News Briefs: Manager Job Hops From Critics | Bridging the Trail | Reggae Show Stirs Protests | Native Renaissance | Dust-Up in the Arts World | Solar Tour is Saturday | Spray Notes Compiled | Slant: Short opinion pieces and rumor-chasing notes Happening People: Kathee Lavine & Anton Ferreira     MANAGER JOB HOPS FROM CRITICS Eugene City Manager Dennis Taylor, who's hopped through five jobs in 15 years, has applied for a manager job in Lawrence, Kan., after three troubled years in Eugene. Taylor's performance reviews by the City Council have been decidedly mixed. While five councilors have generally praised his work, three veteran, progressive councilors have been critical. Councilor Bonny Bettman gave Taylor his lowest marks during his council evaluation in May. Bettman was especially critical of Taylor's failure to launch an internal investigation into the police department's failure to stop years of sex crimes by police officers Roger Magaña and Juan Lara. "The stalling and lack of accountability on this debilitating corruption is serious enough to warrant termination," Bettman wrote. "The same 'circle the wagons' and 'code of silence' culture that contributed to six years' proliferation of Magaña/Lara crimes is part of the city culture all the way to the top." Bettman also faulted Taylor for opposing the creation of an independent police auditor, and then seeking to control the auditor's staff after voters passed a measure to create the function. Taylor told the council this week that his dissatisfaction with the creation of the independent auditor function lead him to apply for the Kansas job. Councilor David Kelly wrote that Taylor had not improved his low performance from the year before. "The manager's generally poor performance in furthering council goals, responding to council direction, and providing council support has not changed." Taylor's critics faulted him for failing to accomplish the top city goal of locating a hospital near downtown, failing to get the Oregon Research Institute development downtown, withholding information from elected officials, forbidding staff from talking to councilors, putting the city bureaucracy's interests over the community's and setting policy instead of following council direction on policy. Taylor "doesn't really run the city, Jim Carlson and a handful of white male executive directors run the city," said Bonny Bettman. "The city is practically on autopilot," she said. After Taylor was hired, "there was no new leadership; he's almost like a figurehead." Carlson, who served as acting manager for a year before Taylor was hired, is one of the most powerful assistant managers the city has ever had and at times has been referred to as Taylor's "co-manager." Carlson has clashed with progressive councilors in the past over proposals for an in-house attorney and city performance auditor, open government and council power. Carlson apologized in April for sending a "disrespectful" and "unprofessional" email to Bettman. If Taylor leaves, Carlson could again become acting manager if Mayor Kitty Piercy appoints him. Bettman said that she's "not surprised" Taylor is looking for another job given the negative evaluations he's received. She also noted that he's been frequently out of town at professional gatherings, apparently "networking." After he left his last job as manager in Billings, Mont., after three years, Taylor explained his short tenure to an online critic. "There is a half-life of a city manager, and one needs to recognize it before everyone else does and move on." — Alan Pittman   BRIDGING THE TRAIL On a cool, cloudy Saturday, a small group of Southeast Neighbors ran their hands over milled beams of Alaskan yellow cedar, a wood so durable that it can last up to 40 years in the in the green wet recesses of the Amazon headwaters forest without chemical preservatives. By 2 pm on Sept. 16, the volunteers too were beaming — they had just installed the third and final bridge on the two-year-old, nearly mile-long Amazon Headwaters Trail. PHOTO: Kevin Matthews That single bridge connects more than the banks of a tributary. It links a publicly-owned corridor in the Spencer's Butte foothills to the Ridgeline Trail system, allowing hikers to tromp from the end of West Amazon Drive to the Fox Hollow trailhead. From there, they can either loop along the lowlands via the new Canyon Drive Headwaters Trail or cross the road and continue up to the Spencer's Butte summit. The bridge also completes a greenway following Amazon Creek from its forested headwaters in southeast Eugene to its Fern Ridge outlet to the west. "Now you can hike or bike along the whole Amazon Creek, including this last piece where the Amazon goes up the slopes of Spencer's Butte," says city parks planner Philip Richardson. "People can see how beautiful it is." The bridge was a community effort from the start. The city bought 13 acres of parkland for the trail for $140,000, using a combination of parks bond measure funds, city stormwater fees and an Audubon Society donation. Oregon's