Dear CHOICES Subscribers, Last Tuesday, the Springfield City Council held a public hearing on PeaceHealth's proposed master plan for a new hospital in the Gateway area. They indicated they want to act quickly in order to move the project forward. Last Tuesday, the Springfield City Council also decided to appeal the ruling by Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) that their prior decision to amend plans for PeaceHealth violated Statewide Planning Goals 9 (Economic Development) and 12 (Transportation). In so doing, they are opened the door to considering not only these two issues but also issues LUBA had dismissed, for example, the need to gain approval from Lane County and Eugene and whether or not a regional hospital qualifies as an "auxiliary use" in a residential zone. Also, the master plan might take out four housing in order to make room for a new road, leaving the residents with few options. What is wrong with this picture? What is wrong is that Springfield and PeaceHealth are hoping win the "game" when the rules of the game won't become clear until the appeals are exhausted, which won't occur until April or May at the earliest. What is wrong is that there is a good chance that all of the review and public involvement occurring now will need to be redone once the legal issues are resolved. If the Springfield City Council were looking after the public interest (rather than the interest of PeaceHealth), they would delay considering the master plan until the legal issues are resolved. Of course, PeaceHealth protests that they will lose $1.5 million for every month of delay. But PeaceHealth knew years ago that using residential land to develop a hospital would be complicated and that there would be appeals. Presumably, when they decided to go with the Gateway site, they factored in the costs of these inevitable delays. Presumably, they decided that despite the near certainty of delay, trying to move to Gateway still made good business sense. The public has no absolute obligation to spare PeaceHealth from the consequences of its own business decisions. In any case, it won't be over until the attorneys and judges say it is over. If you weren't able to share you views with the Springfield City Council, you still have three more weeks to do so. Submit written comments BY TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, AT 5 P.M. to: Colin Stephens, Springfield Planner mail address: 255 Fifth St., Springfield, OR 97477 email: cstephens@ci.springfield.or.us fax: 726-3689 In other news, on Monday the Eugene City Council will discuss options for a new hospital in Eugene, in part prompted by a recent letter from McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center. As reported previously, McKenzie-Willamette appears to be more interested in the Valley River and Glenwood sites (and perhaps a site close to Gateway), and less interested in the 2nd and Chambers site. The City of Springfield is accepting applications for citizens interested in joining the 7-member planning commission. These volunteers play an important role in helping to shape Springfield's future. Lane County is closing its mental hospital, and is wary of Springfield's plans to merge their fire district with the Willakenzie Fire District. Meanwhile, doctors, hospitals, governments, businesses and patients all struggle with the increasingly high costs of health care. But money for roads continues to flow. And the local election season is starting to warm up. Only three weeks into the year and the twists and turns are already occurring. Stay tuned to see what next week brings... Rob Zako, Editor 343-5201 rzako@efn.org ================================================================================ Health Options Digest January 25, 2004 Coalition for Health Options In Central Eugene-Springfield (CHOICES) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CALENDAR Monday, January 26 -- Springfield City Council Springfield City Hall, 225 Fifth St., Springfield, 726-3700 5:30 p.m., Work Session, Jesse Maine Room 1. Budget Committee Interviews. (50 min.) 2. 42nd Street at Westbound Highway 126 Ramp Intersection. (10 min.) 3. Willamalane Park and Recreation Comprehensive Plan Update: Presentation and Review of Draft Plan. (30 min.) 4. Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) Between City of Springfield and Willakenzie Fire District (WFD). (10 min.) Agenda: http://www.ci.springfield.or.us/CMO/2004Council/2004%20January%2026%20agenda.pdf Monday, January 26 -- Eugene City Council Eugene City Hall, 777 Pearl St., Eugene, Lynda Rose, 682-5017; lynda.l.rose@ci.eugene.or.us 5:30 p.m., Work Session, McNutt Room 1. Items from Mayor, City Council, and City Manager 2. Work Session: Proposed Revisions to Traffic and Ordinance Offenses 3. Work Session: Hospital Property Update 4. Executive Session (The Executive Session is held pursuant to ORS 192.660(1)(e).) 