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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (June 9, 2016)
B Y A L E X V. C I P O L L E • Vaxxed: From Cover Up To Catastrophe will be playing at the David Minor Theater starting June 10. According to the movie’s description, “Vaxxed is an investigation into how the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), the government agency charged with protecting the health of American citizens, concealed and destroyed data in their 2004 study that showed a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. This alarming deception has contributed to the skyrocketing increase of autism, potentially the most catastrophic epidemic of our lifetime.” Michael O’Sullivan of The Washington Post writes of the movie: “Vaxxed never mentions that the movie’s director and main on-camera ‘expert,’ Andrew Wakefield, is a former gastroenterologist and researcher whose license to practice medicine in Britain was taken away in 2010. Neither does it say that the original 1998 study (of a mere 12 patients) suggesting a link between the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and autism was later retracted by the journal that published it, which went on to accuse Wakefield of scientific fraud. Or that all of the study’s authors, save Wakefield, have subsequently disavowed its findings.” Go to davidminortheater. com for prices and showtimes. • Don’t freak out! It’s a drill! You might see people in uniforms running around June 7-10. “Emergency Operations and Coordination Centers at all levels of government and the private sector in Washington, Oregon and Idaho will activate as part of ‘Cascadia Rising,’ a national level exercise that will simulate a 9.0 Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake and tsunami along the Washington and Oregon coast. Thousands of people, including military personnel, will participate to test a joint response to one of the most complex disaster scenarios facing the Pacific Northwest.” • The downtown Eugene Public Library is looking for teenage volunteers to work on its Teen Team on Tuesdays, June 28 through Aug. 16. Participants will “help staff prepare items for check out, set up crafts projects for younger kids, create displays, clean and organize books and more.” For more information, call 541-682- 8316. • There will be a 350 Eugene Summer Meet- up from 7 to 9 pm on Wednesday, June 15, at the First United Methodist Church, 1376 Olive Street. It will include a recap of the Break Free Anacortes civil disobedience action against fossil fuels, oil refineries and transportation by rail and ship and planning for a July 6 event to educate the public about the dangers of oil trains now rolling through Eugene, 350 member Betzi Hitz tells EW. • Young activists can get their start at the Next Generation Climate Justice Action Camp, a week-long overnight summer camp for up-and- coming community organizers interested in environmental and social justice issues. The camp is July 12-19, and youth ages 14 through 18 are invited to attend. The camp will be at Camp Apserkaha, a Jackson County campground about 25 miles east of Ashland. Youth registration for the camp is open and can be found on the Civil Liberties Defense Center website. The cost of camp is $150 for the entire week, including meals. Full and partial scholarships available, and free vanpool transportation from Portland, Eugene, Jackson County and Humboldt County. Interested teens and parents are encouraged can email camp@ cldc.org or call 541-687-9180. 8 June 9, 2016 • eugeneweekly.com YOU CAN’T FIGHT CITY HALL The City Council has yet to approve a budget for City Hall, yet the project continues to lurch forward C ouncilors George Brown, Greg Evans and Chris Pryor Brown sought answers about the City Hall process and sta- do not recall the Eugene City Council ever voting to tus and, on May 27, emailed City Hall Project Manager Mi- move into the “construction documents and bid the chael Penwell — cc-ing the council, city manager and mayor project” phase for a new City Hall. — with six questions regarding the project’s budgeting and Yet buried in a June 1 Register-Guard article phasing. “Lane County eyes bigger chunk of Eugene’s City Hall block Brown says Penwell has yet to respond, but on June 2 May- for new courthouse” was a comment from city spokeswoman or Kitty Piercy responded to answer one of Brown’s questions Jan Bohman: The City Hall “project team is currently work- to Penwell, writing that the council had approved a series of ing with the direction we received from (the City) Council on motions April 27. April 27, which is to complete construction documents and “Those motions gave the final direction that staff and the bid the project so that we have firm costs to present for their architects needed to complete the documents for the bidding consideration in July.” process,” Piercy writes. “Staff explained during that work ses- Brown wonders how the City Hall project could move to sion that based on the final direction, bid documents would this middle phase when be finalized and sent out; the City Council has yet bids would be received to approve designs or ap- and reviewed by the gen- prove a budget, one that eral contractor; and the has ballooned from $15 general contractor would million to potentially $25 provide the city with a million or higher. not-to-exceed construc- “The project is still not tion price.” transparent,” Brown says She continues: “Staff of City Hall. The city then would bring to manager is “doing this council that proposed exactly backwards.” construction price so — GEORGE BROWN, EUGENE CITY COUNCIL Pryor tells EW that that council could decide he sees no problem with whether to approve mov- moving forward to the ing forward with con- next phase. struction.” “There was no specific motion to direct the city manager to The mayor tells EW she is in Beijing and unavailable for prepare bids,” he says. “I didn’t think we needed one. I don’t further comment. know how we would expect to get accurate cost estimates On June 5, Brown responded to the mayor via email: without doing bid documents.” “Staff and city manager are putting the cart (soliciting bids) The remaining councilors did not respond to a request for before the horse (setting a project budget and identifying fund- comment on whether they recall voting to move City Hall to ing sources),” he wrote. “The budget and funding should be the next phase. approved by council first; then the architects, construction Confused? Let’s back up. manager and subcontractors all know where they stand and The City Council is technically the boss of City Manager how to make the bids fit into the monies available. Otherwise, Jon Ruiz (not an elected official), who oversees all city staff. council will have to tailor the budget to the total of subcontrac- The city manager takes direction from the City Council, not tor’s apparent low bids approved by the construction manager/ vice versa, and communicates that direction to staff. When it general contractor.” comes to City Hall, however, it’s become unclear who is di- As for an April 27 motion to move the City Hall project to recting whom. the “construction documents” phase, Brown says, “I’m sure Secondly, a capital project like City Hall typically has five that no one ever made a motion like that.” phases. Boiled down they look like this: 1) initial design; 2) re- Councilor Evans seconds that notion. fined design; 3) the “construction documents” phase, or when “My recollection of that meeting is the same as Councilor the architects create detailed requirements for construction, Brown’s,” Evans writes to EW. “My understanding was that which are used to secure bids and permits; 4) bidding and ne- the council would receive a ‘report’ on the revised costs es- gotiation; 5) construction. timates for the [city hall] project. I am certainly not ready to “That’s pretty standard,” confirms Matt Tinder, American move the project forward without more information and a full Institute of Architects spokesman. vetting of our options.” On April 27 — the work session to which Bohman refers Brown tells EW he believes that the project is still in the — the City Council voted on four areas relating to City Hall, design development phase. including rejecting private offices for councilors and voting to “You don’t tell a contractor to get bids when you don’t even forego building to the highest seismic standard. The council know what the budget is or where the money is going to come also approved building City Hall to LEED Gold energy stan- from,” he says. “We obviously have to approve a budget be- dards and gave the nod to certain “civic quality” standards, fore bidding and construction.” like using salvaged materials from the old City Hall. The city staff will present on City Hall to the council July “Those are potential elements of the project that we voted 11. on,” Brown says. “Nothing ever said ‘proceed to construction To see all of Councilor Brown’s questions to Project Manager Penwell, see the story’s documents phase without finalizing the budget.’” extended online version at eugeneweekly.com. ‘The project is still not transparent.’
