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Slant: Short opinion pieces and rumor-chasing notes News: News: HAMPTON CAMPAIGN GEARING FOR NOVEMBER Supporters of County Commissioner Don Hampton are getting organized in anticipation of a well-funded, "tough race" in November. "A victory for Don is critical for everybody in Lane County," says Michael Carrigan, .campaign co-coordinator. Hampton, 59, was appointed to the East Lane District position in 2003 following the resignation of Tom Lininger. Hampton will be facing Faye Stewart, 36, of Cottage Grove in November. By county election rules, the top two candidates in primary races face off in the general election if neither gets more than 50 percent of the vote in the primary. Hampton got 32.5 percent of the votes in May and Stewart got 30.5 percent. The political dynamic is familiar. As in the race between Phil Barnhart and Michael Spasaro for House District 11 (see story last week), a progressive incumbent is being challenged by a conservative candidate. Carrigan says the Hampton-Stewart race is "the key local election of 2004" in that the winner will likely be a swing vote on important environmental and social justice issues facing the county. The board splits on many issues with progressive-leaning Pete Sorenson and Bill Dwyer on one side and conservative-leaning Anna Morrison and Bobby Green on the other side. Stewart, self-employed in logging and excavation with family ties to Bohemia Lumber, has said he aligns himself philosophically with Morrison. Hampton's voting record to date on the commission has earned him the endorsements of Sorenson, Dwyer and Congressman Peter DeFazio. Carrigan and the campaign can be reached at 342-1953 or e-mail carrigan@efn.org — TJT
UNIONS SHOW UP FOR KERRY, RAP BUSH Oregon union members showed up to hear both John Kerry and George W. Bush when the candidates spoke in Oregon last week. Kerry's appearances in Oregon drew more union members than Bush's appearances, but Bush was given credit for bringing $15 million in matching funds to Oregon for dredging the Columbia River channel. "We're glad he got the message," says Tim Nesbitt, Oregon AFL-CIO president. "Now we would like to see him respond to the thousands of other letters our members have sent to the White House over the past year on numerous issues that are critical to the well-being of working families in Oregon." Nesbitt says Bush has not responded to union requests to rescind the pending roll-back of overtime rights for six million workers; extend unemployment benefits for up to two million laid-off workers who have been off the job for more than six months; cancel the pending elimination of union rights for Department of Defense employees; end tax subsidies for companies that move jobs overseas; allow U.S. citizens to purchase less-costly prescription drugs from Canadian pharmacies; add job-protection safeguards to trade agreements, tell Congress he will drop his opposition to the pending highway funding bill; endorse Congressman DeFazio's proposal to scrap the Northwest Forest Plan and accelerate timber harvest in non-old growth stands of federal forest lands; and restore full funding for No Child Left Behind.
John Kerry slept in my room on his visit to Eugene Thursday night. Well, I think he did, maybe. I'm certain he slept on the same floor of the Valley River Inn as I would have slept on, but didn't. Let me explain. For years when my wife, Georga, and I have visited Eugene we've stayed at the Valley River Inn. It is an attractive place, with rooms overlooking the river. Recent years we've stayed on the third floor, which has a special attraction. Although it costs more, you get chits for a discount for breakfast and after 5 pm you can walk down the hall and get a free drink or two and some snacks. And in some of the rooms you can smoke.
