Have Money, Do More

I’ve read too many hand-wringing articles and letters to the editor about the plight of the indigent on our streets. While it’s great that there are some churches (who could do much more) or local government agencies trying temporary stopgap programs to right this ship, the programs that are going to really work will have to be comprehensive like the ones in Utah or Portland. And where does all the money come from? Federal government, rich corporations and wealthy donors. 

Every state has many mega millionaires who could hopefully be convinced to see the big societal picture: That they could easily do both — fund their favorite sports team, as well as a tax-deductible program to house, educate, sober up and get people spiraling out of control due to their depression off the streets and back into being productive, tax-paying responsible citizens. Win-win. 

Isn’t that the wealthy’s responsibility for doing so well in our capitalistic system? Or do the likes of Phil and Penny Knight even care? Are the trophies that line the halls of the University of Oregon sports complex really more exciting and important? One thing’s for sure: Homelessness will not subside with a meal at Thanksgiving or Christmas, a blanket from the Mission and a cold quonset hut.

Annie Kayner

Eugene

Love for SLUG

Thank you, SLUG queen, for standing up in this cultural moment to create change. Yes, small, inconvenient decisions over a lifetime do add up. Acting in a way that takes attention off ourselves and puts the focus on others is what is needed at this time. Acting with love and compassion, especially toward those we do not personally know, is the only thing that can negate the current onslaught of fear and hate.

We can help create a meaningful future by making more loving, thoughtful and selfless decisions.

Christopher and Deb Michaels

Eugene

Amazon Restoration, Thank You!

I want to take a moment of appreciation and acknowledgment to all the folks working on the Amazon Creek restoration project. 

It’s been wonderful to witness the incredible change of scenery as I bike by each day. Big shoutout to the folks doing all of the digging and moving and trudging through water, now on frigid mornings and even on Saturdays! You’re doing an amazing job and the creek area is looking so good! Many thanks!

Sophia MacMillan

Eugene

Wrongful Death Defended

On the frigid night of  November  30, 2019, Eliborio Rodrigues, an unarmed, 40‑year‑old, father of four, was collecting recycling on Acacia Avenue when Eugene Police Officer Samuel Tykol stopped him for jaywalking and looking like he did not belong in that neighborhood. In the four-minute encounter, Tykol employed his own personal method of “Ask, Tell, Make” and forcibly restrained, punched, pepper‑sprayed, chased, tackled, tased, and shot Rodrigues three times, killing him. Rodrigues’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Eugene.

Only the first two minutes of the encounter were captured on Tykol’s body camera (that mysteriously switched off), which shows that Rodrigues calmly exercised his rights, asked to speak to a sergeant 11 times, and questioned the legality of his detention. Instead of de‑escalating, Tykol retaliated — what the jury heard described as “contempt of cop.” Such retaliatory enforcement is illegal and erodes public trust.

After a seven-day trial, the eight‑person jury shockingly found that Rodrigues was slightly more at fault for his own death than the cop who shot him, leaving his children with no recompense.

The split‑blame verdict reveals a deeper problem: because Eugene is self‑insured, it has a perverse incentive to zealously defend employees who kill, at all costs. Where a private insurance company would consider settlement, Eugene always chooses costly litigation, draining public resources and denying victims’ families any justice or restitution. 

Eugene must end this perverse incentive and dehumanizing cycle now.

Nate Mitchell

Eugene

Sustained Help for the Homeless

The chronically unhoused, those who have lived on the street for at least a year, if not decades, are people who generally have no or very low incomes, making it difficult for them to qualify for even very-low-income housing. 

Project Stability hopes to meet this challenge by:

1) Obtaining land, held in trust by the board, then supporting unhoused individuals in designing and building their own net-zero energy, maximally solar-powered, 400- to 600-square-foot homes in self-sustaining, self-governed villages.

2) Addressing health, well-being and climate change by each village being a regenerative agriculture urban community, with maximum numbers of trees, shrubs, tall grasses, steppable ground cover and food-growing beds planted in cover crops in the fall-winter months, all with no-till, no-plow organic gardening methods.

3) Starting businesses to employ residents to assist them in covering the costs incurred with housing and in learning job skills for employment within the larger community.

4) Trauma healing: We hope eventually to bring in trauma-informed therapists for those who wish to heal their past trauma. We believe this approach will assist chronically unhoused people to become stabilized in housing and work and become contributing members of society.

Sylvia Gregory

Eugene

Editor’s Note: More information about Project Stability in Eugene is at Facebook.com/projectstabilityoregon.

 ONLINE EXTRA LETTERS

The Answer is Universal Health Care

Government shutdowns aren’t just about budgets. They highlight the instability of two systems: a Congress that can grind to a halt and a health care system so fragile that millions can lose access to essential care. 

Yes, ACA subsidies currently help many families in the short run, but they don’t fix the broken system’s core instability. In fact, they mask and sustain it. Billions in taxpayer dollars are propping up private insurers. 

Publicly funded universal health care is the answer. It is both morally just and structurally stabilizing. It cuts the middlemen out of being gatekeepers and stops treating health care as a profit-driven commodity. 

Oregon isn’t waiting. Voters passed Measure 111 in 2022, declaring health care a constitutional right. The legislature then established the Universal Health Plan Governance Board (UHPGB) to design a system that guarantees coverage for every resident, no matter their job, income, or immigration status.

Cutting administrative waste while preserving patient choice, it will create the first comprehensive state universal health system in the nation. 

Crisis can be a catalyst. Other major social reforms — voting rights, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — were created in times of instability and public frustration. 

Universal health care can end the affordability crisis millions experience daily, separating access to care from employment, family upheaval and partisan warfare. If Washington is serious about restoring faith in democracy, it must stop treating health care as a bargaining chip and start treating it as a guarantee. Americans deserve a system that never shuts down.

Valdez Bravo, president, Health Care for All Oregon

Lake Oswego

The Military and Climate Change

On Nov. 18 I watched a documentary about the U.S. military’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions — Abby Martin’s Earth’s Greatest Enemy. Included in it are interviews she conducted at COP (United Nations annual climate meeting) in 2020. 

I have never felt so angry about what my country is not doing to confront global heating. The U.S. currently contributes approximately 25 percent of total worldwide (counted) greenhouse gas emissions. This does not include Department of Defense emissions from operations that the U.S. actively engages in or supports via weapons and training, including at over 800 military bases all over the globe (and more on the way). 

Watch Earth’s Greatest Enemy when it screens again locally to learn about the Department of Defense’s free pass when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions. Go to EarthsGreatestEnemy.com to watch the trailer and get information about how your organization can screen the documentary. 

Betzi Hitz

Springfield