Eugene Weekly

• On July 17 LRAPA is holding an informational meeting about Seneca Sustainable Energy biomass plant’s permit application to emit tons more particulate matter into west Eugene air. That’s more small particles that kids breathe into their lungs and more pollution into our airshed. Buying carbon credits  Emission Reduction Credits (ERCs or offsets) for PM10 from International Paper in Springfield doesn’t help the two elementary schools that are within two miles of the biomass burning. Go to the meeting; find out more. Continue reading →

• Eugene’s City Council will vote Monday, July 8, on suspending the enforcement of a 5-cent charge for paper bags. To change the ordinance before people have a chance to adapt is ludicrous. Without the incentive, people who don’t care about the consequences of their own actions on the planet and our descendants won’t change their behavior. Continue reading →

• The Incredible Shrinking Oregonian in Portland is cutting home delivery to four days a week, moving from its iconic building, letting more than 90 people go from all floors and levels, already advertising for cheaper, less experienced staff, becoming a “truly digitally focused media company,” as Publisher N. Christian Anderson III puts it in an op-ed piece. The paper will continue to print seven days a week, but parent company Advance Publications Inc. of New Jersey has cut back print days in other cities, often with bad results. Continue reading →

• Props to the three city councilors who objected to the rushed vote on the Core Campus tax exemption (see News this week). Councilors George Brown, Betty Taylor and Alan Zelenka held their own in the debate. The majority of councilors seem to doubt Eugene’s ability to attract less extravagant housing projects — ones that could be built without a multi-million dollar tax break. Didn’t Eugeneans just vote down a city fee measure, based in part on their objections to such tax breaks? Continue reading →

• Envision Eugene, the community process that gathered public input on how Eugene should grow over the next 20 years, won a planning award from the Oregon chapter of the American Planning Association May 30. That’s great but we’ve been skeptical about this process that has gobbled up thousands of hours and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. In the past, citizen-involved plans have gathered dust on shelves while developers do whatever they want. Continue reading →

• The debate over the city services fee has generated a renewed awareness and interest in how our fair city is managed, and that’s a good thing. Letters to the editor this week offer suggestions on how budget priorities can be adjusted. Our city Budget Committee members are getting public input and have ideas on how funds can be reallocated. Continue reading →

• It’s almost too late to mail those ballots buried among the bills on your kitchen table, but white ballot boxes can be found around town. Democracy relies on an informed public, and if you’re reading this you are probably more informed than most of your neighbors, so flaunt that knowledge and put it to work for a noble cause! Continue reading →

• How could this happen? Four prominent Eugene progressives standing at the City Club podium May 3 arguing about Ballot Measure 20-211, the Eugene city services fee. Alan Zelenka and Steve Johnson support it, Bonny Bettman McCornack and George Brown oppose it. Five of eight city councilors oppose it. Conservatives must be chuckling. We wonder how City Manager Jon Ruiz, his staff and Mayor Kitty Piercy put out this seriously flawed measure. Continue reading →