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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 2013)
CHAOS AT THE COUNTY More splashing in the cesspool that is Lane County Government. No surprise Liane Richardson was chosen for a big juicy raise, despite layoffs and jail releases. No surprise we paid for yet another survey as to whether the public would be stupid enough to fund another measure, despite years and years of failed ones. (How many surveys and ballot measures have the taxpayers paid for now?) No surprise that Commissioner Jay Bozievich quickly shot his copy of the preliminary review hostile to former Commissioner Rob Handy to the R-G as the ink dried. No surprise that Marc Kardell was shown the door. No surprise that John Brown takes a money request and gives it to Alan Thayer (buddy to Handy’s opponent Pat Farr), who fi led the ethics charges. Was anyone surprised when Ellie Dumdi (and a timber-funded buddy) sued the liberal members of the commissioners who fueled the feeding frenzy? Any surprise the board tried to fund extra helpers for themselves while the county was struggling? Any sur- prise that commissioners gerrymandered the districts to make electing a conservative easier? And how about silently changing the rules on Free Speech Plaza three days after people were arrested, and in a power grab Richardson wrote that she has sole authority to change the rules at will? Heaven help us. Richard Chandler Springfi eld COMMON GROUND I have lived through several failed tax measures in Eugene and Lane County. What I have learned is that though I have strong beliefs about fair taxation, many others have beliefs just as strong and very different than mine. Meanwhile, both city and county ser- vices are eroding. Although I don’t consider myself particularly moderate, I will say that experience has taught me that we must seek common ground or continue to lose great people to better funded cities and counties, as well as the services that they provided. The city of Eugene could change direction with a modest tax or fee. Although fl at taxes are indeed regressive, I am afraid that the leftist criticism of the proposed Eugene taxes will doom them to failure. Over the four years I have served on the Human Services Commission, and as a rep- resentative of the Lane County Budget Com- mittee, I have seen universal losses across all of the nonprofi ts, cuts from every level of government. In Lane County, we have lost $47 million a year in federal revenues that supported all county services and roads. Lane County also has a chance to pass a modest, time-limited tax increase solely to support the jail. Now that I understand the political will of county residents, I see that this tax has the best chance to pass, and I support it. It means collaborating with people who I am used to debating. It is time to set aside grudges and work together. Many of you know me, or know of me, and I hope you trust my intention to support the well-being of communities in Lane County. Many, including myself, are volunteering and donating as much as they can, but it is not right to have a small generous part of the population bear the brunt of human needs. Time to tax ourselves. I hope both city and county residents will take a long look at the current budgets and forecasts for future shortfalls before weighing in to oppose any revenue generat- ing measures. Rose Wilde Eugene The Shedd Institute www.theshedd.org - 541-434-7000 The John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts presents The Emerald City Jazz Kings Flying Home The Best of Benny Goodman ht & Tonig y! a Sund Thu. February 7 - 7:30 pm, Sun February 10 - 2:00 pm DOWNTOWN NOT SAFE Recently I was walking downtown and saw a driver almost run over a man in a wheelchair in a crosswalk. In 2010 I was hit in a crosswalk downtown. If you stand near any downtown intersection for a while you’ll see drivers going through crosswalks with pedestrians in them. The drivers are ei- ther too dumb to know this is wrong or sim- ply don’t care. Most of them are not shop- ping downtown, just using it as a shortcut, which could be discouraged by some traffi c engineering, but the city doesn’t want to. The police will not enforce the law. I talked to someone in city government who talked to the police chief and reported back to me that it’s a question of “resources.” Yes, I’m sure harassing the homeless is a much higher priority. That being the case, I would advise everyone not to walk downtown. It’s not safe. There is not much there that anyone really needs anyway. Lynn Porter Eugene EDITOR’S NOTE: Crosswalk laws vary depending on how many lanes and whether there’s an island; but as we read it, the law says cars must give pedestrians in crosswalks no less than two lanes of space. But don’t trust drivers to know that, or care. Palestine & the BDS Movement Robin Kelley, Ph.D. UCLA Professor of American History Saturday, February 16 3:30 - 5:00 Gumwood Room Erb Memorial Union University of Oregon Friday Feb. 15 Victor Wooten Saturday Feb. 16 Juan De Marcos González Afro-Cuban All Stars B. B. King March 10 Hult Center 682-5000 Free Admission Pre-registration advised for Sat. 3:30-5 session at http://tinyurl.com/ah4nzwb Learn why Dr. Kelley serves on the USACBI board advocating the academic and cultural boycott of Israel Dr. Angela Davis connected the dots: “Justice for African Americans is organically linked to justice for Palestinians.” Sponsored by Al-Nakba Awareness Project & UO Social Justice, Real Justice Conference bbking.com bbkingfanclub.net eugeneweekly.com • February 7, 2013 5
