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Slant: Short opinion pieces and rumor-chasing notes News: Special Feature:
LAWN SIGNS IRK PARTISANS Every election season signs start popping up like weeds all over town, occupying previously barren yards. Landscaping of private homes and businesses becomes a means of political expression, and signs can be a source of contention between those with differing viewpoints. Sandpiper Imports, a local auto repair shop, is no exception. Throughout the 20 years John Ebeling and Geri Baxter have owned Sandpiper, they've placed signs on the corner of their property at 13th and Lincoln. The signs lining the street this year support Democratic candidates, mayoral candidate Kitty Piercy, and "No on 36." Ebeling and Baxter say their signs have never openly offended any customers — until now. Baxter saids she received an anonymous note criticizing the business for placing signs. "You people have thrown your far left wing radical socialist immoral agenda right out there for normal people to see!" read the note. The writer of the note went on to say he or she had two friends and a sister who were no longer customers because of the signs. "To do business with you is to do business with the enemies of this country," it said. When Baxter received the note, she was returning "jazzed" from the Michael Moore visit and was surprised. "I was shocked that people could be so hateful," she said. Ebeling agreed, adding that although they display political signs, "We generally don't discuss political views with customers." Baxter said the letter was not specifically directed towards Sandpiper. "It was generic; it didn't mention our name," she said, adding that she thought the letter may have also been sent to other businesses. Another conflict over lawn signs comes from a clause in the city code that reads "signs must be located on private property with the permission of the owner,"
This clause has raised questions of whether or not renters must seek the landlord's permission before placing a political sign in their lawn. Bob Cassidy, a landlord, is working on efforts to grant renters' rights to place signs. Cassidy goes door to door, putting up lawn signs in the university area and has dealt with a number of renters. "People were never sure whether their landlord would permit it," he said. Cassidy said renters should look in their rental agreement to find out whether they need permission. "If they are required to take care of the lawn, that answers the question," he said, adding that taking care of the lawn means the renter can put signs up freely. Cassidy said he remembers a situation in which he would place signs for a renter and they would disappear. Cassidy suspects the landlord took down the signs. Eugene City Councilor David Kelly said the clause is not likely to change anytime soon. He said the reason the statement about owner's permission is in the city code is because people believe it's OK for them to put up an election sign in an empty lot, even if they have no idea who owns the property. But Kelly said he disagrees with this regulation. "I don't think a person's right to express their feelings about elections should be influenced by whether they are a renter or an owner," he said. Kelly said theft of lawn signs is another concern. According to Kerry Delf, spokesperson for the Eugene Police Department, 22 cases of sign theft have been reported since Sept. 1. Delf said four signs stolen supported John Kerry and nine supported Republican political candidates, including a "No on 36" sign with a swastika painted on it. She said if caught, the perpetrators will be arrested. Stealing signs "is a bad way to express yourself politically," she said. During the primaries City Councilor Betty Taylor said all 200 of her signs were stolen, and police were unable to track down the thieves. "We heard rumors that a business person had their dock workers steal the signs," she said. "This was more than just minor theft," she said. "Someone was trying to interfere with the election." – Omie Drawhorn
WOMEN RALLY FOR KERRY Local women gathered in Eugene with national female political leaders to get out the vote for John Kerry Oct. 19. The press conference, titled "Women on the Move," was held at Marché, a restaurant owned by local entrepreneur Stephanie Kimmell.
