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MASQUERADING? I read with interest the recent letter to the editor (10/6) from Bill Smee accusing me of masquerading as a moderate after years of being an "extreme right-wing, anti-labor activist." I admit to getting on in years, but I'm honestly having trouble remembering exactly when I was an extreme right-wing, anti-labor activist. Was it in 1990 when, as a Lane County commissioner, I opposed Ballot Measure 5? Was it in 1992, when I opposed and actively campaigned against Ballot Measure 9, the OCA's anti-gay statewide ballot measure? Was it in 1994, when I publicly opposed the measure that would have repealed Oregon's prevailing wage law? Was it in 1995, when as Oregon labor commissioner I joined Gov. John Kitzhaber and Attorney General Ted Kulongoski in signing an amicus brief with the U. S Supreme Court successfully supporting efforts to overturn Colorado's anti-gay initiative? Was it in 1996, when I debated Bill Sizemore more times than any other elected official of either party in opposition to Measure 47, further limiting property taxes for schools and local governments? Was it in 1997, when I was the only statewide elected official to publicly testify in favor of the Oregon Employment Nondiscrimination Act outlawing discrimination based on sexual orientation? Was it in 1998, when I was running for reelection as labor commissioner and Bob Shiprack, executive secretary of the Building and Construction Trades Council was co-chairman of my campaign and I received endorsements from labor unions representing electricians, plumbers, steamfitters, cement masons, ironworkers, operating engineers, bricklayers and others? Was it in 1999, when I reversed the ruling of my predecessor and held that transgender and transsexuals are protected from discrimination under Oregon's disability law? Was it in 2000, when I made television commercials (along with Kitzhaber) opposing Sizemore's ballot measure effectively prohibiting public employee unions from engaging in political activities? Was it in 2002 when I was the only Republican gubernatorial candidate to support collective bargaining rights for farm workers? Admittedly, I don't expect to find a lot of philosophical soul-mates among readers of a publication that is already questioning whether Mayor Kitty Piercy is a "real" progressive. I do, however, think it is not too much to expect a modicum of respect for the historical record even when attempting to smear someone whose politics you dislike. Jack Roberts, executive director , Lane Metro Partnership
POLICE EXCESSES Why did six Eugene police officers respond when my daughter's friend did her a favor by jumping a fence to retrieve the bike lock that she had dropped? Why was it necessary for the police to use a pain compliance hold on this young man? Why did they handcuff him and frighten him before ticketing him? After years and years and years of complaints against the Eugene Police Department, why do they continue to over-react, particularly when responding to situations involving crowds, young people, or people of color? When will the EPD learn to stop abusing the people for whom they work? The next time the Eugene Police Department asks the voters for money, I will vote "NO!" David P. Johnson, PhD, Eugene
CHRONIC WHINING Regarding the letter "This Paper Sucks" (9/29). I am so sorry that when the writer moved here there wasn't a newspaper waiting just for him. I read your paper every week. I don't agree with some of your articles, explorations of musicians and artists I've never heard or heard of. I also disagree with his use of "hip" in reference to a city where I was born and raised. I support EW, having to deal with every letter written by some malcontent who's angry when things don't go his way. Corrective criticism is far more effective than chronic whining. Hey! The Portland Mercury is on the net. Read it! But this guy states he still reads the EW just to stay miserable. I may not agree with all of Lois Wadsworth's film reviews but she is a very nice person and doesn't deserve to be attacked for doing her job. I'd be interested in seeing how good a job the writer would do with Lois's column. But then how many times can you write about Hedwig and The Angry Inch? I remember when you were the Observer, then What's Happening. Things change. There is a bicycle bridge, in Eugene, named after a man who was scoffed at and ridiculed in the 40s and 50s because he rode a bicycle and he was an adult. If the writer is angry because he didn't see his already well known local groups written up in EW, why not check out the musicians he complained about not knowing? Isn't that what a newspaper is supposed to do? Expose. It's called ... "an open mind." Colin Campbell, Eugene EDITOR'S NOTE: David Shellabarger tells us he is NOT the author of the letter "This Paper Sucks," so we are editing out his name in this and other letters in response.