Recreational Trails Program granted $50,000 for trail construction, which was done by a contractor. Westwind Forest Products donated the Alaskan yellow cedar for the bridge, and once the contractor had installed the bridge's footing and beams, four Southeast Neighbors — Kevin Matthews, David Monk, Erik Kelly and Maloy Wilson — put on the decking and hand rails. Richardson and city volunteer coordinator Matt McRea were on hand for logistical support. The Amazon Headwaters Trail, draped with mossy Douglas fir and yew trees and cut by canyons echoing with birdsong, has been popular with hikers since its spring 2004 opening. Before the new bridge's installation, a sign directed hikers to take a detour to avoid eroding the stream's sensitive banks. "People didn't pay a lot of attention to that," Richardson says with a laugh. While everyone cheers the bridge's completion, both city staff and community activists are looking to the future. Southeast Neighbors volunteer Matthews, who is also the director of Friends of Eugene, says that the Amazon Headwaters Trail is threatened by local developers Leslie and Martin Beverly's proposed Deer Brook subdivision, which would put a full-scale city street where the trail is now. "We're hoping this PUD [Planned Unit Development] will be denied and then we can move ahead," Matthews said. The PUD's public hearing is on Nov. 8. Parks planner Richardson is already thinking about future acquisitions for the city trail system. "The vision is that it will connect Mount Pisgah all the way to Fern Ridge," he said. "As we get more money, we buy more land." — Kera Abraham   REGGAE SHOW STIRS PROTEST Contracted musician or inciter of hate? The debate raged this week surrounding Jamaican reggae star Buju Banton, scheduled to play the WOW hall Thursday, Sept. 28. Members of the GLBTQ community and their supporters campaigned through phone, email and demonstration to have Banton's show canceled due to his performance of songs that appear to call for the violent deaths of gay men, and his alleged participation in a 2004 gay-bashing incident (he was later acquitted). Protesters outside the WOW Hall Sept. 26 said they fully support free speech, but want to follow the example set by communities in Los Angeles and San Francisco who convinced clubs to nix Banton's tour following similar protests regarding the 33-year-old singer's controversial — and reportedly unrepentant — past. "We are here to keep violence from coming into our city by invitation," said protester Ann Brown. "The promoter rented the space. The WOW Hall didn't know or didn't ask, so we are here to let them know how important it is to respect all our citizens." The gathering of about 15 protesters held signs during the WOW Hall's staff meeting, and explained to uninformed passers-by that they were asking for the cancellation due to Banton's performance of songs like "Boom, Bye Bye," which advocate burning and throwing acid on homosexuals. Local co-chair of PFLAG, Elise Self, emphasized that most of the opposition recognized the difficulty of canceling a show at such a late date but still felt compelled to ask for what they felt is right. "I know there are financial implications for the WOW Hall and I really support the WOW Hall and I love that they are here in the community. But they need to really stand up and be there and do the right thing." The news came later that day that the venue had decided not to cancel the show. Because it was a rental arrangement between the WOW Hall and Thrasher Productions, WOW Hall staff had little information about Banton prior to the booking, and little in the way of resources to make up for the loss the Portland promoter would suffer if he didn't take the stage. Brown took the information with stoic determination. She immediately sat down and wrote a letter to the WOW Hall asking for more research to be done into the backgrounds of performers brought to Eugene by out-of-town promoters. "This is not just a group of individuals with a cause trying to get action on their behalf," she explained. "Mayor Kitty Piercy supported this cancellation. This is the city fathers and mothers who want to have a city that protects its people from this kind of thing." — Adrienne van der Valk     NATIVE RENAISSANCE W. Richard West Jr., director of the National Museum of the American Indian, will deliver the annual Morse lecture on "Native America in the 21st Century: Out of the Mists and Beyond Myth" at 7 pm Tuesday, Oct. 3 at Room 175, Knight Law Center, 15th and Agate at the UO. W. Richard West, Jr. The free public lecture coincides with the two-year theme of inquiry on indigenous peoples sponsored by the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics. West will explore how the complexity, breadth and depth of Native America and Native American cultural experience have not been fully understood until now. The first citizens of the Western Hemisphere, who numbered in the millions, achieved major accomplishments prior to European contact, including highly populated areas with plazas and