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Slant: Short opinion pieces and rumor-chasing notes News: Happenin' Biz: Solarc A & E FOGGY COP WATCHING Will the police oversight that the public demanded overwhelmingly by a vote a year ago be public? That question was left up in the air Dec. 13 when a sharply divided Eugene City Council voted to pass an ordinance implementing the police auditor and review board. An earlier draft of the ordinance shrouded public oversight of the police in secrecy. The rules emphasized the maximum secrecy allowed by law in the review process with secret meetings, names withheld and possible confidentiality agreements by board members. The draft ordinance required the supposedly independent auditor and board to comply with the police and city manager's confidentiality policies and with confidentiality requirements the police union and manager have or will agree to in labor contracts. Both the manager and union previously opposed independent police review. At a public hearing on the ordinance, David Hinkley, a neighborhood leader, warned that the oversight "needs to be transparent" to restore trust in the police. "Otherwise you're wasting your time." But at the council meeting, city attorney Sharon Rudnick told elected officials, "the council can't legally exempt the auditor or the board from the application of the collective bargaining agreement. It's illegal." That collective bargaining agreement, previously arrived at without council direction or approval, requires that the "personnel files of all employees shall be considered confidential in accordance with Oregon's Public Records law." The city has construed that phrase to mean it must refuse to release almost all police disciplinary records. But it's unclear how the city arrived at its blanket assertions of secrecy based on the contract and the law. The Oregon Public Records law does not require that the city keep any of the records secret. It does not allow secrecy for records pertaining to complaints where no discipline was imposed. Where discipline was imposed, the records may be withheld, but only if the public interest in secrecy outweighs the public interest in disclosure, according to the law. It remains unclear whether the independent auditor is bound by the manager, union and city attorney's restrictive interpretation of the union contract and state records law or may follow an outside opinion. That's what the council ended up doing with the question of who controls the supposedly independent auditor's staff. Earlier, City Manager Dennis Taylor and his city attorney had claimed that the city manager had legal authority over the independent auditor's staff despite the charter amendment to create the independent oversight function. But police oversight supporters offered a more independent legal interpretation, and the 5-4 progressive council majority pushed to make police oversight independent. The issue came up for a third discussion Dec. 13. But Councilor George Poling, a former sheriff's deputy, withdrew a motion to give the manager power over the auditor. "I see the votes aren't there," he said. The whole power struggle has left councilors scratching their heads about Eugene's power structure. On the auditor staff issue, the attorney appeared to represent the interests of the manager against the council's. Does the city attorney work for the unelected manager or for the elected council? The council voted to schedule that "Who's the client?" question for a work session on Jan. 31. — Alan Pittman
PECULIAR GIFTING Former Mayor Brian Obie was back at City Club's "Holiday Gifts" program Dec. 22 for an unusual second year in a row; but this year, instead of offering bags of coal to progressives in city government, the contentious Obie dedicated his sooty gifts to Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld for their performance in the Iraq War. Obie did manage to get in one dig at the council with coal for Councilor Bonny Bettman for her confrontation with former Assistant City Manager Jim Carlson. Every December, City Club hosts its traditional program inviting community members to respond to the question "If you could give any gift to the community, what would it be and why would you give it?" Presenters this year in addition to Obie were Suzanne Arlie, founder of Arlie & Co.; Amelia Abel of Sheldon High School's life skills program; Dan Williams, VP for administration at the UO; Jenny Ulum, founder and CEO of The Ulum Group; Dave Hauser, executive director of the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce; Caitriona Bolster of KWAX radio; Mari Dole of Lane Independent Living Alliance's reading for the blind program on the Internet; Jerry Diethelm, architect; Alan Pittman, reporter for EW; Diane Dietz, reporter for the R-G; George Russell, 4J superintendent; Alan Zelenka and Mike Clark, incoming city councilors; and Rabbi Jonathan Seidel of the Or HaGan Jewish Community. Suzanne Arlie's gift to the community was sharing the vision and "super powers" of her husband, John Musumeci, whom she described as a champion for "truth, justice and expansion of the urban growth boundary." Amelia Abel's gift was for "all people to look at people who are different and see how they are left out." She said as a person with Down Syndrome, she is "tired of living on the outside" of society. Alan Pittman held forth a vision of a trolley car returning to Eugene, a community swimming pool and parklands along the river. Diane Dietz's gift was "radical acceptance" of everything and everyone in Eugene as part of what makes our town unique. George Russell's gift was a pair of bifocals to allow us to "see the details of what Eugene is all about, and also see into the distance for what Eugene can become." Jerry Diethelm liked the trolley idea and noted that the "ST" in Willamette St. should stand for Sustainable Trolley, one that runs on "donated trans fat." "Praise the lard," he said. Other gifts included more civility and humor in city government, bringing arts to neighborhoods and jails, the joys of volunteering, a Nordstrom store, a downtown carousel, a new slogan to replace "The World's Greatest City for the Arts and Outdoors," and "massive doses of Valium in the water supply."— Ted Taylor
