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Things were glum in Salem this week with Measure 28 failing. Jeff Kruse and Dan "the Plan" Doyle admitted they had no plan, it was simply a diversion to give the false perception that somehow there was another pot of money somewhere. The House should censure them for their dishonesty. Our Senate caucus was painful on Wednesday; members unable to convince themselves that cuts made by the Ways and Means Committee in the third and fifth special sessions, and agreed to by the governor, would now go into effect. Wednesday morning, a soccer mom from Portland came to visit me; she was concerned about the mistreatment of greyhounds at the racetrack. She spent three minutes telling me about her bill: to force greyhound-racing owners to account for their animals at the end of the season. She knew that the champions went south in the winter, but she thought that the losers died. I handed her a letter sitting on my desk, about a liver transplant patient north of Roseburg that was losing his Oregon Health Plan card and his anti-rejection medications, and asking me if I could please do something to help him. Our meeting ended painlessly a minute later. She was a nice lady. Protesters disrupted the Capitol on Wednesday; our Senate Revenue Committee was held up by my buddy, Gwenyth, a heroic Eugene woman, struck blind at the age of 29. She sang to us, and we had to recess the meeting. My committee chair is Sen. Ryan Deckert, a true class act, former UO student activist, elected to the Oregon Legislature before he was 30. After a 15-minute recess he invited Gwenyth up to testify: "Three minutes, Gwenyth; tell us what you want us to hear." She obliged, "I don't know whom I'm talking to," she started, " it's just a blank white wall I'm staring at." Ryan responded, "You have two senators from Portland, one from John Day, Ashland, and Cottage Grove." Gwenyth gave us a heartfelt beating in her three minutes, chastising the Legislature for failing to meet the needs of Oregon's most frail citizens. Then she walked out; the protest was over, for the moment. Later that night, she and several colleagues were arrested, cited and released, for refusing to leave the Capitol. A sad day. Ironically, when she left, the testimony that ensued was an encapsulation of the revenue debate in Oregon. We invited the business sector and the progressive sector to give us an economic solution; we had the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB), the Association of Oregon Industries (AOI), the Oregon AFL-CIO, and a progressive thinktanker from the Oregon Center for Public Policy (OCPP). Their solutions to the Oregon economic dilemma were night-and-day. NFIB and AOI wanted to reform (read: cut) PERS and the Oregon Health Plan. They wanted additional capital gains tax cuts, greater research and development tax breaks, pollution control tax credits, and elimination of estate taxes that benefit the richest 2 percent of Oregon. That was their solution. They offered no clue how to pay for the services that would be cut if we granted further breaks to the wealthiest in Oregon. Dick Butrick, AOI head, had been touting his "54 Ways Oregon Can Save its Own Economic Bacon"; which included eliminating the Covered Bridge Advisory Committee (a nonexistent committee), eliminating the Ginseng Advisory Committee (no General Fund, $1,900 in the bank from fees), and eliminating the Commission for Women, the Commission on Hispanic Affairs, and the Commission on Black Affairs (a total savings of $278,000 a year). I wondered aloud in committee: How successful can we be in recruiting companies to come to Oregon with The New York Times reporting Portland's having the shortest school year in the nation, only to listen to this kind of political demagoguery coming from the mouth of one of Oregon's business leaders. Tim Nesbitt from the AFL-CIO and Chuck Shekatoff provided the only reality to our committee; suggesting that we equalize corporate income tax rates, repeal tax breaks for businesses that don't clearly promote and sustain family wage jobs, grant some measure of relief to Oregon's working poor — who pay a higher rate of taxes than the rich — and establish a statewide property tax on commercial and industrial property to restore business tax support for schools. Suddenly I didn't feel so all alone! Sen. Tony Corcoran of Cottage Grove represents portions of Lane and Douglas counties in Senate District 4, which includes the UO area. He can be reached at corcoran.sen@state.or.us