7:30 p.m., Meeting, Council Chamber 1. Public Forum 2. Consent Calendar 3. Public Hearing: Downtown Plan Update and Related Metro Plan and Code Amendments 4. Public Hearing: An Ordinance Adopting a New Central Area Transportation Study (CATS) 5. Action: An Ordinance Concerning the Citizens Involvement Committee Agenda: http://www.ci.eugene.or.us/Council/Agenda/AGENDA.htm Wednesday, January 28 -- Eugene City Council Eugene City Hall, 777 Pearl St., Eugene, Lynda Rose, 682-5017; lynda.l.rose@ci.eugene.or.us 12:00 p.m., Work Session, McNutt Room 1. Work Session: Transportation Financing 2. Work Session: Roosevelt Yard Property Acquisition Agenda: http://www.ci.eugene.or.us/Council/Agenda/AGENDA.htm Wednesday, January 28 -- Ideas sought on parks and recreation plan 4:00-7:00 p.m., Memorial Building Community Center, 765 A St., Springfield On the parks side of the Willamalane Park & Recreation District, planners are looking for opinions on a draft document intended to help identify future needs for parks, open space, recreation facilities and related services in Springfield. Draft copies of the district's Park and Recreation Comprehensive Plan -- in the works since January 2002 -- are available for review at the Willamalane Administration Center and the Springfield Library. Copies can be purchased for $15.82 apiece at Willamalane, or may be downloaded from the district's Web page at www.willamalane.org. An open house for discussion and explanation of the plan will be held from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Jan. 28 at the Memorial Building Community Center, 765 A St. (end) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/12/20/b2.cr.spfldcitybeat.1220.html Thursday, January 29 -- A new view on toxic chemicals: how they impact our health 6:00-8:00 p.m., Downtown Athletic Club, 999 Willamette St., Eugene It has been a long-held truth that the "dose makes the poison" when it comes to toxic chemicals and their impact on our health. However, recent science indicates that even low-level exposure, particularly at the wrong time in the development of a fetus or small child, can cause subtle yet serious health impacts. John Peterson Myers, Ph.D., will highlight cutting-edge science, the conceptual shifts that are occurring as a result, implications for clinical practice and opportunities for health professionals to advance public understanding of the emerging evidence. Dr. Myers is co-author of Our Stolen Future, CEO of Environmental Health Sciences, which publishes , a daily collection of links to press articles on environmental health, and Senior Advisor to the United Nations Foundation and Commonwealth. The Healthy Environment Forum series is intended to bring health professionals, environmentalists and engaged community members together to learn about emerging issues and being to forge consensus about linkages between some of Oregon's most difficult environmental and health challenges. The series is designed for physicians and other health care providers, especially those in Family Medicine and Pediatrics, and for interested citizens. *** CME, CNE and Naturopathic credits are available. To register online, visit . Tickets are $25 ($20 for OEC members and employees of nonprofit or governmental agencies) or $75 for the series. Heavy hors d'oeurves will be provided. To register by mail, please send checks to Oregon Environmental Council, 520 SW Sixth Ave., Suite 940, Portland, OR 97204-1535. Register by phone with Visa or MasterCard by contacting Cheryl Bristah at (503) 222-1963 x100 or cheryl@orcouncil.org -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OPPORTUNITIES Plan ahead If you think it's time you tried your hand at planning projects, the city is accepting applications for the seven-member Planning Commission. The commission makes recommendations to the council about growth and development, and it has authority over zone changes, variances, appeals and discretionary use requests. Each term is four years. At a minimum, serving on the commission requires about six hours of meetings monthly, with three to six hours of preparation each time. Applications are available in the City Manager's Office in City Hall, Fifth and A streets; the deadline is 5 p.m. Feb. 6. For more information, call Mel Oberst at 726-3783. (end) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/01/17/b1.cr.spcitybeat.0117.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PEACEHEALTH Council, hospital review street, land issues SPRINGFIELD -- Two issues will linger when the City Council on Tuesday begins the final review of PeaceHealth's hospital project: traffic and land. The council plans to vote Feb. 9 whether to approve the $400 million project, which is scheduled to open in 2007 between Game Farm Road and the McKenzie River. But first the city and PeaceHealth must decide how to respond to a finding by the state Land Use Board of Appeals that said the city erred last March when it granted the hospital the right to build. One hurdle is traffic: PeaceHealth and city officials say that, assuming planned road upgrades stay on track, the project won't cause problems when street improvements are completed by 2018. But the board said the city must address temporary traffic snarls that the project causes until then. That means scaling back the project, beefing up the roads or reducing the reliance on vehicles. (more...) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/01/19/b1.cr.peacehealth.0119.html Council to appeal hospital ruling SPRINGFIELD -- The City Council voted Tuesday night to fight a state board in defense of the PeaceHealth hospital project. The council will appeal the recent decision by the Land Use Board of Appeals that said the city erred in approving the Gateway area hospital project last year, City Attorney Joe Leahy said after a closed meeting late Tuesday. The city's appeal will go to the Oregon Court of Appeals, providing opponents another opportunity to challenge the project and setting up a climactic ruling in April or May. The $400 million hospital project -- slated to open in 2007, pending approval -- is on two tracks. One is the city's appeal, effectively an argument that the council acted legally last March in giving PeaceHealth a green light to build; and the other is council review of the hospital's 160-acre development plan, which was the subject of a hearing Tuesday and a question to be decided in March. (more...) