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News
Briefs: Fox Anarchy |
CFR Strangled | Demos Get
Roof | Get on Board!|
Nader Surprised
News:
City Turmoil: Workers blast managers.
News:
Wrestling the Gorilla: Eugene Celebration vs. UO and EPD on
parade start time.
News:
Dishonorable Conduct: No medals in this battle to help patients.
Happening
People: Jack Clark
FOX
ANARCHY
Eugene Anarchist John Zerzan was
interviewed on a national broadcast of FOX TV news last week.
The interview consisted mostly of four minutes of
the anchor on the conservative TV news station yelling at Zerzan that
he wasn't answering his questions and then yelling louder over Zerzan
whenever the anarchist tried to answer.
"We're not getting anywhere with this conversation,
so I think that's it," the FOX anchor said.
But Zerzan got in an on-air "you asshole," before
being cut off.
The Fox interview was prompted by the publication
in Green Anarchy of an essay by Unabomber Ted Kaczynski. Zerzan
is one of the editors of the Eugene-based anarchist publication.
Kaczynski was convicted seven years ago and imprisoned
for life for killing three people and injuring 23 others with mail
bombs. "You've given this murderer another forum!" the Fox anchor
yelled.
The essay in Green Anarchy is entitled "Hit
Where it Hurts" and calls on radicals to focus on the complete rejection
of technology to overthrow the system rather than trying to reform
or end globalization, sexism, racism and sweatshops. Kaczynski repeatedly
writes that he is calling only for legal, non-violent action to change
the "techno-industrial" system. "I am a prisoner, and if I were to
encourage illegal activity this article would not even be allowed
to leave the prison."
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Slant
Ç A living wage ordinance
comes before the Eugene City Council at a 5:30 to 8 pm worksession
Monday. This should be a lively discussion in packed council
chambers. The main debate will be about money, and city staff
will likely attempt to scare council members into thinking such
a proposal would be financially unwise in these uncertain times.
Let's look at the Chamber of Commerce's concerns, city staff
projections, and the data provided by the Eugene-Springfield
Solidarity Network. But let's also look at the experiences of
other cities that have implemented living wage standards. And
perhaps most importantly, let's look at what kind of city we
want to have in the future. A living wage ordinance for city
employees and contractors is a small step toward economic security
and human dignity for all our citizens — and that's got
to be good for business.
Ç Last week we reported on a joint meeting of
Lane County PR and journalism professionals where all manner
of ethical issues were tossed about, including the anarchist
idea that all mainstream media and PR people are spineless and
corrupt. There's often a kernel of truth in anarchist rantings,
as there is in ultra-conservative tirades. In the end, a good
journalist learns to sort out the useful information from the
propaganda.
Ç It's painful to see the dedicated work on
campaign finance reform go down in flames due to duplicate signatures
on the petitions. Every duplicate signature found in the sampling
brings a 400-signature penalty, which seems punitive if not
excessive. Other problem signatures do not carry nearly such
a high price. Regardless, we hope a recount or other statistical
challenge can revive this important initiative. The need for
campaign finance reform has not diminished.
Ç Meanwhile, we hear Lloyd Marbet, Dan Meek
and other progressive activists pushing campaign finance reform
might be gearing up for a signature gathering campaign to take
over Enron-owned Portland General Electric to form a new public
utility district. The trick is to buy out Enron's PGE assets
without stuffing Enron executives' pockets with millions of
ratepayers' dollars.
SLANT includes short opinion pieces and rumor-chasing
notes compiled by the EW staff. Heard any good rumors lately?
Contact Ted Taylor at 484-0519, editor@eugeneweekly.com |
The essay is followed by a critique by the Green
Anarchy editors. "Although the Green Anarchy editorial collective
whole-heartedly supports Ted Kaczynski as an anarchist political prisoner,
we had serious reservations about running this article due to Ted's
hostility towards feminism and his casual, off-hand dismissal of other
liberation struggles .... Racism, sexism, homophobia and poverty are
not 'non-essential issues' to us, as they appear to be to Ted."
