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News: Aborted Police
Chief News: Growing Casualties Happening Person: Mark
Hansen COURTHOUSE HURDLES INCLUDE ACCESS ISSUES The General Services Administration recently put the new federal courthouse project on hold, expressing concerns about the city's commitment to solving pedestrian access problems to the courthouse neighborhood. The GSA's concerns may be well founded. City plans for the former Agripac Cannery site were heavily criticized for creating an isolated island surrounded by two rivers of impassable traffic that cut the area off from downtown and the river front. The city plans to split Franklin Boulevard to flow around the site on either side by adding a new highway along the railroad tracks. City planners argue that the split will make it easier for pedestrians to cross the now impassable Franklin from downtown. But when the plans went out for public hearings in 2001, critics said the solution would only make the problem worse. Scott Wylie, a local designer, compared Franklin to a "Mississippi River of traffic." If split, it will "become like two Columbia Rivers of traffic" and an even greater barrier, he said. "We're creating more than one barrier," Planning Commissioner Art Farley agreed. "It's absolutely horrible," said Councilor Betty Taylor of the plan to add another highway "too close to the river." City planners have argued that adding the new highway could allow the city to eventually remove traffic lanes on Franklin to make the street less of a barrier. But there's no firm commitment to do so. Highway traffic often expands to meet available capacity and state transportation officials would likely veto any move to make Franklin smaller. A solid council majority did vote to approve the plan for two highways around the courthouse, but the highway project likely lacks broad public support. A similar "Franklin Option" proposal as part of a Ferry Street Bridge corridor widening project failed at the polls in 1994 by a wide margin. If the GSA uses the threat of canceling the project to extort more local taxpayer subsidies for the courthouse project, it will also likely meet public resistance. Urban renewal funding has been heavily criticized for diverting tax revenue from already struggling city and county services and state schools. Pressure is building for the city and county to use any available road fund money on street maintenance rather than trying to stick locals with higher taxes. Diverting scarce local funds or increasing local taxes for a bond measure for infrastructure to serve the lavishly designed courthouse could also meet major opposition. — Alan Pittman
COUNCIL VOTES ALLOW SUBURBAN HOSPITAL The Eugene City Council appeared to back away from siting a new hospital near downtown last week. Last year a council majority moved to use zoning laws to prohibit a hospital in far north Eugene, but Sept. 24 the council voted 4-4 with Mayor Jim Torrey breaking the tie in favor of a resolution to "welcome" a new hospital nearly anywhere in the city. In another vote, the council decided 5-3 to move forward with a change in the city's zoning code to ease hospital siting. The hospital zoning vote went against the recommendation of the city's Planning Commission. Eugene Planning Director Tom Coyle said McKenzie-Willamette/Triad officials had indicated that they favored the change in secret meetings. But Councilor David Kelly said it "bothers" him that the hospital hasn't come to councilors directly or in testimony to request the zoning change. "We don't know yet if it's responsive to the hospital's needs, and it goes against the recommendation of our own Planning Commission." The council votes make it easier for a new McKenzie-Willamette/Triad hospital to be built in far west or north Eugene, with high city transportation and infrastructure costs, leaving citizens with longer drives to the hospital after Sacred Heart leaves for Springfield. The council did vote unanimously for a resolution offering unspecified monetary incentives and land assembly to help a hospital choosing to locate in the central city, south and west of the Willamette River and as far west as Bertelsen Road. But support for the incentives for a downtown hospital did not appear strong. Councilor George Polling unsuccessfully urged the council to also give incentives north of the river. Mayor Torrey unsuccessfully advocated giving incentives to smaller health care operations, a definition that could have led to the city giving money to Sacred Heart for moving its hospital to Springfield and leaving a clinic behind. — AP
