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Viewpoint:
Power Grab: Chamber tries to shape the future of Eugene politics.
Living Out: Homo for the Holidays: What did
we do to deserve this?
Letters:
EW readers sound off.
Power
Grab
Chamber
tries to shape the future of Eugene politics.
In the art of politics, the ancient wisdom is that
if you're trying to hold or seize power, it's best to make it look
like someone else is actually the usurper. You then ride in
on the horse in shining armor, claiming to save la civitas from the
narrowly self-interested ones.
The Eugene Chamber of Commerce, Eugene's hidden (and
not so hidden) power structure, is well practiced in the art. Perhaps
the most clever example of our local Machiavellians at work is the
Chamber's current effort to push through a radical restructuring of
Eugene's City Council ward system, one that would maximize conservative
and Republican voting power in Eugene while marginalizing Eugene's
more populous Democratic and liberal voters.
Every 10 years the boundaries of local, state, and federal elective
office districts are redrawn using new census data. The point is to
adjust district boundaries so that they have essentially the same
number of residents, thus accounting for population shifts and ensuring
equal representation.
The Chamber jumped the gate last May when they presented
a redistricting map to the city that involved a radical redrawing
of wards 1-4, covering south, central, and east Eugene. Not surprisingly,
these wards are represented by councilors David Kelly, Betty Taylor,
Bonny Bettman, and Gary Rayor, who have all been political targets
at one time or another of the Gang of 9 or Chamber.
The Chamber's map morphed into "Indigo D," one of
two finalists slated for a council vote at 8 pm Monday, Nov. 26. Indigo
nicely accomplishes two objectives: it eliminates sections of wards
3 (Bettman) and 4 (Kelly) that currently extend north of the Willamette
river, thus minimizing the possibility of future "swing" wards that
would be competitive for both liberals or moderate-conservative candidates.
And, according to some observers, by segregating many of Eugene's
heavily Democratic precincts into three wards the Chamber's aim is
to tilt the other five wards toward a Republican or moderate-conservative
bias.
As a bonus, Indigo wreaks havoc on the current political
representation of wards 1-4, throwing Bettman out of her ward while
shifting thousands of south and central Eugene residents who voted
for Kelly, Rayor or Taylor into new wards with a different councilor
as their representative.
In the last round of council elections, Chamber-backed
candidates lost to both Kelly and Bettman, even while outspending
them 2-to-1. The motto here seems to be "if you can't buy a City Council
ward, redistrict it." In traditional parlance, it's a blatant power
grab.
But there's another agenda hiding in the wings. If the Chamber
doesn't win a council vote for it's Indigo plan, it will use the occasion
to denounce the council majority as "blatantly political," simply
trying to "protect incumbents" and the like -- as a launch-pad
for a Gang of 9 sponsored charter amendment to completely change Eugene's
ward-based council system to a citywide election system.
Under the Gang/Chamber plan, councilors would no longer
be elected in eight wards, but would have to run and be elected citywide,
giving the obvious advantage to candidates with lots of money who
can then buy the media of choice in citywide elections: TV and radio.
The new motto will be: "if you can't redistrict it, buy the whole
damn council, wholesale."
Needless to say, the literature on citywide elections
shows that candidates who are low or moderate-income, represent racial
or ethnic minorities, or come out of neighborhood, labor or similar
grassroots organizations are at a disadvantage. That's precisely the
objective.
The other map finalist, "Violet A," is a moderate
shift to accommodate population growth. It maintains continuity with
current council wards, while a far larger number of Eugene residents
would remain in wards with their current councilor and sitting councilors
would continue to represent wards they live in.
Not surprisingly, council Republicans Farr, Pape,
and Mayor Torrey support Indigo D, joined by Nancy Nathanson, a Democrat
who usually votes with council conservatives on citywide policy issues.
Councilors Kelly, Rayor, Taylor and Bettman have indicated support
for Violet. Scott Meisner, who told me he has yet to make up his mind,
could be a key swing vote in a decision that will shape not only city
politics, but also the electoral stepping stones for higher office,
for decades.
Greg McLauchlan, a UO sociology professor, writes
about social justice and urban livability issues.
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Homo
for the Holidays
What
did we do to deserve this?