The Washington Post first reported on the Green
Anarchy article. One bombing victim expressed concern that the
article would incite violence. The Post also reported that
the First Amendment could prevent prison officials from blocking Kaczynski's
prison writings. — Alan Pittman
CFR
STRANGLED
Campaign finance reform in Oregon took a
big hit last week with news that excessive duplicate signatures disqualified
the state initiative that was bound for the November ballot.
Chief petitioner Lloyd Marbet said two signature verification
samples gave the petitions a validity rate of 68.81 percent. "We needed
to have at least 78 percent," he said in a message to campaign workers.
"We lost by 10,750 signatures, which is almost the amount of signatures
that were statistically removed from our initiative with the 23 duplicate
signatures that were found."
Each duplicate signature invalidates 400 signatures
under Oregon election law.
Marbet said the ruling by the secretary of state might
be challenged in court, "but it greatly depends on Dan Meek successfully
litigating on our behalf, hopefully with the help of a good statistician."
Meek, a Portland attorney, said this week that a final
decision was still pending on whether to challenge the ruling.
In offering words of encouragement, Marbet said, "We
have all worked so hard and it is difficult to accept this as the
outcome. While there may have been many things we could have done
differently, it has been an honor to stand with those of you who gave
it your best. It is not over and it will never be over until we succeed
in righting the injustices in the election process. I would hope that
out of each of our efforts will come yet another initiative for campaign
finance reform." — Ted Taylor
DEMOS
GET ROOF
A Lane County campaign office for the Democratic
Party of Oregon opened this week in downtown Eugene at 881 Willamette
St. As of press time the office did not have a phone or fax number,
but the Eugene staff can be reached at lane@forwardoregon.org
The office is one of eight field offices opening statewide
in order to better coordinate field and outreach efforts among the
candidates running for statewide and local offices.
The Aug. 7 grand opening party scheduled appearances
by statewide candidates Ron Wyden, Bill Bradbury and Ted Kulongoski,
along with local candidates and supporters.
GET
ON BOARD!
Whether you are pissed or pleased with recent
City Council decisions, now is the time to make yourself heard to
a broader audience than your mirror, your significant other and/or
friends. The city of Eugene is accepting applications for five important
local government advisory boards and the deadline is 5 pm Sept. 25.
Applications are available online at www.ci.eugene.or.us/BOARDS/Bcc.htm
or can be picked up at City Hall, 777 Pearl Street, Room 105. All
the committees listed below have their own web sites containing supplemental
questions specific to that board and have a link to the application
form for all committees.
Ç The Budget Committee currently has four vacancies
for three-year terms. The committee reviews the city's budget, assists
in developing and monitoring multi-year service and funding plans
and acts as the city's financial oversight body. This committee is
taken quite seriously by the City Council in all budget decisions.
The committee consists of eight citizen members and all eight city
councilors.
Ç The Planning Commission currently has two vacancies
for four-year terms. The commission makes recommendations to the City
Council on adoption, revisions and updates to the Metropolitan Area
General Plan (Metro Plan). This committee has nine members —
seven citizens and two city staffers.
Ç The Human Rights Commission has five vacancies for
three-year terms. The HRC initiates programs and services within the
city designated to eliminate discrimination. The committee has 14
citizen members and one city councilor.
Ç The Police Commission has four vacancies for four-year
terms. The commission advises the City Council, chief of police and
city manager on police policy. Its goal is to increase communications
between the police and community and to facilitate a greater understanding
of preferred policing methods for the city. This committee has 12-13
members, including eight citizens.
Ç The Toxics Board has two vacancies for three-year
terms. The board makes policy governing the city hazardous material
reporting program and by charter amendment it is authorized to enforce
the reporting requirements and impose penalties. This committee has
seven members.
For more detailed information on all of these boards
visit www.ci.eugene.or.us/BOARDS/BCCDescripweb.htm
NADER
SURPRISED
Longtime corporation blaster Ralph Nader
is back in the spotlight with an interview in Time Magazine
Aug. 5 saying even he's surprised by the latest rounds of corruption
in the business world.
"Isn't it saying something that it exceeded my anticipation?"
he is quoted saying. "It is impossible to exaggerate the supermarket
of crime. It's greed on steroids. Why didn't we know about it all
sooner?" Nader says he was amazed that whistle-blowers hadn't come
forward long ago.
