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The
Nader Factor: Eugene seen as pivotal in presidential race.
Golden
Ray: Ray Sewell marks 50 years on planet Earth, ponders expansion.
News
Briefs: Bribery Reform | Kids
Top Cops | Vote-Swapping | Ballot Drop
Sites | The Vision Thing | ONRC
| More Help | Exploited Workers? |
Corrections/Clarifications
Happening
People: Liz Rommel, school-to-work coordinator.
Morsels:
Food news.
The Nader Factor
Eugene seen as pivotal
in presidential race.
By Alan
Pittman
 Eugene
has become ground zero in the Al Gore campaign's war to wrest votes from Ralph Nader
and win the presidency.
A front page article in the Washington Post this week described Eugene as "the
beating heart of Nader country" and reported Gore's fear that Nader voters in
this swing state could throw the close election to George Bush.
To combat the Nader threat, the Democrats have sent their big guns to Eugene. Sierra
Club Director Carl Pope, feminist Gloria Steinem, former presidential candidate Bill
Bradley and Jesse Jackson have all made speeches here in the last two weeks. They've
told big crowds that a vote for Nader is a vote for Bush and that a Bush presidency
will be a progressive disaster.
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Jesse Jackson at
UO.
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But James Johnston, political chair of the local Many Rivers chapter of the Sierra
Club, says Nader's many local supporters aren't budging in the face of the "desperate"
Gore onslaught. He says feedback he's been getting from members of his 3,000 member
group has been running five to one for Nader. "The Ralph Nader vote remains
really strong in Eugene."
Many front-line environmentalists can't forgive the Clinton-Gore administration for
signing the salvage rider. The rider suspended environmental laws and forced forest
activists into years of tree and road sits to protect ancient forests. "A lot
of us feel betrayed by Al Gore," Johnston says.
Nader supporters did successfully use the threat of lost votes to get Gore to come
out stronger for protecting old growth, Johnston says. But many feel Gore panders
to win votes and still can't be trusted. "It really comes down to an integrity
issue," he says. With Nader, "we know that what he says is what he means."
"We're not scared of George Bush," Johnston says. The worse Bush could
do is suspend environmental laws to boost logging and Gore already did that with
the salvage rider, he says. If Bush goes after the old growth, "he'll have a
war on his hands and that's a war we plan on winning," Johnston says.
Shannon Wilson, a member of the Many Rivers board, says he worries that the intense
Gore-Nader battle will split progressives. "If Gore loses, the Democrats are
going to be very, very bitter at the Nader folks. There's going to be a lot of fighting
and it will probably go on for years."
Wilson also says a Bush presidency could help rally environmentalists. While a Gore
presidency would leave activists complacent and again vulnerable to double crosses
like the salvage rider, having Bush in the White House "is going to get people
mobilized and united."
But veteran forest activist Andy Stahl says that a Bush presidency would be "much
worse" than Gore. Environmentalists will be forced to fight to retain their
gains under Bush, while with Gore there's a chance for real progress, he says. Under
Clinton-Gore, logging dropped 90 percent in Oregon and Washington, he says. With
Gore in the White House, the state has a good chance at getting more roadless areas
declared wilderness.
Stahl says pushing Gore to the left with Nader or getting 5 percent for the Green
Party to win federal funds is "irrelevant" if Bush wins. "Among seasoned
environmental activists, it's a no brainer" voting for Gore, says Stahl, pointing
to endorsements by almost all the state's leading environmentalists and environmental
groups. Choosing between Gore and Nader is "choosing between winning and losing,"
he says.
But for Native Forest Council Director Tim Hermach, a 15-year veteran of the timber
wars, the choice for Nader is equally obvious.
Nader has a record of "35 years of public honor and integrity" fighting
for what is right, says Hermach. Whereas Gore is a "moral retard" who runs
on corporate money and "panders to any community from whom he wants the votes."
In issues from the salvage rider to prisons, to the death penalty, to the drug war,
to the military, to welfare reform, to world trade, Gore has taken abhorrent positions,
Hermach says. "Gore-Lieberman is the most conservative, right-wing candidacy
we've seen on the Democratic ticket in 50 years."