"I'm staying home this year with my lover."
"My God, Sara, must you use such obscene language?
Your father's on the extension for chrissake!"
"I'm just saying that Angie and I want to be together
this year."
"You're always together. Would it kill you to pry
yourself away from your friend long enough to let your poor mother
have a look at you?"
"She's more than a friend, Mom, you know that. We're
life partners. When we finish school we're going to start a family
of our own."
"Your father and I worked hard all our lives so you
could have an education at that fancy schmancy college. You can't
do this one little thing for us?"
"I appreciate all you've done, Mom. But Angie and
I have our own home now. I want to stay here with the woman I love."
"Oy, Morris, did you hear? Again with the language?
She's trying to kill me. Listen, Sara-leh, everyone's expecting you.
Grandma Ida's coming in all the way from Miami. I put fresh linens
on your day bed. I even took Martina to the groomer's for you."
"Aw, thanks. How's my old girl doing?"
"Don't ask! With that walker, who thought she'd ever
meet anyone? But, there's a nice man in the condo next door. Single.
A widower 10 years already. A big shot from the appliance business.
He brought over fresh-baked bran muffins. Is that a sign or is that
a sign?"
"No, Mommie, I meant Martina. Have you been taking
her to the park? The vet said she needs a walk every day."
"That nice young man down the street takes her. He
already has two poodles of his own, so one more is no problem, he
says. Why such a handsome boy would still be a bachelor I'll never
know. Both of them, so good looking. It's a shame. But what is it
my business if they want to dig in the dirt like beggars, planting
flowers when they could be out meeting nice girls? Go figure."
"Mother, get a clue. Steve and Adam have been together
15 years. They're lovers."
"Oy, Morris, again with the language. What did we
do to deserve this? Are we such terrible parents? Where did we go
wrong?"
"What do you mean? I turned out fine. Angie and I
love each other and we're happy together. Can't you be happy for me?
Besides, I don't feel safe flying this year."
"Safe? A coward suddenly she wants to be? Riding that
crazy motorcycle, this doesn't scare you? What are you so afraid all
of a sudden, Miss Don't-worry-about-me-camping-in-the-wilderness?
You're lucky you didn't get eaten by a bear! Millions of people are
flying home for the holidays, no problem."
"You didn't ask David to leave his wife at home."
"Davey's a different story. Your brother is married
and she's pregnant. A normal family. They'll visit her parents this
year, next year they'll bring the baby here. It's no comparison."
"Mother, Angie and I are not married because it's
illegal for us to get married."
"Already with the political statements. If I want
a lecture I'll turn on Fox. From my daughter I want only she should
visit once in a while."
"Oh, Mama. I'll see you this summer when Angie and
I come through on our way to the Music Festival. School will be out
and we'll all be more relaxed. It will be fun."
"You'll have maybe room in your knapsack to bring
a dress? And a bra?"
"Very funny. Anyway, Angie is making a turkey this
year with your recipe."
"Make sure she puts plenty of olive oil and garlic,
the way you like. And tell her to save a drumstick for you. That's
your favorite."
"Yes, Mom, I will. Thanks. Talk to you soon. Love
you both. Bye."
"We love you, too, sweetheart. Bye-bye. Morris? Are
you still on? Did you hear? She's not coming. Oy, such a relief.
Sally Sheklow has been a part of the Eugene community
since 1972 and is a member of the WYMPROV! comedy troupe. This column
marks her second anniversary of writing for EW.
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PRIORITY
FOR ROADS
Health care and education are low
on the list for tax dollars. Now we read in the Nov. 7 ( after the
election) Register-Guard that the West Eugene Parkway, pushed
by the Gang of 9 and their developer friends, will bill us for $100-plus
million to shave off two minutes of driving time. $100 million is
$100 million and it is all from us whether it is local , state or
federal taxes.
In the same R-G issue we read that Oregon tax
revenues fall fastest in the nation and unemployed men and women are
facing a declining job market. While we appear to have dollars for
roads, where are the dollars for healthcare and schools? We need jobs
that benefit people. I will try to explain this to the foxes that
play at dusk in the path of the freeway or to the Western pond turtles
or the thousands of birds that migrate to Stewart pond each year.
