he/they have been “co-opted” (read:
forced) into their current lifestyle. Oh,
my. His ultimate (and only) solution?
Bring “Section 8” type housing into the
ritzy, uppercrust neighborhoods. For what
purpose?
To assuage the guilt that Rooke-Ley
says out-of-touch liberals should not have?
Does he seriously believe the classes will
magically mix because they’re suddenly
brought into some sort of closer proximity?
Does he seriously believe the NIMBY
giant won’t rear its head and quash any
such notion flatter than a pancake?
Here’s an idea for Rooke-Ley. How
about creating affordable housing
developments
that
don’t
require
government aid to be able to obtain? But
no, it’s more of the same tossing of crumbs
(compassionately done, of course) that
liberals love to accuse conservatives of
doing. Just keep them on the dole and
they’ll be happy and vote Democratic
when needed. That’s where liberals are out
of touch, and one reason why the disaster
called Trump has better than a dog’s chance
of prevailing in November.
Karl Stout
Eugene
VIEWPOINT
BERNER CONFESSION
I confess to being enamored of Bernie
Sanders, having “felt the Bern” since
last year. At first, I was attracted by his
Brooklyn accent: I hail from the same
neighborhood, having been born and
reared where “the tree grows.”
But then, over time, my attention
became riveted by his policies, and I felt a
surge of optimism, dreaming of a different
and more fair United States. His sense of
decency and his incorruptible personal and
political history cemented my belief in him.
I changed my long coveted “independent”
voting status to “Democrat” so that I could
cast my primary vote for him.
Now that Bernie is no longer in the
running, the choice between voting for
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump has left
me depressed and in a dilemma. Endless
criticism has been written about the deficits
of these two remaining contenders; I don’t
have to replay them. Suffice it to say that
I cannot in good conscience cast my ballot
for either Secretary Clinton or Mr. Trump.
Even as Bernie endorses Hillary Clinton, I
cannot do it.
So here I am: I have never not voted. I
cherish my right to vote. When I suggested
to a friend that I just couldn’t do it this
time, he said, “Do you love your country?”
That’s precisely the problem. I do love my
country.
Joyce Curtis
Eugene
RURAL FIRE
Many of your readers live in the county,
beyond the city limits, in the various Lane fire
districts. It seems many friends and neighbors
are not familiar with the fire restriction and
rules. The rules, evaluated annually, are
developed by the Oregon Department of
Forestry and apply in most rural areas.
There are thousands of stands of forests
in Lane County, public and private. Right
now, Lane County is on alert for "moderate"
fire danger. It is dry "out here" beyond the
city line, in spite of a little summer rain.
This year there are many changes to the
usual list of regulations and restrictions. For
instance, now any gas-powered machine
(ATVs, mowers, tractors, etc.) cannot be
used from 10 am to 8 pm because of lack of
moisture or the dew-point available during
the summer days. Users must have shovel
and water available.
And an one-hour minimum "fire watch"
is the new normal. Hand tools are making
a comeback in our neighborhood. The
"industrial forestry" activities are regulated
and have stricter standards, including fire-
fighting equipment on board such as large
tanks of water and hose, and much longer
fire watches after logging, loading or
debarking, etc. Of course, this also means
no off-roading, open fires, fireworks,
smoking, etc.
With the amount of drought-stressed
and dead trees increasing, low creek flows,
we need to conserve the ground water,
including shared aquifers of our wells
and springs during yet another droughty
summer. We need to stretch the ground
water as wisely as possible for household
uses, orchards, gardens, and potentially
fire-fighting.
Let's not drain our aquifers as we look to
the lovely, sunny days of summer to come.
Help preserve our countryside, fields and
meadows and forests by careful and informed
use. Together we can make a difference.
Check out the Oregon Department of
Forestry's website for more details.
Maureen and Harrick Hudson
Spencer Creek Valley
BY ANN KNEEL AND
Meddling with the People’s Rights
LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND INDUSTRY WANT TO KEEP THE PEOPLE AT BAY
T
he Lane County Commission is consid-
ering a proposed ordinance that would
give five elected officials a stranglehold
over the people’s local initiative power.