Hermach says it "turns my stomach" to see how Gore supporters have kept
Nader out of the debates and attacked him as a egotistical spoiler for staying in
the race. "All of these groups have been politically compromised and morally
compromised," he says.
But Stahl says now's the time for realism and electing the best candidate that can
win. "What counts is winning, is making real change."
Hermach says the strategic voting message of the Gore supporters won't convince Nader
voters to switch to Gore. "They're basically telling them they're stupid, ignorant,
impractical, idealistic for dreaming, for striving for what is right," says
Hermach. "While their heads might hear it, their hearts reject it."
Back to Top
Golden Ray
Ray Sewell marks 50
years on
planet Earth, ponders expansion.
By Joseph
A. Lieberman
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Ray Sewell.
. |
There is likely some truth in the cliché that a man's heart can be won by
good cooking. Here, on the other hand, is a man whose good cooking comes straight
from the heart.
"Chez" Ray Sewell has evidently survived his 50th birthday party given
last Thursday evening, Oct. 26, a wild affair which found him belly dancing with
pros of the Muraja troupe on stage. A man of formidable girth, Ray reportedly out-bellied
them three to one.
A regional figure since 1972, Sewell is about to go global with talks now under way
to expand his domain exponentially. Eight new locations around the world will not
only focus on food and entertainment, as does the original Eugene Chez Ray's North
Beach Restaurant, but will also enter community building via education and broadcasting.
Most of this is still under wraps until contracts are signed, but the roots of it
spring from Sewell's many ongoing volunteer commitments.
Foremost among those locally is the annual Whiteaker Thanksgiving Dinner. In 20 years
it has grown to now serve around 3,000 homeless people. They are offered food, clothing,
haircuts, flu shots and entertainment by about 500 volunteers. Sewell calls it his
proudest accomplishment.
And it is about to get better. Word has just come in confirming backing for Sewell's
plan to establish a permanent year-round cooking school for recovering addicts in
the Whiteaker neighborhood. It will cover retailing, food processing, baking and
organic farming; and the consortium of sponsors is already committed.
Further afield, the Chautauqua Traveling Extravaganza takes Sewell and between 50
to 100 others for two weeks to a month each year into outlying rural areas of our
continent. From Alaskan villages accessible only by ferry to remote Montana farmlands,
the all-volunteer entertainment/ education show raises funds which it leaves in each
community for specific benefit projects.
The entourage includes an unfolding stage truck and the members live in Mongolian-style
yurts. No one is officially in charge, says Sewell, "and that is the beauty
of it."
Typically, they will enter a village like a circus band in full regalia. As they
begin performing music, magic and dance it is the kids who flock in, while elders
often hold back at first, uncertain of this strange breed of interlopers. By the
time they leave, bonds of humanity have been established well beyond any initial
hesitation.
A third event is the yearly Hog Farm Pig-Nick north of San Francisco. Again, Sewell
cooks for free for about 1,500 volunteers working on fund-raising projects.
All good stuff, but the question remains, "Why Ray Sewell?" The answer
lies in his background as chief cook for both The Grateful Dead and Ken Kesey and
his Band of Merry Pranksters (see Oct. 5 Eugene Weekly). Those were high-profile
gigs with lots of celebrity contacts, which serve Sewell well to this day.
Below that is his personal history which includes a dad who abandoned his family
while Sewell was still young. "It taught me not to dwell on sorrow," he
says "and how a person can climb up out of that kind of anguish. Maybe that
is why I have always been ready to help along anyone going through a real hard period
in their life. Been there, experienced that."
Sewell's "Gritz LaRitz" outdoor cafe has been a presence at the Oregon
Country Fair for 28 of its 31 years. He was also involved in its politics. At one
point, he was appalled that a few fair-goers mistook the openness of the event as
carte blanche to recklessly engage in drug use. The entire festival was being jeopardized
and county officials were considering confiscating land.