So a couple of weeks before our latest visit I made a reservation for one of those rooms, and even got a confirmation. But when we showed up, that room not only wasn't available — "We had a problem with that room," the reservation clerk told me, but wouldn't explain further — and neither were any other rooms on the third floor. I was miffed, and showed it, but took a second-floor room that doesn't offer the discount breakfast, the free drinks or allow smoking. (Now all you anti-smoking folk saying, "Serves him right," just hold on. Tobacco plays an important role in this story) Thursday about 6 pm we went to the Emeralds game. It was a good game; there was some swell infield defense (only one error) and two double plays, and they won 9-7. They certainly didn't look like a team that had lost 34 games. I digress. We got back to the hotel about 10 pm and there were about 50 people standing around the main entrance, obviously waiting for something or somebody. When I spotted a tiny group of people holding Bush-Cheney signs, all became clear: John Kerry, Possibly the Next President, was expected and he and his staff had taken over the entire third floor. So we stood around, too. And stood, and stood. The rumor, later confirmed by the mainstream press, was that he was having a late dinner at Marché, which is the sort of place you'd expect Possibly the Next President to eat. In the meantime, the Bush-Cheney folk demonstrated, sort of. At one point there were a dozen in the group, and none of them looked old enough to vote and some of them absolutely weren't. They shouted insults about Kerry, but their young voices were so screechy you couldn't understand them. They sang the Star Spangled Banner and America the Beautiful, badly. And they yelled insults across the road at the presumed Kerry supporters, a few of whom returned them. But as demonstrations go, it wasn't much. I speak as a veteran observer of real demonstrations — like riots. Close questioning of the presumed Kerry supporters revealed that a lot of them were there out of curiosity, hoping to see Possibly the Next President but not yet supporters. Some of the Bush-Cheney people had really small children with them. At that time of night, wouldn't you think the Family Values folk would have had the kiddies home in bed? I digress. The first exciting thing that happened was a Budget rent-a-truck pulling up in front of the main entrance to the inn. On the side it said something to the effect "Don't Use Packing Tape for Dangerous Practical Jokes," which seems like good advice. (My notes are a little unclear on the exact wording).I was pleased to see the Democrats were using a Budget truck; shows good fiscal sense. The truck was jammed with luggage, which was all unloaded. One of the most bulky said "CBS News — Urgent," so you knew this was the real deal, not just someone moving. And you could tell it was a presidential campaign trip because a little while after the truck was unloaded and left it came back, and about half the luggage was loaded back on. Obviously someone has sent word that the stuff wasn't going to be used tonight and take it back to the Kerry airplane out at the airport. After that excitement, we stood around some more. The next big excitement was when the press bus arrived and about 50 of the grottiest people you ever saw got off. They were so grotty I knew it was the press. But I didn't see any famous faces, although that's not too surprising. Since I rarely watch television I wouldn't have recognized them anyway. But it wasn't the press bus after all; it was a group of baseball fans from LaCrosse, Wisc., on a tour of baseball stadiums and games across the country. No wonder they looked grotty; they'd been in eight states and had just come from two days in Seattle. So we stood around some more and time was marching on; it was now 11 pm. Possibly the Next President was having a really leisurely dinner. This is where the tobacco (promised above) comes in and it's really interesting. I was standing opposite the main entrance, away from the gawkers because I was smoking my pipe and I was being considerate of others. That's when a really tall Secret Service guy, with a shaved head, came over to me and said, "You're OK, you're smoking a pipe and you're OK. But when you see the flashing lights, I'd move across the driveway. Because if they see somebody standing near the front of the motorcade holding something in his hand, they'll probably hit you. Because that's what they do." He was serious. I didn't make up those quotes. People in the newspaper business don't do that. I really appreciated his advice because you know, if a Secret Service guy has to make a decision in a split second whether to stop or run over a guy, what his decision is going to be. The Secret Service guy (you can always tell them because they wear that thing in their ear) was really a nice guy. He's been in the Secret Service for seven years and loves the work; he works three weeks on and three weeks off. He became an agent because he was a Missouri state trooper and when Pope John Paul visited the state he was assigned to his security and decided he wanted to do that sort of thing for the feds. He was about to tell me some more interesting things but his cell phone rang and he had to leave.
