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Slant: Short opinion pieces and rumor-chasing notes. News: Caring
for Others News: People
Oppose Sprawl Feature: Kali's
Cries, part 2 Happening Person: Craig Bryan COUNCIL VIOLATES PUBLIC MEETINGS LAW The Eugene City Council voted on the top policy goal for the city using a secret voting method in apparent violation of the Oregon Public Meetings Law. The council held a "retreat" on Saturday, Feb. 21 in a Eugene Hilton conference room. At the retreat councilors selected their top goal for the city by crowding around flip charts at the front of the room to anonymously place round stickers. From a list of possible goals, councilors placed stickers next to goals they didn't like. Goals that received two or more stickers were eliminated under a "consensus" process set up by a meeting facilitator. The only goal that didn't receive at least two stickers was a hospital in Eugene's central core, which received no stickers. The city sent out a press release claiming "the City Council unanimously agreed that the successful location of a hospital in Eugene's center is its top priority for 2004." There was a unanimous vote later in the meeting to confirm the hospital as the top goal. But the actual dot vote decision was far from unanimous. Various councilors had pushed for a tree protection ordinance, tax reform, a new City Hall, more police funding and other choices as their top goals. The lack of unanimity was reflected in the dot placement, a new City Hall was eliminated as a top goal by two negative votes and a tree ordinance by three, but the dots were anonymous. "This grants some anonymity," councilor Jennifer Solomon remarked of the process as she moved into the crowd of councilors to place her dots. The Oregon Public Meetings Law requires that "decisions of governing bodies be arrived at openly" and forbids the use of secret ballots or other obscure voting methods. Assistant City Manager Jim Carlson denied the city had broken the law. He claimed the dot vote was a "planning process" and not an actual decision action by the city council. But the law defines its jurisdiction broadly to include "any determination, action, vote or final disposition" of a governing body. City Councilor David Kelly denied that there was anything illegal or inappropriate with the anonymous vote. Kelly argued that the public could call councilors to ask them how they voted and argued that members of the public present at the meeting could observe which councilors placed which dots. Kelly said the council had done dot voting before and the city attorney had approved the dot vote on the city's top goal. Accurately observing eight councilors crowding around to simultaneously place multiple dots with their backs to onlookers was impossible. This isn't the first time this City Council has apparently violated the Oregon Public Meetings Law. A year ago, a council subcommittee held illegal secret meetings to set up a secret process for filling the city's powerful city manager position. None of the top goals considered by the council this year apparently included open government. — Alan Pittman MEMORIAL BENCH HONORS NEILA CAMPBELL
A sculpture bench for Neila Campbell will be installed in a ceremony at 2 pm Feb. 27 in the Owen Rose Garden at the north end of Jefferson Street along the Willamette River. The installation is to honor Campbell's life and her contributions to the community. Neila, featured in EW as a "Happening Caregiver" in 1999, was a respected trauma and grief counselor who died of cancer two years ago. The bench was designed and built by noted metalsmith Peter Renzetti of the Samuel Yellin Metalworkers. The ceremony will be presided over by Rabbi Hannan Sills. The dedication will be by Campbell's husband Omar Nelson. For information call 484-1275 or email geoffrey.hughes@comcast.net
WICKES REMEMBERED Longtime Eugene music teacher Linda Wickes, 76, died unexpectedly Feb. 15 from injuries suffered in a fall. In her honor, friends and family are organizing a scholarship fund to send talented, low-income students to the Oregon Suzuki Institute summer camp in Forest Grove. Wickes was featured as a "Happening Person" in EW in 1999. "Linda had a passion for teaching music," says a statement from friends Isha Lerner and Michael Wolf. "She was a major influence in the lives of hundreds of children, bringing the art and technique of Suzuki violin instruction to the Eugene-Springfield community over 20 years ago. Through her love of music and her belief in the creative genius of the child, Linda mentored and taught hundreds of area children the fine art of violin playing and music appreciation." Wickes played in the Eugene Symphony Orchestra and founded and directed the Eugene Strings Celebration camp each summer at UO. For information on the scholarship fund, call Susan Mondon at 683-1413 or Anne Simons at 342-2375. UO ENVIRO CONFERENCE COMING UP MARCH 4-7 "Rousing The Restless Majority" is this year's theme