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/01/21/d1.cr.peacehealth.0121.html Council tells City to appeal ruling by LUBA over hospital property The city of Springfield is headed to court. City Council has directed legal staff to appeal a Land Use Board of Appeals ruling concerning land use changes on PeaceHealth's property between Game Farm Road and the McKenzie River. The land use board ruled earlier this month that the city must clarify transportation and economic development findings before commencing construction on the medical complex. The appeal is necessary for the hospital project to go forward and for future development to be successful, said Tammy Fitch, council president. (more...) http://www.springfieldnews.com/articles/2004/01/23/local/news07.txt New road plan hits home for some Gateway area residents SPRINGFIELD -- For the homeowner who doesn't want to sell, it's a nightmare: A massive project is announced next door, bearing the threat that he'll lose everything. It's also suddenly quite real to a handful of residents next to the PeaceHealth hospital site. Four property owners by Deadmond Ferry Road near the proposed Gateway area hospital are fighting City Hall to stop the creation of a new road that would serve the 160-acre project but could take their homes and land. (more...) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/01/23/a1.displaced.0123.html Dreams in Peril They shared a dream when they moved to fertile flatland near the McKenzie River in north Springfield. They dreamed of raising their children on farms, but now a proposed road to accommodate the planned PeaceHealth medical complex is crushing the hopes of three families along Deadmond Ferry Road. (more...) http://www.springfieldnews.com/articles/2004/01/23/local/news01.txt New hospital site inconvenient Letter by James Witzig, Eugene As an aged, longtime resident of south Eugene, I join many of our local seniors in opposing Sacred Heart General Hospital's proposed relocation to the far east. Not only is this move a hazard to timely medical access, it would prove very inconvenient for visiting our hospitalized friends. It looks to me that this out-of-the-way location benefits only real-estate speculators, including Sacred Heart's mother organization. Either the former Coburg Road site or a high-rise on the decaying block to the southwest of the present hospital seem to be the best location for a metropolitan medical center. (end) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/01/23/ed.letters.0123.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COST OF HEALTH CARE County to close mental hospital Lane County will close its 16-year-old psychiatric hospital at the end of March, affecting as many as 400 acutely mentally ill patients who occupy its 12 beds each year. County officials made the announcement Friday, citing cumulative effects of the failure of Measure 28 one year ago, which forced millions of dollars in cuts to state and local budgets, including public health and mental health services. But they emphasized that the fate of Measure 30 on the Feb. 3 ballot will have no effect on their decision to close the Eugene hospital, located at 151 W. Fifth Ave. in a wing off the lobby at the Lane County Jail. (more...) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/01/24/a1.psychhospital.0124.html County's slow to warm up to fire district merger plan The Lane County commissioners poured cold water Wednesday on the city of Springfield's proposal to save money by merging its fire and ambulance services with the Willakenzie Rural Fire District. The board didn't come right out and say it opposed the merger, but its members voted 5-0 to forward several concerns to the Local Government Boundary Commission, which will hold a public hearing on the subject Feb. 5. If the boundary commission OKs the idea, in May it will be referred to voters in the proposed new district -- which includes Springfield as well as a large swath of unincorporated land south of the city limits and a few pockets to the north. (more...) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/01/22/d1.cr.firedistrict.0122.html City, fire district settle details on way to merger agreement The city and the Willakenzie Fire District seem to have ironed out their differences. Will the public bless this union? Springfield wants to annex the fire department into the smaller district to save money and free up power to tax more, when necessary. The two were at odds over who would govern the new district and whether the city's fire stations and land would go to the district. On governance, the city hopes to fill some of the four vacancies on the district board by July 2006, and to put residents on a budget committee that will watch the purse strings. On buildings and land, the city agreed, in part, to transfer the fire station at Fifth and M streets to the district, or to pay the market value of that property, or to find other land for a fire station. The deal "assures citizens that the city is protecting its assets," Assistant City Manager Cynthia Pappas said. The City Council will likely approve the annexation Feb. 2, and will decide then whether to put the whole