Presumed Mayor-elect Kitty Piercy opened the conference. "This election gives us the opportunity to vote in a president who will address poverty, support education and good jobs, and protect our rights," she said. "Real leadership is on the way with John Kerry." California Assembly member Hannah-Beth Jackson blasted Bush's No Child Left Behind Act. "It's a failed educational policy, and it's one that is insidious in its attempt to take away what is the cornerstone of democracy, and that is public education," she said. Labor leader Dolores Huerta, who fought for farmworkers' rights alongside César Chávez, said, "Bush says he's the war president? He is. He is, because he's got a war against the environment," she said. "He's got a war against civil liberties, a war against civil rights, a war against immigrants … a war against labor unions … and, of course, he has a war against women." California Congresswoman Jane Harman addressed what she views as Bush's faith-based government. "It seems to me that strategies that a civil government follow have to be rooted in fact, and they have to be rooted in science, and they have to be rooted in a careful, careful study of very complex problems. Not rooted in some religious view of good and evil," she said. California Sen. Dianne Feinstein lambasted Bush's international relations. "There has never been a time in my lifetime when America has been more alienated or more hated abroad than we are today, and virtually every single poll in virtually every single nation will show that," she said. "That's brought about, I think, by the persona of the individual at the head of government." Feinstein concluded with a call to vote for John Kerry. "This election, I truly believe, is the biggest election in your lifetime," she said. "I don't think this election can be won without a solid vote from the Pacific Northwest states." — Kera Abraham
WHERE'S HARCLEROAD? The last-minute campaign to write in Charles O. Porter for district attorney on the November ballot is leaving proponents flustered. Not only is former DA Doug Harcleroad MIA from his elected post, he's also missing from the ballot. Other local candidates who garnered more than 50 percent of the vote in the primary appear unopposed on the ballot. They include city candidates Kitty Piercy, Bonny Bettman, Andrea Ortiz and Betty Taylor; and county candidates Peter Sorenson and Bobby Green. Sorenson says the Lane County DA, who actually works for the state, falls under different rules. "The state DA election law says that if the DA gets more than half of the vote in the May election, then he is elected and his name is not on the November ballot. The County Charter is just the opposite. Since I had no opponent on filing deadline, my name was taken off the May ballot and appears only on the November ballot." State election rules for other elected positions, however, are different than the rules for DAs. Judges who win in May remain on the ballot in November, and are subject to write-in campaigns. Bernard Nickerson of Eugene was promoting an effort to write in the aging Charlie Porter for DA (see Slant last week) as both a tribute to the former congressman and also a protest against Harleroad, who resigned after winning the May election and is taking a six-month vacation, citing exhaustion and burn-out. Nickerson complained of Harcleroad's "manipulation of the political process with a surprise sabbatical and expedient executive appoint of a chosen successor to the elected office he just abdicated, which must be considered in the context of the many misjudgments of his tenure." — TJT
BUS PROJECT GETS SCARY Guess who might show up at your doorstep Halloween night? Along with the usual Spider Men, Ninja Turtles and fairy princesses will be the scariest of all: political canvassers from the Oregon Bus Project — in costume. "On Halloween we launch Trick or Vote," says James Mattiace of the Bus Project in Eugene. "It's the one day a year people expect someone to knock on their door, so we're gonna. The point is to remind those who haven't turned in their ballots to do so in the next 48 hours." More than 200 people of all ages have signed up to participate beginning around 5 pm Oct. 31. Canvassers will go door-to-door for three local legislative candidates, Bev Ficek, Phil Barnhart and Floyd Prozanski. To get involved, call 914-0293 or visit www.trickorvote.org
CORRECTIONS/CLARIFICATIONS In Steve Pardo's letter to the editor last week, a typist made two errors. One was the misspelling of "inbreeding" in the letter, and the other error was in the last line, which should have read, "Look within yourself." An editing error in Sylvie Pederson's story last week on photographer Gary Tepfer changed the meaning. A sentence in the paragraph at the top of page 57 should have read, "Exceptions are Canal, Kronstadt, where the focus point is off-center and a dynamic sense of direction and depth is conveyed by converging diagonals; and the Kazan Church colonnade, where the eye is draw in by diagonals and curves."
On Aug. 1, Mary Unruh became the first executive director of the Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts after serving on DIVA's executive board and steering committee. She has volunteered at least 30 hours a week at DIVA since November 2003.
