Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (July 16, 2015)
LET TERS MUPTE IS MISDIRECTED I appreciate George Brown’s call [Viewpoint, July 7] for modifi cation of MUPTE to include a meaningful and signifi cant workforce housing component. But I would prefer that we end MUPTE all together. In my view, MUPTE is as unnecessary as it is misdirected. Typical of these programs, it lacks robust compliance oversight. It robs our community of needed tax revenues for the benefi t of well-heeled developers. The evidence of an out-of- control program is all around us (see the Capstone site, if you can stand the sight). Eugene doesn’t need tax giveaways to attract development. Instead, councilors need to have a little faith that the many fi ne attributes of our community are attraction enough. Tom McCall warned against Oregon becoming nothing but a hungry hussy throwing herself at every stinking smokestack that’s offered. Words of wisdom for Eugene, too. Benton Elliott Eugene CONNECTING THE DOTS OK, Americans, 74 percent of us report our health care through ObamaCare as excellent or good (Kaiser Family Foundation, May 2015). Right, since many of us couldn’t HOT AIR SOCIETY afford health insurance at all before the law passed. But another report last month from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that the law, created by and for the for- profi t health insurance and pharmaceutical industries, is so complex that people often do not choose the best plan, and therefore pay more than they should. Guess we’re supposed to keep still and be grateful for the crumbs thrown to us ... wait a minute. Thirty million citizens are still not insured. Rates are set to rise in 2016 by 20 to 40 percent. Something about the title of this law doesn’t ring true: Patient Protection? Affordable Care? I’m not surprised, but I am worried. Worried that despite numerous polls showing well over half of Americans want some version of Medicare for all, our representatives fail to develop a viable national program. Why? Same reason they don’t act to stop climate instability, the schools-to-prison pipeline, the endless wars, the unconscionable commodifi cation of the last of our beautiful planet. They work for wealthy corporate elites, not you and me. Get the feeling that our democracy is broken? Time to put our collective shoulders to the wheel and work together to take our country back. We could start by demanding what every other industrialized citizenry enjoys: health care for people, not profi t. Patty Hine Eugene NEW FIELD OF DREAMS Almost everyone who has experienced the excitement of an Ems game has so many great memories from Civic Stadium. I used to take my young son to games. He is much older now with young children of his own, but I’m sure these memories are something he would certainly want to share with them. If I knew then what I know now — all it would have taken is a dropped cigarette through the seats onto the dry weeds, or kids under the stadium playing with matches. If a fi re started below the seats, how many people would survive? I noticed the fl ames pouring out of every opening on the outside of where the top stadium seats would be — a favorite place to get out of the sun but certain death if a fi re progressed through the structure. Odds are, escape would be futile for so many souls. Will this community and its priceless memories be strong enough to willfully recreate a new and better fi eld of dreams? Eve Woodward-Shawl Eugene POLITICAL BATTLES SHIFT FROM SALEM TO THE FIELD he Oregon Legislature fi zzled to a halt as expected. Now the real fun starts. You think paid sick leave for workers and carbon emission standards will not exact a price at the ballot box in 2016? The lack of compromise and the partisan fi ghts over a transportation package and the minimum wage now spill over into the next initiative season, and it’s going to be an expensive ride. Democrats will seek more reasonable corporate taxation for schools and public services and an increase in the minimum wage. Republicans will press for more “right-to-work” initiatives to curb the bargaining power of public sector unions, riding the tide of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s presidential aspirations. The Oregon donnybrook offi cially broke out less than 48 hours after the session adjourned sine die on July 6. On July 7, House Democrat and Republican caucuses held their leadership elections for the 2016 legislative and campaign cycle. Mike McLane was re- elected as House minority leader. As part of the process, Val Hoyle announced that she was stepping down from her position as Democratic