Eugene weekly., April 10, 2014, Page 8, Image 8

ACTIVIST
LERT
• “Building Equity and Inclusion at the UO and
Beyond” is the topic at City Club of Eugene at noon
Friday, April 11, at the Downtown Athletic Club, 999
Willamette. Speaker is Yvette Alex-Assensoh, VP for
equity and inclusion at UO. See CityClubofEugene.org.
• The annual Bee Weekend will be from 9 am to 5 pm
Friday, April 11, and from 9 am Saturday, April 12, at
GloryBee Factory Store, 29548 B Airport Rd., directly off
Highway 99. During the two-day event, more than 700
packages of bees will be placed with local beekeepers.
The event also includes demonstrations, honey
sampling and family-themed activities. Call Kristin at
689-0913, ext. 181, or email Kristin.Kokkeler@glorybee.
com.
• County Commission candidate Kevin Matthews
will be available for an informal discussion from 8 to 10
am Saturday, April 12, at the Pantry & Pub Restaurant,
1810 Chambers St. Call 514-4766 or visit
FriendsofKevinMatthews.org.
• Community Rights Lane County will host the third
monthly Community Rights Conversations from 3 to
4:30 pm Saturday, April 12, at LCC Downtown, Room
105. Topic will be “The Myth of the Regulatory System:
Why Government Agencies Won’t Protect Us.” Materials
at communityrightslanecounty.org.
• The 25th Annual Shy Persons Talent Show and
fundraiser for David Oaks will be from 6 to 9 pm Saturday,
April 12, at Sam Bond’s Garage. A sliding scale donation
of $5 to $500 is requested. Email
shypersonstalentshow@gmail.com to participate, or if
you are too shy, consider a donation through
supportdavidoaks.org.
NEWS
BIAS REPORTS
MAY NOT REFLECT
ACTUAL NUMBERS
Fifty-five bias-related incidents were reported to Eugene’s
Equity and Human Rights Center (EHRC) in 2013 — an in-
crease of four reports from last year. Equity and Human Rights
Analyst Lindsey Foltz says a lot of bias-related activity is un-
reported, in part because of a lack of trust of the government
or police.
She says she received a report in 2013 that “would have
been an assault, and maybe even an assault with a potentially
deadly weapon. So, it’s a fairly serious crime. But she abso-
lutely did not want to go to the police — she did not feel safe
sharing with them.”
In those cases, Foltz shares general non-identifying things
with police but no personal information or location of incident.
“It made sense why she didn’t want to,” Foltz says. “But
at that same time, it’s like, ‘Oh, I wish you would.’ Because
there’s still that person out there who could do that to someone
else.”
Foltz says some people will tell her they have experienced
incidents previously, which they have not reported.
Juan Carlos Valle, president of the League of United Latin
American Citizens, is certain there are unreported incidents.
He says minorities often lack trust in governments or police.
“Some who have grown up in this community have gone
through that experience,” Valle says, “or we bring that from
other communities.”
Race was the most commonly reported reason for bias-
related incidents, accounting for 42 percent of criminal inci-
dents and 56 percent of non-criminal incidents in 2013.
Reports are categorized based on race, religion, ethnicity,
national origin, association, sexual orientation or disability.
There were 13 reports of incidents motivated by sexual
identity — more than double the amount reported in 2012.
“I don’t know that there’s more of it going on. It’s just
hard to say,” EHRC Manager Michael Kinnison says. “I think
we’re also getting better at the reporting parts of it.”
He attributes the increase in part to the department work-
ing more closely with Eugene Police Department.
“We just think that officers are probably being more ef-
ficient in flagging and routing bias crimes,” Kinnison says.
“That could also produce higher numbers.” — Missy Corr
• On tax day April 15 at the downtown Post Office,
520 Willamette, a broad coalition of peace, justice and
labor activists have organized a series of actions calling
on Congress to redirect war dollars to fight climate
change, fund education, job creation, universal health
care and other vital services. Events begin at 11 am with
the annual “Penny Poll,” inviting passersby to allocate
where they would want their taxes to go. At noon will be
a rally with speaker Kelsey Juliana and music.
Sponsored by CALC, ESSN, WAND, Taxes for Peace, Not
War, IWW and Veterans for Peace. Contact CALC at 485-
1755 or calcpeace@gmail.com.