When I was campaigning door-to-door last spring, the most common question I heard was, "What's wrong with land use planning in Lane County?" (Actually, the most common question I heard was, "What the hell are you doing on my front porch?" The second most common question was, "Is this about my VISA bill?") Now that I'm a county commissioner, I'm taking a closer look at systemic problems in land use planning. The staff at Lane County's Land Management Division (LMD) includes some very talented planners, but they're swamped with work. To quote Dolly Parton, our planners are "busier than a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest." They barely have time to process the permit applications they receive, and long-term planning gets less attention than it should. The commissioners haven't made LMD's job any easier. We've underfunded this department for many years. We've sent conflicting signals about policy issues. We've directed LMD to take on more and more projects without providing additional resources for the new workload. The shortage of planning resources must have created the impression that Lane County is an easy mark. How else can you explain the recent proposal by John Musumeci to swap the Lane County Fairgrounds for 100 acres of undeveloped land near LCC? Musumeci probably thinks the U.S. overpaid for the Louisiana Purchase. He is trying to acquire the fairgrounds by trading land that is worth approximately 1 percent of the fairgrounds' value. According to The Register-Guard, the parcel that Musumeci has offered for the fairgrounds cost him about $270,000 one year ago. The current fairgrounds site is worth more than $21 million. In addition to the disparity in value, there's another catch. Mr. Musumeci's land near LCC isn't zoned to accommodate the fairgrounds. He reasons that Lane County could simply rezone the 100-acre parcel for development. (Incidentally, Musumeci owns 1,000 adjacent acres that could skyrocket in value if the county rezones the 100-acre parcel as he suggests.) If Lane County is seriously considering the deal that Musumeci has proposed, I'd like to offer my own proposal. I'll swap my house for the fairgrounds. The value differential is about the same as in Musumeci's proposal, but at least the property I'm offering is presently zoned for its intended purpose! Plus I'll sweeten the deal by throwing in a plastic swimming pool and a game of lawn darts. The controversy over hospital siting shows the ascendancy of a new school of thought in land use planning. "Managed growth" and "nodal development" were the buzzwords of the 1990s, but make way for the latest paradigm: "musical chairs." The musical chairs approach was presented most forcefully in Robert Fulghum's bestseller, Everything I Need To Know About Land Use Planning I Learned In Kindergarten. According to this view, the best way to determine the proper site for major community assets such as hospitals is to rotate them clockwise throughout the metropolitan area until the planning discussion stops, at which point the hospitals must stay put. Our community — always at the cutting edge of land use planning — was the first to implement this approach in the siting of the Sacred Heart and McKenzie-Willamette hospitals. At the start of the process, Sacred Heart was in south Eugene and McKenzie-Willamette was in Springfield. Then the music started, and the hospitals began rotating. Sacred Heart tried to sit down at the Crescent Avenue site, but the music was still playing, so Sacred Heart continued on to River Bend. McKenzie-Willamette tried to sit down at a site in Glenwood, but the music was still playing, so McKenzie-Willamette continued on to Eugene. If we can keep this game going for another few years, the hospitals will complete their clockwise rotation and end up back where they began. All joking aside, it's time for an interjurisdictional discussion of hospital siting. Now every one of the three major jurisdictions (Eugene, Springfield, and Lane County) has some involvement in siting at least one of the new hospitals. We shouldn't proceed separately and hope that our plans align. We rely on interjurisdictional cooperation in areas like transportation and law enforcement, and we should extend this cooperative approach to the siting of the two new hospitals. Did I mention that my house offers a "healing environment" just like the River Bend site? Don't forget that therapeutic plastic swimming pool. Tom Lininger is county commissioner for the East Lane District.
