No on 20-134 in Eugene

I plan on submitting my ballot November 6th, as I still need time to convince my friends to vote. We also need to have a healthy discussion on the various measures we're voting for and against. I am a young voter in Eugene and my decision on 20-134 to increase spending by $40 million on the urban renewable plan was still undecided a couple days ago. The campaign manager that is against the measure, David Monk, managed to sway my vote to his side. I spent a half day with him at a tabling event at HP for the Oregon Toxics Alliance and gained the perspective I needed to vote on the measure.

He helped me realize what I think a lot of young voters tend to overlook. My thoughts on the extra money made me feel that if it were to pass that downtown would get that rapid transformation we all envision. I think that a lot of young voters welcome the presence of corporations as well, due to what they have to offer them...more things to do. However, living in Eugene for a little over a year now, I have come to enjoy profoundly the local businesses which seem to flourish along with the type of people that live here. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area has blinded me to what local businesses even were, due to the fact that every business is a corporate business. Thats all there was, just copies and copies of the same businesses from city to city. I think the people of Eugene owe it to themselves to preserve their diverse local businesses by protecting them with a no vote on 20-134. Even as a young social drinker, places that I love to go to such as John Henry's, The HorseHead, and Jameson's would go away which would be a huge disappointment.

If 20-134 doesn't pass, then it doesn't mean that we will not still get some of the things we would all like to see come to downtown. It would just prevent the city from spending money it doesn't have to protect the interests of the corporate developer which demands a set profit. Why should we bow down to the corporations now when Eugene is such an anti-corporation type of city. Even in the last year, I can tell that Eugene has grown, and more and more businesses that choose to do their own re-modeling and re-vitalization can bring downtown Eugene to life. It really would be sad to see the local businesses I've come to adore go out of business because of some corporation that has setup shop.

I, for one, still have a lot of convincing I am sure, but there is this great resource located at http://www.sensibledowntowndevelopment.org/ with some great ideas and sensible downtown development plans. People should really give this a thorough look before going out and voting on this important city measure. Eugene will one day be a great city home to nearly a quarter million people in about 10 years. The planning that goes into the city right now is crucial to Eugene's future. Please vote responsibly.

Vote NO on 20-134