Just Vote ‘No’
In response to the Stan Long letter (“Ironies Abound,” EW, 9/5), Lane County voters must pay extra attention. Long puts a false face on what is essentially voter disenfranchisement in the form of Measure 20-362 that will be on your November ballot.
When you pay attention to what is being proposed as charter amendments, you will see this measure is a clearly partisan, gerrymandering power grab. The three commissioners who voted to refer this measure to voters — Pat Farr, David Loveall and Ryan Ceniga — are hoping that you won’t notice that they are disregarding the vast majority of voters and those who have written letters and testified at the hearings.
The County Commission appointed a Charter Review Committee in 2022 of nearly two dozen volunteers who worked over a year following a process of public participation and input. Long was not a member of that hard-working Charter Review Committee. After the CRC submitted its recommendations for charter amendments, Long had his attorney Gary Long submit his report.
Then three county commissioners — Farr, Loveall and Ceniga — brushed aside all the work of the CRC and instead approved the unvetted proposals of Long. Commissioners Heather Buch and Laurie Trieger strongly opposed. Long’s partisan, unvetted proposals will be on your ballot in the form of Measure 20-362 for the Nov. 5 2024 election. Vote No.
Vote no against voter suppression and voter disenfranchisement.
Beverly Barr
Eugene
Protect the Watersheds
Maybe you’ve seen volunteers from Protect Lane County Watersheds and Community Rights Lane County on the streets collecting signatures for the Lane County Watersheds Bill of Rights initiative. Thanks for signing!
This proposed new law intends to secure legal rights for waters and watersheds, to protect native fish habitat and to ensure clean water for all residents, unpolluted by activities of corporations, governments and other business entities. We believe that our rights and responsibilities to protect our watersheds are inherently more important than corporate profits.
An essentially different relationship between humankind and nature is necessary, one that reflects our interdependence on the natural world. This requires providing legal protections for nature — laws that recognize the rights of both humankind and nature to health and well-being.
Right here in Lane County, our waters are routinely extracted, commodified and polluted by corporate and governmental activities with little to no accountability. All life depends on clean water for survival. The highest legal protections for our waters must become a reality.
Please advocate for a healthy future for our precious waters.
Michelle Holman
Deadwood
Remember Pegasus Playhouse
Please do a story and post the schedule for Pegasus Playhouse located in downtown Springfield. It’s fun, creative community theatre that is in a sweet spot along Main Street among the lively restaurants and arts scene.
Thank you for helping our community to be vibrant, along with your reporting and commentary on all sorts of things.
Elaine Lawson
Eugene
More on Measure 20-362
Transparency in government is paramount to ensuring the public’s trust. This appears to have been violated by three Lane County commissioners voting to a last-minute redistricting proposal from an attorney, usurping the Charter Review Committee (CRC).
The proposals by the attorney, approved by commissioners Pat Farr, Ryan Ceniga and David Loveall, did not follow the Charter Review Committee process which determines voting district boundaries and maintains the integrity of our elections through a democratic process. The proposal was treated as a CRC recommendation rather than as a public comment by the attorney to the committee. This reeks of impropriety and gerrymandering by the three aforementioned commissioners.
These last minute proposals involve serious amendments to change the charter requiring a public vote which will cost county taxpayers more than $70,000. The proposed amendments have not been vetted by the CRC and require mapping adjustments that disregard past CRC work. The committee stated they do not recommend the attorney’s proposal be put on the ballot.
Voting district maps have just been updated in 2021 based on the national census every 10 years by an independent citizen commission and a transparent democratic process. Commissioners Farr, Ceniga and Loveall are not interested in a democratic process and are more interested in their re-election security. These commissioners have disrespected the CRC members and their hard work volunteering many hours over several years.
I urge you to read the voters guide and vote no on Measure 20-362 on Nov. 5.
Jim Neu
Eugene
Don’t Be Fooled
The GOP had unsuccessfully floated wacky Art Robinson five times and weird Alex Skarlatos twice as nominees for the 4th District Congressional seat. Now the RNC is piling boatloads of bucks into Monique DeSpain’s campaign.
Their ads tout her military/single mom credentials without ever mentioning she was also a business attorney in Kevin Mannix’s law firm in Salem and now works for Common Sense for Oregon, the right-wing nonprofit Mannix founded. Remember Mannix, who ran unsuccessfully for governor and attorney general surrounded by questions about his campaign finances and ties to Nevada financier Loren Parks? See “A Political History of Kevin Mannix/Oregon” at CommonCause.org for details.
A DeSpain billboard on Sixth Avenue in Eugene proclaims in all capitals that she is an independent voice, as if she’s an “independent” candidate, not a Republican. Similarly, DeSpain’s website states she’s “an outsider challenging the status quo.” The same ploy Donald Trump uses. A business attorney, an outsider? Hardly.
Don’t be fooled, folks. Once again, we have a choice of people over purses. Incumbent Val Hoyle over the “status quo” attorney DeSpain. Vote Hoyle.
Karen Myers
Eugene
America, I Love You
When former President Donald Trump believed he had won the 2020 election but walked away anyway and let another man take charge, what did he admit as far as his character? Let’s say in his own definition of a loser!
Twice lost in one election, once in the real world of adding numbers by thousands of election workers and professional watchful eyes and once in his make believe reality. That makes a very weak president when he and his followers believe he had won, yet as a sitting president he vacated the White House unwillingly. Now he wants to go back, but since he knows he can’t be a good president he wants to be a “dictator on day one.”
America, I love you and don’t want to see you in such bad shape. I live here now because I know about dictators who lie, live in denial of reality and rule with an iron fist. Supporters may believe that his iron fist can push for values they believe in. True! Until, like Mike Pence, he disagrees on upholding core values of democracy then iron fist comes down on the supporter as well. Be careful, America.
Roz Omid
Eugene
We’re Not Going Back
Presidential candidates are judged by their campaigns and the way they govern in office.
Candidate Donald Trump’s bullying skills are better suited for campaigns. His last term’s governing ideas were religious and radical persecution, putting children in cages, calling a pandemic names and increasing pollution. Now he has threatened vengeance on those who are insufficiently loyal.
He sounds like the Old Testament pharaoh, which makes candidate Kamala Harris seem like Moses (the agent of the people) versus the emperor/god.
We’re not going back.