Remember HB 3337? It passed the Oregon Senate the other day; the Governor says he is going to sign it.
This means Springfield is going to explode with real development, while Eugene continues its downward spiral.
HB 3337 passed with only 2 no votes in the Senate. Want to guess which two? (Surprise, one of them wasn't Vicki Walker!)
It's fun to kick Eugene! I just might be moving to Springfield some day...
Kick away Gully! Recently, Kitty and her katz voted to take the last parcel of developable land in Eugene.
Springfield and Veneta continue to build new houses at an amazing pace. I'm sure 126 throughway will get built sometime before I'm much older...
Posted by: Bob | Tuesday, 05 June 2007 at 08:37 AM
I received some feedback from friends who are staff (won't tell you what city) and was told that Rep Beyer carried the water in Salem. More importantly though, it was Mayor Leiken whom they described as being nothing short of brilliant in making the Springfield case. In fact they said he completely outflanked Mayor Piercy to point of embarrassment.
Posted by: josh reynolds | Tuesday, 05 June 2007 at 09:08 AM
I Like Mayor Leiken....
Posted by: RinoWatch | Tuesday, 05 June 2007 at 09:13 AM
Eugene city council knows how to turn business away - like Peace Health, Whole Foods (PC Market paid off some members to drag the WF deal out so it wouldn't happen), etc.
On the good side Springfield will build lots of medium and high density housing while existing larget homes in Eugene will go up and up in value!
YAHOO!
Posted by: JustaDog | Tuesday, 05 June 2007 at 10:33 AM
got any links you can post about that PC Market/Whole Foods story?
as for HB 3337: OH YEAH!
From what I hear, Sid Leiken absolutely made this happen. All due respects to Rep. Beyer, who did a good job representing her district with this bill, but this really did boil down to Leiken v. Kitty, and Leiken won handily.
If this is any indication of Mayor Leiken's ability to solve problems by getting good legislation passed, then perhaps we need to see him in Salem - or DC...
I'd put him on a very short list of potential candidates for Governor. A Leiken-Atkinson primary would probably be the most congenial and most informative primary ever. It would also finally give the Oregon Republicans a no-lose primary. However, to be honest, Leiken might need a little more seasoning and exposure to statewide issues first. Perhaps he could join the Legislature in 2008 and use that as his springboard--with the House so close, if he ran against Beyer and won, that could be the seat that gives the House back to the GOP and could propel him into the statewide spotlight.
I'd also consider him the best alternative to Peter DeFazio the region has seen in 20 years. If DeFazio retires and leaves an open seat, there is no one better to step up and seize it than Leiken.
Either way, I expect great things from this bright young leader.
Posted by: independent thinker | Tuesday, 05 June 2007 at 10:51 AM
Leiken is already taken for a spot. And let's just say that the old rubbish will be taken out and new blood put in it's place.
Posted by: Yomi Mizuhara | Tuesday, 05 June 2007 at 08:16 PM