Let’s be clear: The initiative and
referendum power belongs to the people free from
government interference, as recognized by the
Oregon Constitution. The people’s right to circulate
petitions is core political speech protected by the First
Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The commissioners’ proposed meddling with the
people’s initiative rights is patently unconstitutional.
Why, then, has the Lane County Commission
taken a sudden interest in interfering with the people’s
law-making powers?
Because Lane County residents have secured
permission to circulate three initiatives to protect
Lane County residents’ health, safety and welfare
by banning industrial harms and recognizing our
legal authority to make these decisions in our own
community. With enough qualifying signatures, these
initiatives will appear on county ballots next year for
the people’s votes.
Two of the initiatives ban corporations from
engaging in industrial activities that harm local
residents and the environment. One bans the aerial
spraying of herbicides, and the other bans the use of
GMOs in agriculture while recognizing residents’
rights to be free from these corporate harms.
The third initiative recognizes the people’s
broader authority to write and pass local laws that
would recognize residents’ rights to health, safety
and welfare, ban industrial harms and prevent
corporations from throwing out the people’s laws. In
a failed effort to stop this initiative, a farm and forest
industry group recently lost a legal challenge in the
Lane County Circuit Court (Case No. 16CV28768)
that asked the court to find that the initiative was not
“of county concern.”
The court ruled that the question of whether
or not an initiative addresses a “matter of county
concern” cannot be decided pre-election, only post-
enactment. This same rule applies to the Lane County
Commission.
But did the commissioners take note of this? No.
Undeterred, the County Commission has directed
County Counsel, paid by the taxpayers, to revise a
proposed ordinance submitted to the commissioners
by a forest industry executive.
Jay Bozievich continues to profess concerns about
county funds wasted to advance initiatives that are not
“of county concern.” This is a transparent pandering to
a rational concern of voters about fiscal responsibility.
The additional cost of adding an initiative to an
existing ballot cycle is marginal. But adding another
level of legal review — an appeal that initiative
proponents could file to challenge a commission’s
decision about whether an initiative is “of county
concern” — could be costly to taxpayers. Either way,
the value of the people’s constitutional rights at stake
— recognized and protected by the Oregon and U.S.
constitutions — is far greater than any false promise
of cost-savings.
In addition, Bozievich’s concern about initiatives
he believes are not “of county concern” or “clearly”
unconstitutional ignores Oregon’s established history
of challenging existing laws. Oregon has passed
legislation legalizing death with dignity, which is
illegal at the federal level. Oregon has legalized
medical marijuana, which is illegal at the federal level.
Oregon denied marriage equality to residents, which
has since been found to have been unconstitutional.
As Oregon voters, we may or may not agree with
each of these laws, but we cannot deny that they are
the seeds of social change and government reform.
And this is the beauty, power and obligation of our
country’s core democratic ideals.
Therefore, take note, when We the People of Lane
County claim our inherent authority to protect our
rights above harmful corporate practices and profits,
our own local government is willing to take aggressive
action to limit the people’s law-making rights at the
behest of corporate interests.
Behold: This is an in-your-face reminder that
corporate power and money operates at all levels of
government.
Brace yourself — We the People must be vigilant
to protect these constitutional rights from our local
government’s efforts to erode them.
Take action and support local efforts to protect
and engage our local initiative process. Check out
CommunityRightsLaneCounty.org and join the
monthly Community Rights Action meetings on the
third Monday of each month from 6 to 8 pm at the
First United Methodist Church, 1376 Olive Street.
And join me at City Club on Friday, July 29, to
discuss this pressing community issue.
Ann Kneeland is a Eugene-based attorney who has defended the initia-
tive rights of citizen groups in six Oregon counties where residents seek
to stop fossil fuel infrastructure development, GMO agriculture and the
aerial spraying of herbicides/pesticides, and recognize their right to lo-
cal community self-government. She is a member of Community Rights
Lane County.
eugeneweekly.com • July 21, 2016
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