Regarding Congress's Corporate-Accountability Act,
Nader says the bill ducks major elements of corporate corruption such
as stock-option dispensing, corporate governance and conflicts of
interest.
Does he blame Republicans or Democrats for the corruption?
"It's equal-opportunity corruption," he says. "It's campaign cash.
And what campaign cash produces is a convergence of culpability."
CORRECTIONS/CLARIFICATIONS
A reader responding to a Viewpoint on Joey
Harrington last week notes that Harrington attended Central Catholic
High School in Portland and not David Douglas High School. Harrington's
father, John, is the principal at David Douglas.
Back to Top
City
Turmoil
Workers
blast managers.
BY
ALAN PITTMAN
Two of the city of Eugene's department managers are
under fire from city employees, raising thorny questions of discrimination,
city management and governance.
Two recent anonymous letters from city employees have
blasted city department directors. On July 18 city councilors received
an anonymous letter from a "seasoned manager" in the Library Recreation
and Cultural Services (LRCS) Department.
"The LRCS Department is a hostile work environment
fostered and modeled by the Executive Director Angel Jones," alleges
the letter, which was also sent to Eugene Weekly.
Neither Jones nor acting City Manager Jim Carlson
responded to calls requesting comment.
In a letter to councilors, Carlson expressed his "full
support, trust, and confidence" in Jones. "I have the utmost respect
for Angel and value her contribution to the organization," Carlson
wrote.
The anonymous letter to councilors contained a photocopy
of an April 11th letter sent to Carlson with a cover note, "Please
Help Us." The letter describes Jones as "demeaning, threatening, intimidating,
discourteous and abusive toward all of her employees, especially senior
managers. ... There is no happiness or pleasure working in this pervasively
fearful place. She explodes with no provocation."
The letter says Jones' treatment of staff has hurt
city services and harmed relationships with other city departments
and community organizations. "It has been humiliating to me and my
staff and is making it very difficult for me to do my job." The letter
says the problems at LRCS have been going on for years with the knowledge
of the city manager and city councilors. The anonymous manager asks
for an investigation and reassignment of Jones to "protect" city staff.
"I fully expect retaliation" for writing the letter, the manager says.
Another anonymous letter from city "employees" says
city Planing and Development Department (PDD) Manager Tom Coyle made
a "really stupid" decision to lay off the department deputy director,
Cathy Briner, in a budget cut. The letter sent to the city Budget
Committee in May praises Briner's work on the new library, federal
courthouse, train station and train service projects and says her
layoff will make it difficult for the city to accomplish future projects.
"The absolute only conclusion we can draw is that a strong, competent
woman must be considered intimidating and the only way to handle it
is to eliminate her position," the letter alleges.
The letter says "employees from every department within
the [city] organization, at every level from receptionist to exec,
felt compelled to write this letter after an enormous amount of discussion."
Coyle did not return a call asking for comment.
The PDD's previous manager, Paul Farmer, served just
over a year before leaving for another job. "We have experienced the
long-term turmoil and ramifications from short-term managers and want
to avoid repeating another situation like that," the letter says.
Widespread Turmoil
The anonymous LRCS manager isn't the only
city staffer complaining about Angel Jones. Marilyn Kalstad worked
under Jones as manager of the city's River House Outdoor Program before
she was laid off this year in a budget cut. "There's just huge fear
in the department," Kalstad says. "Nobody will talk."
Kalstad says her layoff may have been retaliation
for an earlier clash with Jones in which Kalstad questioned Jones'
management style. Kalstad says last November some staff had questioned
one of Jones' decisions and had gone to the city Human Resources and
Finance departments for help and information. In a LRCS managers meeting,
Kalstad says Jones threatened the dissenting staff with reprisals.
Kalstad says she spoke up and questioned whether managing by "fear
and intimidation" was wise. Kalstad says Jones said that she had no
trouble with using fear and intimidation to keep employees in line.
Howard Bonnett, a former chair of the city's budget
committee, agrees that Kalstad was retaliated against. "I think it
[the layoff] was done for personal reasons rather than budget reasons,"
he says. Kalstad was a "strong individual and didn't want to knuckle
under," Bonnett says.
|
"There is
no happiness or pleasure working in this pervasively fearful
place."