The time now was 11:30 pm and those little children were getting sleepier and crankier by the minute. They really should have been home in bed. The crowd had actually thinned out a bit, probably because some ill-informed person (me), relying upon another ill-informed person had been saying that he thought Possibly the Next President had slipped in the back door while we were distracted by Budget trucks and press buses that weren't; he'd seen a limo down by the rear door, which is on the same side of the inn as the main entrance but down the parking area a ways. But then, at 11:45 p.m., there were the flashing lights, and three motorcycle cops and a lot of really big , black SUVs and I got across the driveway really quick. And at the same time, miraculously, the crowd doubled, tripled and then quadrupled. A lot of them were wearing red T-shirts that said: Democratic National Committee and everybody — except the Bush-Cheney folk — started cheering and TV cameras came crowding around because the real press bus had slipped in unnoticed in the Valley River Mall parking lot and unloaded this rabble. And right in front of us, Possibly the Next President popped out of his SUV and started working the line (that's what we press people call it when the candidate walks down the line of spectators shaking hands and saying hello). And he really worked it, didn't seem in a hurry at all, and acted like he really wanted to talk to people. Which is what good politicians are good at. And the Bush-Cheney folk got so interested they stopped booing and shouting slogans. He looked good; he has gray hair, which you probably already know, and was wearing a dark jacket and a blue shirt with an open collar — and I had to rely on the mainstream press for this because I couldn't see him down that far — chino pants or something like them. He looked, if you will excuse the expression, very Ivy Leagueish, which might not be a good thing. (In fact, since nobody believes the press is objective anymore, I'll say this: he looks a lot more like a president than that little guy with the big ears who's filling the spot now). He did talk to people, particularly an attractive, young Bush-Cheney girl with deep cleavage who probably was old enough to vote, though 18-year-olds rarely do. I didn't hear the conversation but afterwards I talked to her and she explained they talked about when life begins (at conception) and abortion. She's opposed and he thought it was a state issue, not federal. (I think that's what they talked about. To tell the truth, I didn't take any notes and my memory is bad. I had a pen but no paper and the Bush-Cheney people wouldn't give me one of their placards to write on. They were pretty small, anyway. She said everyone in America has the right to express their opinion. I don't know whether she meant herself or Kerry; possibly both. After 10 minutes or so John Kerry waved goodbye and escorted by a crowd of cops and Secret Service walked down to the rear entrance of the inn and disappeared into it and went up to the third floor and went to bed in what was supposed to be my room, maybe. But as Possibly the Next President headed toward bed, out of another SUV popped Teresa Heinz Kerry, and she started working the line too, but it was a very short line and she didn't stay long before she headed toward bed. She looked very nice but I haven't a clue what she was wearing. Probably expensive. And everybody went home. And I went to bed, feeling really good. Because even though I couldn't smoke in my room, didn't get a free drink and had to pay the full rate for my breakfast, I had done my bit for John Kerry by letting him sleep in my room, maybe. P.S. Friday morning two bike cops were patrolling the bike path between the inn and the river and one of the cops' bike broke and he was last seen pushing it down the path. His chance to help protect Possibly the Next President, maybe his only chance, and his bike breaks. How discouraging. Probably made in China. Fred Taylor knows something about Possibly the Next Presidents, having scrutinized them through his 30-year career as reporter and managing editor of The Wall Street Journal. He also knows a bit about baseball, writing first as sports editor of the Oregon Daily Emerald at the UO and next in the sports department of The Oregonian. In 1986 Taylor left the mainstream, moving from New York to North Bend and six years later joined the alternative press as part-owner of Eugene Weekly. Luckily, he was in Eugene last week for the EW board meeting.
Write-in
Effort Draws Fire Opponents of Mayor-elect Kitty Piercy have launched a campaign to convince outgoing Mayor Jim Torrey to run as a write-in candidate against Piercy on the November ballot, but the campaign appears to be in violation of state election laws.