for the 22nd PIELC is one of the world's premier environmental law events and each year more than 3,000 people from around the globe convene in Eugene. They include attorneys, scientists, students, environmental activists and concerned citizens. More than 140 panel sessions, workshops, keynote addresses and special events are scheduled. Events take place at the law school and EMU. Keynote speakers this year include: Bev Harris, Mike Brune, Richard Drury, Maria Elena Foronda Farro, the Rev. Robert Jeffrey, Dune Lankard, Betsy Loyless, Ed Marston, Ingrid Newkirk, Chief Evon Peter and Jane Roberts. For more information, visit www.pielc.orgor contact Land Air Water at 346-3828. PEACEFUL POET Poetry therapist John Fox comes to Eugene next week, lecturing on and demonstrating the healing power of words. Fox is author of Poetic Medicine and Finding What You Didn't Lose, as well as numerous articles. A free public lecture, "Expressing Your Truth: The Healing Power of Creativity," sponsored by PeaceHealth's Women's Information Network, is at 7:30 pm, Tuesday, March 2 at the Hilton. Fox will hold a more detailed talk at 7:30 pm Friday, March 5 and a workshop from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm on Saturday March 6. Both of those events are at the Tamarack Wellness Center, 3575 Donald St. Cost is $125 for Friday and Saturday, or $20 for Friday only. 685-9009 for info. EUGENE, CORVALLIS EXAMINE COHOUSING Architect and author Kathryn McCamant will give a free public lecture and slideshow on cohousing in Corvallis at 7 pm Friday, Feb. 27 at the Corvallis Art Center. The Corvallis Cohousing group and a group of Eugene residents forming a cohousing community in town are hosting the event. It is an opportunity to learn more about the possibilities of cohousing from a national expert and meet other residents interested in this semi-communal urban lifestyle. Cohousing communities consist of individual homes that are often architecturally designed to promote interaction and communication between neighbors. They usually include a community house or space where residents can spend time together and share meals or events. Martin Henner, who is developing cohousing in Eugene, says that cohousing differs from intentional communities in that "cohousing communities are not ideological," but instead are based on environmental and social values. Friday night McCamant will talk about design concepts, successfully completed cohousing communities in the U.S. and the personal experience of living there. McCamant and Durrett will also talk on the Corvallis cohousing project. For people interested in developing an urban cohousing community in Eugene, a meeting will be held at 7 pm Thursday, Feb. 26. Call Henner 345-6466 for location. For more information about McCamant's lecture call Judy Hecht at 754-3028. — Kate Storm CORRECTIONS/CLARIFICATIONS Credit where credit's due. The photo of Paul Prince that ran with Brett Campbell's column (2/19) should have been credited to www.artlightstudios.com, and the photo of Marilyn Picariello (Kali's Cries, 2/19) was taken by Susan Detroy, http://members.efn.org/~dets/ In last week's Morsels column, The Dive Bar & Grill should have been identified as in the former location of West Bros. BBQ at 844 Olive. Mona Lizza is still next door. In a Feb. 19 news story EW quoted City Councilor Bonny Bettman, "Let me get this right, it's not a high priority that people in this community have decent housing with plumbing and heat and roofs that don't leak, but it's a priority to process a change for one developer." The quotation should have included a question mark at the end.
Caring
for Others Mary Robinson, the former United Nations High Commissioner of Human rights and former president of Ireland, will speak on "Human Rights and Globalization" at the UO on March 3. Robinson is a guest of Svitlana Kravchenko, the Carlton Savage Visiting Professor for International Relations and Peace, and a Ukrainian law professor who has taught environmental law for more than 25 years and has lectured in more than 20 countries. Kravchenko administers the "Human Rights for ALL" program at the UO, teaching in both the Clark Honors College and School of Law. The Human Rights for All program has brought in lecturers from around the world, and Robinson is the latest.