— Anonymous
letter
|
In a June letter to the City Council, Bonnett pointed
out that Kalstad was officially laid off before the council had even
approved the budget. The $41,000 budget cut to the outdoor program
was ostensibly directed at eliminating the adult Outdoor Program.
But Bonnett said the adult program was self-supporting through fees
and Kalstad spent most of her time working with troubled youth.
Kalstad says Jones refused to let her testify to the
budget committee to explain how cutting the adult program didn't make
sense because fees supported the program. "I've never had my voice
so thoroughly taken away."
"She [Jones] felt like she was being personally attacked,"
Kalstad says. "It was a very, very strange experience."
Kalstad says she did not write the anonymous letter
criticizing Jones. She says the anonymous manager should have signed
the letter but she understands why he/she didn't. "There's a whole
bunch of some really scared people out there right now."
Although Kalstad didn't testify to the budget committee,
at least 20 community members testified or wrote in opposition to
the budget cut at the outdoor program. Art Pope, director of Northwest
Youth Corps, Susan Walsh, director of Committed Partners for Youth,
and Susie Grimes, Mobility International administrator, testified
that eliminating Kalstad's position would hurt their work through
the Outdoor Program to help at-risk and disabled youth.
Jones told the budget committee that the program was
a low priority. "We're serving a very small population, although very
vocal," Jones said. "The cost of delivering these services is very
expensive."
PDD Deputy Director Cathy Briner also had at least
a half-dozen people testify in opposition to her layoff. U.S. District
Judge Michael Hogan wrote to urge not cutting Briner. Hogan says Briner's
"unique ability to facilitate communication" helped Eugene keep the
federal courthouse from moving to Springfield.
Former Eugene Mayor Ruth Bascom also wrote in support
of keeping Briner. Bascom praised Briner's economic development work
and efforts to support Eugene rail service and a new downtown rail
station.
Despite the testimony, budget cuts of Kalstad's and
Briner's positions were approved by the City Council on close votes.
Thorny Questions
The internal city turmoil raises thorny
issues of discrimination, city management and governance.
Jones, an African-American, is the city's highest
ranking minority manager. For years, the city has made recruiting
and retaining minority employees, especially managers, a top priority.
The last dismissal of an African-American department
head, Police Chief Leonard Cooke, sparked protests from the minority
community that contributed to the council's firing of former City
Manager Vicki Elmer.
African-American County Commiss-ioner Bobby Green
testified to his "unwavering support for Mrs. Jones" at the budget
committee hearing. Referring to criticism of Jones, Green praised
Carlson for his support of the "recruitment and retention" of qualified
staff. "Any efforts to malign your staff should not be tolerated."
Kalstad says her criticism of Jones "has nothing to
do with the color of her skin."
Green did not return a call for comment.
The issue of discrimination could also come up with
the dismissal of Kalstad and Briner. Written testimony from "A. Johnston"
notes that the two layoffs were women in their 50s with decades of
city experience, and asks that the city investigate possible discrimination.
The staff unrest also raises questions about the competence
of city management. Recent turnover at the top ranks of city government
has left the city with inexperienced managers. "The city management
is not very competent at this point," Bonnett says.
Of the city's seven senior executives, all but the
human resources director have worked in their positions for less than
three years. Two of the executives, the police chief and city manager,
are acting in the position pending a permanent hire.
Earlier this year council conservatives successfully
pushed to delay hiring of a permanent city manager until a more conservative
council is sworn in next year.
Inexperienced managers combined with a temporary city
manager has left the city without strong leadership and enabled "weird
things" to happen, says Kalstad.
Councilor David Kelly said he unsuccessfully pushed
for hiring a manager earlier. "There's inevitably some degree of being
in limbo with a temporary city manager," he said.
The council now plans to hire a manager sometime next
spring — a year and a half after former manager Jim Johnson
announced his retirement. Carlson, a former Lane Council of Governments
analyst with relatively little personnel management experience, was
appointed to his position by Mayor Jim Torrey. Carlson has not announced
whether he is a candidate for the permanent city manager position.
|
"Anonymous letters to elected
officials by staff about supervisors and managers have no place
in our work environment."