thing on the ballot. City and district officials also have to clear the arrangement with the Lane County Boundary Commission, which they'll try to do Feb. 5. (end) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/01/24/b1.cr.spcitybeat.0124.html New annexation hurdle: Springfield move may require metro plan change Register-Guard Editorial There are times when nothing comes easy. After much hard work and deliberation, the city of Springfield earlier this month decided to proceed with the annexation of the city's fire department by the Willakenzie Fire District. The city had two main reasons for approving the annexation. One was a debatable motivation -- freeing up of taxing authority that the city will need to meet other needs in years to come. The other was a sound and forward-thinking desire to kickstart a broader regionalization of fire and ambulance service that could produce significant savings and improved service. (more...) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/01/24/ed.edit.firemetro.phn.0124.html Doctors want to cap medical damage awards SALEM -- Dr. Katherine Merrill delivered as many as 40 babies a year in Astoria, a job she loved. "I always thought I'd be the little old lady doctor in town delivering everybody's babies," said the 41-year-old. Last August, Merrill stopped delivering babies -- a decision prompted by the steeply rising costs of medical malpractice insurance. She's not alone. A recent Oregon Health and Science University survey found that 125 physicians around the state have stopped delivering babies in the past four years, with others planning to follow suit. The Oregon Medical Association is planning to address the issue by pushing an initiative measure for the fall ballot to limit medical malpractice damage awards. Doctors say caps on such awards are needed because unrestricted jury awards are driving up malpractice insurance costs and causing physicians to retire early or to drop high-risk specialties such as obstetrics. (more...) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/01/25/b3.cr.doctors.0125.html Lack of paying patients dooms Woodland Park The Northeast hospital, which did a lot of business with Medicaid, will lay off all its more than 240 employees Woodland Park Hospital transferred its final 12 patients to other area hospitals Thursday, clearing the way for immediate closure of the Northeast Portland facility. Woodland Park's owner, Symphony Healthcare, is shuttering the money-losing operation because of its increasingly bad financial situation. The hospital will lay off its more than 240 employees. Woodland Park fell victim to its shrinking business and an increasingly difficult environment for health care providers. Though it has 202 beds, the hospital typically filled between 28 and 40 of them at any one time during the past year, according to Delores Marshall, Woodland Park's chief of nursing. In addition, as the hospital's business declined, a greater percentage of its remaining patients were uninsured or covered by Medicaid, which generally does not reimburse health care providers the full cost of services provided. (more...) http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1074258572122040.xml Medicare will hike payments to stem exodus WASHINGTON -- President Bush will increase Medicare payments to health maintenance organizations and other private health plans by a record 10.6 percent in an effort to persuade them to enter the Medicare market and increase benefits for the elderly, administration officials say. Federal officials and members of Congress said they hoped the increase, five times as large as the typical annual increase in recent years, would reverse the exodus of private plans from the Medicare program. The administration, trying to enhance competition and efficiency in the Medicare marketplace, wants to triple enrollment in private plans within three years. (more...) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/01/20/a3.nat.medicare.0120.html Does It Pay to Manage Your Own Care? CONSUMER-DRIVEN health care, embraced by some employers as a way to contain medical costs, sounds so sensible: Educate workers about health care expenses and give them a financial stake in managing their own care, through individual cash accounts. Each year, employers deposit money in these accounts, which can be used for doctor's visits, prescription drugs and other medical expenses. Any remaining money may be rolled over to the next year. By making employees active participants in managing their own care, they will spend more cautiously, and medical costs will naturally come down. At least that's the theory. Only a tiny fraction of employers offer these plans, which typically also include a high-deductible insurance plan that kicks in once the fund is exhausted. So it is too soon to know whether costs will actually decline. But some health care experts are skeptical. (more...) http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/18/business/yourmoney/18heal.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEARBY DEVELOPMENTS Rising arena cost spurs new look at Autzen site The University of Oregon is looking for ways to trim the cost of its increasingly pricey basketball complex and is exploring whether its Autzen Stadium property would suit the project. With the price tag approaching $200 million when relocation costs are included, the university wants to see if the 14,000-seat arena and a training center could be built near the football stadium and whether that would offer significant savings. But officials cautioned that they are a long way from reconsidering their site selection. (more...) