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Slant: Short opinion pieces and rumor-chasing notes News: News:
FIGHTING FOR THE HIDEOUT Some of the Northwest's biggest concert promoters are desperately scrambling to rebook huge shows. A small business owner is bracing for a slew of potential lawsuits. And Washington County's three commissioners are sticking to the hardline in their refusal to hear a Measure 37 claim early — the one solution that could keep Horning's Hideout, a popular outdoor concert venue south of Portland, open for the rest of the summer.
On July 6, a Washington County land-use hearings officers released a 34-page ruling rejecting a formal application from Bob Horning and his mother, Jane Horning, to hold outdoor concerts at the 158-acre Horning's Hideout near North Plains. Earlier this year, land-use officers notified the Hornings that they would need to file for formal land-use approval to hold the concerts they've been putting on since 1999, when a bunch of Bob Horning's friends got together and threw an impromptu event. Over the years the concerts have grown in size and popularity, due in part to the beauty of the setting. Horning's Hideout is set in a serene valley with wooded hills, wide open green spaces, lots of room to lounge on the grass and spots to pitch tents. This year's line-up included the Northwest Reggae Fest, the 7th Annual Pickathon and the Shakedown, which have all been relocated (see www.horningshideout.com).While government officials say they're just following the rules, evidence supports a different motivation. It all started when neighbors Carolee and Jay Tyson circulated a letter urging people to sign a "petition of objection." The letter contains numerous allegations including the statement, "Not all, but the majority of the people that attend these events are dread-locked, tie-dyed hippies looking to 'expand their consciousness' for the weekend on a steady diet of drugs and alcohol." Angela Owens, one of the co-founders of the Northwest Reggae Fest, which features mostly black performers, thinks the reason the county is cracking down on Horning is more about the people who attend the concerts than noise, traffic and the other concerns raised by both the neighbors and the code enforcement officers. "Maybe it really just comes down to racism," Owens said. "Maybe that lady looked at Bob (Horning's) website and saw the dreadlocks and the banners and just freaked out." The Hornings are hoping they'll be able to hold one more event at the venue this summer, the String Cheese Incident's Annual Festival, by applying for a permit under the Oregon Mass Gathering Act, a state law governing events with attendance of 3,000 or more people. Bob Horning has also filed a Measure 37 claim, which would supercede the county's ruling. But two of the Washington County commissioners are on record stating they would not vote to hear the Hornings' claim ahead of schedule, even though the waiver request will likely be approved in the fall. So far, Washington County has approved all Measure 37 waivers that have come before them rather than settle with landowners for economic damages. In the meantime Bob Horning is bracing for the worst. "I think they're trying to shut me down," he said. "You will always get a few people at a concert doing drugs. But this neighbor seems to be on a crusade. When I first read the letter that was circulated, I wanted to sue her for defamation. But while this is ongoing, I have no recourse." Buried in legal fees, Horning has put out a plea to supporters to help by donating through a secure PayPal online link on their website. "That was really hard for me to do," he said. "But it's (money) going to be another deciding factor as to whether we're going to open next year." — Melissa Bearns
HEMPFEST HAPPENS The Emerald Empire HempFest overcame numerous obstacles to pull off an event July 15-16 at Washington-Jefferson Park that organizers describe as a "physical success" but a "financial disaster." Preliminary accounting shows an operating budget of $6,000 for the educational hemp "trade show" and celebration, but revenues of only about $1,500, says Dan Koozer of the Hempfest. "We will be continuing to try raising funds," says Koozer. "I need to bang on doors myself, but with the permit process, trying to find insurance and everything else I haven't had time." Koozer says the group applied for a city permit for the event two months early, but could have used more time. "And for the first time we had difficulties getting insurance," trying several companies before getting a timely response and an acceptable bid of $750. "The event itself was excellent," says Koozer. "There were no 'incidents,' everyone was happy; vendors, park personnel and the EPD. We had to agree to a 'zero tolerance' policy towards drugs and marijuana, including medicinal marijuana." Koozer says the crowd was small Saturday and even smaller Sunday. He blames the low attendance on the group's inability to advertise before they had the permit and "uncertainty as to whether we could pull it off." "The event was a success in that we showed that we can conduct an event that isn't a 'danger to the community,'" he says. "The police stayed completely out of the way," other than to keep the nearby bike lanes cleared of parked cars. The first music act Saturday was "death rock" that sent some people running, and even vendors threatened to leave. "Nasty stuff," says Koozer. "Not the kind of music for a peace, love and nature type of event." But the rest of the entertainment went well, and a sizeable number of neighborhood volunteers showed up and "worked their butts off." — Ted Taylor
JOHN HENRY'S CONSOLIDATES As of July 1, local music club John Henry's has one less owner. Brothers and owners Keith and Mark Martin bought out their partner, James Caroll, for exclusive ownership rights of the venue. Caroll and the Martin brothers had been partners since the new location on West Broadway opened in May of 2002. Keith Martin says that John Henry's, known for its bar and local music scene, will continue to operate as before, with no major changes in the works. "Its business as usual," Martin says. "There will be some small changes, we would like to see more early shows as well as more benefit shows, and we're going to keep diversifying." Martin also says that the venue will continue to evolve with the ever-changing and growing interest in local music. Since its original opening in 1992 John Henry's has tried to maintain an image as a kind of Mecca and launching pad for Eugene bands. In other clubs news, the Jazz Station, a new club featuring, you guessed it, jazz, opens this week at 68 West Broadway. Check out their grand opening Friday night. Black Forest owner Mike Neria just opened a new venue, El Dorado, in the former Sher's location at 3000 W. 11th Ave. And Da Houze is now closed and will soon move to a new, to-be-announced, location.— Emily Freeman