majority leader to pursue a run at secretary of state. That’s logical, because you really can’t be both a caucus leader, whose principle duty in the campaign season is fundraising, and a statewide political candidate, whose principle duty in the campaign is to win. Val made the right choice. The next day, Monica Wehby’s new website, MonicaPAC, bragged: “Rep. Val Hoyle Steps Down as House Majority Leader under Pressure from MonicaPAC.” Val had no idea MonicaPAC cared so 4 JULY 16, 2015 • EUGENEWEEKLY.COM The thoughtful column by Dan Savage in the July 9, 2015, edition points out the complexity of domestic relations law for gay and lesbian people. If you’re contemplating marriage, you need to understand the advantages and possible disadvantages of marriage, how it affects your assets, and legal issues around children and stepchildren. Lane County has many competent domestic relations attorneys. Don’t create some unintended consequences for the person you love because you can’t foresee all the legal issues you need to think through. Sue Miller Wielesek Eugene REHAB? NO, NO, NO In true lefty tradition, Molly Templeton (“Fade To Black” fi lm review, July 9) seems to blame everyone for Amy Winehouse’s tragic downfall except the person who made the bad choices that led to it. Taylor Swift is also young and “gloriously talented.” Swift has made a lot of good (great) choices within the same “celebrity culture” and “the men who run it,” all while being far more under the public microscope than Winehouse ever was. BY TON Y CORCOR A N Vote Early, Vote Often T SEE AN ATTORNEY deeply about House Democratic leadership issues. But MonicaPAC insists that through its “next generation political outreach programs” it “delivered its call to key infl uence leaders around the state.” Actually, MonicaPAC delivered its message by sending out an expensive hit piece on Val to the other 89 legislators in the 2015 session. Where did Monica get the money to hire consultants and put out hit pieces, and why is she operating these days out of Creswell? You remember Monica Wehby, right? Millionaire surgeon stalker — imagine Art Robinson on estrogen therapy. Anyway, Monica is the new darling of the Right. She has become the Oregon version of Sarah Palin, acting as a pass-through for soft campaign money from wealthy national Republican donors. The New York Times recently reported that “soft” campaign money is being raised at a record clip again, and that $12 million of the $13 million raised so far has been by the Republicans. The Times also reported that the Koch brothers have self-identifi ed an $890 million budget for 2016. That’s just one war chest! Other familiar names, like hedge fund millionaire Robert Mercer, the guy who stealthily invested a half million in Art Robinson’s fi rst campaign against Peter DeFazio, have already signed checks to national war chests. MonicaPAC is managed by Creswell Republican consultant Jacob Daniels. He used to work for Jason Conger, who unsuccessfully ran against Wehby in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate. At the time, Daniels so disdained Wehby that he said he’d vote for the Democrat (Merkley) if Wehby won the primary. Now he works for her. Time and money apparently heal all wounds. And MonicaPAC is just one example of what you’ll see in the 2016 ballot measure and election cycle. Follow the money. Then you might understand why a failed millionaire U.S. Senate candidate is spending $170,000 of someone else’s money trying recall a Democratic leader because she earned $1,800 a month as a caucus leader. By the way, Jacob Daniels also has a PAC. It’s called Public Integrity. Seriously? I applaud Val’s look at the secretary of state seat. If Diane Rosenbaum chooses to run for labor commissioner, that would leave Sen. Richard Devlin and Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian as potential Democratic candidates in that primary. And maybe Sid Leiken in the g general election. I believe women statewide would uld make Val a favorite in both the primary and the e general election. The governor’s nor’s race is harder to handicap right ght now because we don’t really ly know who the Republican an candidate will be. Bud Pierce, ierce, a Salem physician and former head of the Oregon Medical dical Association, is running. Pierce rce has not run for public offi ce before. Another announced candidate, ndidate, Allen Alley, has run un before. He ran unsuccessfully cessfully for state treasurer urer in 2008 and governor rnor in 2010. Stay ay tuned. ■ Tony Corcoran of Cottage Grove is a former state senator and recently retired state employee.