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/01/24/a1.arena.0124.html Investors take swing at finishing golf course Coburg -- An experienced group of investors is tackling a 240-acre patch of pasture on the east side of Interstate 5 where a previous entrepreneur has failed in his development efforts. (more...) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/01/20/b1.bz.develop.0120.html Cemetery owner, neighbors weigh their options in ongoing land use fight Round one went to the owner of Rest-Haven Memorial Park, in his bid to build a 172-unit low-income apartment complex on 15 acres of unused cemetery land, and round two went to neighbors who opposed high-density development of the south Eugene property. Nobody's quite sure what shape round three may take, as those on all sides of the land use fight take a breather and reassess the situation. (more...) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/01/23/d1.cr.resthaven.0123.html A Range of Jobs: A strategy favoring local, small enterprise is limiting. Commentary by Jack Roberts I was surprised to pick up the Jan. 8 issue of EW and read Michael Shuman's guest column laying out the arguments he wished he had made at our debate during the Sustainability Conference last November. In the spirit of "better late than never," I'd like to respond to some of his statements. It is simply not true that the Lane Metro Partnership is guilty of "preferring non-local business" in our economic development activities. I tried to make that point repeatedly in our debate. We simply try to help "non-local" businesses relocate here in addition to helping local businesses expand and grow here. The truth is that most of our time and effort is spent helping local businesses both because there are more of them and because they are the most likely candidates to grow and expand here. (more...) http://www.eugeneweekly.com/views.html http://www.eugeneweekly.com/archive/01_22_04/views.html Fees discourage document access The city of Eugene is clamping down on public information with an elaborate new fee schedule. The high fees for public records could hide government misdeeds behind exorbitant charges to the public for documents that actually belong to the public to begin with. While commercial photocopy shops charge 5 cents a page, the city wants to charge 25 cents. A mug shot will cost $10. A tape of a minute-long 911 call will cost $60. The schedule appears to even allow the city to charge for hiring a private attorney to black out sections of public records that the city doesn't want the public to know about. The high fees appear to violate the state Public Records Law. The law requires that fees for public records be based on an agency's "actual costs" in providing the documents. But the new fee schedule appears arbitrary and says the city's fees will be based in part on "the revenue needs of the city." While the fees allow the city to charge prohibitive fees to hide embarrassing documents, city propaganda remains free. Citizens "will not be charged for documents the city provides for public relations purposes," the policy states. Comments on the new fee schedule can be submitted until this Friday, Jan. 23 to Eugene City Manager Dennis Taylor, 777 Pearl Pearl St.; Eugene 97401. The fees take effect Feb. 2. (end) http://www.eugeneweekly.com/news.html#1 http://www.eugeneweekly.com/archive/01_22_04/news.html#1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRANSPORTATION Bill would direct $4 million to station WASHINGTON -- A massive spending bill awaiting action in the Senate includes nearly half a billion dollars for special projects in Washington and Oregon -- including $4 million for a new bus station in Springfield already under construction. (more...) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/01/19/b1.cr.spending.0119.html County makes pitch for federal funding As they do every year, local government types -- from Lane County as well as Eugene and Springfield -- will trek back to Washington, D.C., to lobby Oregon's congressional delegation for federal money to pay for local projects. This year's junket happens the first week of March, with several items on the county's wish list: * Community Health Center Facility -- $750,000 to help purchase and rehabilitate a building with state-of-the-art technology for a community health center to provide primary, preventive and perinatal health care for uninsured or under-insured people in low-income Springfield neighborhoods. * Armed Services Reserve Facility -- $23 million to complete a federal project to create a new facility for the Oregon Military Department, to serve the Army, Navy, Marines and National Guard. Completion of a new facility near 42nd Street and Marcola Road north of Springfield would free up the old armory facility on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Eugene for use by Lane County. * Public Safety Communications -- $21 million to replace the 1970s system still in use by area law enforcement and emergency agencies to respond to crimes, accidents, emergencies and natural disasters. The total could be spread over several years to phase in the new equipment. * Mental Health Services -- $1.45 million to provide services to mentally ill juveniles who have become involved in the criminal justice system. * Homeland Security -- $1.1 million would complete a