CORRECTIONS/CLARIFICATIONS Last week's news story, "Fuel Fight," failed to report how two Lane County representatives voted on the biofuels bill, HB 3481. Rep. Robert Ackerman (D-Eugene) voted no along with Reps. Paul Holvey (D-Eugene) and Phil Barnhart (D-Eugene). Rep. Terry Beyer (D-Springfield) voted yes along with Rep. Debi Farr (R-Eugene).
$300,000
Per Job The Lane County Commission is demanding that the city of Eugene in effect give Hynix tax breaks of up to about $300,000 per new job, if the corporation completes plans to expand its chip plant. But the Eugene City Council says it wants to cap such tax breaks at $30,000 per added job. Concerned about the potential huge loss of funding for already underfunded schools and other government services and skeptical whether such massive giveaways are actually needed to create jobs, the council voted 5-4 July 18 to give the county until July 22 to agree to a tax break cap. Without an agreement the city will seek to terminate the new enterprise zone (EZ) program. "This community wants to help businesses, but not with a blank check," said Eugene Councilor Bonny Bettman. The demands of the Republican and conservative-dominated County Commission have collided with the Democratic, progressive majority on the Eugene City Council to create a legal and political morass. The county and the city co-sponsored an EZ application to the state this spring. Lane County participation was required because a small fraction of the zone falls outside city limits. State law makes the county an equal partner even though the city has about four times more land and lost tax revenue at stake. In April, both the commission and the council passed resolutions in support of the application stating that they intended to impose a "per job created" cap on tax breaks in the new zone. On June 28 the state approved the EZ, but the next day the commissioners voted to not cap the tax breaks per job created. The council voted to withdraw its enterprise zone application, but the state economic development department refused to allow the city to cancel the application and imposed the zone on the city effective July 1 without the cap. Bettman says the city may have legal recourse to sue the county for "breaching the agreement" to include the caps. But even if the city could successfully argue in court that the resolutions were a legally binding agreement that the county breached, the resolutions only refer to a cap and not a specific amount. It could, however, be politically difficult for the county to argue that it wants to give away $300,000 in tax breaks for each new job. Bettman said the commissioner's aggressive fight to give Hynix huge tax breaks while they are "screaming poverty" and calling for big tax increases for public safety will make it harder for them to pass any future tax increases. Under state enterprise zone law, the city cannot easily terminate the EZ on its own, city staff have advised. The city could lobby the Economic Development Department to rescind its earlier refusal to allow the city to withdraw the application. But the department in the past has been a strong booster of Hynix tax breaks. The city could attempt to force the department to cancel the zone by refusing to appoint a local zone manager. Under state law if a sponsor is unwilling to appoint the manager as required, "the director shall order termination of the enterprise zone." Even if such legal strategies worked, the city could still face problems with state laws designed to favor corporate welfare over local control. State law does not allow reduction of EZ tax benefits by more than one-third, so the cap may not be able to be enforced beyond such a reduction. State law also includes grandfathering provisions that could allow Hynix to still receive tax breaks for 10 years even after the EZ is terminated. The private law firm that does the city's legal work, Harrang Long Gary Rudnick PC, also has Lane County and Hynix as clients. The firm has denied any conflicts of interest. How did the city get in such a mess? Councilors mainly blame the county for reneging on the caps, but they're also angry with city staff. Staff did not tell the council before it agreed to apply for an enterprise zone that the County Commission might have effective veto power over any effort to later impose meaningful caps or community job quality standards. In contrast, city staffer Denny Braud did tell the County Commission April 6 that it would have approval authority over the job quality standards, according to meeting minutes. Staff also did not tell the council that the cap would be subject to the one-third limit in state law. "They definitely were not voluntarily forthcoming with information that would have dissuaded us from making an application," Bettman said. This isn't the first time. In 2002 city development staff did not provide the council with key information that could have reversed a close vote in support of an additional $2.2 million tax break for Hynix. City officials said it was an "oversight" that staff did not tell the council that Hynix had filed a major tax appeal while asking the council for yet more tax breaks. City staff have strongly supported Hynix since the corporation (formerly Hyundai) came to town. In 1995 staff secretly formed a "dream team" to help the company win permits to destroy wetlands, and withheld information from the council and public, documents revealed. This also isn't the first time the County Commission has sought to force the city to give Hynix bigger tax breaks. In 1997 Lane County commissioners forced the Eugene council to give Hynix an estimated $93 million more in potential tax breaks if the corporation built later phases. Like this year, the council then had also sought a per job cap on the giveaways. In 1997, Hynix hired former Gov. Neil Goldschmidt to lobby county commissioners. Now, Jack Roberts, a former Republican gubernatorial candidate, is pushing the commission to oppose the city's tax break caps. Robert's directs the local Metro Partnership business lobby, a group partially funded by the city of Eugene.