ABSURD SUGGESTION I'd like to respond to the letter in last week's EW (9/29). Comparing EW to The Portland Mercury is like comparing Time or Newsweek to the National Enquirer (neither are great periodicals of unbiased news, but some are more real than others). The Mercury being on the side with the Enquirer. The Mercury has been littering the streets of Portland for the past five years or so. It emanated from a rather excellent weekly in Seattle called The Stranger. The Stranger started in the early '90's as a hipper weekly than the stodgy old Seattle Weekly. The editors were radical and aptly represented the burgeoning youth scene happening in the streets and clubs of Seattle during the waning moments of the grunge scene. Their journalism and critiques of film, food, and music was usually cutting edge and generally accurate (and had the effect of sharpening the galley's at the Weekly). The Mercury, on the other hand, has been an embarrassment since it's conception. They make up half of the paper, and their film, music, and food reviews generally suck! I often read the letters to the editor as the only truthful and intelligent part of the paper. The EW may not be as fun a read as the Mercury, but it is miles above in journalistic integrity and intelligent readership involvement. The usual letter to the editor in the Mercury is someone complaining about their band being less than gloriously reviewed, or some sick born-again Christian denouncing the whole of Portland's alternative set to the depths of hell. At EW the letters are mostly from people who genuinely care about the world, Eugene, and the issues concerning all of us — in a rational, detailed, accurate, and intelligently written manner. I agree that the EW leaves much to be desired. So perhaps it may grow up and seize the opportunity to make itself a great weekly. But to encourage it to be like the Mercury is absurd. Jonathan Seraphim, Eugene
ANOTHER TRAVESTY Now that Bush has gotten John Roberts through the confirmation process with little more than a grunt from our new chief Supreme Court justice, Bush is now promoting another travesty on the American public with his nomination of Harriet Miers. Sounds to me like Bush is producing a re-make of that old classic, The Bride of Frankenstein. L. Michael Adler, Creswell
MARCH ON D.C. District Attorney Doug Harcleroad and Sheriff Russ Burger want more money, so they convened the Public Safety Task Force meetings in which I was invited to participate. They couldn't gather a super-majority, let alone unanimous support regarding a source of revenue. Let me repeat my revenue-generating suggestion I first made in August. To date, Bush's vanity war has cost the U.S. over $197 billion, and has cost Oregon almost $11.6 billion. The out of control power and money grabbing happening in Washington, D.C., can't be reined in by the Legislature or the judiciary because they are in the pocket of the military industrial complex. It's clear to me the only way to rein in the out of control executive branch is by dissenting actions by members of the executive branch. So, I once again propose a "DA's March on Washington." We should direct Harcleroad to contact every DA in the country and coordinate them to march, en masse, demanding the White house quit it's expensive war actions which are hobbling the DA's efforts to provide public safety. Neil Friedman, Westfir
IT'S THE MUSIC I look forward to the Bravo section of the EW as a great way to inform Eugeneans of the many cultural events available in this town. Thanks and may there be more frequent coverage. As a long time opera aficionado and teacher of an opera appreciation class, I did take exception to the article on the Eugene Opera and the insistence by the writer that it is the spectacle and set design that draws people to opera. Not so. It is the singing, the music that is paramount and any opera goers experience. It's considered a back handed complement when all you can say is "Well the scenery and costumes were good." The author made no mention of the rich musical styles of The Barber of Seville and Hansel and Gretel which leads me to suspect the writer is unfamiliar with the genre as she continued to bubble on about the spectacle. I hope EW will have more articles of opera in future issues that will be more inclusive of the music-the real focus of opera- to better prepare the audience for their listening enjoyment. Alisa McLaughlin , Eugene EDITOR'S NOTE: Writer Emily Freeman actually knows quite a lot about operatic music, but we asked her to write about the visual elements for this issue of Bravo.
