It’s Randy Papé Beltline

FLORENCE — Despite opposition from thousands of Facebook members, the Lane County Board of Commissioners and 11 of the 12 people who testified before them, the five members of the Oregon Transportation Commission on Tuesday voted unanimously to amend an earlier proposal but still name 10-mile-long Belt Line Road in honor of Randy Papé.

In seeking to honor the late Eugene businessman and state transportation commission member, the panel opted to christen the highway the “Randy Papé Beltline” instead of the “Randy Papé Beltway,” and to initially spend only $1,500 on two signs designating the change, not the $250,000 originally projected for changing as many as 50 signs.

The name change applies to the four-lane state highway that stretches from West 11th Avenue in Eugene to Gateway Street in Springfield.

Eleven of 12 people who spoke during a public comment portion of the commission’s monthly meeting said they are still opposed to the renaming at all — and voiced their displeasure by uttering phrases such as “abuse of power,” “callous disregard” and “shame on you!”

The commission initially voted for the name change March 11 on a 3-0 vote, with two members absent.

“Why did you even bother to vote on it in March?” Rick Grosscup of Eugene asked Tuesday, referring to the fact that Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s request to name the arterial for Papé — a request solicited by the commission — allowed the commission to sidestep its own guidelines on naming state highways. “Why did you not follow your own policy and the law?”

About 75 people at-tended Tuesday’s afternoon meeting, and the five commissioners took their vote after hearing about an hour of public testimony.

After public outcry over the original estimated cost of $250,000 in a time of recession, the commission floated the alternative approved Tuesday, to put up only two signs designating the “Randy Papé Beltline” for now and then replace additional signs as needed in the years to come.

“Obviously, we became aware of the costs” and realized “we needed to take a different approach,” commission Chairwoman Gail Achterman of Corvallis said at Tuesday’s meeting.

The only person to speak Tuesday in favor of the renaming was Papé family spokesman Tim Clevenger, who began by slapping for emphasis a folder filled with letters of support on a table.

The folder contained several e-mails and letters from everyday citizens, state Sen. Rick Metzger and Linda Modrell, chairwoman of the Albany-based Cascades West Area Commission on Transportation.

There was also one from Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy and the Eugene City Council, although that letter is dated March 11, the day of the commission’s previous vote, and before Piercy said she realized replacing the signs would cost $250,000.

Papé was “a man who showed us all how to be better Oregonians,” Clevenger said. Even in ill health, Papé, who died of a heart attack at age 58 after years of battling cancer, would write checks for kids in need across the state, a teary Clevenger said.

“He showed me that you look for the good in all,” Clevenger said.

The commission members voting to support the name change were Achterman, Mike Nelson of Baker City, Alan Brown of Newport, David Lohman of Medford and Mary Olson of Oregon City.

After listening to the testimony, the commission members addressed concerns and disputed that there had been collusion, conspiracy or inappropriate lack of public involvement in the renaming.

“This is what democracy is all about,” Nelson said. “I’ve served on a lot of commissions, and I’ve never seen a commission that’s as open to public comment as this one. I saw no conspiracy ever. I’m happy that we’re doing this. I think Randy Papé was an exceptional human being. And if I lived in Eugene, I’d be proud.”

The amended proposal approved Tuesday still does not sit well with many Lane County residents, who said the commission purposely left the public in the dark about the renaming until just before its March 11 vote.

Charlotte Lingo of Junction City called it “simply wrong and an abuse of power.”

“We’ve lost our faith in you and your ability to do this correctly,” she told the commission. “The way you went about this … you’ve done Mr. Papé a great injustice. Shame on all of you!”

State Department of Transportation documents obtained by The Register-­Guard under Oregon public records law show that Achterman and Transportation Department Director Matthew Garrett first broached the idea with ODOT staff of naming something for Papé several days after his death in November 2008. ODOT staff and some Eugene-Springfield area local officials repeatedly warned ODOT confidentially that the name change wouldn’t play well in Lane County and advised involving the public first.

Even some Lane County public officials were caught unaware. The Lane County Board of Commissioners last week voted unanimously to ask the transportation commission to suspend the renaming and engage the public in developing a consensus memorial for Papé.

“You all spent 15 months e-mailing each other, but no one has stood up and said, ‘This was my idea,’ ” Scott Reynolds of Springfield told the panel Tuesday. Achterman responded by saying she was ap-proached by a number of people at Papé’s memorial service in Eugene who suggested that something be named for Papé, and that she too had thought about the possibility.

“I can’t say it was any one person’s idea,” Achterman said.

“So why were all of you conspiring in secret for 15 months to get this done?” Reynolds asked Achterman.

“We were planning on doing our ordinary public process,” Achterman said. The commission’s March meeting agenda, which included the renaming proposal, was sent to media throughout the state on March 5, she said. But no media reports surfaced until a Register-Guard story on March 10. The fact that the renaming project could cost $250,000 didn’t emerge until after the commission’s March 11 vote.

“All of the testimony (at that March 11 meeting) was in favor” of the renaming, Achterman said.

According to ODOT spokesman Patrick Cooney, only one person signed up to make a comment at the March 11 meeting: former transportation commission member Stuart Foster.

“Do you think we’d be having this conversation if Randy Papé had given Gov. Kulongoski 50 cents instead of $50,000?” Reynolds asked Achterman, referring to Papé’s campaign contributions to the governor over the years.

“That is insulting!” Achterman shot back.

Reynolds and Eugene’s Kevin Prociw, a city of Eugene employee, filed an initiative petition on April 8 with the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office to gather signatures to put the issue to a statewide vote in November. They have gathered the initial 1,000 signatures they need to create a ballot title, Prociw said, and will now set about the daunting task of gathering 82,769 valid voter signatures by July 2 to place it on the ballot.

During Tuesday’s public comment, Prociw, who started a Facebook page opposed to the renaming, posed this question to Garrett: Given the protests, the outcry and the county commissioners’ request, “Do you still feel that there is broad public support?”

Garrett responded by saying the decision lies with the transportation commission, and while he appreciates how citizens feel about it, it’s ultimately the commission’s call.

“That does pretty much nothing to answer the question, but thank you,” Prociw said.