EUGENE 'BURBS SITE OF PERMACULTURE GATHERING Permaculture happens, whether it's in the country, the city or the suburbs, say organizers of this year's North West Regional Permaculture Gathering. The seventh annual event took place Sept. 12-14 in the River Road neighborhood rather than the rural settings of previous years. The site was a 3/4-acre property with a large open-spaced studio as the focal point. An outdoor kitchen was constructed along with a straw bale amphitheater, open air living room, display area and kids' space. Several residential locations in the neighborhood were also extensions of the gathering. "For some people, permaculture is mostly about growing food in an Earth-friendly way," says organizer Jan Spencer of the Eugene Permaculture Guild. "For others, permaculture is an umbrella term that covers a diverse range of issues and topics from food production to cooperative social ideals to locally based economics and personal lifestyle." Most people live in urban areas where permaculture offers tremendous value and opportunity, says Spencer. "The gathering serves as a point of convergence to discuss, network, teach, learn, strategize and enjoy practical experience. The goal is to move forward the ideas and skills for cultural transformation towards a more Earth-friendly, cooperative, locally based way of living." The gathering began with a "World Café" with small groups talking about the elements of local culture, which included bio-region, food security, consensus, smart urban design, local economy, respect for the environment and human potential. This year's workshop and panel schedule included social, political and food topics related to building local culture. Topics included "Permatopia — A Graceful End to Cheap Oil," "Back Yard Food Forest," a bio-diesel panel, "Cooking with a Haybox," alternative residential choices, worm composting, medicinal weeds and urban water management. Panels and presenters were almost all local people. "We are impressed to know that we have extensive talent and knowledge right here in Eugene for building local culture," says Spencer. "We made new friends with similar values and found some lived just a few blocks away. We all learned new approaches to healthy living." Photos of the gathering and more information are available at www.eugenepermaculture.orgor call 686 6761. For those who missed the permaculture gathering, a related event is happening in the River Road area beginning at 6 pm Sunday, Oct. 6. Local residents are celebrating a new neighborhood landmark, a mural by Jan Spencer, on the side of the Goodwill building at 1015 River Road. The marimba band Kudana will play, and a silent auction will be held to raise money for the mural project. Local activist Martha Johnson initiated the idea and local residents are depicted in the mural. Images can be seen at www.efn.org/~spencerj
PHOTOVOLTAIC JUICE PICKS UP SEX APPEAL Solar electricity is getting cheaper each year as technology improves, and meanwhile the cost of conventional electricity is getting more expensive. "Photovoltaic (PV) electricity has for years been pie in the sky and expensive," says Tom Scott, a local solar contractor and advocate, "but now it's getting sexy." Scott, who's organizing the annual Solar Home Tour Oct. 4, says solar electricity used to have a 50-year payback on investment and both utilities and consumers were not very interested in pursuing it. But the price of electricity has doubled in the past eight years, and if it doubles again, the payback time could be as little as five to 10 years. Adding to the incentives are increased rebates and tax credits that make Oregon one of the best states in the country for solar electricity. Eugene's Solar Home Tour will begin with a free 10 am lecture and slide show Saturday at the EWEB Training Center, 400 E. 4th Ave. Participants can then join the tour by bus ($5 per person) or follow along ($10 per carload). At each site, experts will describe the solar system in place and how it works. Some new printed materials will be available this year for the tour, including a slick 64-page magazine with featured solar installations around the state. In the magazine, Gov. Ted Kulongoski writes that "it's a myth that Oregon doesn't get any sun — Astoria annually receives more solar energy than the best location in Germany, a country that leads the world in the installation of solar energy systems." — Ted Taylor
Artist Jerry Ross says the Jacobs Gallery misspelled the title to his painting shown in our story on the Mayor's Art Show last week. The correct title (in Italian) should be "La Vedova di Guerra" (The War Widow).
Aborted
Police Chief Eugene's failed search for a new police chief may reveal more about the city's police union than the candidates.
