Downtown development: For or against?

Byline: Edward Russo The Register-Guard

CORRECTION (ran Sept. 16, 2007): Former Eugene mayors Jeff Miller, Ruth Bascom and Jim Torrey support the city's finance plan for downtown redevelopment. A Saturday article on the Nov. 6 ballot measure incorrectly stated their position.

The teams - stocked with election veterans - have been picked for Eugene's upcoming political battle over downtown redevelopment.

But the supporters and opponents of Ballot Measure 20-134 - which would allow the City Council to spend up to $40 million on downtown projects over the next 23 years - have lined up along some nontraditional lines.

The Yes for Downtown political action committee, which supports the ballot measure, includes Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce President Dave Hauser and Downtown Eugene Inc. Executive Director Russ Brink.

Leaders of the committee opposing the measure, Taxpayers for Sensible Downtown Development, include south-central City Councilor Bonny Bettman and Sundance Natural Foods owner Gavin McComas.

The two opposing groups appear to be shaping up differently than the typical conservative vs. liberal Eugene contest.

Mayor Kitty Piercy, considered a liberal, and her closest advisers support the proposal. But other traditionally liberal politicians, such as Rep. Paul Holvey and Lane County Commissioner Peter Sorensen, oppose it.

So do conservative-oriented former mayors Jeff Miller and Jim Torrey, and liberal-leaning former mayor Ruth Bascom.

"My sense is that Yes for Downtown will be very broad-based," Hauser said.

"Many times in an election it's this group vs. that group and the sides are drawn along obvious lines. But I think this election is an opportunity where groups will come together to move our downtown forward."

The City Council wants the $40 million spending authority to help with the possible two-block redevelopment of West Broadway, between Willamette and Charnelton streets.

Bettman and south Eugene Councilor Betty Taylor voted against the proposal before the council, faced with a referendum effort, put the measure on the November ballot.

Bettman said members of the committee opposing the measure object to it as an "excessive public subsidy for the West Broadway project."

The project would lead to a "a lifestyle mall boasting corporate chain stores and a Whole Foods-type grocery chain," she said.

A more "sensible approach" would be to build condominiums across the street from the Public Library, Bettman said. The city also should redevelop vacant spaces; reclaim historic buildings; and construct housing and public spaces, and do other things to help downtown "using the money we have," she said.

Hauser said chamber members support the ballot measure because they think a strong downtown is "central to a healthy local economy and a healthy community."

"We view urban renewal as an important tool to help our community achieve its vision for downtown," he said.

The opponents of the measure, Taxpayers for Sensible Downtown Development, filed Monday as a PAC with the state elections division.

Its directors include George Brown, owner of a downtown grocery store, The KIVA; Scott Landfield, co-owner of Tsunami Books; Paul Nicholson, owner of Paul's Bicycle Way of Life; and Lisa Warnes, a contractor and south Eugene resident opposed to the development of two parcels near the Amazon headwaters.

The pro-PAC, Yes for Downtown, filed with the state on Tuesday.

Hauser wasn't ready to disclose other Yes for Downtown PAC members, saying that the committee is still organizing. The group will reveal its other supporters at a "formal kickoff" in a week or so, he said.

Hauser also declined to say how much money his group hopes to raise because that amount has yet to be determined.

The committee is doing research, including polling, Hauser said.

"A lot of our (campaign) strategy will be informed by that research," he said.

Bettman said her group will have a better idea on how much it might try to raise in a week or two.

"There is no question that we will be drastically outspent by boosters of the West Broadway project," she said.

Ballots for the Nov. 6 election will be mailed to voters in five weeks.

Several residents have submitted arguments that will appear in the voter's pamphlet.

Most of Piercy's "kitchen cabinet" of advisers submitted an argument in favor of the measure.

The statement was authored by Greg McLauchlan, Marilyn Milne, Cheryl Crumbley, David Funk and Piercy's husband, David Piercy.

Another pro-measure statement was submitted by the chamber's PAC and signed by business people, including Kartar Khalsa, of Golden Temple; Rusty Rexius, of Rexius; Stacy Bierma, Harlequin Beads; Jenny Ulum, The Ulum Group; and Kathy Wiltz of Cappelli, Miles Spring.

Opposition arguments included those from Nicholson, McComas, Friends of Eugene President Kevin Matthews and David Monk, president of Citizens for Public Accountability.