April Fools?
What were you folks smoking when you decided to make election endorsements? Seems you lost your way. Mike Clark? Really?
Michele Postal
Coburg
Endorsing Dziura
The race for the at-large position on the Board of Directors of EWEB presents us with two attractive candidates. However, I want to make the case that Eric Dziura is clearly the better choice. Dziura’s credentials are undeniably impressive. He is a veteran, having served 21 years initially in the Army and then the Navy. During this time, his roles included electronics technician, naval flight officer, U.S. Naval Academy lecturer in mechanical engineering, and command-and-control specialist. His academic background includes a bachelor’s in Applied Science and master’s degrees in mechanical and aeronautical engineering. At the University of Washington, he conducted research on toxic air pollution that results from the incineration of hazardous chemicals.
Community service has always been central to Dziura’s life. Before moving to Eugene, he served on the Medford School District Board and the Jackson County Library Board. Currently, Dziura serves in several service roles, including the chair of the Eugene Airport Advisory Committee, student mentor at Shasta Middle School and at-large representative to the MUPTE Review Committee.
This history of training and experience will empower Eric to take on the challenges that face EWEB in these troubled times. He is committed to careful scrutiny of rate increases to ensure that they are justified and communicated well in advance. He is committed to strengthening income-based assistance programs, storm and wildfire-hardening, a migration toward 100 percent renewable electricity generation and other resilience enhancing programs.
I encourage you to vote for Eric Dziura for the EWEB at-large position on May 19.
Ralph J. Pledger
Eugene
Eugene Will Not be Sold
At a public forum on March 8, John Barofsky outlined his housing ideology and suggested Eugene turn to corporate-owned Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs, like Blackstone) to “solve” our housing crisis. That should concern anyone who believes housing should be owned by real humans, not absentee Wall Street ghouls.
What would Barofsky’s Faustian bargain with REITs look like? It looks like selling out to shady corporations such as Camden Property Trust, an REIT named by the U.S. Department of Justice in the RealPage rent-fixing-collusion case. Or to Greystar, the largest landlord in the country, which already has a major footprint and terrible reputation in Eugene. We should be deeply skeptical of any housing “vision” that turns to Wall Street landlords to solve a crisis that these same corporate landlords created in the first place. We should be concerned when local politicians seem eager to make that bargain.
Jennifer Smith’s vision for housing is simple: affordable buildings, consumer protections and human ownership.
Eugene is not for sale. We must cast down those who are cozy with corporate villains and instead throw our support behind people promoting proven solutions to the housing crisis. Democrats can’t afford the same old kind of permissiveness with Chamber of Commerce stool pigeons that got us Trump’s kleptocracy. Barofsky sits on the lobbying arm of the local Chamber of Commerce, as well as its board of directors. Seems like that’s who he’ll represent on our council — not us. Vote accordingly.
Andrew S. Becker
Eugene
What EW Endorsement?
I am perplexed and disappointed that EW endorsed the Chamber of Commerce-backed candidate over Jennifer Smith, the progressive choice running for Eugene City Council in Ward 3.
For a newspaper that purports to be an independent voice of the underserved, I expected the Weekly to support the candidate who would truly represent all Ward 3 residents. We in Ward 3 care deeply about workers’ rights, our immigrant neighbors, protecting the environment and directly addressing climate chaos, tenant rights over out-of-state landlords, and preserving democracy over authoritarianism. Jennifer Smith stands for all these things; her opponent mentions none of them in his campaign material.
In fact, Smith was a featured speaker at the recent May Day rally in Eugene, representing SEIU 503 Local 085, of which she is president. She spoke eloquently about the hardships working families in Eugene face, contrasting their hardships with the windfall profits business interests are reaping in contemporary America.
I did not see her opponent at the rally. I can only assume he was managing the non-unionized workers at Beppe & Gianni’s, his local restaurant. He says he wants to bring his business experience and a businessman’s approach to City Council, of which EW apparently approves. Since he is the immediate past president of the Chamber of Commerce and the recipient of significant contributions from commercial interests, I don’t doubt he will represent business interests well.
But, as a progressive Ward 3 resident, I would much prefer to be represented by Smith, who puts working families first.
Keith A. Eddins
Eugene
Dear Former Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis
In response to Former Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis, who submitted an opinion letter last week endorsing Val Hoyle: “There are plenty of issues to worry about these days — a senseless war, the assault on human and civil rights by a president who is out of control… But there is one thing we should not worry about. Rep. Val Hoyle has our backs… Let’s keep her in Congress fighting for us.”
Former Eugene Mayor Vinis, are you aware that Hoyle has used her position in Congress to send billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars in military aid to Israel — enabling the genocide in Gaza? I, for one, will not be voting for Val Hoyle in hopes removing her from office will mean less senseless wars.
Instead, I will be voting for Melissa Bird, who is running on campaign finance reform in order to remove this deadly, corrupt money from politics.
Mia Sanoja
Eugene
An Endorsement for Jennifer Smith
I went to a forum on 22 April, knowing nothing about either candidate for Eugene Ward 3.
Signs had popped up in my neighborhood for John Barofsky. I asked a neighbor with a sign to tell me about this Barofsky and they could tell me nothing. Thus, I knew that his campaign has a lot of money to print and distribute signs.
Jennifer Smith was more forthcoming than her opponent about who actually finances her campaign. Her biggest donor is a union.
Smith and her children graduated from the same public schools right here. Barofsky is a transplant.
Barofsky’s answer to homelessness was trickle-down. Hand out corporate welfare — tax breaks to developers — and somehow this makes life better for the rest of us.
Smith aptly pointed out that the only reason someone takes on a development project is to make money. She did not have to remind us that most developers do not live here and do not give a hoot about Eugene. They just have a lot of money and Eugene is fertile ground to make more money.
Smith speaks of her hometown — a community, not a profit center — how we can help solve the huge problems that this world faces.
Jacob Wegelin
Eugene
Endorsing Tai Pruce-Zimmerman for Ward 6
I’ve run the local Homeless Action page on Facebook since 2010, and I’m endorsing Tai Pruce-Zimmerman for the Eugene City Council ward 6.
When the council held a public hearing on an ordinance that would have fined drivers $50 if they passed money to homeless people, Pruce-Zimmerman was the only one who spoke in opposition.
At a recent Lookout forum, Pruce-Zimmerman spoke about the increase in homelessness due to the shortage of affordable housing and made a passionate case that “We have to take care of our own.”
He said, “The intersection of homelessness and public safety services is that homeless services ARE public safety because our homeless population is the public. These are members of our community…”
I have been waiting years for someone in public life to say that. Too many bigots in our city see the homeless as a threat and don’t care about their safety, even though homeless lives are a constant daily fight for survival, and a living nightmare. Tai gets it.
His opponent, long-time conservative councilor Greg Evans, does not.
Pruce-Zimmerman is the chair of the city’s Budget Committee. With city budget cuts looming this year, we need someone on the council who understands the budget.
The council is presently split 50-50 progressive-conservative. We need another progressive on the council. The city has been treading water and not dealing with our serious problems for too long. We’ve run out of time for business as usual. Time for a change.