After the city named George Aylward of Minneapolis as it's top candidate last month, Aylward withdrew in the face of opposition from Eugene's powerful police union. Publicly, Ayward cited family reasons for bowing out, but union officials told local media that Aylward was the subject of four no-confidence votes by the police union when he was chief in Middletown, Conn., and questioned his competence to serve as Eugene's police chief. Aylward did not return a call from EW. "I've heard by the grapevine that local police are gloating," says neighborhood activist Majeska Seese-Green. But Seese-Green says the police union opposition reveals more about the local police than Aylward. "Aylward might be considered 'incompetent' by someone whose competence in truly understanding community policing leaves something to be desired." Aylward was the target of union opposition in Middletown, but it's hard to tell whether Aylward's clashes with the union weren't in fact serving the community's best interests. A 1995 incident in which Aylward fired an officer accused of racism in arresting four black college students fueled union ire. The incident sparked protest rallies and town meetings against police racism, but the union steadfastly defended the white officer, the Hartford Courant reported. Aylward ordered all his officers to undergo racial sensitivity training and fired the officer for intentionally arresting the students without cause and then lying to his superiors. The officer and union appealed and an independent arbitrator ruled the punishment was too severe and forced Aylward to re-hire the officer. The city settled a lawsuit with the black students for an undisclosed sum. Middletown police union officials attacked Aylward again in 1996 after he suspended a police officer for a threatening union memo he wrote. The officer wrote that a Wesleyan University student rally in support of Mumia Abu Jamal, a black man sentenced to death for the killing of a Philadelphia police officer, was offensive and that officers should "remember this the next time you deal with persons associated with this so-called Univ[ersity]," the Courant reported. The officer later apologized to the university President. But union officials backed the officer and blasted Aylward for not supporting the officer and police after the union memo sparked large student protests against police intimidation. "The chief has taken on a clear adversarial role in dealing with our union," officers complained in a letter quoted by the Courant. Eugene has also had protests in support of Mumia, who supporters say was framed. A few years ago, protesters complained Eugene police used heavy-handed tactics against Mumia marchers. In 1995, Aylward responded to his third no-confidence vote. "They [union officials] are not going to run the police department. I will try to keep control. If that means there is a vote of no confidence every month, then there will be a vote of no confidence every month,'' he told the Courant. The Eugene union's role in apparently vetoing the new chief has left some in the community wondering who's in control of the police department and city. "There's a pretty wide-spread feeling in Eugene that EPD is out of control," Seese-Green says, citing complaints in Whiteaker about a recent SWAT raid that used an armored vehicle and dozens of officers in a failed search for marijuana. Seese-Green, who sat on a committee that helped interview Aylward in closed meetings, says she had hoped Aylward could help reform the department. But the Eugene police union has withstood reform attempts in the past. The last chief Eugene hired from outside the department was forced out after union criticism and widespread community complaints of excessive force. In a 1996 letter to the city manager, the Eugene police union outlined their opposition to Chief Leonard Cooke's efforts to increase community policing, start rotating detectives to patrol duties, control labor costs and tighten police discipline. Cooke testified a few years earlier in a labor dispute that he was amazed at the "loose" discipline in the department. "Frankly, I was sorta stunned that for some kinds of incidents discipline had not been administered and, in some cases, the kind of discipline that was administered, I couldn't believe." After Cooke left, the Eugene union then played a major role in ousting City Manager Vicki Elmer who angered police by asking for a state police investigation into use of excessive force and pepper spray against tree sitters. The Eugene police union routinely commands top pay raises. Over the past eight years, the city gave police officers raises of 7.7 percent over inflation while raises for city AFSCME union employees just kept pace with inflation. While Aylward won opposition from police union officials here and in Connecticut, a Courant editorial praised his work for community policing when he left. "He has given Middletown 15 years of solid, professional management." Activist Seese-Green says she hopes the Eugene community will become more involved in hiring its next chief. "People and organizations who aren't happy with EPD being 'out of control' — or who aren't happy with the police association being 'in control' of the [chief] hiring — need to let it be known."
