Community Voices Weekly: Yes, another endorsement newsletter

Happy Sunday, Lookout Eugene-Springfield,

Last week, I used this space to announce our four-day rollout of the Lookout Eugene-Springfield Editorial Board’s primary election endorsements.

Now the dust has settled and our calls have been made — here they are if you missed any of them:

We’ve heard plenty of feedback and have already published some criticism of our calls (see below for more on that). We made our candidate calls after conducting in-depth editorial board interviews with every Lane County commissioner and Eugene City Council candidate, as well as the two candidates for the contested circuit court judge race. We researched each ballot measure, considering the arguments of supporters and opponents, as well as legal precedents and financial impacts on residents being asked to pay more to support valuable services.

There weren’t many easy calls to make, but we stand by our decisions. Although I will note with regret that time constraints prevented us from weighing in on several important races — namely, the race for the citywide at-large seat on the Eugene Water & Electric Board, and the vote on the proposed Willamalane Park and Recreation District levy increase. I apologize for that.

I’m also sorry if you’re over the tidal wave of letter-writer endorsements I’ve been filling the Community Voices section with lately. It’s important to give readers a voice, but things will get back to normal soon.

Dueling views on watershed rights

Reader reaction has been swiftest to our “no” recommendation on Measure 20-373, the Lane County Watersheds Bill of Rights.

Two chief petitioners of the measure, Michelle Holman of Deadwood and Rob Dickinson of Cottage Grove, each wrote in after we published our endorsements to let us know what they feel we got wrong.

In a letter published Wednesday, Holman took issue with our argument that the measure’s “legal and political chaos,” as we described it, would ultimately benefit lawyers instead of the environment.

Holman responded that “the fearmongering about the avalanche of lawsuits is straight out of the corporate anti-environmental playbook” and echoes the kinds of criticisms made before the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Dickinson wrote in a guest column that the theoretical situation we envisioned of neighboring landowners suing each other is flat-out wrong, because “a cursory read of the measure shows that individuals cannot sue other individuals. … Only corporations, governments and business entities are subject to enforcement under the law.”

But they weren’t the only letter-writers to weigh in on the watersheds measure last week. Eugene resident Roger Knudson called it “a moment for our community to act,” Springfield letter-writer Betzi Hitz said “we should pass it so we can save ourselves,” and Katie Geiser of Eugene said “the time for change is now.”

But others wrote in with concerns about the measure. Wylda Cafferata, a small forestland owner in Dexter, said everyone wants clean watersheds, but “few ballot measures have been as inappropriately titled” as the Watersheds Bill of Rights. Eugene resident David Fidanque wrote that its vague definitions could lead to lawsuits against “nonprofit corporations, even potentially those working to restore salmon habitat and improve the health of our rivers.” And Mark Robinowitz, who lives in the Spencer Creek watershed of Lane County, wrote that, “As a lifelong environmentalist, I wish I could support the Lane County Watersheds Bill of Rights initiative.”

Endorsement scoreboard

For the second-to-last time, here’s the Lookout letter-writer endorsement tally.

No, you don’t have time to write one anymore.

Yes, I still have more to publish, and the final numbers next week will be different.

No, this doesn’t matter.

Yes, I’ve enjoyed counting them — thanks everyone.

Lane County Commissioner

District 1, West Lane

Ryan Ceniga — 2
Thomas Hiura — 2

District 2, Springfield

Sean VanGordon — 13
David Loveall — 5

District 5, East Lane

Heather Buch — 10
Jake Pelroy — 3

Eugene City Council

Ward 3

John Barofsky — 8
Jennifer Smith — 5

Ward 4

No endorsements

Ward 5

Athena Aguiar — 3
Jasmine Hatmaker – 1
Mike Clark – 1

Ward 6

Greg Evans — 2

Ballot Measures

Lane County Watersheds Bill of Rights

Support — 5
Oppose — 3

Eugene Public Library levy

Support — 7
Oppose — 0

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We all value our environment, but the Watersheds Bill of Rights could slow needed housing development | Letter to the editor

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