• Grupo Latino de Acción Directa is hosting a panel
with all five of the candidates running for the East Lane
County commissioner position at 5:30 pm Thursday,
April 17, at Cesar E. Chavez Elementary School, 200 N.
Monroe St.
POLLUTION UPDATE
The city of Eugene sent a “request for corrective
action” letter to Gibson Steel Fab, Inc. last month for
various Clean Water Act violations, citing Gibson for
deficiencies in employee education and monthly
inspections, storing several hazardous materials without
secondary containment and failing to contain overspray
from painting operations so as to prevent it from coming
into contact with stormwater. All these violations were
characterized by the city as “significant violations of
Oregon environmental law.” Stormwater from Gibson’s
facility discharges to Amazon Creek. The city also sent a
second notice to Oregon Ice Cream Company last week
due to its failure to respond the city’s previous notice (EW
4/3, goo.gl/fYaGc2) within 30 days.
Doug Quirke/Oregon Clean Water Action Project
lighten up
BY RAFAEL ALDAVE
The Eugene City Council won’t be nominated for a
Mother Teresa award this year. A few days ago the
city tore down a functioning homeless camp —
before having an alternative site available — and
dumped the camp’s desperate residents on the
street. The technical term for the thinking behind
such a move is DUMB, DUMB, DUMB. Don’t we already
get enough dumb from the Supreme Court?
8
A pril 10, 2014 • eugeneweekly.com
PHOTO BY ATHENA DELENE
WHOVILLE SHUTDOWN
SCATTERS CAMPERS
The city of Eugene paid 60 staff members to shut down
the Whoville homeless camp on the corner of Broadway and
Hilyard streets April 4 — a move that campers and home-
less rights advocates say put many of the Whoville residents
back on the streets alone.
“They’ve taken old, they’ve taken veterans, they’ve
taken everybody who has a problem, said ‘You have to go,’
instead of giving them a place to sleep at night and giving
them some sort of peace of mind,” Whoville camper Jacob
Baird says.
Whoville camper and organizer Nathan “Red” Showers
says the Whoville campers are like a family and many of
them relied on the emotional support, on-site warming cen-
ter and food donations available at the camp.
“It was all donations from churches and organizations
that support us. They paid for tons of propane that we went
through,” Showers says. “It was beautiful how many peo-
ple were just out there, ready and willing. We need another
chance.”
A traffic advisory issued by EPD Public Information
Director Melinda McLaughlin says quality-of-life crimes
and calls for police service have increased around Whoville.
Calls about traffic hazards and crashes near the site have in-
creased and nearby businesses have also reported a decrease
in business and an increase in anti-social behavior.
“It gets a little sketchy and hairy sometimes,” says Baird,
who has been at Whoville since September. “But for the
most part it’s a good place. There’s good people there.”
The Egan Warming Center was open for two nights fol-
lowing the closure of Whoville.
“You got all these people that are back on the streets,”
Baird says. “So what was that one night or two nights worth,
ultimately? Nothing.”
City of Eugene Community Relations Director Jan
Bohman says the city sent 60 staff members from Eugene
Police Department, Public Works, Facilities, Operations and
other departments to clear Whoville because advocates told
them 50 people were camping there.
“Staff estimates there were actually approximately 19
people on the site at 9 am this [Friday] morning,” Bohman
writes.
Whoville camper Megan Ludwig says she was told she
would be able to leave to store some of her belongings, then
return to gather the rest.
“When I came back, there were two bulldozers,” Ludwig
says. “They were all gone — all my friends, all the people.
The cops that I had talked to were gone.”
Ludwig says she was left without clothes, a blanket or a
tent. “They told us it’s at the police impound and we can go
pick it up eventually. But if you go look at Whoville, there’s
Dumpsters full of tarps and bikes. Tell me they put every-
thing in storage — bullshit.”
Ludwig’s boyfriend was one of three arrested Friday at
Whoville. He was released from jail on Monday.
“For three days I’ve been alone,” Ludwig says. “They
didn’t just take my shit. They took my boyfriend and my
sense of security, you know. I’ve been alone out there.”
Community Alliance of Lane County Community Orga-
nizer Michael Carrigan says the city wasted a tremendous
amount of money shutting down Whoville. “Money that
could have been spent building a safe place for people to be,
instead of tearing one down,” he says. — Missy Corr