The latest from Lane County Elections
For the position of Lane County Commissioner representing North Eugene, the candidates ARE (drum roll please)

Bobby Green (incumbent, worst commissioner IMHO)
Rob Handy (Rose’s pick — give this man money today! Make a donation here)
Steve Sherbina (equipment operator for EWEB, never heard of him)
Nadia Sindi (educator)

For their filing papers, go here.

Eugene Races
Mayor:
Kitty Piercy (incumbent, and Rose’s pick; give her money, too!)
Jim Torrey (boooooooooo, didn’t a happening Eugene politician already show Torrey the door out of local politics?)
Nick Urhauser (listed as a Social Security Claims analyst)
Jim Ray (Home Depot employee, political newbie)

The Register Guard reports:
[between Ray and Urhausen]

the politically conservative Urhausen has been most active in local politics.

He filed a lawsuit that eventually torpedoed part of a Eugene property tax levy that provided funding for schools. A Vietnam veteran, he also helped restart the local Veterans Day parade and supported placing the American flag atop Skinner Butte. He’s been vocal on many other local issues.

boooooooooo!!!! This is the guy that axed local funding for schools. I’m all for supporting veterans, but what’s he got against the kids? And I don’t know if you’ve ever applied from SSDI, but ouch!

And for the rest of the City Council, Ward 7 is contested
John Crane (local businessman, former Kidsports CEO)
Andrea Ortiz (Incumbent, Rose’s pick)

A quick google search uncovered a 1998 record of Crane’s candidacy for Democratic primary for HD 43 (but where in the heck is that? currently Chip Shields is in this district, which is up north).

I hope you’ll all take a pass on the Ward 8 race — Chris Pryor got a dismal rating from Oregon League of Conservation Voters — he has no opponent, though he should! Come’on Ward 8! Where are your progressives? At least show you really ARE interested in having a better choice of candidates by writing in someone else for the seat or skipping it entirely (but DO vote for the other races on your ballot!). Potential candidates look at the “undervote” in their districts to see how many people just didn’t vote for a candidate when he or she had no opponent.

Three cheers for
Pete Sorenson, unopposed for re-election to county commissioner (south Eugene)
Betty Taylor, unopposed for Ward 2 in Eugene (a stalwart defender of progressive issues)
George Brown, Bonny Bettman’s choice for her own seat in Ward 1 (and let’s get Bonny in another office fast!)

From: Kari Chisholm - BlueOregon.com

In this primary season, most of the races feature candidates with similar ideologies running against each other - progressive vs. progressive, conservative vs. conservative.

But in Eugene, there’s a progressive versus conservative showdown - featuring Mayor Kitty Piercy against former Mayor Jim Torrey.

You can learn a lot about a person by who their friends are.

Torrey may have given up his Republican registration, but his support is still coming from the same old places: developers, auto dealers, and polluters. According to ORESTAR today, he’s raised over $172,000.

Read more and Comment Here….

Coming soon to a hip downtown restaurant near you: Get on the Budget! The Bus Project and Eugene Weekly will showcase the lane county budget and four candidates for Lane County Commissioner.

What do you want to know about candidates Bobby Green (incumbent), Rob Handy, Steve Sherbina and Nadia Sindi?

Come ask a question!

Wednesday, April 30th
7-9pm
Davis’ Restaurant
94 W. Broadway (corner of Broadway and Olive)
Eugene

(Davis’ is an all ages venue with food and beverages for kids and adults)

Folks, this isn’t a Bus Project event, but my good buddy and incredible advocate Martin Rafferty is asking those who care about what young residents in Lane County have to say to join them for the Youth Empowerment Summit. His words below:

It’s time to come together to support the youth of our community. If you support or work in the youth service field you should come to see this elaborate event. Fully created and lead by youth and funded by multiple organizations this will be a great opportunity for networking and community building. If you can’t make it May 9th pass this letter along to someone who can!

Say YES!

Youth know what is happening in our community and have fresh ideas to address social issues. Eight groups of youth allied with community organizations have prepared presentations on solutions to social issues in our community.

Please come take part in this unique opportunity to hear from proactive young leaders. The Youth Empowerment Summit (YES) is an opportunity for youth to create change by presenting to community decision makers on youth identified community issues.

YES is a youth led event which is designed to stimulate awareness by giving voice to youth as they speak about issues of oppression and create positive community solutions.

Where: The Shedd Institute for the Arts
868 High St. (Use High St. Entrance), Eugene

When: Friday, May 9th 2008
12:00 – 7:00pm (breakout sessions from 1:40pm to 4:30pm)
Lunch will be provided at noon.

Schedule for the day:
12:00 – Lunch
12:30-1:30 – Opening Presentation
1:40-3:00 – First Breakout Session
Juventud FACETA
Youth Council
LGBTQ Issues
Sexual Health

3:10-4:30 – Second Breakout Session
Communities Empowering Youth (CEY)
Oregon Family Support Network (OFSN) And MindFreedom International
ACT-SO
Student Peace Alliance

4:30-5:00 – Closing Presentation
5:00-7:00 – Networking Opportunity and Open Mic Celebration

Please RSVP to Cheryl Bondy by May 2nd
682-2331 or cheryl.bondy@co.lane.or.us

If you need a translator, sign language interpreter, large print material, or other accommodations, please call or email Cheryl Bondy.

I won’t lie to you, no county commissioner or candidate will solve the budget crisis on their own, not at this point.

We are $47 million in the hole due to a cut in Federal funding under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act. These funds replace the payments the federal government used to make to counties in exchange for not paying taxes on the land owned by the US Government in counties in Oregon. This “timber money” (because it was mostly forest land used for timber production, recreation, etc.) declined dramatically due to the increasing recognition that trees take a long time to grow and we were cutting them down way too fast.