ceremonial centers and an advanced knowledge of astronomy. His lecture will also point out how the impact of European contact was "devastating," reducing the Native population by as much as 95 percent and destroying the Native quality of life and culture. Despite the conquest of their land, however, West says there is now a cultural renaissance occurring among Native Americans and they are committed to the maintenance of a cultural present and future. One example is the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, founded and directed by West. DUST-UP IN THE ARTS WORLD "People can't afford tickets in this town! Why don't we have more free shows?" "No, they can; they're just too stupid to read the ads and figure out how to volunteer! And free shows are an insult to the artists!" This is merely one of many — very many — topics covered in the six Sept. 18-20 arts and culture dialogues run by the consultants hired by the city for the Cultural Services Policy Review (hereafter known by its coy acronym CPR). The CPR meetings, convened primarily at the Downtown Library by the Massachusetts consulting firm Wolf, Keens & Co., showcased what many meeting attendees considered to be weaknesses in the process. The situation paper upon which the meetings were based (available at www.eugene-or.gov/CulturalPolicyReview)came from meetings with 20 mostly older, mostly white, mostly powerful people in the arts scene. Some representatives from the UO and LCC felt ignored, as did the WOW Hall, which doesn't appear as an arts resource in the paper. As Wolf, Keens & Co. vice-president Marc Goldring mentioned time and time again, however, the process is in its early days. He said, "We're new in town. Tell us what's missing. What did we get so wrong we should be embarrassed?" Eugeneans of many stripes were happy to oblige, as usual, though the meetings were definitely missing youth (heck, even twenty- and thirty-somethings, but especially teens) and Latino community representatives. One frustrated WOW Hall volunteer said, "If we could all talk to each other and share resources, it's the only way there's going to be real change and vibrancy in the arts." — Suzi Steffen     SOLAR TOUR IS SATURDAY Who says Eugene is too cloudy for solar panels? Not the folks who use, install, promote and finance solar power locally for both water heating and electricity generation. And not only does Eugene/Springfield have adequate sun, but various incentives mean solar system installations can pay for themselves in a few short years. Saturday, Sept. 30 is Eugene's annual Solar Tour, beginning with a pre-tour lecture at 9:30 am at EWEB, 500 E. 4th Ave. The tour itself begins at 10:30 am. Registration at the door is $5 per person, and parking is free at EWEB. The Solar Tour this year, part of the National Solar Tour happening all over the country, will include homes and businesses that also showcase green and sustainable design and materials. Homeowners, builders and designers will be available to discuss the environmentally friendly buildings. This year's lecture presenter is Rudy Berg, building designer and president of the Eugene Chapter of the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild. Don Spiek, a solar expert at EWEB, will talk about incentives available to EWEB customers. Transportation is provided, or maps for self-tours will be provided to paid participants. For more information, call 520-4394 or email emilyevans@msn.com     SPRAY NOTES COMPILED Following last week's EW news story on toxic spraying near schools, Forestland Dwellers has compiled records of notifications for forestry herbicide spraying within approximately 1 mile of Marcola Grade School, Mohawk High School, Triangle Lake School and Twin Oaks Elementary School, according to Jan Wroncy of the group. The records from 1990 to July 2006 are available at www.forestlanddwellers.org For information regarding the increased risk of harm to children from exposure to pesticides and the active and "secret" ingredients in herbicides, please call 344-5044 or visit the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides website at www.pesticide.org         SLANT Eugene City Manager Dennis Taylor probably had one of those "Oh, shit!" moments last weekend when he found out his name had been released as a finalist for the city manager job in Lawrence, Kan. He may not get the job, but regardless, it's good that his frustrations with Eugene are now out in the open. And it's good to shine some fresh light on the issues regarding our city manager form of government. Taylor's biggest mistakes in Eugene have been to not recognize the flaws in our outdated form of city management and not to go along with the citizen and council movement toward reform. He got caught up in the fray and tried influencing policy, which is not his job. His legacy in Eugene could have been assisting the writing of a more democratic charter for the city, one that brings legal services in-house, creates an independent performance auditor, and other substantive changes that bring