Kravchenko met Robinson in Geneva in January 2002, at a seminar on human rights and the environment that Robinson had helped organize. Robinson was the U.N. High Commissioner at the time. "I invited her to come to Oregon and she was laughing and she said 'I love Oregon but I'm very busy, so send an invitation and I will consider it,'" says Kravchenko. After some effort, Kravchenko finally reached her manager in New York who said he'd "work on it" and as Robinson was San Francisco bound, found time in her schedule for Eugene. "They even asked if we had an airport here," says Kravchenko. "They think we're at the end of the world, like some small village." That attitude may be typical of New Yorkers, but not of Robinson, who, despite her status, is personable and down to earth. Robinson has an illustrious history. As High Commissioner, Robinson gave priority to integrating human rights concerns into all activities of the United Nations. As president of Ireland, she was the first head of state to visit Rwanda in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide there. She also was the first head of state to visit Somalia following the crisis there in 1992, receiving the CARE Humanitarian Award in recognition of her efforts in that country. Robinson currently serves as executive director of the Ethical Globalization Initiative, a program forging new alliances to integrate concepts of human rights, gender sensitivity and enhanced accountability into efforts to address global challenges. After two years of studying programs worldwide, the EGI identified three objectives to address in 2004: fostering more equitable international trade and development, strengthening responses to HIV/AIDS in Africa and shaping more humane migration policies. Using a human rights lens and gender perspective "to add value and make a difference," Robinson says she and other world leaders are insisting, "We must not just have an economic globalization, but a values-led one that would be fairer to everyone." On the first point of trade, one area Robinson mentions is the worldwide proliferation of small arms, such as submachine guns. "We believe these are the true weapons of mass destruction," she says. Research done by Oxfam and Amnesty International, which have linked to address small arms issues, reveals there are more than 600 million in operation. Most are legally owned, but more and more are being sold or traded illegally. "We're trying to get an arms trade treaty to tighten that up," says Robinson. To work on the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa, Robinson says the problem must get more attention. By using a human rights lens, it brings the concerns home, as well as the need to take action. "Everyone has a right to health care, that's a progressive implementation of human rights." With HIV/AIDS, adds Robinson, "It's not about a right to health care but a right to life." The overall figures for subSaharan Africa show 29 million people with HIV or full-blown AIDS. "Only a tiny fraction have access to treatment," says Robinson. In Zambia, more teachers are dying than can be replaced. "How can you provide for the children? We must get away from cold statistics and look to people's lives," she says. And lastly, immigration. At least 175 million worldwide don't live in the country of their birth. Next week, Robinson will join an independent commission on migration in Stockhom. "I will seek to bring a strong human rights and gender perspecive," says Robinson. "Immigration can affect women differently and the employment opportunities are different for them." With that, Robinson's voice lightens up. "I also have another hat I wear," she says. "I'm the chair of the Council of Women World Leaders." As to the Greek drama-sounding name of it, Robinson laughs, "It is quite an august body." The prestigious group consists of women who have been or are currently presidents or prime ministers of their countries. "There are 30 of us," Robinson says, excitedly. The women are working together in various combinations to examine the environment, trade and finance, and "hopefully in May, health," she says. "The idea is to get women who have key decison-making power to work together, to all link together." Just listening to Robinson's schedule is exhausting. "What keeps me going," she says, "is being inspired by the work people do at the grassroots. I have lots of opportunities to be in contact with them. They energize me." Mary Robinson's free public lecture is at 7 pm on Wednesday, March 3, in the EMU Ballroom, UO.