Unruh, who has a degree in public administration, first moved to Eugene in 1979. A former stockbroker, she also has extensive experience in management, both public and private. She has a long record of public service as a volunteer, having served on the LCC Board of Trustees for seven years and having coordinated, as a VISTA volunteer, "The Village Project," a plan for developing community-based responses to the needs of children and families. The project resulted in the creation of the Bethel Village Family Center. She developed the Child/Family Interactive Network, a local Internet-based guide to children and family services, before founding her own Internet publishing firm, New Paradigm, Inc., which she ran until 1998. Unruh started volunteering for DIVA after reading about the gallery's opening in EW. "I thought it was a great idea to revitalize downtown with a theme around the arts," she explained. She had always been interested in the arts, and she had begun doing painting and ceramics. "The DIVA idea rekindled the part of me that wanted to be involved in social change," Unruh said. "The timing was perfect. DIVA found a facility before the organization to run it was in place: the accounting, database, website … One of the first things I volunteered to do was the website." To that effect, Unruh contacted Kin Lane, a Eugene programmer, with a list of what the website should accomplish. Lane and his wife Ishbel are the founders of Original Web Solutions (OWS), which specializes in creating customized websites and web-based applications for small businesses and non-profit organizations. Unruh convinced the Lanes that the DIVA site could become a prototype for all arts organizations' websites. "They did the website for us as a donation," said Unruh. "Kin liked the idea of supporting the arts. Our hope is that people will see what the program can do and other arts organizations will give OWS their business." DIVA's website is up and running (www.divanow.org). Designed as a community artists' portal, it provides visitors with full details about DIVA's numerous exhibits, events and classes. One can even register for classes online. Best of all, each artist member is given a unique login to place an electronic portfolio on the website (Artist e-Studios). Artists themselves manage their sites, which include room for profiles, products and orders. As executive director, Unruh has duties other than webmaster. Besides the nuts and bolts of managing the facility, she is in charge of communications, recruiting new members, fund-raising and public relations. "I'm the public face for the organization," she said. "We want DIVA to be a catalyst for revitalizing downtown. We want to work with downtown businesses to create that mindset that downtown is this fabulous place with great food, gift stores, atmosphere and an attitude of successful enterprise — an attitude of initiative." Unruh praises the DIVA board for its clear goals. "I just help make it happen," she said. To that effect, she has been busy organizing Come As You Art, a Halloween costume-party and celebration of DIVA's first year (Saturday, Oct. 30, from 8 pm to midnight). "What's unique about it," said Unruh, "is that it involves not just DIVA but five different venues of entertainment within our neighborhood where people can go listen to music, dance, enjoy art and eat great food." One ticket covers salsa dancing with Caliente at Luna, Celtic Rock with Fianacats at Café Paradiso, tango lesson and dancing at the Tango Center, Rogue's Dead Man's Ale tasting and Jeff Ibach's acoustic guitar at The Broadway. Besides desserts, wine, beer and jazz music with Cindy Duerfeldt and the Jim Olson Trio, DIVA will offer a unique exhibit of surreal and macabre art on view Oct. 25-30. "That's high-class Halloween art," Unruh said, "with Steve Oshatz' kinetic sculptures, Tenold Peterson's surreal sculptures and paintings, and a lot of other artists' works on the Halloween theme." Cat's Meow will project a multimedia presentation on the wall as jazz is being played. There will also be a juried indoor ArtFest at 150 W. Broadway, co-sponsored by Lane Arts Council. Costume resources include Actor's Cabaret, Backstage, Nobody's Baby/Time Warp Costume Rentals and tool-leather masks by Newman available at DIVA. Randy Stender, chairman of the DIVA board, said, "Mary has an incredible amount of energy. She's doing a great job of advancing the mission and goals of DIVA. She almost single-handedly gets credit for the masked-ball endeavor and I think that's going to be a great success. She's also doing a very good job of building bridges with important people downtown and we're very happy that the Oregon Community Foundation matched our fund-raising to finance her position."
