We will have our ABC Elections, followed by Captain Doug Mozan, Ryan Skiles and Margaret Mazzotta from the Eugene Police Department (EPD) to discuss how to help them combat crime in our area. We’ll also hear an update from Mike Kucinski and Don Hanson from the Department of Environment Quality (DEQ) and Pradnya Garud from the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) regarding the JH Baxter cleanup efforts.

ABC Board Elections – Throw your hat in the ring – no advanced notice is required.

All members of ABC attending the meeting will be voting to elect TWO Co-chairs, ONE Secretary, ONE Treasurer and EIGHT Members-at-large.

Membership in ABC is open to any resident, property or business owner within the neighborhood boundaries: ABC shall encompass the area bounded on the east by US Highway 99; on the south by the Union Pacific Railroad Coos Bay line; on the west by Green Hill Road; and on the north by Clear Lake Road.

Any member, who is eighteen (18) or older, is eligible to vote and is entitled to one vote.

Descriptions of the positions are in the yellow/goldenrod printed ABC newsletter that arrived in your mailboxes around October 12 and will be repeated at the meeting prior to each vote. (NOTE: ALL ABC residents receive the printed newsletters from a list the city gives to the printers. You are not able to opt out of the printed version of our newsletter.)

ABC received the following letter at bethelneighbors@gmail.com on September 9th. We have received permission to share it with you and are including a meeting with our police department to have them hear our concerns in our upcoming ABC General Meeting:

“Let’s come together for change

Hello Bethel Neighbors,

I hope everyone is enjoying the last couple weeks of summer and the beginning of a new school year. I’m actually emailing because I would like to spark a deeper conversation about the events of the past week. While talk of an upcoming, new neighborhood plan has been of discussion and really offers a silver lining for the Bethel community, there have been a lot of very serious cases of crime that are seemingly becoming more frequent. In just this past week there has been the attempted child abduction, the Highway 99 incident where a belligerent driver hit and killed a person, and just this morning there was a SWAT raid on a house on Royal Ave. And then of course, there are the more common instances of theft (bikes, mail, cars, etc.), fireworks, and speeding as reported on the Bethel Neighborhood Watch. I am very disappointed in what our city has become, and specifically the influx of crime that has become centralized in West Eugene. It has become the living quarters for criminals. I am disheartened and I am angry and I think that we need to make public safety a priority in Bethel.

I think it would be beneficial to have the opportunity for Bethel residents come together (Zoom or in person) and voice their concerns about neighborhood safety. We need to have solidarity in this issue. I have neighbors who will not let their kids play outside because they do not feel safe. I live off of Marshall and there are cars that are constantly speeding down that road, revving their engines on the daily. There are transient people who walk around at night. One day over the summer I was taking a walk over by Peterson Barn when a mentally ill person walked past me and started screaming racial slurs. I’ve heard from my one neighbor that her and her family are moving in the near future because what the neighborhood has become. Our neighborhood is sinking into despair fast, and I think it’s time for the residents of Bethel to come together to discuss and seek solution. Our neighborhood should not live under the pejorative names of “Felony Flatts” or ”Methel.” I know that I’m not alone in my concerns and I feel having a loud and powerful initiative is just what we need.”

The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) will give us the latest update on the cleanup efforts at the properties across from JH Baxter.