing
flying right and left.
An “emergency meeting” last week, attended only by
the commission’s conservative majority and County
Administrator Liane Richardson, resulted in a swift vote to
release to the media information related to allegations
against incumbent Commissioner Rob Handy. Handy calls
the allegations a “smear tactic.”
The allegations that Handy illegally requested money
to help pay off a debt incurred by a timber-funded open
meetings lawsuit were presented in a letter from attorney
Alan Thayer representing Eugene businessman and EWEB
Commissioner John Brown. According to the R-G, Thayer
and Handy’s opponent in the North Eugene race, Pat Farr,
happening people
are good friends.
Handy said he checked with the county’s finance
department before asking supporters to assist with the
debt.
Under Oregon law, emergency meetings may be held
without the required 24-hour advance notice. The statute
says, “In case of an actual emergency, a meeting may be
held upon such notice as is appropriate to the circumstances,
but the minutes for such a meeting shall describe the
emergency justifying less than 24 hours’ notice.”
Handy’s attorney, Marianne Dugan, has initiated a
public records request in regard to the county’s
communications about the emergency meeting, drafts of
Thayer’s letter and communications between Thayer,
Brown and Farr, and county employees.
The email received by the press giving notice of the
emergency meeting was time-stamped 7:42 am May 3.
The meeting was held at 9 am that day. An email was sent
out to county employees notifying them of the issue by
9:45 am.
Senior Assistant County Counsel Stephen Dingle said
in an email, “Oregon Public Meeting law recognizes the
need for emergency meetings. ORS 192.640(3). Given the
type of notice provided and that the subject matter of the
meeting was confined to the topic that caused the
emergency, I don’t see a violation of the letter or spirit of
the law.”
The meeting’s agenda listed “public records request” as
the meeting’s topic. Lane County has not yet responded to
EW’s request to explain what made the meeting an
“emergency,” and the emergency designation does not
appear to be explained in the video of the meeting
available on the Lane County webpage. The minutes have
not been released as of press time, though minutes of the
board meeting the day before are available on the web.
Handy said at a Thursday press conference that the
allegations were timed to hurt him in the May 15 election,
for which voting is already under way. He said that the
timing “was coldly and cynically planned to make sure
that when the truth comes out, the election will be over.”
He added, “If he was truly concerned about my behavior
BY PAUL NEEVEL
BRANDI FERGUSON
A Springfield native and a grad of Thurston schools, Brandi Ferguson is the granddaughter of Jack Crawford, who arrived
from Tennessee after WW II and founded Crawford Logging Co. “My dad is 62 now and still logging,” she says. “Two months
ago, he had a double-triple bypass. Two days ago was his first day back in the woods.” For 10 years, Ferguson worked at the
Eugene Airport, at first for American Airlines, then for an airline consulting firm. She married, had two kids, then divorced,
and still has two kids, except for every other weekend. “I started volunteering with the Eugene Stream Team,” she says. “I
learned about native plants and trees.” Three years ago, she adopted Awbrey Park, near her home in north Eugene, and
organized work parties on the first Saturday of each month, October through May, to remove invasive plants. Around the
same time, she applied for a job opening at the McKenzie River Trust. “I had references from the city,” says Ferguson, who
landed the job, worked one year in operations, organizing events, then became development director, in charge of
fundraising. “I feel very fortunate to work with amazing, generous people.” Two weeks ago, Ferguson was honored with the
Wegene Award by Eugene’s neighborhood associations for her efforts at Awbrey Park.
EUGENE WEEKLY MAY 10, 2012 7