Torrey supporters ran full-page ads in The Register-Guard Aug. 16 and 17 encouraging Eugene residents to write in Torrey in November. Piercy is the only name on the ballot since she won 51.6 percent of the vote in the primary. The open letter was signed by Jeff Miller, a former mayor of Eugene. The R-G ad was created by Derek Adams of Roseburg's American Flyer Advertising for Miller. Torrey has not yet declared his intentions, but creators of the website www.RunJimRun.org aim "to convince Jim that he should be a write-in candidate this November. Jim has been and will be the one true mayor for all of Eugene." Torrey supporters held a rally at City Hall Monday. About 50 people attended, most wearing bright yellow T-shirts reading "RunJimRun.org." Miller, a Republican who signed Monday's open letter in the R-G, addressed the crowd. "Jim has nothing to do with this," said Miller. "He didn't say yes … He said, 'I'll never say never,' and that gives us hope." Supporters at the rally cited the proposed West Eugene Parkway — which Piercy opposes and Torrey backs — as a primary reason to re-elect Torrey as mayor. "To me it seems kinds of silly to be protecting that area just because it's listed as a wetland," said 31-year-old builder Aaron Solbeck, a volunteer for the Torrey write-in effort. "Jim does a great job leading the city and we want him to continue," said Chelsea Konrady, a teacher and a longtime friend of Torrey's. But if the movement to re-elect Torrey is a grassroots effort, some of the people funding the campaign appear to be taking great pains to remain anonymous. In early July, a survey firm from Portland called Eugene residents to ask about local politics. Surveyors asked respondents to rate local politicians including Torrey, Nancy Nathanson and Piercy. They also asked respondents whether they would support a write-in candidate for mayor. The firm, Moore Information of Portland, was hired to conduct the survey but refused to disclose who funded the project. Two related websites — www.RunJimRun.org and www.TruthAboutKitty.org — are also cloaked in mystery. RunJimRun praises Torrey and urges citizens to maintain the status quo under his leadership. TruthAboutKitty describes Piercy as a radical liberal tax-lover who will divide Eugene along party lines. Although there is no admitted affiliation between RunJimRun and TruthAboutKitty, the two websites are both registered through Domains by Proxy, a company that anonymously registers Internet domains so that the registrant can't be identified. Both sites were created within the same minute on Aug. 4. And both sites are hosted on the same computer on the Globalcon network, a self-described "Christian Web Hosting Company." The people who paid for the survey (which, according to the R-G, may have cost several thousand dollars), the advertisements, the two websites and a confidential UPS mailbox have been careful to remain anonymous. In doing so they may have violated campaign finance laws governing political action groups. Under Oregon law, any organization that raises or spends money to support or oppose a political candidate is required to register as a PAC within three business days of its first financial transaction. According to Josi Travinski, compliance specialist for the Oregon State Election Division, RunJimRun is not yet registered as a PAC. Travinski said that Miller doesn't consider his group a PAC because Torrey has not yet declared his intention to run. That may not matter. "If they're opposing Kitty Piercy, then they are a political action committee," said Travinski. "In our opinion, at this point they are a political action committee." As such, they are violating election laws. Concerned by the apparent violation, City Recorder Mary Feldman contacted the state Election Division. "Their advice was that based on the fact that all three elements that are required to register an organization as a PAC are present, they need to register as a PAC," said Feldman. She then contacted Miller and recommended that he register as a PAC. "He had some additional questions," she said. On Tuesday, Dan Isaacson of Eugene filed a complaint with the Election Division requesting that the organizations behind RunJimRun.org and TruthAboutKitty.org be required to comply with Oregon election law. If the organization is determined to be a PAC, the state Election Division will send a notice citing the violated statute. There is no penalty for the first violation, but the PAC will be required to submit a Statement of Independent Expenditures detailing its financial transactions. The information will then be on the public record. "Oregon's election laws are in place to allow the public to follow the money," said C. Michael Arnold, Piercy's treasurer, in an e-mail to EW. "The process is supposed to be open. The public is misled otherwise." Torrey is expected to decide within a month whether or not to run as a write-in candidate. If he refuses, said Miller, organizers will write off the campaign.
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