— Jim
Carlson
|
Carlson told councilors in his memo he would meet
with LRCS managers on July 22 to address the issue of the anonymous
letter. But city Human Resources Director Lauren Chouinard says the
meeting did not take place.
Kalstad says one problem with city management is the
use of the city budget process as a way to eliminate staff that department
managers don't like. "Using the budget process as a way to deal with
personnel issues is not appropriate," she says, and leads to public
confusion.
The City Council's ability to help city staff who
may be victimized by management is limited by the Eugene City Charter.
The Charter states that councilors who attempt to influence the manager
in the appointment or removal of city staff may be removed from office.
Carlson's memo to the council tells the elected officials
that they "have no role in personnel management in the city," but
in fact the charter does allow councilors to discuss "anything pertaining
to city affairs," including personnel matters with the manager in
open council session. The charter also specifies that with acting
managers such as Carlson, the manager "may appoint or dismiss a department
head only with the approval of the council." The charter also gives
the council the power to hire or fire the permanent city manager.
Council progressives have complained that the city's
strong city manager system under the charter leaves them with little
information to judge whether the manager is doing a good job running
the city. Last month, motions to refer charter amendments to voters
that would allow the council to hire an independent city auditor or
provide protections for staff whistleblowers were voted down by council
conservatives.
Carlson opposed the auditor and whistleblower proposals
and this summer told city councilors that they cannot talk directly
to city staff without his prior consent. Such actions are an apparent
reversal of previous managers' policies promoting open government.
In response to the letter concerning Jones, Carlson
launched an investigation into determining who wrote the letter. "Anonymous
letters to elected officials by staff about supervisors and managers
have no place in our work environment," Carlson wrote to the council.
But without such anonymous complaints, it's unlikely
Carlson would be in his current job. Four years ago, the City Council
fired then City Manager Vicki Elmer, based on anonymous complaints
from city staff.
Back to Top
Wrestling
the Gorilla
Eugene
Celebration vs. UO and EPD on parade start time.
BY JOSEPH A. LIEBERMAN
"I've got nothing against the Ducks but I feel
like we're being wrestled to the ground by an 800-pound gorilla."
The speaker, Steve Remington, is not out to confront animal rights
activists or sports fans, he just wants to win a little respect on
behalf of the 35,000-plus Lane County citizens who show up for or
participate in the annual Eugene Celebration parade.
Remington, President of the DEMI board and managing
director of the Eugene Celebration, was told by the UO's Associate
Athletic Director Steve McBride in May that the starting time of the
parade would be moved this year from 9 am to 8 am to accommodate the
Ducks football game against Portland State on Sept. 21. Remington
informed the university that an earlier start time would decimate
the number of attendees and participants, and asked for a reconsideration.
 |
| A
CROWD GATHERS IN DOWNTOWN EUGENE TO WATCH THE PARADE. |
In June, Sgt. Tom Mason of the Eugene Police (EPD)
traffic control division let Remington know that a final decision
had been made by the chiefs. The parade is to begin at 8. The troopers
have to cover the sports event at least 90 minutes and up to four
hours ahead of the 12:30 pm kickoff time. A 9 am parade start would
keep them occupied until 11 am with not enough time to switch over
from downtown to Autzen Stadium to direct traffic.
The university is standing firm even though there
are no longer any television "opportunities" expected for the Ducks
vs. Vikings game. In fact, McBride's May letter to Remington informed
him that all future Ducks home games would adhere to a 12:30 pm kickoff
rule, unless a TV crew asks them to alter it for the convenience of
broadcasters. It is not just the UO's decision. If they get offered
a TV bid, they're obligated by contract with the Pac-10 to take it.
McBride says he thought there would be no conflict
when he wrote back in May because an assumption was made that fewerpolice
would be needed for the Celebration. An even better solution, he added,
would be to hold the Celebration on a non-game weekend.
When asked if he could guarantee that no conflict
would arise if the Celebration followed that rule of thumb, McBride
admitted that while many games can be scheduled several years in advance,
balancing the real-time program is more of an art than a science.
The number of home games fluctuates and this year there are eight
on the slate. In other words, what with TV concerns and all, there
could be no etched-in-stone guarantees.