DOWN
TO THE BONE For those of you who allowed your fear and stubborness to quash your good sense, I speak for those who will be affected by your callousness. The seniors and disabled thank you for the loss of housing and the right to live in safety. For those of you who wanted to save a few lattes, those whose drug counseling and support will be cut know where you live and your stuff will help support their destuctive lifestyle. For the speeders and drunk drivers, fewer state troopers on the roads means we can speed and drink and not be caught. Along those same lines, we can now commit crimes and know that overcrowding will let us out. Reduced court operations will allow would-be criminals to have a free rein at your expense. Not only have voters hurt programs, but they have tied the hands of those who choose to work for less and to assist those who need help. To those who think there is fat in state government, look again. There is no fat, and now muscle and bone are on the block. The good people of Oregon have you to thank for this debacle. To the legislature I say a special thank you for your willingness to let party dogma keep you from doing your job. You have put people at risk because you want to keep the voters happy. You sit back and say the will of the people is known. Sadly, had you done your job, Measure 28 would never have happened. Almost half the voters said yes, so please consider this when you attempt to do your job again. Finally, to those Republicans who have the Wonder Plan: Put up or shut up. George G. Brooks HIDING
& LYING Carol Horne POST-28 The temporary tax increase would have cost the average Oregon resident two lattes a week. Oregon voters have chosen those two lattes over public services that directly impact the community and our children. What many of you fail to realize is that the defeat of this measure will end up costing you more in the long run. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Tiersa D.Turner MAD
AS HELL Knowing the Legislature will try to pass a bill that will prohibit local transportation maintenance fees, the city of Eugene imposed such a fee anyway. Springfield did likewise and even declared an "emergency" to keep the public out of the process. Also knowing the Legislature is planning a $.03 per gallon gasoline tax increase, Eugene imposed its own hike, and Springfield will soon do the same. Lincoln County and various law enforcement agencies are trying to overturn the badly needed forfeiture reform (Measure 3) that voters passed by a two-to-one margin. My organization has been involved in numerous situations around Oregon where city councils and staff use every dirty trick in the book to thwart citizen initiatives. "Public input" is a total joke in most of the cities we deal with. The current Legislative session is only a couple of weeks old, but already nearly a thousand bills have been introduced, including hundreds of new rules, dozens of new fees, commissions, committees, penalties and special interest pork. These are just a few of the government actions that so many of us find infuriating. The fact that Measure 28 fared poorly in Lane County with its very liberal major population center shows the extent of the anger. Jerry Ritter OUT
OF THE BOX Is Ms. Sheklow capable of writing a column that does not discuss her sexuality? Surely she has more in her repertoire. I don't know of any other journalist, writer, author or correspondent who discusses his or her own sexuality, if at all, as much as Ms. Sheklow. I'm sorry that homosexuality is not as accepted as I believe it should be. However, sexuality does not define a person. One's beliefs, morals, ethics and respectfulness of others, just to name a few, are what define a person. Step out of your box, Ms. Sheklow, and tell us something more earth shattering than the fact that you are a lesbian. Tracy McGeehan RABBIT
RAN The great part was today I reopened my EW to read page 6, "Rabbit Hunt Nixed." Oh, thank you, God and the guardians of this society whose strength prevailed. If the hunt had occurred, that would have been a terrible blow to our progress as a society. Lynn Hart
SHOW
THE MONEY SWAT teams are ferociously expensive in manpower, material and weaponry. It is all made to the highest military standards. Who pays to have these idiots blow our brains out? We do. We pay taxes to Washington to divvy up among all the police forces in the nation in the form of special grants that whack us, guilty or innocent, with the latest terrorist firepower. We are Americans and will never give up our drugs. Please, Mr. Ashcroft, quit bribing the local policeman. Give up the Drug War and let us have peace. And please, please quit annoying loyal Americans. Jos. E. Hopwood LAST
PAGE REALITY EW has stooped to being a rag, showing poor judgment and taste, as well as a loss of ethics. What's with you people?! And if I'm the only one who is bothered by this, what is with the Eugene readers? Marilyn Shefa Marcus WOMEN
ARTISTS I have "heard" that there were just no women who applied, or made proposals, or… Or what? Give me a break. There are a plethora of incredible women artists in this town and county. Many are very well known, and if anyone (on the committee) had wanted to, they could have sent out another "call to artists" for this monumental project/opportunity. If, indeed, there is still money in the art fund for the library then I too, "want to see the works of women artists when I walk through the halls of my library," and I encourage the people with the power to make sure that women are included. Amy Beller OTHER