ILLEGAL SPEED TRAPS Ilse Kolbuszowski wrote a letter (8/18) that questioned the "priorities" of the Eugene Police Department after her friend received a speeding ticket for going 35 mph in a 25 mph zone on Patterson Street. I liked her sentiments, but would like to suggest that a main priority for the Eugene police system, like any other, is to raise revenue. Consequently, the police system and its officers create illegal speed traps in order to obtain more money from taxpayers. Wait, it gets worse: Eugene police aren't only "raising" as much "revenue" from the public as possible; some are also criminals in uniform, like officer Magana who was found guilty of raping women in Eugene while on duty. However, you can fight illegal speed traps by appealing your ticket. Check out websites like: ticketkiller.com. The basic facts regarding setting speed limits in Eugene is that ODOT must adhere to Federal laws mandated in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), Title 23 (2b-10) and the 8 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Section 630. Many speed limits in cities like Eugene have been arbitrarily set without following the federal law which requires that an engineering speed survey must be performed every five years (by an engineer) and mandates that the speed limit shall be in the 85th percentile of free-flowing traffic. Although, if you appeal for the sake of "justice," you might end up like me in a kangaroo court of Lane County in front of Judge Chuck Carlson who will laugh and yell at you. Michelle Satterlee, Eugene
TWO CHOICES It is clear to me in the wake of the Katrina disaster and our ongoing adventures in (failure) Iraq and Afghanistan that our government has failed. Utterly. In light of this, either of two things need to happen. We embrace European economic socialism in all it's glory or we deal away with government once and for all. Since I can be fairly certain that most of Eugene and the other heavily-populated areas of Oregon would opt for socialism, I'll be moving to New Hampshire. In the meantime, this is something that all free-thinking beings in our "freedom" loving country need to think about. Do we make complete our transition to socialism and the nanny-state, or do we embrace the much vaunted "freedom" we so lack? Do we ask the government to take care of us, or do we take charge of our lives and become responsible for our own successes and failures? Do we allow force and coercion to run our everyday lives, or do we become a voluntary society? Can we allow others to dictate our behavior and mores, or do we ask that they "mind their own ethics"? Do we continue to regulate and tax, or should we allow the (truly) free market to reign? These are questions everybody needs to answer. As far as government is concerned, there is no middle ground; You are either a slave, or free. No more taxes, no more coercion, no more "father knows best," no more lies. Justin Bengtson, Eugene
SPECIAL CREEK I appreciate the environmental coverage in your newspaper. I would like to read more about the South Park Development at the Amazon headwaters. This creek is so special to me, my heart is torn out every time the area is scheduled for development. All the bicycle trails along it and the wetlands farther west would receive degraded water if housing replaces wildlife there. The recent article on this topic neglected an important plant species found only in the woods there: The way-side aster, Aster vialis. Once thought extinct in the wild it was found in south Eugene some years back. I believe this is the only Willamette Valley population. Other special plants live there too. I too saw pileated woodpecker there as well as the most bountiful, beautiful, and splendid masses of the fawn lily, Erythronium sp., ever! I think the city of Eugene or some other concerned group should purchase this wildlife area. Brian J. Dykstra, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado
BODIES ON THE LINE I appreciated Michael Carrigan's article in last week's (9/29) EW about the anti-war demonstrations in Washington, DC, for giving a broad picture of the power and extent of the actions that took place. However, having been there myself, I felt there were a few glaring omissions. Two of the 12 people from Oregon who went to Washington, a grandmother and her grandson from Bandon, were among the 370 arrested with Cindy Sheehan at the White House, and two from Eugene, including myself, were among the 45 arrested at the Pentagon. It's important for your readers to know that local folks placed their bodies on the line to slow down the war machine. And we will bring home the lessons we learned and apply them to actions against the war here. Peter Chabarek, Eugene
SCRAMBLING BUSH He's trying our patience. He says those familiar words "strong resolve." He says that we should increase sacrifice overseas to increase security at home. He says that an inexperienced personal friend is the "best he could find" for a powerful judicial position. He says that the U.S. has thwarted 10 attempts of terrorism, as suicide bombs kill everyday overseas. He is trying to distract us. He redirects the attention from New Orleans, by saying that the government does care, even though they left people stranded on rooftops while refusing foreign aid. He says he favors small business, yet contracts in New Orleans were handed out with no bidding process. He insists that our economical and human resources should be used on war instead of at home. While a soldier is tried and convicted of crimes against prisoners, he pushes for the veto of a law that would protect prisoners from similar atrocities. He is aware of his plummeting support. He is scrambling to find something to grab onto before he sinks into the stinking, vile pit he has dug for himself. He is failing miserably. He thinks we believe him. He knows we don't support him. He is scared. He is against the ropes. He is waiting for the knockout punch. Let's give it to him. Withdraw your support, discontinue your apathy, and stick it to the man. Ray Cole, Eugene
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