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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 8, 2016)
BY CORINNE BOYER • Oakridge area residents against the proposed Old Hazeldell gravel quarry at TV Butte on the edge of the town will hold a rally on Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza, noon Tuesday, Dec 13, before packing into Harris Hall, where the Lane County Commissioners will be reading and discussing the proposal, rally organizers say. For the quarry proposal to move forward, the commissioners must decide to rezone the property from forestland to rock and gravel. The Coalition to Save TV Butte asserts that the blasting and crushing will put silica (volcanic glass) slivers into the air, threaten water quality, and threaten a native heritage site and wildlife, while the heavy truck traffic will conflict with a major-use mountain bike route. • Cascadia Wildlands’ 14th Annual Wonderland Auction, is 6 to 10 pm Saturday, Dec. 10. The event includes a gourmet dinner by Lane Community College’s catering, dessert from Coconut Bliss and Vanilla Jill’s, locally brewed beer from Ninkasi and others, wine from Opine Cellars, cider from WildCraft Cider Works, and live jazz by the Red Pants Trio, Cascadia Wilands says. Eugene-made Elevate Kombucha will be available on tap during the event. “Live and silent auctions will feature extraordinary getaways in all corners of Cascadia, unforgettable outdoor adventures, recreation gear, fine jewelry, wine packages and a whole lot more.” For more, go to cascwild.org. CITY OF EUGENE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION DRAFTS ‘SANCTUARY CITY’ RESOLUTION P • Lane County letter carriers and FOOD for Lane County food drive is Saturday, Dec. 10. To participate, use a plastic or reuseable bag to leave a donation of canned or packaged food by your mailbox on Dec. 10. Your letter carrier will pick it up, FOOD for Lane County says. For a list of the most-wanted foods, go to foodforlanecounty.org and click on “donate food.” On Dec. 3, 52,618 pounds were collected. The goal is 100,000 pounds. • The Sponsors’ Women’s Program will accept a gift of $4,500 from 100+ Women Who Care. The event is 5:30 pm at Bothy Cottage at the downtown campus, 767 W. 8th Avenue, Monday, Dec. 12. 100+ Women Who Care is a group of local women that selects a local nonprofit organization each quarter, and each member writes a $100 check to this charity. The gift will be accepted by Executive Director Paul Solomon, Women’s Program Director Joan Quaempts and board member Trina Kanewa. There will be refreshments and an open house and tour of Bothy Cottage. RSVP to Quaempts at quaempts@ sponsorsinc.org or 541-505-5691. CLARIFICATION/ CORRECTION In our Slant last week celebrating the Whiteaker Community Dinner we wrote about the long tables that spanned the Whiteaker Community Center cafeteria. The tables in fact spanned the Whiteaker Head Start School gymnasium. Whoops, we regret the error but still loved the event! 8 eople filled chairs, lined walls and sat on the floor for the duration of the special meeting of the city of Eugene Hu- man Rights Commission (HRC) on Monday, Dec. 5. Pro- fessors, public school teachers, community members and activists were vocal in their concerns for undocumented people in their communities, classrooms and schools. The special meeting was held in response to a large turnout at the commission’s November meeting to hear from the public and to discuss the designation of Eugene as a sanctuary city in the wake of the discriminatory language and anti-immigration fear tactics that marked President-elect Donald Trump’s bid for the White House. Around 100 people attended the November meeting and several testified in favor of a resolution and an ordinance, according to commissioner and co-chair Ken Neubeck. The sanctuary city resolution draft declares: “The city of Eu- gene be a sanctuary city that protects the civil and human rights of its residents regardless of their immigration status, national origin, race, ethnicity or religion.” Based on those criteria, city offices, resources and funds, which includes the Eugene Police Department, would be barred from providing federal agencies with a registry or maintaining a list or surveillance of city residents based on political views or social ac- tivities. December 8, 2016 • eugeneweekly.com Before roughly 40 people spoke at Monday’s meeting, Neu- beck reminded the audience that the proposal would not expand anyone’s rights or provide anyone with special rights. Immigration enforcement is carried out by the federal government and Oregon law 181A.250 forbids law enforcement from collecting or main- taining specific information related to the “political, religious or social views” of individuals, groups, businesses, corporations or other organizations unless it pertains to a criminal investigation. Furthermore, ORS 181A.82 states that no Oregon law enforce- ment agency can use moneys or resources to apprehend anyone “whose only violation of law” is being “present in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws.” Public comments ranged from condemning white supremacist beliefs that threaten the mental health and safety of minorities to a reverend speaking on behalf of protecting the unhoused. Carmen Urbina, who has long worked with the local Latino/a community, became emotional as she recalled speaking to mothers about their concerns and “beautiful white babies attacking beautiful brown babies.” Members and activists of the LGBTQ communities reiterated discrimination fears felt by non-gender-conforming persons. Sev- eral people suggested adding and including sexual orientation lan- guage to the resolution. Former HRC member Phil Carrasco organized individuals and community groups for the special meeting to aid in passage of the resolution, which had been drafted by a workgroup of HRC and community members. The resolution and the ordinance passed unanimously. Neubeck says the soonest the resolution would go before the Eugene City Council would be Dec. 12, but the earliest date for a public hear- ing on the ordinance declaring Eugene a sanctuary city would be Jan. 17, 2017. He’s confident the ordinance will be passed, but not before Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20. Several people urged attendees to write letters to the editors of Eugene publications. “Clearly the community is moved and upset with what is being stated about the deporting of undocumented im- migrants and also providing sort of a registry of Muslim residents whether they’re immigrants or not doesn’t seem to make any dif- ference,” Neubeck says. He adds: “It’s going to be very important that people continue to come out to public comment before the City Council so the City Council can see the range of depth of sentiment. They want to know who wants this; they want to see that it’s people from all over the community.” HAPPENING HISTORY BY HEATHER KLIEVER RAZING THE OLD TO RAISE THE NEW… This image is from the 1959 dedication ceremony of the current Lane County Courthouse located at 125 E. 8th Ave. Linda Revell Martin holds a copy of the dedication ceremony program with a photo of 1898 county courthouse. The 1898 courthouse replaced the wooden 1855 courthouse, which also stood at the corner of 8th and Oak. Heather Kliever is curator of education at the Lane County His- torical Society.
