Kari, surely Jim Torrey can't be all that bad...

After all, Kate Brown has also taken money from said developers, auto dealers, and polluters. ... And you wouldn't classify her as conservative, would you?

You'll have to explain the difference between "Jim Torrey taking the money = evil" versus "Kate Brown taking the same money = quarterly pat-on-the-back from BlueOregon for being ahead in the money race"

So if a candidate is enodorsed by developers or capitalist types they are evil? um did anyone tell sam this?

I am not impressed with either one of them. Torrey spent his entire time in office courting development and other "business friendly" pet projects while letting the city infrastructure go to hell. Kitty inherited his probelems and instead of fixing them she focused all of her time on environmental issues and other social feel good things. Eugene is a town that has more than enough active and willing community members to take things on like sustainability, strong chamers of commerce to help welcome new business, plenty of emtpy buildings to be developed and great people that help each other everyday. What the city NEEDS to provide is a larger and better educated and trained police force, fixed roads and a more open and accessible government so people feel that they are welcome to come in and work with the city on the issues that affect them.

Mr. Poisner makes a good point... as I have been disappointed by Mr. Torrey's record myself.

So when Kari asks, "Details? Just linking to ORESTAR while making broad accusations won't cut it," I will gladly provide a list of funders with the caveat that I hold Mr. Torrey's record -- not his funders -- against him. Just as I don't hold this list of Kate Brown's funders against her:

Developers: Wal-Mart, Oregon Manufactured Housing, John Russell.

Auto Dealers: Oregon Independent Automobile Dealers Assoc.

Polluters: Associated Oregon Industries, Oregon Petroleum Association, Avista Corp (natural gas supplier), Weyerhaeuser, Georgia-Pacific Corporation, RDO-Bos Farms.

You're right, Kari. I should have listed these guys in my first post. My bad. I only bring the point up because Kari's article does not focus on Mr. Torrey's record but rather his funders. By that logic, Kate Brown would also be a conservative... and we know she is not.

Head's up, this is one Eugene local that is about to go into launch mode. 5...4...3...2..1

Kitty Piercy is absolutely the better candidate for the position. It is absurd to have Jim Torrey even considered as a candidate. It actually makes me sick to think about it, kind of like if Reagan came back from the grave and ran for President.

Piercy has done an excellent job representing ALL of Eugene, so much so that the Eugene Weekly attacked her for being "too conservative" (which was completely undeserved but goes to show that Piercy clearly is politically complex, as a mayor should be.)

Urban renewal for downtown redevelopment was a major political issue last year that pitted Kitty Piercy against very liberal Bonny Bettman, a local city councilor, in several debates leading up to the last election (November, 2007). The mayor chose to move forward with the politically unpopular UR decision and lost the battle, showing her ability to cross political lines for the betterment of the city. Maybe she was wrong, but she sure didn't do it for her own political or financial gain. Unlike Torrey who shepherded in Hynix semiconductor plant on some delicate wetlands, which has yet to pay off, except to the land owners, buddies of Jim Torrey.

I am absolutely shocked that Kitty has so few supporters on Blue Oregon. What is going on? Forgotten her time in the legislature so quickly?

Progressives in Lane County NEED STATEWIDE SUPPORT. Our local branch of the Bus Project has prioritized this race as essential. Do you all have nay clue how ridiculously conservative Eugene leadership really is? We need Kitty.

Torrey may be a nice guy (I wouldn't know, but Kitty is about the nicest politician I've ever met who is STILL politically effective) but what in the heck are you thinking Mr. Peralta? I've seen him take advantage of media opportunities to sit next to low income youth to seem "pro-children" but his politics simply are about benefiting his cronies. Don't make obtuse comments about politics in my city and mess with our politics unless you know what you are talking about. Grrrrrr!

Torrey voted to destroy the wetlands, lied to the voters about the availability of state money to pay for the West Eugene Parkway, he is responsible for tearing down trees to build an unsuccessful parking lot, escalating protests in riots through pitiful management of the police... he was even arrested for ordering trees to be cut down in violation of the Sunday noise ordinance (leading to his subsequent arrest, which was hilarious). This is the situation that led to Jim Flynn's torture by the police (they emptied cans on pepper spray onto his most delicate body parts because he was tree sitting downtown to prevent the destruction of very old maple trees to make a parking lot). My husband told me about a riot in the late 90s that escalated because the police were lose with the pepper spray rather than remaining calm at a simple protest. (and don't even think of blaming a small group of pretty disorganized anarchists -- this was a community event with women and children picnicking that the police interrupted, escalated, and went berserk -- he was the MAYOR and should have learned something from the 1960s and 70s for crying out loud.) There is a reason that Eugene voters won't pay a dime for the city police (which is a shame because we surely need effective community policing).

