Dowtown rave parties

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Permalink Reply by Liz on August 22, 2008 at 2:07pm

After the meeting last night, I decided to go over to the Police Station to get the straight dope about Mayo Finch's Thursday night raves at Kesey Plaza, since Mayo didn't seem like the most reliable source of information about this issue.

Lt. Richard Stronach, who is the watch commander Wed thru Sat nights, was kind enough to offer to come down and talk to me. Contrary to what Finch said, all of the officers under Lt. Stronach's command have warned Finch and his crew on numerous occasions that their activities were illegal. It is simply not true, as Finch claimed at the meeting, that the police were in general supportive of the parties, and only a few, such as Sgt. Carol Mason, were "harassing" him. In fact, Finch often lied to the police, telling them for example that Sgt. Stubbs (?) gave him permission to hold the parties.

On Thurday August 14, Sgt. Mason responded to a call about a local business's alarm being set off repeatedly due to the rave. At that time, Lt. Stronach was able to assemble a dozen officers to shut down the rave and issue citations to the offenders.

Lt. Stronach stressed that it was necessary to use a large force--something he says he doesn't often have the "luxury" of doing--because of the size of the crowd. In other words, the ravers have only been getting away with it because of the shortage of police downtown late at night.

I also told Lt. Stronach that I wanted to thank Sgt. Mason for ticketing Finch and for her ongoing efforts to put a stop to this nonsense. Anyone else who would like to commend Eugene's finest (for any reason) can do so at

http://www.eugene-or.gov/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=1689&a...

Permalink Reply by William Kennedy on August 22, 2008 at 8:10pm

Liz,

Thanks for the extra footwork. I too doubted very much Mr Finch's side of the story. Most of it didn't add up.

However, I've found myself thinking about something tangentially related to his story since last night's meeting: turning weakness into strength. What is currently "working" on the blocks of West Broadway between Willamette and Charnelton? Nightlife, a bar scene. Ok, this has it's drawbacks. Not much daylight activity. Booze + college kids = trouble. And that scene doesn't appeal to everyone.

However, it seems to be working in terms of bringing people downtown. You know where else that works in Eugene? Whiteaker. You know what else these blocks have in common with Whiteaker? Those who some describe as "undesirables". However, Whiteaker is doing a good job turning this "weakness" into a strength. Whiteaker says our brand is Eugene's artist grotto, the hippie-est of the hippie, the hipster of the hip. And it seems to work. It's a much safer place than it once was, and it's gaining a national reputation (Sam Bond's ranked one of nations best bars - Esquire June '07).

As Mr Finch stated rather coarsely, the middle class have their places to go in downtown Eugene and beyond. I don't 100% agree, but I don't believe that he's the only one in town that feels this way.

Yeah, I'm oversimplifying here and rambling a bit. While there are some similarities to Whiteaker there are also huge differences and unique challenges to this part of downtown. The safety issues in our area are a big problem. And this area also needs more housing nearby. And while I believe a downtown SHOULD have something for everyone, I found myself wondering how we might begin to look at this area in a different light and turn it's weaknesses into strengths.

So here are a few ideas:

Free music outside (weather permitting). I hear cover bands playing Mustang Sally in open air concerts at Oakway Center. What about a local super-group band playing Cure, Clash, Duran Duran, or REM tunes? Free shows with minimal set up. We of course would play by city rules and keep this on the up and up.

Eating contests. Indie craft fairs for the post-Woodstock crowd. An historical art display on the histroy of the American beatnik, boho, and hippie?

A mass laundry day for the street kids paid for by donation?!?

Ok, I'm riffing here a bit. Hopefully I've made my point.

Good night and good luck. It's almost 9 o'clock.

Permalink Reply by Liz on September 1, 2008 at 6:44pm

William,

A very thoughtful reply and interesting ideas. But as you might imagine, I have a somewhat different take on it.

Saying that a bar scene is what "works" downtown is a little like calling a lawn full of dandelions a flower garden. College ghetto is the Eugene default, what can always be counted on to fill the vacuum, simply given the demographics and the current lack of investment downtown.

Saying that downtown belongs to--what did he say? Twenties to early thirties because the old farts have early bedtimes? I'll just say the "party crowd"--is among the most moronic of Mayo Finch's utterances. I know that a lot of people think this way--it completely explains why people like Finch really think they're entitled to set up speakers in the middle of the street in the middle of the night--but ultimately I think that this attitude is to Eugene's disadvantage.

Settling for pandering to college kids is, to my mind, just more small-town thinking. A good 85% of the population of Eugene-Springfield are not college-age, and many of those people are happy to come to downtown when there is something going on there that interests them.

Examples are easy to come by: Saturday/Farmer's Market and Bite of Eugene (which we obviously need to expand) are the first ones that jump to mind. These kinds of events bring people into downtown who: spend more than $20; don't urinate in the alleys; don't vandalize storefronts; don't buy pot; don't get into fights and yell their heads off at 2 a.m....shall I go on?

I'm not saying that we need to purge downtown of this plague of college students, only that we should keep it in perspective. As you point out, downtown, more than any other neighborhood, should be for everyone. But at present, college-age kids (and a bit younger) and the "undesirables" are the only groups who really feel welcome there.

We need to get away from the beer-and-bands events and start doing more programming aimed at adults, families, working people, seniors...you know, the other 85% that Mayo Finch thinks should go someplace else so he can throw his parties.

Permalink Reply by William Kennedy on September 1, 2008 at 7:01pm

Points taken. I want to be clear: I do not support Finch.

"We need to get away from the beer-and-bands events and start doing more programming aimed at adults, families, working people, seniors...you know, the other 85% that Mayo Finch thinks should go someplace else so he can throw his parties."

And these events would be?...

Permalink Reply by Liz on September 1, 2008 at 7:04pm

Ya gotta start a new thread for that!! :-) and I gotta hop right now.

Permalink Reply by Sherrill Necessary on September 1, 2008 at 8:11pm

Places where people can pop into at the last minute or browse when they are between other activities.

A real movie theater
Walgreen's or other nice drug (and other stuff) store
Expanded book store with magazines and music
A "Eugene is Weird" store where tourists can buy trinkets to remember their visit here even if it isn't Saturday