People
Oppose Sprawl
Opponents of adding industrial land to Eugene outnumber supporters by a ratio of almost eight to one, according to a recent city of Eugene scientific survey. Asked if there is enough industrial land available for development in Eugene, 68 percent responded "yes" versus only 9 percent who answered "no." The remainder said they didn't know. The survey comes amid a push by the Lane Metropolitan
Partnership, a tax-funded business group that lobbies for corporate
welfare and urban sprawl, to expand the urban growth boundary to add
industrial land. The push is backed by land speculators The $9,500 city survey asked 401 people 101 questions last November. Despite the large number of questions, few dealt with the burning issues facing Eugene. There were no questions about diverting tax money with urban renewal, the skyrocketing cost of the West Eugene Parkway, tax breaks for Hynix, developer subsidies, increasing environmental regulations, etc. Instead, the survey was full of bureaucratic minutiae. One question asked citizens to rate city animal control services on a scale of one to five. Eugene doesn't even provide animal control services; the county does. Here's a look at some of the survey's more interesting results: Even in the current recession, three times more people in Eugene think the city is growing too fast rather than too slow. Compared to previous city surveys, concern about population growth in Eugene tripled from 1990 to 1999, when 56 percent felt the city was growing too fast. Now, 32 percent think the city is growing too fast and 11 percent think it is growing too slow. Half think the current, relatively low growth rate is about right. The small size of Eugene and its natural beauty and friendly people rank high among the top things people like most about Eugene, according to the survey. The recession has hurt. About 45 percent reported that economic opportunity had gotten worse last year, four times the number from five years ago. However, about half the people in Eugene still think their opportunities are better or the same during the recession. Despite the downturn, support for "tax incentives to businesses creating new jobs" has declined slightly in recent years, while opposition has grown slightly. About 55 percent now support the incentives with 35 percent opposed. The survey did not ask about the kind of large tax breaks given to Hynix, which were only available in a certain zone and which were given even while the corporation was not creating jobs. Thirty-nine percent of respondents still feel dissatisfied with downtown. The city spent millions re-opening streets and ripping out the downtown mall, but the car traffic has attracted few new businesses. The city got its worst service ratings for "planning and managing growth" and "managing your tax dollars." On average citizens scored the city 2.9 out of five on the planning question and 2.7 on the financial question. City progressives have fought for better planning and an independent city auditor for years, but have so far been defeated by council conservatives. The city asked citizens what it should do about budget cuts. The leading question did not allow citizens to answer that the city should increase efficiency, but only whether the city should increase taxes or cut services. Of the 41 percent who favored increased taxes, supporters of non-property taxes outnumbered opponents by a 3-1 margin. Progressive councilors have been pushing for years for the city to move to an income tax on the wealthy as a fairer way to raise revenue than property taxes. The city has diverted money from other services to pay for more police, but the vast majority of citizens don't feel unsafe. Ninety percent reported feeling very or somewhat safe walking alone in their neighborhood after dark. Some of the survey results make no sense. Droves have come out to use the city's new library but the survey reports that library use has declined from 70 percent using the old facility in 2001 to 58 percent using the new building in 2003. City staff referred questions about discrepancies in the survey to the survey consultant at Advanced Marketing Research, who did not return a call.
Kali's
Cries, part 2 Last week, we reported on the labor disputes occurring at Mother Kali's. This is the final part of that story, but the dispute continues.
When Mother Kali's most recently unemployed staff started working at the store and decided to unionize, they contacted former manager Tova Stabin and her staff. But Stabin and her staff had begged the new staff not to take their jobs. "We thought it would send a message to the board that we were replaceable," says Stabin. "We told them we were pursuing the board still to negotiate with us and that if they did that, it would be in direct conflict with getting our issues addressed." Yet Teri Ciacchi, who came down from Seattle to manage the store, Cheryl RiversHailey, who stayed during the transition and Sandra Pasman, who'd come on just as Stabin and her staff were leaving, say they hoped unionizing would help that staff, too. But Stabin says that's impossible. "Unionizing protected their jobs, not ours," she says. Ciacchi had lived in Eugene before moving to Seattle. She had run Baba Yaga's women's coffeeshop and was highly active in the local community. When she found out Mother Kali's was hiring a new manager, she was excited. Ciacchi knew the situation "was a little odd" and received information about disputes after she accepted the manager position and before she physically moved. "But I had given my word to the board I would take the job. And because I was arrogant and thought maybe the past staff didn't know enough, I thought I had enough skill to turn the retail situation around, enough managerial, conflict resolution and mediation skills to see the perspective of both sides and help reach some peaceful situation. I thought, 'I can take it on' and my friends were telling me 'you don't want to.'" Ciacchi left Mother Kali's in September '03, wanting to turn her salary back to the store as it was struggling financially and because she wasn't happy. "I wish I had known Tova and the others well enough to trust them," she says. "I feel like I owe them the biggest fucking apology. I had