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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (July 6, 2017)
LET TERS of the auditor be public at the same time to the council, the city manager and the pub- lic? And will plans developed for changes that are audited to insure follow up? Yes, the city does already have a finan- cial auditor. The assumption always is that they will uncover any embezzlement that may be there — despite the disclaimer that is always on the first page of any au- dit. This is so even with the audit of credit unions. That is why they have their own supervisory committees. What is needed is information on how that money can be better spent. What new ideas can be developed by staff to do their mission better? Portland has loved their performance auditor service for 20 years. It has saved them money and improved their service over and over. Bob Cassidy Eugene NO TO VOTER RECORDS I am writing to voice my disgust with Trump’s sham ‘Election Integrity Com- VIEWPOINT mission’ and my non-consent to its request for my voter records. Kris Kobach is a known voter-suppressor, and his request to the secretaries of state is a direct, explicit and agenda-driven violation of the central democratic principle of the secret ballot, put in place for the specific purposes of 1) preventing coercion and 2) empowering society to know the authentic and consid- ered collective will of its constituents. That principle was put in place with the assumption that society would have the self-respect to consider the authentic and well considered will of its participants. Let this message serve as a public and principled record of my non-consent to the release of any personal voting data that isn’t already publicly available. It was not enough to contact Secretary of State Den- nis Richardson, so I’m making it known here as well and hope that this letter will inspire a lot more calls and emails. Much thanks to secretaries of state in California and Connecticut for vowing non-compliance. I expect no less from Oregon. Regardless of whether the courts uphold the so-called commission’s request, immovable non-compliance will ensure Richards and his department an honorable place in history. Mark Scott Lavin Eugene STERILIZE THE BRUTES There are 7.4 billion humans living on this planet and this high number compli- cates every other difficulty. The 75 million people added yearly require food, hous- ing, education, energy, space to live and garbage dumps. This means we will need additional fertile soil, fresh water, cement, steel, glass, fossil fuels and lumber, as well as land for farming, burying trash or build- ing. A higher standard of living helps peo- ple expand their identities and find their boundaries. Homo sapiens are much more than baby factories. Access to birth control and, when desired, abortions have much value. Careful deliberation of possible de- pendents that one can take care of must be done much more deliberately. Some First World nations’ citizens have this choice while poverty and exponential growth go hand in hand in the Third World. The 1.1 percent world-growth aver- age could be tackled by putting a limit on people who create children but don’t fulfill their parental responsibilities. Those who don’t provide care, money, education, ef- fort and the sacrifice needed shouldn’t qualify as parents. Often, the procreators flee and figu- ratively or literally go somewhere else. There they repeat their pattern and burden their offspring with moms and/or dads who don’t want them. This is unavoidable, isn’t it? Vasecto- mies or tubal litigation of these careless deadbeat breeders can be done. This is not eugenics. The criteria for this treatment are not determined by ethnicity, race, gender, nationality or religion. Population growth and lack of responsi- bility are the issues this is meant to address. David Ivan Piccioni Eugene BY JAMES MANNING Money Creates Barriers BREAKING DOWN OBSTACLES TO PARTICIPATING IN OUR DEMOCRACY I know firsthand that running for political office costs money. As a candidate for House District 14 in West Eugene and Junction City, I made a lot of fundraising calls. I didn’t (and still don’t) mind raising money and I think I’m not too bad at it. Every candidate needs resources to explain to voters about why they’re running to serve and what ideas they have for fixing the biggest problems facing your community. But the need for increasing amounts of money to run seems like win- ning is more about who you know than what you hope to do for Oregon. Raising so much cash becomes a barrier for those without wealth or ac- cess to wealthy donors — particularly people of color and women — from running and winning office. We all lose when it’s harder for everyday Oregonians to get elected. We lose a diverse range of voices. We lose good ideas that never get heard, or are drowned out by the issues important to the wealthy and powerful. And we lose faith in our very democracy. I hear from so many Oregonians who feel their voices don’t matter in Salem. But they know what matters to them and their family: affordable healthcare and housing, a fairer criminal justice system and more equi- table education and job training opportunities. These are issues that too often get short shrift in our policymaking. If we want all Oregonians to have an equal chance to run for office and an equal voice in our democracy, we must give candidates a different pathway to run for office, one that doesn’t rely on wealthy donors to fund their campaigns. Fortunately, the Oregon Legislature has the opportunity to pass a bill that does just that. The Small Donor Elections bill introduced by my colleague Rep. Dan Rayfield would be a big step towards removing the financial barriers to running for office and participating in state politics. House Bill 2578 of- fers more Oregonians an avenue to engage in politics and allows candi- dates to spend less time raising money from big donors and more time talking with neighbors and voters about their biggest concerns. Passing this bill would give candidates for legislative and judicial of- fices a choice: raise money the usual way, or cap your contributions at no more than $250. If you choose the cap under the Small Donor Elections program, and show you have a wide base of grassroots support, then those 6 July 6, 2017 • eugeneweekly.com small donations are matched six to one with limited public funds. It treats everyone like a big donor, so even small donations have a big impact. This way, candidates focused on small donations can run a competitive campaign. Just imagine, instead of spending so much time talking to affluent donors, candidates can spend more time talking to ordinary constituents. And when you don’t need a handful of wealthy donors on speed dial to run for office, it reduces the barriers for people of all backgrounds to run for office. Small Donor Elections is supported by a diverse coalition of groups who are on the front lines of advancing the interests of Or- egon residents including working families, women, people of color, small businesses, and LGBTQ individuals. They understand what I know to be true: when you em- power small donors, you create a democracy that works for everyone, not just those who are used to holding the purse strings. Small Donor Elec- tions will keep Oregon as a leader in creating a strong democracy, and there is no better time to stand up and demonstrate we support this ideal. I urge my colleagues to pass this legislation swiftly. James I. Manning Jr. is the Oregon state senator for district 7, Eugene and Junc- tion City.