From the Celebration view, holding the event on the
same weekend as a home game has proved to be a definite plus, attendance-wise,
at least until now. When the Eugene Celebration first began, it was
run by the city. City staff would tell the university what time they
wanted the parade to start — it was at 10 am back then —
and all other events would fall in line behind that. These days the
Celebration is handled by DEMI (Downtown Events Management), a nonprofit,
privately funded association that lacks the same clout.
Now Remington is left wondering how the city can talk
about renewing the downtown sector while at the same time it seems
to be distancing itself from the single biggest downtown event of
the year. This fall the city is boosting event parking rates up to
$5 from the current $3, and last year the city even asked DEMI to
cancel the Celebration because it followed on the heels of 9/11.
Remington held fast then and the first night of the
2001 Celebration was turned into a candlelight memorial to the New
York and D.C. victims of the terrorist attacks. On the Broadway stage,
UO President Dave Frohnmayer spoke to the crowd about keeping a sense
of community.
Ironically, Remington feels that a sense of community
is exactly what is being threatened by the new scheduling. Many Celebration
committee members are strong supporters of the Ducks and will also
attend the game on Sept. 21. There are many such games each season,
yet the Celebration parade is a once-only annual event that need not
be put into conflict with the UO's athletic goals, he says.
"How did this problem ever come to exist?" asks Remington.
"If the UO truly believes that even on this one special day each year
they must by all means start their game at 12:30, why hasn't the police
department responded to alternative suggestions for traffic control?"
Sgt. Tom Mason responded in May that using state certified
flaggers is not legally acceptable at any intersections where electronic
signals are normally used. But Mason to date has made no statements
concerning Remington's alternatives: using off-duty Springfield police
or Sheriff's Department officers.
|
"Is the city really listening
to the voices of all its constituents? It's become a question
of whose convenience gets the first priority."
–
Steve Remington
|
Pam Olshanski, EPD media rep, says Sgt. Mason had
not heard about those alternatives, but in any case they were decisions
for Springfield and Lane County law enforcement officials to make.
Olshanski also pointed out that even in the best of circumstances
it is difficult to get off-duty troopers to put in more time on the
job whatever the extra pay. In most cases they have to be drafted.
Remington pays the police approximately $4,000 each
year to get 24 motorcycle and foot patrolmen to do two hours of parade
time. "I would rather have the troopers," he says, "but if there is
a timing conflict than I'd like to have some options." He is willing
to pay more for alternative traffic control, but the police are the
ones who issue the parade permit, and they have the final say.
Now Remington is more disappointed than angry. "How
many good people of Eugene, Springfield and surrounding areas," he
worries, "are going to show up at 8 am or earlier on a Saturday to
get a good view of the parade? How many participants will be there
to rally into assembly positions at 6:30 am?"
Worse, he feels it's becoming a football fans vs.
Celebration kind of setup whereas it used to all run harmoniously.
Remington concedes that the Ducks' popularity extends far beyond their
being local heroes. "Still," he asks, "is the city really listening
to the voices of all its constituents? It's become a question of whose
convenience gets the first priority."
Back to Top
Dishonorable
Conduct
No
medals in this battle to help patients.
BY
MELISSA LEWIS
Phillip Leveque, Ph.D. and doctor of osteopathy, was
a scout in the U.S. Army during World War II, a combat infantryman
sent into enemy hands to retrieve vital information, a true war hero.
His job was "considered the most dangerous job in the Army."
"On my best day," the 79 year old said, "I captured
26 German officers. Luckily they surrendered or else I wouldn't be
here today."
The war Leveque is fighting today is not on foreign
soil or against Nazi soldiers, but rather against the Oregon BME (Board
of Medical Examiners) and the OMMP (Oregon Medical Marijuana Program).
The doctor has just wrapped up a 90-day suspension that began May
1 for "dishonorable conduct." He was also made to pay a $5,000 fine.
According to both the actual medical marijuana law,
and the Oregon Medical Association Guidelines (adopted in April 1999
in response to the law passed November 1998), "physicians who comply
[with the law] cannot be prosecuted criminally by state authorities,"
yet Leveque has been suspended and fined.