Best of Eugene Staff Picks BEST CAT POTATO If you think Ebert is chubby, check out the Bijou movie theater's in-house cat. Rumor has it the two-lap cat gave the recent documentary Super Size Me two paws up. BEST WRITE-IN The Run Frog Run campaign has Mayor Jim Torrey green with envy. There's a bevy of green-shirted followers pushing the well-known comic book salesman to run as a mayoral write-in with promises of a quarter million in campaign contributions. Frog hasn't said he won't run, but may announce his decision in three weeks, according to a rubber chicken close to top campaign officials. BEST OUT OF BODY EXPERIENCE Hitting a nutria on the bikepath at 30 mph BEST NEW POLITICAL GADGET Local home improvement stores are now selling a new kind of carpenters' level specially designed for politicians. When placed plumb against a politician, the bubble indicators will clearly show whether the person is "left-leaning" or "right-leaning." When turned, the device can also indicate if a person is "forward" or "backward" thinking. The PoliticaLevel® is expected to be popular with politicians scrambling for the center and retails for $29.95. By Christmas, hardware stores promise they will also have the new sperm-counting stud finders available. BEST PERSONAL FITNESS TRAINER Jeff Miller's repeated calls for the mayor to "Run Jim Run" will take inches off his honor's waist and add years to his life. With so much focus these days on celebrity diets and radical surgery to reduce weight, it's nice to see a public example of a more traditional, conservative approach to shedding unwanted pounds. BEST PANHANDLER SIGNS Why lie? I need weed. Take my resumé BEST WAY TO LOSE VOTES Whoever stole hundreds of City Councilor Betty Taylor's lawn signs during her re-election campaign last spring must now regret the political crime. The campaign caper brought Taylor lots of sympathetic media attention and denials of involvement from her opponent Maurie Denner. Taylor ended up winning with 59 percent of the vote. BEST PLACE FOR LAWYERS TO SKATEBOARD The city of Eugene has formed a partnership to build a new dual-use ramp/skatepark at the gleaming new federal courthouse downtown. The $70 million facility will provide a much needed downtown venue for attorneys to practice their rad board slides and mute grabs. Many attorneys are now taking up the sport, seeking more exercise than just "all rising" when the judge walks in. To avoid lawsuits, attorneys are asked to use the proper jurisprudence in not boarding when wheelchairs are present. BEST WAY TO CATCH A COLD Frenching strangers at the Slug Queen coronation BEST BULK BUYING The UO Athletic department has decided on a new policy of paying its football recruiters royalties by the pound. The Ducks are hoping to field an offensive line of 400-pound student athletes this year and are particularly interested in picking up former Sumo wrestlers from Japan. To bring the big men to campus for recruiting visits and extra feedings, the department has made arrangements with an alumni involved in helicopter logging old-growth forests. Go Ducks! BEST BUMPER STICKER "Against abortion? Pull out now!" BEST POLICE REFORM The city of Eugene has moved quickly to respond to officer sex scandals … by planning a $36 million new cop shop. A consultant hired by the city manager for an "external review" of the abuse scandals has determined that the lack of deluxe offices for cops lead to undue workplace tension that officers then had to relieve by forcing oral sex from vulnerable women. BEST PLACE TO GATHER PRETTY BROKEN GLASS Parking area at Spencers Butte trailhead BEST SCOOP Willamette Week's investigative report that former governor turned corporate lobbyist Neil Goldschmidt committed statutory rape of a 14-year-old while serving as Portland mayor rocked the state this year. Goldschmidt was already infamous locally for sleazy lobbying for Hynix. Willamette Week's scoop also shamed The Oregonian newspaper, which Goldschmidt used to sugarcoat the sex abuse. The big daily is now busy trying to Goldschmidt every possible politician before WW scoops them again. BEST PLACE TO SHOW OFF YOUR NEW LINCOLN NAVIGATOR SUV Whiteaker after midnight BEST COP COME ON When Eugene Police Officer Roger Magaña was pushing for oral sex from one of his victims, he bought her Valentine's flowers with a card, "Think about my throat lozenge idea." Apparently, romantic pick-up lines, along with a lot of other things, aren't included in EPD training. Magaña got 94 years for forcing sex from a dozen women, the city got more than $10 million in lawsuits. BEST MEDICAL JOLT The area's two local hospitals plan to switch cities in a half-billion dollar dance that's sure to send already flying local medical bills through the roof. PeaceHealth CEO Alan Yordy says all the money spent on his new hospital will provide a more "healing" environment. Meanwhile, rising health insurance costs threaten to cripple the local economy. BEST PLACE TO WEAR A GO BEAVERS SHIRT Steelhead Brewery on game day BEST USE FOR THE "TEMPORARY" I-5 BRIDGE Shelburne Falls, Mass., converted an old trolley bridge into a "Bridge of Flowers" attracting 35,000 visitors a year. Eugene could do the same by laying irrigation and dumping dirt on the temporary I-5 bridge when the replacement