state-of-the-art technology system to meet federal standards for homeland security and domestic defense in the county's Eugene-Springfield area. * Belt Line Road Corridor -- $3 million for improving the busy highway corridor, especially the crowded and dangerous section between Coburg Road and River Road, including what transportation engineers call the "archaic interchange" at Delta Highway. (end) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/01/23/d1.cr.countybeat.0123.html Rich county, poor cities: Timber money gives Lane a funding advantage Register-Guard Editorial What if Lane County and its 12 cities pooled their transportation funds and spent the money where it would do the most good, regardless of whether a particular road project were inside or outside municipal boundaries? An objective study of that question, perhaps by the Lane Council of Governments, might not conclude that road funds should be pooled, but it could be expected to highlight inequities in the existing system. (more...) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/01/20/ed.edit.roadfund.0120.html Oregon transit projects A spending bill passed by Congress this week includes about $100 million in federal money for specific transportation projects, including: $77.5 million: the second-to-last payment on the Interstate MAX light-rail line. $3.25 million: to help with design of a 14.7-mile Wilsonville-Beaverton commuter rail project. $2 million: for the Bear Creek Greenway, an 18-mile bicycle, pedestrian, road and parks project in Jackson County begun in the 1960s. $1 million: for preliminary work to add a lane in each direction on Interstate 205 between Interstate 5 and the Stafford interchange. $1 million: for the Umatilla intermodal facility to install a container crane to aid shipping of Oregon products. $650,000: to help TriMet buy buses. $600,000: to help Salem Area Transit buy buses. $100,000: for South Clackamas Transit in Molalla for vehicle replacement. $200,000: for Lincoln County Transportation for a bus garage. $500,000: to assist with the Newberg-Dundee bypass project. $400,000: for Portland State University to design and equip a new Intelligent Transportation Research Center in its Northwest Center for Engineering, Science and Technology. (end) http://www.oregonlive.com/public_life/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1074949676326390.xml Bridge repairs, staff shake-up due to intersect State engineers question a plan to contract out more work as a 10-year road repair job looms The plan is to disperse and reassign state engineers as agency directors reorganize the department's highway division to better carry out the bridge-and-road fixing package approved by the 2003 Legislature. But complicating the shake-up is staff turnover, with the state bridge engineer, and several other senior bridge managers, leaving in recent months for better-paying jobs in the private sector. (more...) http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/front_page/1074344277182640.xml?oregonian?fpfp -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OTHER NEWS Slant We applaud Mayor Torrey's decision not to seek re-election this year. As expected, Nancy Nathanson is after the job, and Kitty Piercy will announce her intentions at noon Tuesday at the Library. This should be a good race with clear choices, particularly on land use issues. Unfortunately, it's going to be a very expensive race. It would be great if these two would agree to cap their campaign contributions, but Nancy will be banking on the same bulging bags of cash that were easily available to the mayor. (end) http://www.eugeneweekly.com/news.html#slant http://www.eugeneweekly.com/archive/01_22_04/news.html#slant Slant Mitzi Colbath has been teasing us for awhile about her political aspirations, and we've been looking forward to seeing her run for elected office. She's smart, dedicated, organized and has been a strong and able worker on the Planning Commission, Churchill neighborhood projects, Charter Review Committee, etc. She will announce her intentions at noon Friday at the Elks Club. Due to a technicality, she missed a possible appointment to Floyd Prozanski's vacant House seat and she might go for the seat in the general elections. But new District 8 appointee Paul Holvey is a good, strong choice and will have the advantage of incumbency. Meanwhile, we think she'd be a great contender for City Council Ward 8, Nathanson's seat. Mitzi would do well against Chris Pryor in an open race. Other options for Mitzi would be County Commission, mayor or EWEB, but our bet is on the council seat. (end) http://www.eugeneweekly.com/news.html#slant http://www.eugeneweekly.com/archive/01_22_04/news.html#slant -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CREDITS "Health Options Digest" is published once every week or so by the Coalition for Health Options In Central Eugene-Springfield (CHOICES) as a service to the community. It is intended as an unbiased digest of news and opinion related to proposed changes in health care options for the community. The purpose of "Health Options Digest" is to inform, not editorialize. Please forward your copy of "Health Options Digest" to a friend. If you know of someone who should be on the CHOICES email list, or for questions about your subscription, send email to: rzako@efn.org Please visit our web site for info about how you can contact us, the local papers, elected officials, PeaceHealth and McKenzie-Willamette: http://www.efn.org/~choices