USES The quick and dirty is that I suffer from severe depression. I have been through the antidepressant wringer, and none of them have worked. I recently read that the drug mifepristone, also known as RU-486, more commonly known as "the abortion drug," has been shown to work on severe depression. My doctor and I would like to try this drug, but we can't get ahold of it because it is so severely regulated because it is the "abortion drug." From what I have been told, if this drug had not been approved for this particular use, off-label use wouldn't be a problem. I am writing to let your readers know about this. Depression is not the only illness that this drug is shown to help. It is time to remove the word "abortion" from this drug, time to remove this stigma. It is time that the right wing and the Christian coalition remove their morals from our bodies. M. Brooke Robertshaw FROM
THE TRENCHES I would like to add that I am not the only student in this state who is ready and willing to help our schools in any way possible. I can no longer tolerate this lunacy, and there are many who feel the same way. Alison Luthmers KNOWING
THE DIFFERENCE Another benefit is that it is a fuel grown by Midwest farmers and processed in the U.S. How much more American can we get? When will those who proudly display the Stars and Stripes on their low mileage tanks realize how much of their money is headed back to the Middle East when it could go to the Midwest? My car doesn't know the difference, but Mother Earth does. Dr. Howard Stein MUSINGS If there is such a place as hell, I hope the "professionals" who belong to the unregulated monopolies (doctors, dentists, lawyers, social workers) have to spend a little time there needing essential services and not being able to gain them. Maybe then they would understand that just because you have the power to restrict your services, that isn't the same thing as having the right. I would also install there for a time people of the business community who destroy social programs with the excuse that going to work will solve everyone's problems; maybe having them work at hellish jobs where they never make enough to get by, or get fired for being slow or a "poor worker." America died in the '60s, when those bullets killed JFK, RFK and MLK Jr. Hugh Massengill MORE
MOORE While Moore may be guilty of manipulating the injured Columbine students who accompanied him, he did state after the first meeting with the Kmart publicist that one of the two injured students initiated the idea to go and buy bullets at the other Kmart stores. Moore may be a grandstander on occasion and was temporarily speechless, but he was obviously delighted with the outcome of Kmart's decision to stop selling automatic weapon ammunition, and he did credit the kid. Wadsworth fails to mention that Heston chose to hold his NRA rally in Colorado Springs knowing that the Columbine massacre had happened the previous day. It goes to show how crass Heston can be while he promotes the NRA agenda, which Moore aptly captured. Moore may be preaching to the choir, but give him credit for bringing to screen a film that looks at guns, fear, and violence in the United States. To my knowledge, no one else has addressed this topic in film, and judging by the rousing response in Europe and recent decisions by many stores in the states to stop the sale of automatic weapon's ammunition, Moore's film has been a success. Polemic or not, I will take my chances on a Michael Moore production rather then watch 80 percent of the violent, special effects crap Hollywood puts out. Grant Wiegert BLURRY
SITING One writer stated he was "dumfounded over concerns" about the move. He acknowledged that McKenzie-Willamette's fate hangs on Springfield's decision, but illogically asserted that city leaders shouldn't be concerned. Our community hospital, like other essential public services, has been built with decades of community partnership and support, including substantial financial contributions. One would have to be "dumbfounded" to think Springfielders would casually throw that away. And what about this "healing environment"? What are the aesthetic effects of putting a 180-foot, nine-story building on the banks of the beautiful McKenzie River? Healing hospital environments can be provided with windows and interior atriums, close to the city's core. Those of us outside the hospital prefer the daily healing we get by walking along or floating down a pristine river, free of high rises. Two centrally located hospitals serve the community's land use, safety, economic, transportation and aesthetic needs. Creating this will require leadership and vision. Nobody is suggesting that PeaceHealth not be allowed to expand, but the siting decision should be guided by a number of factors beyond what is good for PeaceHealth's bottom line. Siting decisions should be based on what is good for our community. Chris Berner DIPLOMACY,
NOT WAR Yet our nation seems to not only be set on a collision course with Iraq, but also seems to be gaining speed. Our president told the Iraqis what was required in order to avoid military conflict; they have complied, yet we still press on. This administration seems determined not to allow lack of evidence or facts to keep them from their war. It is time that we are all honest with ourselves about the true reasons for this conflict: President Bush is willing to send our friends and family to kill and be killed so that we may gain more control over the oil-rich Middle East. And that, in my opinion, is not an important enough reason for anyone to die. This motivation for war becomes more evident as time goes on. We need ask ourselves why our president would threaten pre-emptive military action against a country that is suspected of trying to develop weapons of mass destruction, while at the same time assuring North Korea, who actually has these weapons, that we will not attack them, and, in fact, that we will give them money and aid if they behave themselves. Contact your congressmen and president, and tell them that you do not support military action against Iraq. We need to alter the path our government is taking before it's too late and people start to die. Dan
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