span is done. The "floating garden" would have great visibility next to I-5, could be connected to Alton Baker Park and would become one of the state's greatest tourist wonders. BEST PLACE TO CATCH CRABS Florence jetty (fooled ya, didn't we?) BEST USE FOR EWEB'S LAND Forget about a big ugly hospital. It will cost way too much in taxpayer and ratepayer subsidies and pollute the riverfront with parking lots and a new highway. Instead, how about a beautiful people's park along the river? Besides a cascading millrace, it could include a merry-go-round like in Salem's new riverfront park and a large changing fountain like in Portland and Corvallis for kids to play in. EWEB's old steam plant could be converted into an indoor water park with a pumped river running through it (like in Portland). Urban renewal could pay much of the bill, and the park would be a huge draw for people to come downtown. BEST PLACE FOR A QUICKY IN PUBLIC In a canoe in the Millrace BEST DOWNTOWN BOOST Re-opening Willamette and Broadway has been a bust, as the empty storefronts attest. But using urban renewal funds to build a new, year-round indoor Farmer's Market downtown would provide a big boost to the urban core. There are plenty of vacant lots and empty buildings along the old pedestrian mall to serve as candidates. One building, at Charnelton and Broadway, even once served as a farmer's market and might be restored. BEST MOTORCYCLE OUTFIT Ducks band uniform BEST POLITICAL BOOSTER EW is investigating the background and special interests of a major Jim Torrey supporter, Phukyoo Gymn. Mr. Gymn's name appeared twice in full page R-G ads listing supporter's of the Republican mayor's aborted write-in campaign for mayor. Sources indicate Gymn may be a Far East investor speculating in Eugene real estate, or a developer contemplating a new chain of fitness centers specializing in mud wrestling in the west Eugene wetlands. BEST PLACE FOR THE NEXT STARBUCKS Oregon Country Fair BEST EW AWARD Why do local development, anti-environmental and conservative interests have to spend so much on their campaigns? To counteract coverage by the EW, the R-G reported in December. "It's worth money, and it doesn't get counted" in campaign finance records, Eugene Mayor Jim Torrey complained to the R-G about EW's campaign coverage. The glowing pro-Torrey and pro-developer coverage in the R-G and on local TV must just not be worth nearly as much. BEST UNDERCOVER WORK At a Lane County Sheriff's deputy Christmas party, officers put two naked passed-out deputies together in bed and took a picture. The wild party included officers allegedly grabbing women's breasts and buttocks, dry-heaving, fighting, and intimidating witnesses, according to an internal investigation of the 2001 party that was covered-up until this year. "Wow, those cops really party it up," a rookie female deputy said. BEST PLACE FOR HOMELESS TO SHOWER Ducks locker room at Autzen Stadium BEST FREE BUZZ ON FRIDAYS Several local markets and delis offer free wine tasting on Friday afternoons. You can start out at New Frontier Market and Monroe Street Café, which do tastings from 5 to 7 pm, and then hit up Cornucopia from 7 to 9. All three stores put out crackers and cheese with their wine. And just to keep the ball rolling, you can return to Monroe Street Café on Saturdays for free beer tasting from 5 to 7. But for even the cheapest among us, it can be hard to stagger away without buying a bottle or two. BEST NAME OF A LOCAL ACTIVIST Eugene Organ (of Lane Independent Living Alliance) BEST WAY TO TERRIFY A NEIGHBORHOOD During a 2002 drug raid in the Whiteaker neighborhood, 59 officers drove an armored truck to three residences and exploded "flash-bang" grenades, shaking the windows and waking neighbors. SWAT police smashed through the doors of three homes without knocking, then forced the residents out of bed without clothes while police ransacked their homes. No drugs were found and no charges were filed, but now the victims are taking the police to court and seeking at least $25,000 in damages. BEST LOCAL SHOT AT A WORLD RECORD On Cinco de Mayo this year, patrons at Taylor's Bar and Grill attempted to set a world record by simultaneously drinking the most tequila shots, aiming to trump the 2001 record of 191 shots. And they did; at 11 pm, partygoers slammed 195 shots of tequila. Unfortunately, the organizers of the event didn't know that they'd already been beaten. Students at Australia's Macquarie University drank 1,049 simultaneous shots of tequila in October 2003. BEST USE FOR WHACKED-OFF DREADS Stuffing SUV tailpipes BEST WAYS TO CLEAN UP EUGENE Ban Styrofoam take-out containers Mandatory emission inspections for all vehicles Composting toilets in the city manager's office Put some teeth in local government ethics rules End the contracting out of city legal services Hire cops with expertise in conflict resolution BEST USE OF LOCAL SWAT TEAM Cleaning up at dog parks BEST STRESS-RELIEVING BREAK FROM WORK The swing on 12th street between Lincoln and Lawrence is right between the sidewalk and the street and very close to the EW offices. Nothing's better than taking a short break on deadline day and going for a quick swing. Sure puts things in perspective.
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