Growing
Casualties On Sept. 22, the U.S.-backed Iraqi Governing Council invited foreign firms to buy 192 Iraqi public sector companies, including health care, telecommunications, water and electricity — everything but oil and gas. All profits can be taken out of Iraq, top income taxes will be 15 percent, and no Iraqis need be hired (Independent and Geov Parrish, www.workingforchange.org). Families of U.S. Army Reserve and National Guard troops are protesting a new policy that troops must stay in Iraq one year, away from families and jobs. Many of these soldiers plan to quit the service when they get home (Washington Post). The Pentagon finds promise in young Latinos — including non-citizens, 37,000 of whom are currently enlisted — and hopes Latino numbers in the military will increase from 10 percent up to 22 percent. Recruiters may appear even at primary schools and sometimes recruit inside Mexico (Independent). Non-citizen and immigrant soldiers are likely to serve in the front lines because they don't have security clearance for specialized jobs (La Opinion). An unusual number of accidents, suicides, and other non-combat incidents among U.S. troops in Iraq have helped push the death toll since the war began to 302. Many wounded have lost limbs. Injured soldiers have overflowed into cancer wards of Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and staff have been working 70- to 80-hour weeks (Guardian). Recent figures on medically evacuated troops list 1,157 combat-wounded, 316 wounded in other ways, and 4,500 others "who became physically or mentally ill." Soldiers' families fear anthrax vaccines and depleted uranium exposure (U.N. Observer). U.N. Environmental Program is worried about DU's impact on Iraqis as well, and plans field studies "once the security situation allows, but there's no telling when that might be" (U.K. Observer). Meanwhile, Uranium Medical Resource Center is fund-raising for an upcoming Iraq trip to collect and analyze samples of soil, water, and human urine for uranium (www.umrc.net).The British Army has announced the phasing out of DU tank ammunition within six years (U.K. Telegraph). After a 1,400-person U.S. team searched two months and found no evidence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, former U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix condemned the "culture of spin and hype .... In the Middle Ages, when people were convinced there were witches, they certainly found them. This is a bit risky" (Reuters). According to previous remarks of Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, however, "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence" (Howard Zinn, Progressive). Journalist Robert Fisk, visiting Iraqi doctors and mortuaries, numbers the violent deaths among Iraqis at almost 1,000 a week, victims of looting, revenge killings, family feuds and "increasingly vicious raids carried out by American forces." Thousands of Iraqis have been taken away by American soldiers, and in many cases, their relatives are still trying to discover where they are (Independent). Rumsfeld predicts that Iraq will soon have a major tourism industry (Harper's Weekly Review). U.S. Strategic Command met with scientists and Bush administration officials to discuss new nuclear weapons of "counter-proliferation." Critics fear that low-yield "mini-nukes," recently approved by the U.S. Congress, will create fireballs that scatter radioactive dust into the atmosphere (Asia Times). NASA and Stratcom have fused, uniting space and military research. NASA work will now be "dual-purpose," according to its director. "Military space planes" that can destroy satellites will replace space shuttles. Russia and China, concerned about an expensive new arms race, have requested a global space weapons ban. The U.S. refuses, inviting other countries to share expenses in what could be the biggest industrial project in history (Counterpunch). Western governments are encouraging, paying and/or ordering Afghan refugees to go home. But when they arrive, Human Rights Watch reports, many are attacked and robbed. Gunmen and warlords funded by the U.S. and its partners rule Afghanistan outside Kabul with violence, intimidation, and rape of women, girls, and boys. Human Rights Watch asks the U.S. and U.K. to choose between support for Karzai's government and support for warlords. During past weeks, fighting in Afghanistan has been heavy. Casualties include eight civilian nomads asleep in their tent, bombed during a Sept. 21 U.S. air strike against Taliban guerillas (Reuters). Thirty-five women recently jumped into a river with their children and died, saving themselves from warlord rapists, according to a RAWA worker (Guardian). Israeli-Palestinian Bereaved Parents for Peace founded a project to build empathy through telephone conversations. Any Palestinian can call an electronic system to talk to an Israeli and vice versa. In nine months, 211,000 people have conversed (www.theparentscircle.com).After an eight-year legal battle, a federal court barred the U.S. Navy from broadcasting its deafening low-frequency sonar across Earth's oceans. Though this is a major reprieve for whales and other marine mammals, the Navy may appeal, and the Bush administration is seeking military exemptions from environmental laws on which this decision was based (Natural Resources Defense Council).
Mark Hansen Since he moved to Eugene in 1979, Winston native Mark Hansen has become an enthusiast for wheelchair sports and a valued supporter of Mobility International USA. "I played rugby in Eugene from '92 to '97," he notes. "There's no Eugene team any more, so I go to Sunday practices in Salem." Hansen still plays and coaches rugby during the six months he spends with his sister in Tucson. He makes a circuit of tennis tournaments and coaches a promising young player in Eugene. MIUSA was founded in 1981 and Hansen served on its board of directors from 1985 to 2000. For 20 years he has played host to a multitude of foreign visitors, including guests from Cambodia and Kyrgyztan currently here for the Women's Institute on Leadership and Disability. A few days ago, Hanson invited 25 friends to a "wrenching" BBQ — a work party to assemble wheelchairs from a pile of parts and garage-sale finds. Twenty newly rebuilt chairs will be sent off with visitors from Third World countries. "A lot of people are happy to bring a wheelchair back with them," says Hanson, who began restoring chairs in 2001. "It can be checked on the airline as baggage."
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