Eugene Weekly : News : 01.26.06
News Briefs: OLCV Tallies Vote Records | Frustrating City Web Site | Funding for Cleaner Air | Porter Honored | Quoteable |
Slant: Short opinion pieces and rumor-chasing notes
News:
People or Parking?
The UO offers incomplete answers on Westmoreland.
Happening Person: Jerry Ross
OLCV TALLIES VOTE RECORDS
How did Lane County commissioners vote in 2004-05 on issues with environmental implications? Not very well overall, according to the Environmental Scorecard released Jan. 19 by the Oregon League of Conservation Voters. Pete Sorenson once again earned a 100 percent pro-environment record and Anna Morrison once again earned a zero in the semi-annual report.
The average score was 42.8 percent, down from 60 percent in the previous scorecard of 2003. The drop in averages was due in part to a changeover in the East Lane position. Tom Lininger had a 100 percent record, but resigned in early 2004. Don Hampton was appointed to take his place, but then Hampton lost to conservative Faye Stewart.
The second-highest pro-environment voting record went to Bill Dwyer (64 percent), followed closely by former Commissioner Hampton (63 percent). Bobby Green and new Commissioner Stewart each earned 25 percent voting records. Green's record dropped from 36 percent in 2003. Newcomer Stewart was evaluated based on only four votes; the outgoing Hampton evaluated on eight votes.
"The scorecard separates true stewards of our environment from those who just talk that way," says Jan Wilson of the Lane County Chapter of OLCV. "This commission's grade shows that they clearly put special interests before the public interest here in Lane County."
The Lane County Chapter looked at 12 key votes that had an impact on: sprawl into rural areas, protections for natural areas and wildlife, development on prime forest and farmland and funding for inventory of fish and wildlife habitats. A majority of commissioners voted nearly every time against environmental safeguards, according to the report.
"The developer-friendly majority on the County Board of Commissioners seems intent on turning Lane County into Southern California," says Tim Sutton of the OLCV Steering Committee. "Their misguided planning decisions will lead to increased sprawl.."
The full report, including a description of the issues that came before the commission, and a report on state lawmakers, is available online at www.olcv.org/lane The OLCV report on the Eugene City Council is due in early February, delayed by the inability of the OLCV to research votes using the city website (see story that follows).
Coinciding with the release of the county Environmental Scorecard, the Bus Project of Lane County is planning a fun-filled event, called, "The Forest Family Feud! Politics with a Twist," to be held at 6 pm Thursday, Jan. 26 at Cozmic Pizza downtown. The free event for all ages will be hosted by Joseph Calbreath of KMTR-TV.
Organizers say the event promises "plenty of learning and laughs to be had, so anyone looking for a good time and to expand their understanding of environmental issues in Oregon should attend."
FRUSTRATING CITY WEBSITE
Back in August, Eugene City Manager Dennis Taylor called the city's new website "another example of the city's commitment to open government and enhanced access to public information," lauding the web portal's "convenient access" to a wide range of city information.
But Taylor must not have used the website much before he spoke. Last week Taylor admitted the website has been subject to "frequent complaints" for its slow-loading pages and will have to be fixed.
Jan Wilson, a local environmental activist, complained to the City Council Jan. 23 that with the city's new web portal "almost never am I able to get what I want." Unlike other city and county sites, the Eugene website is tedious to use and frequently crashes her computer, she said.
"Your voice joins a chorus of constituents," Councilor David Kelly replied. Kelly, a computer consultant, said he's even heard complaints from city staff. "Navigating it is very challenging," he said. To fix the problem "will take some significant work."
Unlike most other government and commercial sites, the city website uses an automated portal that makes outside links to internal pages of the website impossible. Such links are key to the usefulness of the Internet. The site also relies heavily on slow-loading, cumbersome and difficult to search document image (pdf) files and has had trouble working well with Internet Explorer, the most common web browser, and with dial-up modems, the most common way to connect to the Internet. — Alan Pittman
FUNDING FOR CLEANER AIR
A group of local and federal agencies, nonprofits and businesses are partnering to encourage Oakridge residents to improve energy efficiency in their homes.
The Oakridge Warm Homes project will direct residents toward funding from agencies such as Lane County Rural Development, Lane Electric Co-op, Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority (LRAPA), the Oregon Department of Energy, Oregon Housing and Community Services, the USDA, the EPA and St. Vincent de Paul Society. The consulting firm Good Company is facilitating the program with support from the American Lung Association.
The agencies involved in the Warm Homes project represent a spectrum of interests, from low-income housing to energy conservation, but one likely end result is cleaner air in Oakridge, where particulates from wood burning have compromised the air quality. "Their agenda is different from our agenda, but everybody wins," said LRAPA spokeswoman Kim Metzler. "A lot of people in Oakridge use wood stoves when it's cold. If the air is stagnant, [pollution] really builds up in the community."
Funding could subsidize homeowners for changing out catalysts on wood stoves, replacing wood stoves with other heat sources, insulating, re-wiring homes and repairing roofs, all of which can improve energy efficiency. The help could come in the form of rebates, grants and no-interest loans, Metzler said.
Oakridge residents interested in the Warm Homes project can attend an informational meeting and fill out an application for funding at 9:30 am Saturday, Jan. 28 at the Middle Fork Ranger Station on Highway 58. Applications are also available at Oakridge City Hall. — Kera Abraham
PORTER HONORED
A community memorial service for former Congressman Charles O. Porter will be held at 2 pm Monday, Jan. 30 at First Congregational Church, 1050 E. 23rd Ave. in Eugene. The Rev. Greg Flint will speak, along with numerous other community leaders.