NEIGHBORS DEFEND AMAZON A public hearing about Green Valley Glen dragged on for more than six hours Dec. 13, revealing a deep schism between the developer and neighborhood activists who want to see the forested parcel protected. The meeting concerned a proposed housing development on 40 acres in the Amazon Creek headwaters off Nectar Way and Dillard Road. Developer Joe Green's attorney, Mark Hoyt, took the first hour to pump the proposed subdivision as an ecologically sensitive design that will leave almost half of the property undeveloped, clustering 113 homes on low-quality habitat while protecting stream corridors and steep slopes. "We want to preserve the site as naturally as possible," he said. Then experts hired by Southeast Neighbors did their best to erode Hoyt's testimony, arguing that the subdivision would compromise homeowner safety, sensitive wildlife habitat and Amazon Creek water quality. Southeast Neighbors President Kevin Matthews presented a slide show with aerial photographs illustrating what he claims are unstable soils. Geologists Gunnar Schlieder and Michael James confirmed that soil is already "creeping" on Green's development site, and the potential for landslides is high. Hydrologist Al Johnson testified that water on the site contains unacceptable levels of arsenic, and that any large-scale soil disturbance would likely increase those levels. Amazon Creek already exceeds the maximum arsenic concentration permitted under the federal Clean Water Act. The site is home to sensitive and threatened species such as pileated woodpeckers, red-legged frogs and wayside aster. Neighbors have been fighting the development for more than two years; before that, the city twice fumbled opportunities to buy the property and preserve it as parkland. Hearings official Ann Corcoran Briggs will make her ruling by Feb. 2. — Kera Abraham U.S. DEATHS NEAR 3,000 Another landmark number is approaching as the number of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq approaches 3,000. This week the total stands at around 2,950. Local peace activists are planning actions and a candlelight vigil on the evening of the day The Register-Guard announces that the 3,000th U.S. soldier has been killed. A candelight vigil is being planned for 5 pm that day along with bell ringing and the reading of the names of fallen Oregonians, at the old Federal Building at 7th and Pearl. Organizers say other actions will be planned around Eugene throughout the day. For more information, call 485-1755. Meanwhile, United for Peace and Justice has announced plans for a national march Jan. 27 in Washington, D.C., for an end to the occupation of Iraq. Leslie Cagan, national coordinator of UFPJ, says, "On Election Day the voters delivered a dramatic, unmistakable mandate for peace. Now it's time for action." A Eugene contingency is planning to attend the D.C. demonstration. Looking further ahead, major anti-war actions are being planned for the March 19 fourth anniversary of the war. Local actions and activities will likely be a few days earlier on March 16 and 17. FAMILY BURNED OUT A Eugene woman and her adult son who has Down Syndrome lost just about everything they owned in a house fire last week. Lovina Witty and her son Chris are living with neighbors while they figure out how to recover from their loss. Witty is described by her friends as an "extraordinary woman" and "amazing" in her generosity to others in Eugene. She was honored as "Volunteer of the Year" by a local disability organization in 1990. She supports her family by cleaning houses. Her small home in the River Road area was built in 1973. "She went out for an errand this last Sunday to buy cat food," says her son-in-law Brian Okken. "She returned home to find her house in flames. The damage is extensive. The fire department said that the fire was started in electrical wiring in a wall behind the microwave in the kitchen. The fire smoldered for a long time, then traveled up the wall to the roof." Four of her five cats died in the fire and smoke. Okken says Witty owns her home but was uninsured at the time of the fire. The Red Cross has been notified. Meanwhile, family and friends are asking for help over the holidays. A Lovina Witty Fire Relief Fund has been established at Washington Mutual Bank. To help with cleanup and reconstruction or to donate furniture or other items, call (509) 499-6435.
KFED'S FANTASY We know a publicity stunt when we see one, but in this case, we're indulging it. Failed radio station Success FM has become KFED-FM, as in Kevin Federline, awful rapper and soon-to-be ex-husband of pop starlet Britney Spears. Just a year ago, KCGR-FM in Cottage Grove moved to Eugene and became Success FM, an all-news station broadcasting locally at 94.9. The news components of the station have now folded, but station owners have apparently come up with a temporary solution. Often seen in strip clubs wearing his trademark white tank undershirt, low-saggin' pants and an unoriginally skewed baseball cap, Federline moonlights as a male model. Oh, and he also raps. Terribly, as evidenced by his critically snubbed album, Playing With Fire. But even if Federline himself has become a national joke, station owner Steve Master swears that 94.9 KFED-FM is the real deal. A Dec. 19 press release from Diamond Peak Media states: "While some ridicule and revile Kevin Federline, his star now shines bright 24 hours a day on 94.9 in Eugene, Oregon … This is my Christmas present to Oregon!" Still disbelieving, EW tried to nail Master on the spoof. Asked his favorite K-FED song, Master put us on hold (yes, the hold music was K-Fed) and then returned to say, "America's Most Hated." Asked whether the station's call letters have changed, Masters admitted that they're still technically KDPM. "We're KFED-FM like we were Success FM," he said. Asked how the station will fill the airwaves with Federline's single album, Master said, "I'm getting a lot of calls. I gotta go." On Dec. 19, indeed, K-Fed's lyrics choked the airwaves at 94.9. — Kera Abraham
SOLARC A & E
Up on the roof above their offices, architects Jan Fillinger and Galen Ohmart (left and right in the photo) and engineers Gene Johnson and Mike Hatten show off the photovoltaic array that provides a portion of their electricity. Four years ago, the four combined forces to launch Solarc Architecture and Engineering, specializing in projects that have environmental sustainability as one of the main design goals. "We're working on a couple of houses that will be completely off the grid," says Fillinger, who has incorporated energy efficiency in his work since the mid-'80s. "We're designing systems to capture stormwater from the roof to flush toilets and irrigate plants." A regional leader in the field, Solarc conducts energy audits and consults with builders and government agencies on efficiency and sustainability issues. Solarc also encourages energy efficiency among its own employees, offering reduced-price LTD passes to those who leave the car at home or up to $50 monthly in cash to those who walk or bike to work. Learn more at www.solarc-ae.net— Paul Neevel
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