Flying
High You're leaving for dinner at your favorite restaurant. Walking down your front steps, you get into your car and drive to the café, where you then walk up a flight of stairs. A host shows you through the crowded dining room to your usual table — a tiny one in the corner by the window. You eat, leave, and drive home. And you don't think twice about it.
But people with physical challenges have to think more than twice about such an evening. If they rely on wheelchairs, how will they drive to the restaurant or make it up the flight of stairs, much less through the crowded dining room? If they are blind, will the restaurant have a brail menu, or will someone be available to read the menu to them? People with disabilities face these kinds of challenges every day; challenges that the "temporarily able-bodied" are not likely to meet in their everyday lives. The word "temporarily" is in recognition of the fact that all of us will become disabled at some point, if we live long enough. In 1990, Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Now it's against the law for employers to discriminate against people with disabilities, and mandated that public buildings, transportation, and telecommunications must accommodate people with disabilities. To commemorate the 15th anniversary of the ADA, the Lane Independent Living Association (LILA) will host a week-long celebration beginning July 26. The celebration's main attraction will be a performance, entitled "Flying High," of four one-act plays at the Soreng Theatre at the Hult Center. The performance will be preceded by a gala reception, 7:30 pm hosted by Mayor Kitty Piercy. The plays LILA is producing are written and directed by award winning playwright Bjo Ashwill, who is herself a person with a disability. Ashwill has produced plays both here in Eugene and in Portland, and has been part of the festival for the Actor's Cabaret for the past two years. "LILA suggested that we do something different, something that would attract more people than just those who already know about the ADA," Ashwill says. "We decided we'd do a festival of my one-act plays, each of which has people in it with disabilities as well as temporarily able-bodied actors." LILA is hoping that the celebration and plays will provide an opportunity to bridge the gap between the disabled and non-disabled parts of the community. "Our intent is to entertain, to have fun, but I also think that we'll give people a few things to think about in terms of how much we are all alike — whether we're disabled or not," Ashwill says. Jon West, LILA director, is also trying to get local businesses involved in the celebration. "The businesses are coming aboard because we communicated the fact that this is about the Americans with Disabilities Act, which relates to employment," West says. When a business decides to support the event, they purchase a minimum of 10 tickets to the plays at a price of $15 each. LILA then sends a representative to the business to conduct a 45-minute training in some of the critical issues of the ADA as it relates to employment and public access. West says that different businesses may have different projects going on that could benefit from such training. For instance, one supporter of the event, a medical group, is building a new clinic and found the training to be an opportune time to sit down with people with disabilities and get feedback on the construction of the facility. "I think one of the major draws to LILA bringing businesses in on an event like this is that LILA is a non-profit organization run by and for people with disabilities," West says. "What that means is that when we talk to businesses about the ADA and about accessibility, we're bringing that very strong perspective of people who are actually living with disabilities. People who just don't have to talk about accessibility, but have to face it every day." The four one-act plays, which are comedies, will be performed at 7:30 pm Tuesday, July 26, at the Soreng. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at the Hult Ticket Center and at the LILA office. The ticket price also includes admission to the gala reception that precedes the performance at 6:30 pm in Studio One. The WOW Hall will host 2 pm matinees July 30-31, tickets $5. Both West and Ashwill are enthusiastic about the event, and hope to educate the community on important disability issues through an evening of laughter and learning. "The plays are comedies, which is pretty unique," West says. "If you're going to learn about disability issues, you might as well go to the performance and have fun doing it."
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