"They're pathetic ... They're not following their
own law," Leveque says about the Oregon BME.
"There's absolutely no appeal," he says, explaining
that an appeal would mean his medical license would be suspended until
the appeal reaches a court hearing, which could take up to a year,
with his patients waiting all the while. Plus, the Oregon BME has
its own judge, unlike a typical courtroom case in which an impartial
judge is selected.
"Do you think their judge is going to be fair to a
medical doctor?" Leveque asked. He decided to take the fine and suspension
without appeal, to ensure that on Aug. 1 he can return to his practice
and help his many patients.
In an average week, Leveque sees about 80 patients,
working four days a week, with 16-20 patients a day. Leveque opened
his own private practice in 1979.
"There was nothing in [the office] but the walls and
floor covering," he said. "I had to put in all the cabinets. I had
to put in all the plumbing, all that stuff."
"I started with zero patients. Within one year I was
seeing 40 a day... I ended up being the largest practice in South
Clackamas County."
Patient rights are Leveque's main concern, just as
his nation and battalion were during World War II. A hero's focus
is not on himself.
"That poor Michael Golden," Leveque says of a patient
who went public about medical marijuana patients' rights after having
his home raided by the police.
"They broke down his door with a battering ram and
threw [the door] in his front yard …. He's disabled. He's been
in bike accidents and has head injuries."
A doctor in Oregon cannot prescribe marijuana under
the law, but can simply sign an application stating that the patient
has one of the qualifying conditions and has expressed that the condition
is improved by self-medicating with cannabis.
Leveque has a Ph.D. in pharmacology and toxicology
and was a medical school professor for 30 years, making him more than
familiar with pharmaceuticals and prescriptions.
"If the government says there's no medical value in
marijuana, then why is it OK for a prescription item," he says, referring
to Marinol, the pharmaceutical form of cannabis that is pure, synthetic
THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.
"The federal government grows medical marijuana in
Mississippi. I think they have 10-15 [patients]... I think it's hemp
[a form of cannabis lacking THC]. They chop it up like tobacco …
the patients only get 150 cigarettes a month."
While still on suspension, Leveque worked for his
patients by responding to the OMMP's inquiries.
|
"If
the government says there's no medical value in marijuana, then
why is it OK for a prescription item."
–
Phillip Leveque
|
"The last application I signed was on the 30th of
April … They're still mailing me forms [that say] is this your
patient? … and they haven't caught up yet."
Leveque is openly opinionated about the $150 application
fee required for all patients wishing to register as a medical marijuana
patient. Noting the low cost of an Oregon drivers license, which is
"What, like 10 bucks?" he then asked, "Why the hell does a disabled
person have to pay $150 for the privilege to take medicine?"
Almost 4,000 medical marijuana cards are now in the
hands of Oregonians (generating $600,000 in revenue for the state)
and Leveque helped an estimated 2,000 of them. Many say he is a hero
of the chronically ill and in pain.
In a written statement to his patients about his suspension,
Leveque stated his dedication to his patients:
"The only thing I'm afraid of is German artillery
and when someone threatens me, I defend myself and also … my
patients."
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Jack
Clark
Every Thursday afternoon, octogenarian Jack
Clark volunteers at the Bethel Branch of the Eugene Public Library.
"I have a primary interest in libraries," he explains. "I read just
about everything." Clark grew up in Lehigh, Iowa, population 470 —
a town without a library in the 1920s. Early in the '30s, women of
the town got together, requested donations of books, and opened a
library in a donated space above the grocery store. "I was 11 or 12
years old," Clark recalls. "I learned to appreciate books." In 1939,
when he was 18, Clark crossed the Atlantic, joined the British army,
and served in North Africa and Europe. After the war, he worked as
an aircraft engineer in California and as a remodeling contractor
in Riddle, Ore., until he retired to the Fern Ridge area in 1985.
He was an active member of the committee that worked on design and
construction of the Fern Ridge Library in the late '90s. After moving
to west Eugene three years ago, he began volunteering at the Bethel
Branch. In the photo, Clark displays a recent book discovery, The
Encyclopedia of the Cat. "I'm a cat lover," he admits. "I brought
this book home last week and read it from cover to cover."
— Paul Neevel
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