That problem was overcome, but Sewell took note that even within the anarchistic
hierarchy of alternative lifestyles, the equivalent of tribal elders are still needed
to advise and guide younger members in matters of counter-culture etiquette. "You
can't know where you're going," he cites, "if you don't know where you've
been."
"Gritz LaRitz" functions as a kind of "think tank" toward Sewell's
downtown menu. Chez Ray's concept is a version of the old traditional "gather
'round the fire pit with food, drink, stories and song," all very neighborly
in a communal sort of way. Poetry readings with jazz backgrounds echo San Francisco's
Beat Generation (source of the North Beach reference, where Sewell got his start).
Although there is some form of entertainment scheduled nightly, there is no cover
charge. As for cuisine, the dinner menu, according to Sewell, "reflects my history,
a background in French culinary arts merged with 'festival food.'"
The Merry Pranksters' influence is obvious in the place mats (pictures of the Magic
Bus "Further"), wall decor (photos of Ray with leading figures of his generation),
and the fact that Kesey and his crowd are regular performers and/or customers.
Sewell is amazed that so much is coming together in synch with his 50th birthday:
the success of Chez Ray, the global expansion, the Whiteaker cooking school. At the
same time, he recalls, "An old woman told me when I was young that my greatest
success would come after 50. I told her I didn't want to wait that long! Calmly,
she replied ... It is a process. And so it has been."
 Bribery Reform
State legislative seats are bought by wealthy special interests, according to a study
by the economic justice group Oregon Action (OA).
In 1998, 0.6 percent of contributors accounted for 67 percent of all the money donated
to campaigns, according to the study. The candidates who raised the most money won
80 percent of the time, the study found.
The display of democracy for sale has been blamed by political pundits for discouraging
voter participation. Voter turnout in November 1998 was a record low, OA found. Only
47 percent of people who could vote did so.
The end result was a Legislature that favored wealthy individual and corporate contributors
in battles over the environment, utilities, land use, taxes and healthcare, OA found.
"Our current campaign finance system keeps power in the hands of a very few
people and works for their interests," OA reports. "Our current system
works against a democracy that encourages participation and fair representation."
To address the problem, OA, the Oregon League of Women Voters, American Cancer Society,
Sierra Club, ACLU, four current and former Oregon Secretaries of State and a host
of other good government supporters are backing Measure 6.
The measure would provide for limited public financing of state candidates who agree
to limit spending and qualify by receiving specified numbers of $5 contributions.
The measure would also discourage independent (soft money) expenditures, increase
campaign finance disclosure and penalize candidates who break their pledges to limit
spending. The measure is modeled on successful public finance programs in Massachusetts,
Maine, Arizona and Vermont.
"Removing private money from elections would effectively break the link between
money and public policy," OA urges. "This style of reform is constitutional,
comprehensive and is a fundamental step in assuring equal access to power for all
Oregonians."
Measure 6 has some loopholes. A candidate with big money backers could still outspend
a publicly financed candidate. The measure limits public spending on a candidate
to $50,000 for a general election in a legislative race, for example. By comparison,
timber and conservative interests have pumped almost three times that amount into
Republican Jeff Miller's campaign against Democrat Vicki Walker in District 41.
Conservative Salem lobbyist John DiLorenzo has already threatened to sue against
Measure 6 for its requirements that the Legislature adequately fund the measure.
But the measure avoidsconstitutional challenges by using public financing as opposed
to bans and restrictions on political contributions that have run afoul of the courts
in the past. Campaign finance reform backers say it will be a giant leap forward.
-- AP
Kids
Top Cops
Eugene's police station bond and Lane County's jails measures on the ballot are in
trouble, according to a late summer survey.
The survey was done in August for Eugene School District 4J and found that the concept
of a property tax for Eugene fire and police stations was supported by 47 percent
of registered voters and opposed by 47 percent, with six percent undecided. A property
tax for "Lane County public safety" was opposed by 47 percent and supported
by 44 percent. A tax for the Lane County Jail had 55 percent opposed and 36 percent
in support.
