Eugene Weekly

• Fans of Eugene’s Multi-Unit Property Tax Exemption turned out to voice their support at the Eugene City Council meeting June 16 in a repeat performance of an unofficial MUPTE public forum June 8. The council will meet again on the topic July 8. We predict the 10-year tax breaks for developers will be reinstated with some added restrictions, but probably not enough restrictions to deal with our chronic need for affordable housing. We question some underlying assumptions about MUPTE. Continue reading →

• This week marks a changing of the guard at The Register-Guard, and outgoing Editor and Publisher Tony Baker wrote a farewell column in the daily’s Sunday Commentary section May 31. The column was clearly intended to diminish fears that new Editor and Publisher N. Christian Anderson III will oversee the kinds of changes at the R-G that he and the Advance Publications chain implemented at The Oregonian, taking the venerable Oregon daily and turning it into a pitiful tabloid. Continue reading →

• As of May 12, only about 15 percent of voters have turned in ballots for the May 19 Special Election, which is surprising. We figured the Lane County vehicle registration fee and recent controversies on the 4J School Board would crank up interest in this election. But it’s not too late to get those ballots dropped off at one of those handy white ballot boxes around town. Procrastination appears to be an exclusively human frailty. Continue reading →

• May special elections tend to have low turnouts, meaning everyone who does vote has a bigger impact than in general elections. Your ballot has superpowers! Lane County’s Vehicle Registration Fee may have trouble passing this time around, but it has people thinking about how we pay (or don’t pay) for street, road and bridge maintenance, not only in the county but also in our cities and small towns. Is there any town in Lane County not struggling to fund street repairs? Continue reading →

• Kathmandu has been a sister city to Eugene since 1975 and many Eugeneans, including Councilor Betty Taylor, have visited there. The earthquake death toll in Nepal grows by the hour. The best way to help Kathmandu right now is through financial donations. The website kathmandurelief.org has been recommended by the Eugene/Katmandu Sister City Association, but the organization does not currently have 501(c)(3) status, so donations are not tax deductible. See eugeneweekly.com/blogs for updates. Continue reading →

• The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is facing a $32 million deficit in the next two-year budget cycle, and cuts are looming. The agency is in a bind due in part to its reliance on revenues from fishing and hunting licenses. It’s a quandary. Fishing license fees have gone up while there are fewer fish to catch, so fewer people go fishing. And hunting is no longer such a big part of Oregon’s culture, at least not in urban areas. Continue reading →

• No surprise that the timber industry in Oregon still has enough lobbying power to stifle the Democratic Legislature when it comes to even minor new rules on aerial spraying of pesticides on private timberlands. The timber industry has a strong ally in Oregonians for Food and Shelter, which represents big chemical manufacturers and distributors. What can we do other than hold our lawmakers’ feet to the fire? Well, when the Legislature fails to make reforms, the people can rise up. Continue reading →