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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (June 28, 2018)
NEWS B Y H E N RY H O U S TO N ICE AGREEMENT WITH SPRINGFIELD MELTS AWAY City Council cancels contract to house detainees in municipal jail heering and clapping exploded inside Springfield’s City Hall the evening of Monday, June 25. It was applause because, after more than 90 minutes of emotional discussion from the public, Springfield City Council voted unanimously to end a contract with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement to house federal immigration detainees at the city’s jail. The council’s decision ended an agreement the city has had with ICE since 2012. And the decision may bring some small reassurance to immigrant community members who have been facing increased scrutiny of their status under the Trump Administration. Mayor Christine Lundberg had earlier said the council would consider allowing Springfield Municipal Jail to only temporarily hold detainees with current criminal charges or criminal history. On Tuesday, June 26, ICE was notified that the Spring- field Municipal Jail would no longer provide temporary confinement of detainees, according to Niel Laudati, the city’s legislative and public affairs manager. ICE spokeswoman Carissa Cutrell says the agency doesn't have a facility in Oregon that would replace the Springfield Jail, which served as a waypoint when transfer- ring detainees to a detention center in Tacoma, Washington. ICE, she said, must now dedicate more resources for trans- portation, “which steers resources away from apprehending at-large criminal aliens, negatively impacting public safety.” The decision came as a surprise for Johanis Tadeo, an organizer with Springfield Alliance for Equality and Re- spect, a program by Community Alliance of Lane County. He thought the City Council’s vote would be split, which would force Lundberg to break a tie. But, he adds, when he heard each councilor unravel their support to end the C LANE COUNTY AREA SPRAY INFORMATION • Seneca Jones Timber Company, 541-689- 1011, plans to hire Oregon Forest Manage- ment Services Inc., 541-520-5941, to spray 88.0 acres near Crow Road with imazapyr and Spray Indicator. See ODF notification 2018- 781-08130, call Brian Peterson at 541-935- 2283 with questions. contract with ICE, he was in tears. “If we can find an arrangement that the community can feel safe by calling [the police] and having them come for what we’re calling them for, then we can have a step forward,” Tadeo says. “Hopefully they keep their word in wanting to reach out to us.” Councilor Sean VanGordon initially supported the con- tract with ICE. He says he thought last week that the City Council would go through with the decision and let things calm down. However, he says, he realized that issues re- lated to immigration wouldn’t calm down. This past week- end he began to change his mind about the ICE agreement because he wants to make sure all people of the Springfield community feel comfortable calling the police. Councilor Joe Pishioneri, a former Lane County sheriff’s deputy with a degree in criminal justice, voted to end the agreement but added a statement of dissent. He says his duty is to protect the Springfield community and that he would support an agreement with ICE only if it targeted those ar- rested or convicted of a felony crime or Class A misdemeanor. The crowd heckled him after his statement, prompting Lundberg to issue a warning to the audience. Many Springfield residents at the June 25 City Council meeting expressed their fear of living in Springfield with ICE’s presence. “You cannot trust an entity whose sole mission is to de- port and detain and mutilate and do so much damage to families and communities in a really targeted way,” Mari- ana (whose last name is withheld due to her immigration status) said during the public comment period. “If you look at the faces of who’s in those cells, they don’t look like you. They look like me. I’m still undocumented. I still live in fear. I don’t feel safe being in Springfield.” • FIA Timber Partners, LP and New Growth, c/o FIA, c/o Mason Bruce & Girard, 541-973- 1951, plans to hire