LETTERS IN THE EDITOR'S MAILBAG.

Byline: The Register-Guard

The Register-Guard welcomes letters on topics of general interest.

Mail letters to: Mailbag, P.O. Box 10188, Eugene, OR 97440-2188

Fax: [phone]

E-mail: [e-mail] building on unstable land

As the Amazon Headwaters land and the ability for Joe Green to develop it is debated in the Eugene City Council, I can't help but object to the way this issue is often framed.

Although it is a beautiful place, it is not the environmentalists vs. the business community, as many have been convinced. This is an issue of whether someone can develop homes on land that is known to be slowly sliding downhill and then sell these homes to unsuspecting consumers.

While shopping for my home in Eugene I saw a fair number of homes in the south hills built on sliding ground with broken foundations and floors that went down as much as four inches across a room. I wondered why homes would be built on shifting ground. Now that I have watched the Amazon Creek development unfold, I can see it happens because developers are able to hire their own geologists for the reports the city approves.

Don't label me anti-development. I'm for the KWG downtown development and for expanding Eugene's land base, but this case is not environmental or no-growth. The reasons here are consumer protection.

Every year another uninsurable home washes into the McKenzie River, with the owners crying for financial help saying they had no idea. Now we know better. Let's do the right thing.

GREG NORMAN 

Eugene

Traffic-calming devices work

The letter from Jim Showker on May 30 complaining about the city spending money on what he considers "useless, dangerous concrete curbs" instead of street repair raises a question: Should we also stop wasting money on stop signs and traffic cops?

I'm sorry to hear Showker's wife hit one of those curbs and damaged her car; however, those traffic-calming devices were installed by request to create a safer environment for the people who live there. Our radar gun team clocked cars going up to 70 mph in the very area Showker complained about. I wonder what the damages would have been if one of those previous speeders had collided with his wife.

Traffic-calming measures do work, and we will continue to work with the city to identify and mitigate dangerous conditions to help safeguard pedestrians, bicyclists and auto travelers in our neighborhood.

I hope Showker and his wife will do their part by adhering to our traffic laws and being particularly vigilant when conditions are less than ideal. The lives they save may be their own.

CARLOS BARRERA, Co-chair,

Friendly Area

Neighborhood Association 

Eugene

Aim anger at Florence officials

I am not normally prone to write letters to the editor. The front page article about a new condominium on Bay Street in Florence (Register-Guard, May 28) has me so annoyed that I am not able to sit here and do nothing.

I know Jack Butler and Andy Johnson, the developers. They are both caring fathers, husbands and upstanding citizens of Florence. They work very hard to keep their businesses an asset to the community. They are very active in the community and the schools, volunteering their time and energy in many ways.

Getting approval for this building project took a long time, requiring many changes at the request of the Florence Planning Commission. After redesigning the project, they got the final approval to go forward.

Now they have the building almost completed. It is not the time, now, to try to stop this project. It would cause these two developers a great financial cost to put a stop on selling these units. Shouldn't the detractors of this project aim their anger and disapproval at the city officials who allowed this project to go forward in the first place?

I also have to wonder why The Register-Guard would run this article with its large color picture on the front page on Memorial Day. Wouldn't it have been better to honor our soldiers of this and past wars on this national holiday? Is there some hidden agenda that caused the newspaper to run an article on a dispute in Florence? It makes one wonder.

PAT TUCKER

Eugene

It's silly to protect dead whale

I had to wonder where our priorities really are when I read about the Oregon State Police and agents from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration investigating parts missing and removed from a dead whale near Newport (Register-Guard, May 27).

I think removing whale parts from a live whale would certainly constitute a federal crime, but a dead one?

The article went on to say that the Oregon State Parks Department was "planning on removing and/or burying" the now desecrated carcass. I'm certainly sorry the whale passed on, but if people want to collect parts from it, why not let them? With any luck, the whole thing disappears.

Just think, the parks people could take care of the parks, which we never seem to have enough money to do in the first place, the state police might investigate a real crime, say like a burglary or a theft committed by some meth freak, and the federal boys and girls could go down and help clean up that fine mess they left in New Orleans.

I know that's just some wishful thinking, and I imagine after a full and thorough investigation they will bust some poor sap for this terrible, hideous crime. I'm almost certain they will probably need to matrix out a murderer or a rapist to make room for such an outrageous criminal in one of our many overcrowded prisons because, after all, this is a very serious offense.

The real question is, who actually decided that taking parts from a dead whale was a federal crime in the first place? What a joke.

STEVE BAKER 

Noti

Commissioners punish voters

Lane County Commissioners Bill Dwyer, Faye Stewart and Bobby Green should be ashamed of themselves for continuing to punish their constituents for not passing their proposed tax. Now that federal funding is secured for a year, they still pursue a car rental tax and transient room tax to boost the general fund and close parks.

Lane County residents are having their toys taken away for voting 71 percent against their tax increase.

AARON HELFRICH

Springfield

Brooks misses Gore's point

Some years ago when teaching high school I noticed that teenagers ridicule things they don't understand.

This came to mind when I read New York Times columnist David Brooks' op-ed on Al Gore's book (Register-Guard, May 30). The piece opened with a quote from the book that made perfect sense to me but somehow confused Brooks. Perhaps I can clarify.

The idea seems to be that people can't govern themselves unless they understand the issues. Clearly, those with vested interests will want to limit public understanding in order to bamboozle us. Without good explanations, we can't make good decisions.

Gore has simply stated the obvious. That is, the traditional media act as propagandists for the rich and powerful. Brooks disingenuously mocks Gore's point about technology. The point is this: The Internet is new enough that it hasn't yet been co-opted by the oligarchy, and so this is where people can carry on the serious dialog being ignored by mass media.

I imagine being a columnist for The New York Times requires a certain minimum intelligence, so it would be unfair to compare Brooks' comments to those of a grumpy adolescent. This is more respect than he gives Gore, and I think his lack of intellectual honesty is strong evidence in favor of Gore's argument.

BROOK ADAMS

Eugene

Get involved with government

Because I wanted to show my support for the Oregon State University Lane County Extension master gardening program (which will receive a 10 percent cut), I recently attended the Lane County Budget Committee hearing at Harris Hall.

I encourage any citizen to attend budget committee or commission hearings. You will be impressed by the commitment of the commissioners and staff and by the dedication and passion of many who come to testify on behalf of a specific program or issue.

Dozens of volunteers spoke of their commitment to organizations that may receive partial or fatal cuts. In one case, several graduates of the Pathways substance abuse program, as well as staff, gave sound financial reasons for maintaining the program. Loss of these programs will not benefit our community.

But most important, be informed, attend the meetings, watch the hearings on Channel 21 and learn for yourselves how your tax dollars are being spent. Get involved.

EUNICE KJAER

Eugene

Economy needs immigrant labor

In his May 30 letter to the editor, Tom Preuss asks why illegal immigration is being allowed to destroy our country.

I believe Preuss' question displays a basic ignorance of economic realities, an ignorance which, unfortunately, colors much of the public debate on this issue.

Illegal immigration is not destroying our country; it is making modern American society possible. The American economy as we know it runs on the labor of illegal immigrants.

A large, advanced economy like our own will always require a considerable amount of relatively unskilled, relatively cheap labor. Americans are not willing to provide such labor at current rates of pay; if, as Preuss suggests, foreign labor is not acceptable, we will have to find ways as a society to make these jobs attractive to Americans.

We could either subsidize such employment or mandate higher wages; either would be quite costly for the average American. It is an open question whether opponents of realistic solutions like Congress' latest attempt would be willing to accept the price of their opposition.

PATRICK CHANEY

Eugene