A better mayor would have prevent the violence from escalating. A better mayor would have recognized that Eugene doesn't need another parking lot (but how about some free downtown parking and enhanced bus routes?). A better mayor would try to build consensus in this incredibly diverse and politically outspoken town. A better mayor would actually show up to 600 events over the last year (which Kitty did). A better mayor wouldn't mug for the cameras when politically convenient, but be out there EVERY DAY fighting for a safer city with a strong economy that recognizes Eugene's economic leadership in sustainable business. A better mayor is Kitty Piercy.

And my husband IS a small businessman and is throwing a fundraiser for Kitty this month (Kegger for Kitty!).

I'd go on but my fingers are tired from pounding the keyboard emphatically and my husband is tired of listening to me rage.

Thanks Kari for bringing attention to this critical race and getting my heart rate up.

Want more details? Here's a story about his failed attempt to defeat Vicki Walker.

It drives me nuts to have Torrey against yet another awesome female leader in Lane County.

Unfortunately, Torrey isn't even a true conservative, a breed that I often disagree with, but respect. He makes the usual conservative noises about increasing law and order funding, but is mysteriously silent when it comes to paying the bill. The conservatives of yesteryear were more honest - they were fiscally as well as socially conservative. Torrey's more in the Bush mode - quite willing to sell our children's future for his causes.

When and where is this Kitty Fundraiser going to take place?

Kari, You are an unfair and biased person! Eugene’s downtown has been falling further and further into the category of a place less desirable to go for a long time meanwhile Springfield is becoming a viable city with a heart. Without a sound business core that is a safe, friendly, place to shop and conduct business the Eugene that people remember will be gone. You label all of Mr. Tory’s contributors as “Polluters”; do you know that for a fact? I doubt it. Do you live in a house, if so you are associated with what you call a polluter if it is made from wood products. Do you use paper towels and toilet paper? If so you are associated with what you label as a polluter as it is a wood product. Do you drive a car? If so you again are associated with two of those what you call polluters, the car maker and the oil provider. So you try to put the Polluter label on Mr. Tory by association, that is a joke and it’s on you! There is no one who loves kids any more than Jim Tory, there is no one who cares more about solving the problems of Eugene more than Jim Tory and what’s more, he has the right stuff to get it done!

During Torrey's eight years as mayor, he neglected Eugene's downtown and it became the place of vacant store fronts and open pits. He did little to improve road infrastructure and failed to support a police auditor when it was clear that there were serious problems of abuse happening among some of them.

In her three and a half years as mayor, Piercy has engaged the community in serious efforts to revitalize downtown, used every cent of gas tax money to repair streets while working with state officials to try to find additional ways to address this statewide vexing problem, and supported the police auditor and citizens review board because she believes they will go a long way to supporting the many police officers who are doing their jobs well while restoring credibility and support for the police in the eyes of many of us who were dismayed by the over-the-top aggressiveness and abuse demonstrated by some in the police force during the Torrey years. (Don't even get me started on the warrantless, but eventual coersed search of my neighbor's home in the wee hours of the morning, the interrogation of her primary school aged children by what the youngest referred to as "the army mans with guns in my bedroom" while she was held in the street in her nightgown and threatened with losing her kids all because they had bogus information about her ex who didn't live on the property. The city paid a pretty penny to settle this and other similar complaints that occurred during that time.)

In a few short years, Piercy has the community talking about and working with each other on ways to address the thorny issues facing it. That's more than I remember during the Torrey years.

And, for the record, I worked in Springfield for 21 years, and believe me, their downtown is only recently becoming an interesting place to be after years and years of decay, neglect and trouble. The trouble's not totally gone, but the safety of their downtown is slowly improving. And much of their development includes chain stores and questionable competition (e.g. Lowe's going in very close to already existing and competing Home Depot and local Jerry's Home Improvement -- seems like development for the sake of development).

There's a clear decision to be made in this race. They both may be very nice people as individuals, but their politics and political styles are very different. For those who understand and believe that economic development must be balanced with attention to environmental and social concerns, Piercy is the clear choice. For those interested in development at any cost and the police can do no wrong, then Torrey's your guy.

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