Mr. Moderate? Torrey's record is not so nice to the environment. BY MARY O'BRIEN I've never been a fan of words like "liberal," "moderate," "conservative," " terrorist" or "radical," Maybe it's the scientist in me that wants words to be clear when they involve voting about the fate of our community, our nation, the world. For instance, when Jim Torrey labels himself a moderate, I don't know what he means. Do you? What comes to your mind? Anything unpredictable for someone whose campaign is being carried financially by logging , developer and big business individuals and organizations? I haven't a clue what "moderate" means in terms of Jim Torrey. Or whether that term is meant to imply that his opponent, Vicki Walker, is not moderate — whatever that means. When Eugene's citizens proposed that they should have the right to know what toxics they are breathing from Eugene manufacturing facilities, then-Mayor Torrey opposed this right-to-know initiative. Eugene citizens passed the law. Since Torrey has no record of voting in the state Legislature or as a city councilor, we have only his record of casting votes to break 4-4 ties in the City Council. When the City Council tied on whether they should go on record opposing Measure 37, he broke the tie, voting to table the motion. The council passed the motion at a later meeting from which he was absent. Torrey now claims that he doesn't like Measure 37 — then why did he table the motion expressing that opinion? When the City Council tied on whether to cut funding for Eugene's stormwater program that was hoping to buy some stream reaches key for retaining water quality, he broke the tie, voting to cut this water quality funding. When the City Council tied on whether to lower development fees for builders building downtown by increasing fees for builders breaking up new land at the edge of the city, he broke the tie, voting against this effort to reduce sprawl. When the City Council tied on whether to remove protections for wetlands from the West Eugene Wetlands Plan in order to build a four-lane highway through them (i.e., the West Eugene Parkway) , he broke the tie to remove wetlands protection. (Speaking of unclear language, isn't "Parkway" an interesting term for a highway that would roar through a park?) When the City Council tied on whether to draft a moratorium on accepting or processing applications for big box stores (more than 50,000 sq. ft.), while researching what other communities have done to limit big-box negative impacts on traffic, clean water and neighborhoods, he broke the tie in favor of continuing to process big-box applications without the research. When the City Council tied on whether to purchase 77 acres of Santa Clara area land for a park instead of tying the parkland acquisition to increased urban sprawl on land outside the urban growth boundary, he broke the tie in favor of joining the park to sprawl. When the City Council tied on whether to give public enterprise zone money only to developers who would build on areas already being used industrially or on sites that needed to be cleaned up because of toxics, he broke the tie in favor of giving enterprise zone money also to developers who would build on land that hadn't previously been developed.   Perhaps Torrey claims to be a moderate because he likes the idea of schools and sports for children. But it's his opponent, Vicki Walker, not him, that the Oregon Education Association is backing with campaign funds. These educators apparently feel that Walker brings more promise for children's education in Oregon. Perhaps Torrey claims to be a moderate because he is a friendly kind of guy — you know, nice. But "nice" and "friendly" are not words that are particularly clear. Do we mean nice to talk with at an informal gathering or nice and friendly to Oregon's environment — the long-term habitat for Oregon's children? Mary O'Brien of Eugene has worked as a public interest scientist since 1981. She can be reached at mob@efn.org
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