gardner, burger & bearden

There was a Lane County Public Safety Coordinating Council meeting listed in the Register Guard today at 3:00. I was excited because the meeting was in town at the new LCOG mansion (859 Willamette) and not out by Autzen at the Serbu Center for Young Hoodlums, Scofflaws and Ne'er-do-wells.

Unfortunately, the Sofa, oops sorry, I mean Chair of the PSCC, Lane County Commissioner Faye Stewart chose not to inform the public that the meeting was cancelled, choosing to waste the time of Carol Berg-Caldwell and me. Faye did not want to expend the extra calories it would have taken to cc: me and Ms. Berg-Caldwell on the email he sent to the members (and I do mean members!) of the PSCC canceling the meeting– LCDA Alex Gardner, LCCC Presiding Judge Mary Ann Bearden, EPD Chief Kerns, SPD Chief Smith, LC Sheriff Burger, DA Gardner, OSP Lieutenant Bloom, Eugene City Councilor Solomon and the snivilian members (Tim Laue, Paul Solomon, Gretchen Pearce – you know, randomly chosen citizens).

There’s a battle going on between Lane County Commissioners Fleenor, Sorenson and Handy against Commissioners Stewart and Dwyer and Sheriff Burglar and DA Gardner and the 15 Lane County Circus Court judges and the Eugene Register Guard regarding funding for the jail.
http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/opinion/15150757-47/story.csp

What arrogance for the R-G and DA Gardner and Sheriff Burger and Judge Bearden to try to thwart the will of the majority of the Lane County Board of Commissioners and the majority of the Lane County Budget Committee.

The 3/5 =60% of the commissioners who are opposed to more money for prosecution and incarceration (Handy/Sorenson/Fleenor) represent more than 60% of the residents of Lane County. Faye Stewart’s area called East Lane extends as far west as Crow. While it is larger than all four other areas combined, it probably is the least densely populated. (Somehow, this does not surprise me.)

So while Handy/Sorenson/Fleenor represent 60% of the Lane County Board of Commissioners, their constituents probably represent more than 60% of Lane County residents. Add to that the fact that the average constituent of Handy (north Eugene), Sorenson (south Eugene) or Fleenor (west Lane) has pi times as many neurons as the average constituent of Dwyer (Springfield) or Stewart (east Lane), and you begin to see how arrogant it is for the Lane County Circuit Court, District Attorney and Sheriff, in conjunction with the Eugene Register Guard to try to bully the majority of commissioners out of their opinion. Voters have rejected taxes for prosecution and incarceration nine times. 60% of the commissioners who represent more than 60% of residents are opposed. But Gardner, Burger and Bearden know better than everyone else.

Isn't it time for Stewart to find a real job and for Dwyer to be put out to pasture?

And I realize that Sheriff Burger, DA Gardner and Presiding Judge Bearden hate democracy, but they are just going to have to get used to it.