With the sun finally disrobing itself from a seemingly endless cloak of gray clouds, it’s easy to launch headlong into summertime and forget what an eventful year it’s been for city and state politics. Here’s a review of local political occurrences during the 2009-2010 academic year.
• Taser case: Last September, the incident of Eugene police officer Judd Warden entering the home of a University student and using a Taser on the student, whom the officer said he mistook as a trespasser, led to a high profile controversy and public outcry that kept the case in limbo through the winter and all the way into April, when the case was finally declared closed for review by City Attorney Glen Klein. The incident, originally deemed “within police procedure” by Police Chief Peter Kerns, was reviewed by a civilian review board that attempted to compel the Eugene Police Department to reopen the case. The city attorney, after about a month of deliberation, decided the civilian review board does not wield this authority, rendering this case closed.
• Ballot measures: The first half of the year saw the passing of several measures that helped schools pad themselves against the budget shortfalls caused by the economic downturn. Measures 66 and 67 were passed into law by a wide margin on January 26 and raised taxes on high-income earners and corporations, designating the revenue toward core state services, such as education. Measures 68 and 69, passed by voters this month, modernized the laws surrounding educational institutions’ ability to use state funds for
educational projects.
• Special session: At the start of February, Oregon’s legislature convened a special session ripe with cross-party tension over the then-recent campaigns for tax measures 66 and 67. The special session, held only in the “event of an emergency,” was called by the legislature in response to dreadful economic indicators in the state. At the time, the economic numbers were 11 percent unemployment, 100,000 people running out of unemployment benefits and a $2.5 billion budget gap waiting for lawmakers next year.
The special session produced 100 bills and assorted resolutions. Notable measures included a bill that scavenged billions from reserve funds and allocated them into school districts, college grants and daycare for low-income workers; a bill that extended unemployment benefits for an estimated 18,600 Oregonians among the 100,000 who are expected to exhaust their eligibility this year; and a bill that extended an existing ban on offshore drilling along Oregon coasts for another 10 years.”
One notable point on which the legislature did not pass legislation was the proposed elimination of Oregon’s “kicker” tax rebate, which bundles excess tax revenue collected by the state and returns it to taxpayers. The kicker remained intact, and the special session was wrapped up three days ahead of schedule after 25 days of legislation.
• Urban renewal: At the city level, urban renewal was the song of the season. In sessions through February and March, city councilors passed measures that assured the development of downtown Eugene. Mayor Kitty Piercy and the Eugene City Council designated millions of dollars toward downtown renewal, including money for the construction of a downtown campus for Lane Community College that would house a new police station in its basement.
• High-speed rail: On March 10, proponents for a high-speed rail system in Oregon held a summit at LCC to lay out plans for the big-budget transportation project. President Obama’s $780 billion stimulus package, aka the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), allocated $8 billion for high speed rail projects around the country. Though Washington got a chunk of that money to the tune of $200 million, Oregon got the equivalent of ARRA pocket change, or $8 million, spurring local transportation moguls to fast-track a comprehensive plan for a high-speed rail that extends from Vancouver to Eugene, along the already existing Northwest corridor. High-speed rail advocates around the country are hoping to attract federal money in subsequent distributions of stimulus money, and high speed rail advocates in Oregon are making sure that this time around, the state is up in the running.
• Gubernatorial race: The recent May 18 primary election narrowed the major party gubernatorial candidates to two: Democrat and former governor John Kitzhaber, and Republican and former NBA center Chris Dudley. Kitzhaber emerged from a three-man race on the Democratic side, and Dudley claimed his party’s nomination over eight other Republican candidates. Less decisive was the race for West Lane County Commissioner, which resulted in a runoff between former commissioner Jerry Rust and EWEB engineer Jay Bolsevich. The West Lane County Commissioner represents thousands of Eugene residents. The runoff will be held in the upcoming November election.
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Tasers, ballots dominate
Daily Emerald
June 3, 2010
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