Developers have first priority in Eugene.
Ruth Duemler
Eugene
STUPID
NEWSPAPER
Let's break it down. EW prints
a sexually exploitative ad (10/11), angering some who respond with
anti-smut graffiti. EW responds by saying "buy a dildo." In
effect, "shut up and know your place woman!" Many more people are
angered and write in. EW responds by graphically and lovingly
describing porn films and paraphernalia, linking them to guns and
calling it "sexy." In effect, "you'd better shut up or we'll put you
in your place woman!"
Seligmann's editorial in the same issue (11/15) states
that adults understand that porn is fantasy. Is porn fantasy for women
and children compelled to make it against their will? Do men who rape
and justify it saying the victims "asked for it" understand? That
air-brushed woman is not a fantasy. She exists. She is being objectified
and sold.
Hear me now. We are angry. We are angry that women
and children are objectified, enslaved, and used as sexual toys in
porn and prostitution. We are angry that we cannot walk out our doors
without being subjected to porn. We are angry that it is nearly impossible
to raise children to view women as more than objects in this environment.
And we are angry that a paper espousing global consciousness and local
activism for the betterment of the community is so deeply stupid in
regard to the health and well-being of women and children.
Seligmann says the only way to address these issues
is by writing letters. Sorry EW, you don't get to decide how
we protest. Some will write letters. Some will engage in creative
direct actions. And many will refuse to patronize any business that
advertises in your pages.
C.R. Juntunen
Corvallis
EDITOR'S NOTE: The editorial stated
that the "image is fantasy."
POT
BELLIED BLATHER
I don't generally read EW
because so little of it is worth reading. I agree with the political
positioning of the publication. However, it takes only a few minutes
to read the worthwhile stuff. The rest heads directly to the recycle
bin (which is most likely where I got it). I take it back so others
can read it. There's so much wasted paper for so little good reading.
I'm into health, fitness, creativity and an active
lifestyle. EW caters to "pot bellied pig" style humans who
waste their time in front of the boob tube, overeat, and watch, or
view the work of creative and active people, rather than being creative
and active themselves. Oink, oink!
However, there is something going on that really sparks
my interest. Evidently EW printed an advertisement featuring,
what I would assume, a scantily clad woman, that has pissed off the
right wing. And she probably wasn't a fat pot bellied pig either!
Shame on you. Could you be so kind to send me a clear copy of the
offensive material so I can see for myself? Anything that makes the
right wingers' blood boil would tickle me pink. If it's good, maybe
I could pin it on my T-shirt and hang out in front of the Catholic
Church down the street before and after mass to get a good reaction.
Gary W. Cook
Eugene
FEMINIST
PORN
Do the readers who object to the
porn ad in the Annual Manual also object to the obviously anatomical
ad for Annie Sprinkle?
Oh, wait -- that's feminist porn, so it's OK,
right?
Jim Estes
Deadwood
PLASTIC
BODIES
The objectification of women injures
me on a very personal level, as with the millions of women in this
world who have been marginalized through institutionalized sexism.
It hurts to think of the young girls who have rape somewhere in their
unknown future like a wet blanket beating down their flame of self
worth. It stifles the individual growth of women's sense of self worth
and expression.
Media's plastic version of women's bodies are used
to sell everything from cars to diet shakes, health clubs to alcohol.
Sexist advertisements place women into a separate and lower class
than men making it OK for men to disrespect, rape and abuse women.
This hurts humanity in every respect, when half of the population
is treated as less than equal there is no hope for a sustainable healthy
culture. It is the responsibility of everyone to ensure that sexism
isn't furthered into the next generation. With their Fantasyland advertisement
(10/11), Eugene Weekly condones violence against women.
Sophie Corrigan
Eugene
END
OF FREE SPEECH
Osama bin Laden has won! Mr. Ari
Fleischer has threatened to destroy America, but is not in jail because
he speaks for the government, celebrating the denial of public access
to public airwaves for people with politically incorrect opinions,
in the person of Bill Maher, saying such remarks "should remind Americans
to watch what they say."
Such ends the basic American value, freedom
of speech, with a whimper.
Brenda J. Clarke
Eugene
LESS
REASON TO HATE
According to Bush's spurious logic,
bin Laden and his ilk despise America for its freedom. If it were
so simple, and it's not, Bin laden has won in that we are less free.
