Slant

• If you haven’t already voted, chances are that ballot is still hanging out on your kitchen table or by the door, feeling neglected. It’s not a big ballot with a string of confusing measures — that comes in November. This ballot will only take a few minutes, but primaries are important in Oregon because in nonpartisan races, such as County Commission, City Council and EWEB, candidates getting more than 50 percent of the vote go on unopposed to the general election. The same holds true in the Oregon AG race since both candidates are Democrats. 

• County Commission candidates Rob Handy, Pat Farr and Nadia Sindi drew a small crowd for an evening City Club forum April 12, with Handy and Farr getting a little testy with each other while Sindi was looking queasy. She was suffering from food poisoning and was probably wishing to be anywhere else. Hopefully she will be recovered for the next two forums (see Activist Alert). 

• Strong turnout for the rally downtown Monday calling for justice in the Trayvon Martin shooting case in Florida. The message was clear that racial profiling persists in our culture, and even wearing a hooded sweatshirt can make you a target. Local activists used the rally and march to point out that Eugene’s black population was segregated, not so long ago, in a ghetto along the river. On a side note, we’ve heard complaints about an EPD crime prevention public service ad on local TV recently that had an actor in a hoodie portraying a criminal. Ouch!

• We have ranted for years about better connecting the UO and downtown, about encouraging infill rather than pushing out the urban growth boundary (UGB), about education being Eugene and Springfield’s premier industry. So, moment of truth: In spite of objections, mostly from the left, we still support the Capstone project, high-end housing for as many as 1,200 students on the old Eugene Hospital and Clinic site on Willamette Street. Lots of valid issues are bubbling up. Too big? Bad design? Too much parking? Too far from campus? Adequate staffing to oversee student behavior?

• It’s time to stop this odd connection between the exclusion zone and the shortage of jail beds. Deciding between safety and the Fourth Amendment is a false choice. The council vote this week to extend the Downtown Public Safety Zone (aka exclusion zone) until November isn’t as bad as it could have been, but seven more months of an unconstitutional lack of due process is four years too long. Kudos to Councilors Betty Taylor and Mike Clark for their no votes. 

• We’re sad to hear of the passing of Svitlana Kravchenko, the much-lauded director of the UO’s masters program in environmental and natural resources law. She died Feb. 10 in Eugene at the too-young age of 62. She was known worldwide for her strong advocacy for reforming public policy on environmental matters. She traveled and lectured in dozens of countries and authored 12 books and hundreds of academic articles.