Porter died in Eugene Jan. 1 at the age of 86 from complications of Alzheimer's disease. He was considered a political maverick in his day, advocating unpopular positions, such as admitting China to the U.N. and opening trade with China, reforming U.S. foreign policy in South America, halting nuclear testing, decriminalizing marijuana, maintaining the separation of church and state, and challenging corporate power abuse.
A reflection on his political career by a former aide Laura Olson can be found in the EW archives for Jan. 12.
QUOTEABLE
In his new book Reason: Why Liberals Will Win the Battle for America, Robert B. Reich writes on the war on terrorism: "These words are meant to suggest that terrorism can be subdued through military actions staged against easily identifiable adversaries, involving bombs and troops, leading to decisive victories. The term 'war' also creates the impression that suspensions of civil liberties, invocation of censorship, or the extraordinary powers vested in the president during such an emergency will be temporary measures until the 'war' ends. In fact, fighting international terrorism is not like fighting a war. It's more like controlling crime, requiring continuous policing and cooperation among law enforcement personnel all over the world."
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SLANT A testy Dave Frohnmayer is acting like the UO is the University of Dave rather than the University of Oregon. On the controversial sale of Westmoreland student housing issue he's told the Board of Higher Education, UO Senate, state legislators and student groups to basically butt out. But Frohnmayer would do well to remember that even if taxes don't pay for most of the operating costs, the UO is owned by the people of Oregon. Frohnmayer is a public servant employed by a public university. City Club of Eugene's lineup of Friday lunch speakers includes Congressman Peter DeFazio this week at the DAC, bumping back for a week state Sen. Bill Morrisette's talk on the need to elect LTD's Board of Directors. Looking ahead, former Gov. John Kitzhaber is on the schedule for March 31. Last week it was Michael Ronkin, ODOT's Bicycle and Pedestrian Program manager. Bikers and walkers get a few crumbs of the pie when it comes to state transportation funding, but it was inspiring to hear an ODOT guy promoting and justifying alternatives to conventional car culture. Ronkin talked about the joys and conveniences of urban living and offered an example: the fellow who didn't make much money but was able to enjoy a grand European vacation every year because he saved $5,000 by not owning a car. Probably the strongest point Ronkin made was that we have the power to decide what kind of city we want to be, in terms of transportation and livability. We craft our future with nearly every decision we make — from development to road projects to charter schools. Money drives politics in the U.S. to a degree that has wrecked the foundations of democracy, as illustrated by the latest D.C. lobbying scandals. Campaign finance reform hasn't been a high priority in Congress, and hasn't stirred any great crusades in Salem, so it's up to local governments to do something. We hear a plan is in the works to put before local voters a measure calling for public financing of City Council and mayor races. Portland's already doing it. It's time for cities and counties to fill the leadership vacuum. Is Eugene in a race with Springfield to see which city can grow the fastest? The Register-Guard appears to think so, judging by the page one "rivalry" article last week on how Springfield issued building permits for more development than Eugene. Of course, the people out at Chad Drive are a distinct minority. A recent city survey showed that only 8 percent of Eugene people think the city is growing too slowly. According to the annual survey, respondents have repeatedly named the city's small size as one of the top reasons for living here. The zeal and massive expenditure of resources to track down environmentalists who have committed crimes of sabotage is astounding — and disturbing. One of the FBI's "highest domestic terrorism priorities," according to FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III, is to prosecute people who commit crimes "in the name of animal rights or the environment." Not many cold-blooded murderers get this much attention. Nor do many perpetrators of white collar crimes or massive corruption. Illegal logging alone causes an estimated $4 billion of destruction of public and private resources globally, not counting ecological damage. American companies are profiting from this destruction, but are their CEOs being pursued and prosecuted as eco-terrorists? We haven't seen that headline lately. So why is the federal government making eco-sabotage such a high priority? It's political, and it's a distraction. The White House's inability to capture, kill or even silence Osama bin Laden is a major embarrassment. Iraq is splitting into warring factions. Afghanistan is now run by drug lords cranking out an estimated 87 percent of the world's opium and heroin. The trick is to turn America's attention to some misguided arsonists and chalk up a few "successes" in the war against terrorism, and bash the environmental movement at the same time. SLANT includes short opinion pieces, observations and rumor-chasing notes compiled by the EW staff. Heard any good rumors lately? Contact Ted Taylor at 484-0519, editor@eugeneweekly.com |
JERRY ROSS
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Eugene artist Jerry Ross began painting at age 7 in Buffalo, N.Y., when his art teacher got him into classes at the Albright Art School. "I was the only little kid," he says. "All the others were teenagers." When the school closed five years later, Ross took a few private lessons. "After that I've had no formal training," he says. "I've self-studied pretty much continuously." Ross got into teaching through the Teacher Corps and spent a year teaching science (and pursuing his painting) in Naco, N.M., before he moved to Eugene in 1974. "I fell in with UO art students," he says. "My first show was at Max's Tavern." He studied computer science at the UO in the '80s, and has taught computer science at LCC for 13 years. A long-time member of the New Zone Art Collective, Ross was a primary founder of the annual Salon des Refusés and of the Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts. The year 2000 was a breakthrough year for recognition of his art, with a solo exhibit in Loiano, Italy, and a top award in the Mayor's Art Show. Ross will give a gallery talk on "Post-Impressionism and European Art" at 2 pm Saturday, Jan. 28 at the UO's Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. -By Paul Neevel