Commissioner Bill Dwyer made the best statement I’ve heard so far at the April 16th Commissioner’s meeting, where he stated (paraphrased):

We’ve cried wolf 13 times [asking the county voters to pass extra taxes in face of the upcoming cuts in federal payments]. Now the wolf is at the door, and we have to figure out what to do with what we have.

However passionate, nevertheless, the last attempt to raise taxes in Lane County in May 2007 (which failed by a whopping 70%-30% vote) was doomed to fail. In November of 2006, voters narrowly decided not to enact a different tax (51% to 49%). Those opposed to the second tax oh so cleverly called themselves the “We Said No” coalition.

I had to support it (even though it was an incredibly unfair, anti-progressive tax). Guess I’m a fool for the mentally ill, children, victims of crime, disabled, senior, and others who will lose critical support when these cuts become real.

So, how in the heck do we persuade Lane County voters to tax themselves more? And I absolutely think we have to do so if we are going to have a humane and safe existence in Lane County.

Young people of Lane County, I think we have to speak with one voice:

Yes, we want our little brothers and sisters to have full bellies with the help of WIC.

Yes, we want our teens to get the help they need when delinquency becomes a danger to themselves and others.

Yes, we want our animals cared for rather than slaughtered when they are lost, or abandoned.

Yes, we think people with mental health and addiction needs should get the help they need to live productive healthy lives.

Yes, we want our jails to hold the abusers accountable with effective diversion and corrections when necessary.

Yes, we’d really like to know when that hot hot hot love muffin we met last week turns up with chlamydia (because Lane County Public Health calls you if someone who tests positive for an STI names you as a recent sex partner so you can get yerself tested, too).

Not to mention the excellent work Public Health nurses did controlling the last measles outbreak to 2 people.

And that is just the start.

So, what will Lane County voters pay for? Are we really that cruel of a county? After living here all these years with these wonderful people, and I mean that, I’m confused.

1. The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country.

2. The Washington Post is read by people who think they run the country.

3. The New York Times is read by people who think they should run the country and who are very good at crossword puzzles.

4. USA Today is read by people who think they ought to run the country but don’t really understand The New York Times. They do, however, like their statistics shown in pie charts.

5. The Los Angeles Times is read by people who wouldn’t mind running the country, if they could find the time, and if they didn’t have to leave Southern California to do it.

6. The Boston Globe is read by people whose grand-parents used to run the country and did a far superior job of it, thank you very much.

7. The New York Daily News is read by people who aren’t too sure who’s running the country and don’t really care as long as they can get a seat on the train.

8. The New York Post is read by people who don’t care who’s running the country as long as they do something really scandalous, preferably while intoxicated.

9. The Miami Herald is read by people who are running another country, but need the baseball scores.

10. The San Francisco Chronicle is read by people who aren’t sure there is a country or that anyone is running it; but if so, they oppose all that they stand for. There are exceptions, if the leaders happen to be illegal aliens or from any other country or galaxy, provided, of course, that they are not Republicans.

11. The National Enquirer is read by people trapped in line at the grocery store.

12. None of these are read by the guy who is running the country.

NOW FOR THE FUN PART!  We need some audience participation here!  Comment on this post with what the tag line for a Register Guard, Eugene Weekly or Oregonian would be!

We all should be on top of the county budget — because of the holes it leaves when it gets gutted. We are heading for difficult times, with hundreds of layoffs of county employees, with the disappearance of the county animal shelter and services (LCAS), with the huge cuts in prevention and women, infants, and children (WIC). And we knew this was coming but couldn’t develop the policy that both sides could support.

So we talk budgets. At Davis’s. On April 30th at 7pm. And there will be Rob Handy. And there will be Bobby Green. And several others to talk about the state (ie. county) we find ourselves in. Only a few blocks away, the City of Eugene will be discussing its budget — and in what ways we can help do what is best for the area.

Congratulations to Mike Biglan, blogger savant, political mastermind, fellow computer geek and future daddy. He has been nominated and voted in as the new Lane County Board Chair! Please help me welcome Mike into this challenging new role. And also a big thank you to Rose Wilde for all of her efforts and hard work during her tenure.

Read some of Mike’s greatest hits HERE.

Oregon Independent Blogger Sal Peralta blogs about the new book by Jim Hightower…“Swim Against the Current…Even a Dead Fish can go with the Flow”

Some of the excerpts include:

Look what happened when a loose group of politically frustrated young Oregonians gathered at the Rogue Brewery in Portland in 2001 to talk about fomenting a little rebellion in the politics of their state. These young folks were not “political” people in the usual sense–none held office, worked in politics, or were politically connected. But they were concerned that Oregon, with a long tradition of progressive policies and politicians, was suffering from a bad case of creeping right-wingism. They wanted things to change, but what could they do?

One guy seemed to have the closest thing to an actual plan. Jefferson Smith, a twenty-something lawyer, had done the political math. He reported that although Republicans dominated the state house by a margin of 35-25 and the senate by 16-14, a significant number of the GOP lawmakers came from suburban and rural districts where they were winning elections by margins as slim as a few hundred votes.

“Let’s get out of Portland!” Smith exclaimed in a Eureka! moment. What if hundreds of young volunteers were to go to these swing districts to help progressive candidates? Flip a couple of seats in the senate and six or so in the house, and the whole state agenda would change.

Go check out Sal’s Blog and Jim Hightower’s site to find out more!

photo credit Jim Hightower.com