more accountability, efficiency and transparency to city government. Instead, Taylor and the city attorney dug in their heels in fear of losing power. Meanwhile, we heard Councilor Bonny Bettman say it doesn't really matter if Taylor stays or goes since the city is actually run by Assistant City Manager Jim Carlson and his department head cronies. If that's true — and we've long believed that it is — that's one more huge reason for an independent performance auditor. One of the reasons Dennis Taylor cited for applying for the city manager job in Lawrence, Kan., is that the Midwest town has a vibrant downtown, while Eugene does not. Well, the reason Lawrence, along with Corvallis, Salem, Ashland and many other cities, has a vibrant downtown is because city managers and planners long ago recognized the need to restrict shopping center developments on the outskirts. Eugene has never had such restrictions. So what's happening with downtown development? It appears we are somewhat at the mercy of regional and even national increases in building costs. A New York Times article Sept. 19 says construction costs for a big Los Angeles mixed-use development have jumped 40 percent in three years, and "That jump is consistent with construction cost increases along the West Coast over the same period." So what happens if Whole Foods bags its grocery store plans or decides to build smaller at a different location? We imagine the adjacent and contentious city parking garage project will get the axe as well, saving city taxpayers millions. But we also predict city planners will eventually propose some kind of new parking facility to serve the developing area near the new federal building. Hopefully that project will have more public input and public benefit than what we saw with the Whole Foods garage. Republican guv-hopeful Ron Saxton's campaign says rumors are not true that Saxton is hauling in $1 million each from Eugene timber baron Aaron Jones and southern Oregon's JELD-WEN corporation. Detailed campaign donations reports get filed Oct. 2. Don't be surprised by six-figure donations from Jones and JELD-WEN's Wendt family, who were big givers in the past. Meanwhile, Saxton is touting himself as a lifelong education advocate. Ironically, one of his mailer ads that went out last week had "Saxton for Governer" as the headline. A Portland ninth-grader caught the spelling error and posted it at www.blueoregon.com Most people like, or at least tolerate, children, so it's a safe bet to tout education in campaigning for state legislative offices. But while the candidates are busy hugging hapless people puppies to persuade us that they are the most outrageously dedicated candidates to ever run for office, voters are yawning. It's all very predictable. The R's are saying schools need to be better managed with existing funds, and more money for schools will come eventually from growing the economy and creating jobs. D's are saying we need to pump more money into schools now through retaining the state corporate tax kicker, establishing a rainy day fund and collaborating with the conservatives in Salem to try to find some fuzzy solutions to funding schools. The R's say invest in the economy and education will follow. The D's say invest in education and the economy will follow. Neither side is recognizing the 800-pound kid hulking in the back of the classroom: the gross inequities conservatives have built into our state tax system over the years, inequities that lubricate big corporations while dragging us ordinary citizens in the dirt. And those of us with five-figure incomes are feeling overtaxed and balk at voting for any new taxes. It's a vicious cycle that can only be broken by Democrats in control of the Legislature. Even that is not an immediate solution, but at least the D's are open to shifting a more fair portion of the tax burden back on corporations.   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     KATHEE LAVINE AND ANTON FERREIRA Californian Kathee Lavine and South African Anton Ferreira met in 1982 in Hong Kong, where he was a radio journalist and where she found work teaching art therapy. A year later they moved to Israel together and lived on a kibbutz for six years. "Our kids JoJo and Jesse were born there," says Lavine. "Anton worked as a vegetarian chef." In 1990 the family relocated to the U.S. and settled in Eugene, where Ferreira launched Holy Cow Foods, making packaged organic products for store shelves. "I call it hippie food," he says. "A real milestone was when we started making roll-ups. We just celebrated the 15th birthday of the original recipe." Originated as a food booth at the Oregon Country Fair, Ferreira and Lavine's Holy Cow Café won the bid for the "healthy food" slot when the UO's Erb Memorial Union installed a food court. "This is our 10th year," says Lavine. "I think we were the first all-organic food provider on a college campus. We get mentioned in blogs as one of the favorite things about the university."
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