It may not seem a big deal to people who are happy to identify themselves
at every turn in the road, but we were born with the right to travel
freely in America under a presumption of innocence in complete anonymity
-- a right posterity will never know.
Without even a federal mandate, neither Greyhound
nor Amtrak will offer service to people without government issued
ID, and though individual airlines routinely lie and say federal law
requires you to supply ID, FAA Security Directive 96-05, which is
still in effect, establishes guidelines for allowing passengers without
ID to fly.
Hitch-hiking itself being illegal most places, someone
without a car or government ID is not free to travel this country
anymore, and that is a very big deal whether it directly impacts you
or not. Being less free, will they hate us less now, Mr. Bush.
Pete Raiteri
Eugene
PRETENTIOUS
LOAD
I suppose you expect to get plenty
of feedback from the article, "Unloading" (11/15) -- especially
in the wake of the Fantasyland stink. To tell you the truth, I didn't
look twice at the ad, but I did look twice at this article. It is
so obviously an example of pointless sensationalism, couched in a
pretentious, pseudo-jaded-intellectual load of bullshit that I really
couldn't believe you would pay somebody to write it.
Aside from the general insult to my intelligence,
I was amazed at the blase' parallels drawn between violence and sexuality.
To suggest a comparison between the unloading of an automatic weapon
to the unloading of a man's orgasm is to promote rape and violence
against women. There is no other way for me to look at it.
This is purely pandering. Many people have misconceptions
about EW, namely that, because it is free and ubiquitous, it
must serve and represent the community -- some people are even
surprised to know that the advertising space is some of the most expensive
in town. Well, I think this latest coup will change a lot of minds.
This article was in bad taste on so many levels that I truly hope
that EW does some serious thinking about the path it is treading.
We really don't need any more sensational media hype right now --
some actual journalism would be much more appreciated.
Marietta Bonaventure
Eugene
THEY'RE
ALL DEAD
It's high time one of the issues
of the Klamath Basin was faced head-on, P.C. be damned ("Broken Chain,"
11/1). The claim that the "Klamath tribes" have ownership of the water,
the fish and the land is emotional blackmail. Most of what was said
by the authors was probably historically correct. It is, however,
irrelevant to here and now. For whatever may have been wrongly taken
from those Native Americans when the West was settled by white man,
nothing can be done for them. They are all dead. Their
children are dead and their grandkids are dead.
Do you know what the real humiliation is to me, as
a descendent of another native tribe? The idea that any group of people
is living in this country on a reservation, or insisting they are
anything but Americans. It's a disgrace to the government, our nation
and to the Indian people as a whole. I'd like to see the descendants
of a once proud people be offended that our present Interior Department
seems to be no better at locating documents and dollars belonging
to Indian tribes than Bruce Babbitt's regime was.
I'd like to see them annoyed in unison because a
bunch of extreme environmentalists are running some of their farmer
brothers off their farmland.
What the modern Indian tribes actually seek is reparations
and they don't care who they take it from. What the article doesn't
tell you is that the Klamath tribes have been paid off in cash a couple
of times, the last in the early '70s paid each $100,000.
It's time to stop giving certain people preferential
treatment and treating them like helpless children.
Billie Nix
Medford
BRING
IT BACK
An open letter to the person who
stole my bike cart: I'm sure when you saw my battered bike cart
just sitting on my porch, you thought, "I'll bet that's never used!"
Following your thoughts further along this path, you mused, "In fact,
I bet the reason it isn't locked up is not because of her trusting
nature, but because it's up for grabs." Your logical conclusion dawned:
"In fact, I myself could use a bike cart. Yep, I'll give her a nice
surprise and take that bulky item off her hands. Won't that be a relief
when she gets back in town."
You're right, it was a surprise. Even more of a surprise
than when someone (I'm sure following a similar thought pattern) relieved
me of my front wheel just last week. I was clearly indicating I only
wanted the frame given that's the only part of the bike I locked up.
Your logic was impeccable. Only, I actually use that bike cart every
day. In fact, I really miss it.
Please surprise me again and bring it back.
Emily Sinoradzki
Eugene
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