Western Helicopter Servic- es Inc., 503-539-9469, to aerially spray 633.9 acres in many areas including locations near Sweet Creek, North Fork Smith River, Fiddle and Indian Creeks and the Siuslaw River with glyphosate, imazapyr, metsulfuron methyl, sulfometuron methyl, aminopyralid and/or MSO Concentrate. See ODF notifications 2018- She isn’t the only person in the city who had fears from the agreement with ICE. Before the Monday meeting, Tad- eo invited EW and Councilor Leonard Stoehr on a tour of Springfield to talk with Latino community members. One undocumented immigrant, who also withheld his name for his safety, says nobody feels calm about having ICE in Springfield. There’s a fear that they can grab you when you’re going to work, he says. He adds that last year he and his family were so fearful about leaving their house that they couldn’t go to the grocery store for 10 days. Local Latino businesses, including Erica’s Meat Mar- ket, say that their clientele has decreased over the past year. Springfield Police Chief Rick Lewis tells EW the de- partment has hired a Spanish-speaking outreach coordina- tor, Chris Solares, who will work with the city’s residents, including Latino community members, to ensure they can have a positive relationship with the police department. Lewis adds that whenever he’s out in the community he tells people that ICE isn’t involved at all when police respond to calls. Springfield City Council considered making a signifi- cant change that would limit holding undocumented im- migrants for crimes such as aggravated federal felonies, federal felonies, state felonies and specific misdemeanors such as DUIIs, stalking and third-degree misdemeanors like domestic violence. According to documents obtained by EW, Springfield Municipal Jail has charged ICE $80 per bed. The city’s jail had billed ICE for using 117 beds for detainees at a total of $8,720 for 2017. Although Springfield will end the contract, Lewis confirmed that the police department would still have to distribute names of detained inmates to all federal agencies, including ICE. 781-08361 and 2018-781-08364, call Quincy Coons at 541-997-8713 with questions. • East Beers Cremo, 541-268-4422, plans to spray 245.3 acres near Indian Creek with Garlon 4 Ultra and Forest Crop Oil. See ODF no- tification 2018-781-08374, call Quincy Coons at 541-997-8713 with questions. • Oregon Trail Council, 541-284-4390, plans to spray 60.7 acres near Jordan Creek with glyphosate, Rotary 2 SL, Opensight, Oust Extra and/or Syl-Tac. See ODF notification 2018-781-08650, call Brian Peterson at 541- 935-2283 with questions. Compiled by Gary Hale, Beyond Toxics, beyondtoxics.org. Announcing the First Annual An all ages benefit for: A Family for Every Child “Adopting a child won’t change the world: but for that child, the world will change.” OVER 21 - July 28 UNDER 21 - July 29 Join us for a full throttle Rally of plastic & power slides, while cruising on our Big Wheels! Includes a ticket for Raffle prizes! A Eugene Sunday Streets Event Join us for Big Wheel races after the EUG Parade! Includes a ticket for Raffle prizes! 5:00 pm on Saturday, July 28 Starts at the Downtown Athletic Club, then we cruise downtown Eugene! BYOBW No Big Wheel? No Problem! Join us as Pit Crew! 12:00 Noon on Sunday, July 29 Downtown Eugene, Lincoln & Broadway No Big Wheel? No problem, we will have a couple of Big Wheels available. Register at www.eugbwr.com Sponsored by: Rally Pit Stops: Downtown Athletic Club, Starlight Lounge, Whirled Pies, The Drake, First National Taphouse, CowFish, Sizzle Pie HEAR YE, HEAR YE !! LEGAL NOTICES place your legal notices in the Eugene Weekly FAST, EFFICIENT SERVICE call: 541.484.0519 email: offi ce@eugeneweekly.com fax: 541.484.4044 Eugene Weekly qualifi es for posting legal ads 89 th SEASON! The Very Little Theatre presents in STAGE LEFT: A new folk-rock musical based on Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream Written & Directed by Scott Frazier-Maskiell July 6-8, 12-15 7:30 pm curtain time; 2 pm Sunday matinees Tix: $12 General Admission Box office open 2:00-6:00 pm Wed.-Sat., 2350 Hilyard St. Tix on-line at TheVLT.com 541-344-7751 eugeneweekly.com • June 28, 2018 9