Due to the timing of the poll, those surveyed were not told how much money the measures
would cost.
Eugene's proposal to fund after-school activities for kids fared better in the survey
with 54 percent supporting the measure and 40 percent opposed, 6 percent undecided.
The scientific survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percent.
A possible 4J tax for building needs had 54 percent supporting, 40 percent opposed,
and six percent undecided. Although the survey showed voters support kids over cops
and jails, school district officials decided not to put a bond measure for building
needs on the ballot this election.
Some school board members said a November levy wouldn't have enough support, according
to meeting minutes. A smaller tax request now might jeopardize a larger request later,
board members said.
A recent 4J study indicates the district needs up to $200 million to replace aged
schools. The 4J survey found that 51 percent of voters would support a stop-gap tax
that would raise about $13 million for immediate building needs. Support for a larger,
$60 million measure dropped to 26 percent.
If 4J doesn't find money to maintain or replace its deteriorating schools, the district
may have to increase class sizes or make other instructional cuts to pay for capital
needs, district officials have warned.
The survey showed strong support for 4J. Nearly 70 percent of respondents rated the
quality of education provided by the district as "good" or "excellent."
-- AP
Vote-Swapping
Ralph Nader fans paranoid about a G.W. Bush victory Nov. 7 are trying to have it
both ways in an Internet vote-swapping strategy that has apparently been judged illegal
by California Secretary of State Bill Jones. As of this writing, neither the Oregon's
attorney general nor the U.S. Department of Justice had ruled against the practice.
Here's the theory behind vote swapping: A Nader backer in a state where Gore might
lose to Bush (such as Oregon) can promise to vote for Gore if a voter in a staunchly
pro-Gore or pro-Bush state agrees to vote for Nader. Such tactical campaigning is
intended to gain electoral college votes for Gore and at the same time earn Nader
enough popular votes (5 percent) to qualify for federal campaign financing in 2004.
The Oregon Green Party, in a press release Oct. 31, says Oregon voters are particularly
vulnerable to this "fraudulent scheme" since they are already voting by
mail. Voters in other states won't cast their ballots until Nov. 7.
A message on the opening page of www.voteswap2000.com
confirms the legal issue: "We have just received word from the California secretary
of state that offering to 'broker the exchange of votes' is a violation of California
state law. Therefore we have turned our software off in order to be in compliance.
We are not lawyers. To the best of our knowledge at this point neither we nor those
people who have already used the site are in violation of any federal law."
Nader attorney Dan Meek says vote trading violates Oregon law, citing ORS 260.665
which prohibits anyone from "promising to give money, employment or other thing
in value" in exchange for inducing a person to "register or vote in any
particular manner."
One Nader backer, Ed Pliml, former editor of The Front Porch News in the Whiteaker
neighborhood, tried a vote-swap site before it shut down. "Nader and the initiatives
are the only reasons I'm voting in this election," he says. "It blows my
mind that I'm voting for Gore. I'm swapping votes with Mitchell in Indiana who will
be writing in Ralph Nader. Nader's not even on the ballot there."
Several thousand voters have reportedly used websites for vote-swapping, and others
are negotiating trades more privately with friends and family across the country.
According to the MSNBC News website, Bush is predicted to win 209 electoral votes,
Gore 175. Toss-up or swing states carry 154 electoral votes. Oregon, Washington,
California and New Mexico are considered the toss-up states in the West.
Updated information on vote swapping and related sites can be found at www.nadertrader.org
and www.votexchange.com -- TJT
Ballot
Drop Sites
Several handy ballot drop sites are set up around Eugene and can be used until 8
pm election day, Tuesday, Nov. 7. Note that some have restricted access hours. Ballots
being mailed in should be posted by Friday.
* Drive-by on Pearl Street between 7th and 8th Ave., 24 hours.
* Drive-by in parking lot behind the State of Oregon Building, 165 E. 7th Ave., right
off Pearl St,. 24 hours.
* Drive-by at the Bethel Library, Echo Hollow Plaza, 1990 Echo Hollow Rd., 24 hours.