taken their jobs." As for Mother Kali's struggles, Ciacchi saw the board and staff as a microcosm where the "old school dykes, very separatist, very '70s," were at odds with younger progressive women who embraced issues of transgenderism — Why did you have to be a biologically born woman with a womb to serve on the board?; cultural appropriation — why were a bunch of middle class, white women operating a business under the name of a Hindu goddess, anyway?; and labor. "Those issues just kept getting overlooked as if they were not important but they were important enough to keep younger people from getting involved and being a part of Mother Kali's," says Ciacchi. Could the store survive financially without young women's support? Ironplow says many of the loyal customers are middle-aged women who are more established and some have money. But the fallout from the Stabin debacle was beyond the generation gap. Because two former staffers had close ties with the UO's Women's Studies Department, some professors felt they could no longer support the store until its labor issues were resolved. They quit ordering textbooks. So did many others in different departments. Textbook sales are two-thirds of Mother Kali's business. Over the past year, the store has had to have fund-raisers to stay afloat. Fall and winter coursebook orders were down, and it would have closed if not for the landlord forgiving two month's rent. By the end of last year, the newest incarnation of the board, under president Kathleen Kendrick, needed to make some quick decisions to keep the store open. The board began researching how other bookstores like Mother Kali's operated. According to Kendrick, the model of one full-time manager and one part-time employee seemed to work successfully. That's what the board decided would work for Mother Kali's. Then in January, to save money fast, three weeks before staff received letters of termination, the board froze health benefits. Health benefits at Mother Kali's accrue at the rate of $1 per each hour worked. The money can be used at the employee's discretion, to pay a dentist's bill or for an hour's massage, and is given to an employee only when she asks for it. The board says "it's understood" that benefits are only available if the store can afford to pay them, but no one has yet revealed a written document regarding this policy. Kendrick says, "We acted compassionately." When asked if she thought the board acted compassionately in freezing benefits, she hesitates slightly then says, "Yes." Ironplow says, "I don't think the board understood how the health benefits worked." As of last week, the board told the most recently terminated employees it will pay their accrued benefits, when the store can afford to. Tiffany Haggmark, who stood on stage protesting Mother Kali's labor actions at Sam Bond's Feb. 4 union concert, is now out of the union and volunteering in the store. "The board told us we will get our benefits in the future and I trust that we will," she says. "If money is an issue, I'll help the store get money and maybe that's a way to get our benefits." Besides, she adds, nobody else at the store knows how to do what she's doing. Still, many are looking to the board to resolve the dispute with the former staff, even though none of the current board members were involved then. Former board member Ellen Rifkin says the community participated in creating the current situation at Mother Kali's. "We preferred to speak of personality conflicts and not of rights, responsibilities, power and procedures. No one even entertained the possibility that in letting go of a manager and three out of four staff members, the board might have made a major personnel decision that was actually contrary to the best interests of Mother Kali's, both as an inclusive community space and as a business whose sales had been improving until that point in a difficult economic environment." She adds, "the staff has never received restitution for their losses or even a fair hearing by any of the subsequent boards, though such a review has been requested countless times in the past 16 months."
CORRECTIONS/ CLARIFICATIONS from part 1 Lorraine Ironplow and Barb Ryan say the former staff was "never fired," but sent a letter stating: So please understand that if you walk off the job again, we will fill your position(s) immediately. If you decide that you do not wish to work for Mother Kali's any longer, then please drop off your keys and anything else that belongs to the store that same day. That being said, we hope that you will stay and work with us in a positive and productive manner. Ironplow says she never "called her own meeting" to coincide with the staff community meeting, but that a community member asked "that we listen to some staff proposals instead of their having their meeting." The current board did not give current past staff final letters of termination on Jan. 29, but merely asked for their keys. If you wish to add comment on this story, please write
a 250-word-or-less letter to the editor:
CRAIG BRYAN
Cradling class mascot Century in his left hand, South Eugene High's Peer Group Coordinator Craig Bryan slaps high-fives with students leaving a training session. After an initial week of training, these peer-group leaders will meet once a week for the rest of the term in small groups, each one composed of five or six freshmen and two or three upper-class leaders. "It's a chance to talk to older people and a break from school — very relaxing," notes a freshman in his evaluation. Leaders meet weekly in their own staffing groups and also once with coordinator Bryan. "Staffing groups are intense — kids say that's the most important group," he reports. A Californian with degrees in psychology, Bryan worked with juvenile offenders and drug-dependent teens before he moved to Eugene in 1982. After his daughter Summer entered South 10 years ago, Bryan worked with teacher Marty Johnson to expand a Peer Helper program. While Peer Group is voluntary, 98 percent of freshmen choose to take part, and a quarter of upper-class students trains as leaders. "They get health or community service credits," Bryan says. "The kids run the program." - Paul Neveel
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