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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (July 20, 2017)
LET TERS Perhaps he would have the left-lean- ing, latte-drinking, NPR-listening elites boycott the OSF until it agrees to section off some seats for homeless people of color, with a nice Chardonnay waiting for them at intermission. Money thus saved could be used to fund more locally ap- propriate entertainments such as monster truck rallies and country music concerts for the indigent. Better yet, we neoliberals in Ashland, Eugene and Corvallis could vote against our own interests, as so many of those liv- ing in Rumpistan have already done. We should certainly not tolerate progressive enclaves to persist in “Walden’s Wonder- land.” Unfortunately, Levin himself is silent on solutions for the unfolding tragedy at OSF. He infers that the wealthy white glit- terati should feel ashamed for even visit- ing a place like Ashland. What would he propose for us po’ folk who cannot afford $108 seats at the Elizabethan Theatre? I suggest that rather than eating at Denny’s, he could cleanse his (and all of our) sins by attending a screening of “Fate of the Furious” at Gateway Mall. Until then, I decline to accept any guilt for supporting quality theatre at OSF. Jeff Freeman Corvallis ON THE POLE ON SALE 7/21! Hult Center November 26 at 7:30PM For tickets and more information visit hultcenter.org mannheimsteamroller.com 6 July 20, 2017 • eugeneweekly.com In the Slant section of Eugene Week- ly’s pre-Oregon Country Fair issue (July 6), you wrote that “as the dust settles, we hope we will hear about efforts OCF makes to work with the native community to restore trust and build new bridges.” In response to your request, here is an example: During the Saturday Standing Rock Indigenous Unity Panel, the owner of the Ritz Sauna and Showers was invited to speak at the end of the panel, which he did. Panel members were also invited to visit the Ritz and many accepted the in- vitation. Creating awareness and a deeper level of understanding requires the willingness of all involved to actively listen to all voices. Throughout the Fair the Ritz provided a public space for anyone to come and ei- ther write down her comments, concerns and ideas for the future or the opportunity to share her thoughts with a Ritz crew member directly. Speaking for myself as a 30-plus year Ritz crew member, I do not think of the Story Pole as a “debacle.” It is a piece of art that evokes different reactions from each person. One of the functions of art is to be a catalyst for conversations, and the Story Pole has succeeded in doing just that. Alice C. Wheeler Eugene Brown, one of the most intelligent and conscientious of councilors, complained bitterly that he could not control the city manager. Yet in the public record he joined the rest of the council in giving a unani- mous favorable evaluation of the city man- ager in his employment review. I have reviewed information on city- accountability.org and it seems to me the evidence of fault is pretty thin. There is no smoking gun. I discovered the city of Portland has no city manager. It has a city council that manages the city, and city au- ditor replaces the function of city manager. Thus comparison between Eugene and Portland is apples and oranges. It is a bit too clever for the proponents of change to omit this fact. The city of Eugene has an outstanding city management. It is better to improve what you know than to replace it with what you don’t know. Please be careful of what you ask for. John C Helmer Eugene PAY UP OR DIE There are only three ways to provide health care: socialized healthcare, a free- market insurance-based system or a highly regulated hybrid of the two. No one has ever had a successful free market system because the insurance in- dustry doesn’t make money by providing healthcare. They make money by with- holding healthcare. They are motivated by profits and if people can’t pay or have a medical condition that will cost them money, they will drop them and simply let them die. Most societies have compassion for their poor and sick and provide universal coverage. They will either have a single- payer system or they will force the insur- ance companies to care for them with sub- sidies and regulation. In an insurance-based system, the young and healthy must be coerced in some way to pay for those who are sick and old. Socialized medicine is always cheaper because it eliminates the profit motive and the care is often better because the caregiv- ers are generally motivated by compassion rather than greed. About 90 percent of the people in Medi- care and other government run health sys- tems like their care, and only about 3 per- cent is spent on administration. The rest of the cost goes for care. In an unregulated insurance system, profits and administration eat up 30 to 40 percent of costs. Any good regulated sys- tem would look a lot like the ACA, which has mandates, limits profits and adminis- tration to 20 percent, and prohibits drop- ping people with pre-existing conditions. Jesus recommends compassion over greed. Jerry Brule Eugene APPLES AND AUDITORS Since at least 2002, Eugene govern- ment has been under attack by Bonny Bettman and associates in an effort to re- place Eugene’s council-manager form of government with an alternative that cir- cumvents the city manager. In recorded council meetings, George LETTERS POLICY: We welcome letters on all topics and will print as many as space allows, with priority given to timely local issues. Please limit length to 200 words and include your address and phone number for our files. Email to letters@eugeneweekly.com, fax to 484-4044 or mail to 1251 Lincoln, Eugene 97401.