* Lane County Elections, 135 E. 6th Ave, 24 hours. Drop slot is by the office door.
* Amazon Community Center, 2700 Hilyard St., 9 am to 6 pm Monday-Friday. Closed Saturday
and Sunday. Election day: open 9 am to 8 pm
* UO, Erb Memorial Union, east wing, lower level lobby, outside ASUO, Suite 4. 8
am to 5 pm Monday-Friday. Closed Saturday and Sunday. Election day: open 8 am to
8 pm.
First results will be posted shortly after 8 pm with updates released throughout
the evening until all ballots are counted. Results will be announced at the Lane
County Fairgrounds convention center, which is open to the public, news media and
candidates. Results will also be available online at www.co.lane.or.us
and on Metro TV, cable channel 11, local public radio KLCC and some commercial stations.
The
Vision Thing
Members of Friends of Eugene (FoE) are meeting this week to discuss the progressive
group's response to the city of Eugene's downtown planning project.
An 18-member ad hoc committee on Greater Downtown Visioning, appointed by the Eugene
City Council, has been working since April with staff and consultants to develop
a vision for greater downtown Eugene. The area in question includes not only the
downtown core but also the EWEB/Agripac riverfront area and Franklin Boulevard. Thursday,
Nov. 2, the committee plans to finalize its recommendations to the City Council.
A review of the recommendations is on the council's Nov. 15 agenda.
"A vital downtown is essential to the long-term health and livability of Eugene,"
says Rob Zako of FoE. "Friends of Eugene wants to see a vision that takes us
in the direction we want to go and that is achievable."
Citizens wanting to participate in e-mail discussions of downtown issues can send
a request to rzako@efn.org
ONRC
Backs Gore
The Oregon Natural Resources Council Action PAC this week announced its endorsement
of Al Gore for president. This endorsement by the state's leading statewide environmental
advocacy organization was based on Gore's involvement in the protection of Oregon's
Soda and Steens mountains and the more than one and a half million acres of wild
forests that are lined up to receive protection under the Clinton/Gore administration's
roadless policy.
"Gore's record speaks for itself, while a Bush presidency would be an unmitigated
environmental disaster from which our air, water, wildlife, forests, and rivers would
long bear scars," says Ken Rait of the ONRC PAC.
"I am astonished to hear some very vocal Nader supporters actually espousing
the reckless belief that four years of Bush will energize the American public on
the environment, and that Bush is thus the preferable choice between the two serious
candidates," says Rait.
"Certainly, one cannot really consider him- or herself an environmentalist and
think it is wise to compromise our environment under any circumstances," says
Rait. "Kamikaze voting is not something people concerned about the environment
should do. ... Gore is strong on the environment, Bush would be a nightmare, and
Nader is out of the picture. It may be a harsh reality for some, but it is our reality."
-- TJT
More
Help
In a follow-up to our Oct. 12 cover story on domestic violence, here are more resources
to contact for help:
* Lane County District Attorney's Office: Crime Victim and Survivor Services: 682-4523.
Advocacy, resource referral and crisis intervention. Information about the criminal
justice process. Assist victims in applying for compensation, even if they don't
report the crime.
* For information on help for pets endangered in domestic violence situations: Greenhill
Humane Society: 689-1503.
* Sexual Assault Support Services has a new address and phone number: 591 W. 19th.
New crisis line number: 343-7277.
Community Counseling Services still offers help for domestic violence survivors,
but no longer has staff trained to counsel batterers. -- AS
Exploited
Workers?
Are Oregon's farm laborers exploited? Are government regulations "impossible"
for farmers to follow and still make a decent profit? Are the agencies and organizations
that control and serve both factions working together, or at cross-purposes?
These questions, and others, are addressed in a just-released document, "Farmworkers
in Oregon," which focuses on the complex issues surrounding the working conditions
of thousands of laborers who plant, tend, and harvest the crops on Oregon's farms.
The report is the result of a two-year study recently completed by the League of
Women Voters of Oregon, in an effort to raise public awareness concerning the state'
s agricultural community.
