Yesterday the sales pitch flyer for the new county courthouse arrived. My knowledge of the current courthouse functioning is limited, but it’s not a big leap to assume Lane County needs a new courthouse, considering that I’m four years older than the current structure and I could sure use some new housing.
But nowhere in the flyer is it discussed how the county came up with this giant-sized bond package. The issues and solutions laid out are quite sensible. But there’s no direct correlation between those solutions and the estimated cost.
I agree that the new courthouse must provide forever-expanding services to an ever-expanding population for another 60 years. But until the county provides the analysis of how they arrived at this $252-million price tag, voters should reject this package.
Maybe the solutions can be had for $200 million, or $175 million. Who knows, right?
For me the cost would be around $75 annually. Not horrible, but I’d be much happier about reducing my fixed income if it was clear why it needs to cost me that much. But apparently we’ve moved into the age of no science, no data, no analysis and no facts, and I’m just being a troglodyte.
Or maybe I just resist being herded.
Tim Gardner
Eugene
A Note From the Publisher
Dear Readers,
The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.
That’s because of you!
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Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.
We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.
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Thank you for standing with us!
Publisher
Eugene Weekly
P.S. If you’d like to talk about supporting EW, I’d love to hear from you!
jody@eugeneweekly.com
(541) 484-0519
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