letters
WHY SUBSIDIZE A PRIVATE
BASEBALL BUSINESS?
Like Rachel Bitecofer (“A New Civic
Stadium,” July 6), my family and I have
enjoyed attending Eugene Emeralds
baseball games over the years. However,
I have a hard time moving beyond feel-
good memories to the assertion that
“the city of Eugene should … build a new
stadium for the Eugene Emeralds.”
Minor league baseball teams are
businesses. At least one student of mine
who looked into the matter found that
they can be highly profi table businesses.
We are told a new stadium will serve as
a gathering place where new friendships
can be formed and we can strengthen
social bonds. Never mentioned by Bite-
cofer was an estimate of the cost of a new
stadium or an estimate of the economic
benefi ts it will bring. Also not mentioned
is that using city money to fund a new
stadium may merely serve to line the
pockets of already wealthy team owners.
Rick Mowday
Eugene
FAIRMOUNT NEIGHBORS
CLARIFIES ITS POSITION
In Eugene Weekly June 29, there was a
full-page paid advertisement titled “Re-
quest to Stop Franklin Blvd Transforma-
tion.” To some readers, the top portion
of the ad attributes opposition to the
project to be from Fairmount Neighbors,
the formally recognized neighborhood
association serving Eugene's Fairmount
neighborhood.
We are aware that there are individu-
al residents and business owners within
the Fairmount neighborhood who have
concerns about the project. However,
the neighborhood association has not
taken an offi cial position on the pro-
posed changes to Franklin Boulevard.
Thank you for the opportunity to cor-
rect any potential misinterpretations of
the advertisement’s message.
Karen Dunne
Co-chair, Fairmount Neighbors
Board of Directors
Eugene
CITY HALL ABIDES
First the good news. Eugene’s long wait
for a new City Hall may fi nally be over. The
rag-tag assortment of satellite offi ces has
found a nest. Years after our City Hall was
prematurely demolished, the subsequent
embarrassment of leaving the site an ugly
eyesore of a parking lot lingered while the
powers that be dithered over costs, design
and suitable locations, a solution was mi-
raculously discovered — purchase the old
EWEB headquarters, a proposal which was
advanced at the outset of this debacle.
Now the bad news. While the EWEB
building’s new residents will enjoy a
beautiful view of the Willamette River,
its new cousins, currently under con-
struction — the new fi ve-, seven-, 12- and
whatever-story “market rate apart-
ments” fl anking the Fifth Street district
and Ferry Street Bridge — will obliterate
the public’s view of our beautiful eastern
skyline. Don’t believe me? Drive across
the bridge and look.
In all fairness, one new building will
have four fl oors of dedicated parking —
all on top! Why not dig a hole and park
underground, thus preserving the view?
Thanks to misguided fi scal policies and
poor public planning, big holes in the
ground and gravel parking lots in the
middle of town are nothing new to Eu-
gene.
Market economics evidently trumps
Eugene’s livability and aesthetic appeal,
apparently rendering our citizens’ opin-
ions insignifi cant and bothersome. Pan-
dering to corporate interests smacks of
bureaucratic eff rontery and public dis-
respect. Eugene deserves better than
this. To quote Jeff rey Lebowski, “This
aggression will not stand, man!”
William Crutchfi eld
Eugene
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State Rep. Paul Holvey
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US Senator Ron Wyden
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LCC Board Member Lisa Fragala
Former Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy
Reverend Dan Bryant
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Justin and Audra King
Peter Sorenson
Doyle Canning
Rob Zako
Kathleen Fitzgerald, MD
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Paid for by Paul Holvey for State Representative, Committee ID: 4788
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