One goal of the study was to examine the state's role in legislating and enforcing
regulations that define working conditions for laborers in Oregon's farming communities.
The 24-page report presents information on the political environment in the state
and on those who work for farm labor laws changes. It reviews current governmental
rules, the agricultural industry in general, and the numerous organizational efforts
pertaining to farmworker issues. Background on farming, past and present practices
of farm labor, and immigration laws are also discussed in some detail.
"The 'Farmworkers in Oregon' study provides us with an excellent opportunity
to unite our citizens in common objectives and to promote human rights," says
Gov. John Kitzhaber in response to the report.
More than 100 contacts and interviews with involved individuals and agencies throughout
the state were conducted. Besides farmworkers, their representatives, and farmer
employers, a myriad of federal and state agencies and community service organizations
that work with laborers and farmers were queried about the issues involved.
The interviews and conclusions from the various perspectives were assimilated by
a committee of 15 League members from across the state who undertook the study in
an effort to promote common understanding of the whole agricultural picture. The
LWVOR Education Fund, which published and distributed the study, is the educational
arm of the nonpartisan League.
The documented study was distributed last week to 1,500 League members and other
interested citizens and agencies. Copies are available for a shipping and handling
charge of $.60 each or $6 for 25 copies at the LWVOR office in Salem, call (503)
581-5722; or e-mail lwvor@open.org
Corrections/Clarifications
In the Oct. 26 story on the upcoming Sustainable Business Symposium, one of the two
photos had a wrong caption. The man in the lower photo is John Haugland, a regional
economist for the EPA. The symposium is Nov. 3-5 at UO. See
Calendar.
Back to Top
 
Liz Rommel
North Eugene High School's school-to-work coordinator Liz Rommel got her
start in District 4J in 1992 as a library assistant at Howard Elementary. "Prior
to that I was an avid volunteer," she says. "When my daughter was at Awbrey
Park, I got involved in the parent group. I was chairperson for two years."
Rommel spent two years as an audio-visual textbook specialist at South Eugene before
she moved to North in 1998. "Everything I've done before has prepared me for
this job -- I love it," she says. "I'm shaping the future for students
and for the community." Rommel works one-on-one with 200 students to help them
plan careers and set goals. She contacts area businesses and agencies to locate opportunities
for job shadows, mentorships, and internships. "Kids think Liz is awesome --
she's easy to talk to," says North High junior Andy Warner, who earned school
credit and minimum wage on a six-month internship with EWEB. "I learned not
only clerical stuff, but also what's involved in powering a city. I've referred Liz
to friends."
-- Paul Neevel
Happenin' People Archives
Nominate A Happenin' Person
Morsels
* The list is out -- Northwest's Best Places, 2001 edition. Which of Eugene's fine
eating establishments made the golden list? Adam's Place, Beppe and Gianni's Trattoria,
Marché and Cafe Zenon all received three stars. Chanterelle weighed in at
two and a half stars. Cafe Navarro, Cafe Soriah, LocoMotive and Ring of Fire all
got two stars and Ambrosia and The Oregon Electric Station both earned one star.
* PC -- Market of Choice is really on the move these days. They've opened their latest
store on Franklin Boulevard to enthusiastic response. Now all PC stores are selling
Wild Fish, the first and currently only FVO "Certified Sustainable Wild Harvest"
and "Certified Organically Processed" fish in North America. Since wild
salmon isn't available year-round in Oregon, PC brings the fish down from northern
Alaska, where it is harvested out of the Bering Sea.
* Now that Fool's Paradise Teahouse has moved to Fifth and Willamette, what will
become of their former space at Fifth and Charnelton? It's rumored that a raw foods
restaurant is on the way.
* Blue Hen Cafe on Franklin has flown the coop after one year in Eugene. Any word
on who'll be nesting in their space next?
-- JS
If you'd like to chat about food in Eugene, send your morsels to
cal@eugeneweekly.com, 484-0519, ext. 26 or 1251 Lincoln, Eugene 97401.
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