Health Options Digest
May 9, 2004
Coalition for Health Options In Central Eugene-Springfield (CHOICES)
In This Issue
From the Editor
Looking Ahead
There are lots of special public meetings this week.
On Monday, Universal Health Care for Oregon and Health Care For All-Oregon is sponsoring a discussion.
This week is National Women's Health Week. Public health staff members will be stationed at area Bi-Mart stores to answer questions, give out information and talk to women's about ways to change their lifestyles to improve their health.
Also this week, the Lane Council of Governments is offering four workshops on how to plan cities to make it easier for people to walk around them.
On Friday, MindFreedom Support Coalition is organizing a seminar on "Creating a Culture of Empowerment in Mental Health Care."
Finally, make sure to vote!
(top...)
Week in Review
In a week that provided startling news from Iraq about the treatment of prisoners and from Portland about former Governor neil Goldschmidt, there has been thankfully little local news. In place of my usual musings, we take the liberty of reproducing in full a look back by John Mackey, M.D., who practices emergency medicine at McKenzie-Willamette Hospital in Springfield. He summarizes the issues far better than we could.
(top...)
Rob Zako, Editor
343-5201
rzako@efn.org
Commentary: What if city had said no to hospital?
| By John Mackey. M.D. | May 9, 2004 |
As I walk through the main hallway at McKenzie-Willamette Hospital, where I have practiced emergency medicine for 25 years, the photographs on the walls take on new significance for me.
First, an old photograph of a converted home with a large sign announcing "Springfield Private Hospital," circa 1911. Then, a full-page Chamber of Commerce newspaper ad from Jan. 19, 1951, encouraging pledges from the citizens of Springfield for the new McKenzie-Willamette Hospital.
It was with considerable pride that people donated hard-earned money to have a hospital in their own city. The project was to create 50 hospital beds on a "100-bed chassis" at an estimated total cost of $300,000. A pledge of $100 or more earned a lifetime voting membership in the McKenzie-Willamette Hospital Association, the legal entity owning the new, nonprofit community hospital.
This is graphically symbolized by another photo, also from the early 1900s, showing citizens surrounding the foundation of an old building, as though the people of Springfield might be the very foundation of their hospital.
In 1955, the hospital was completed with an initial 35 beds. A photograph shows the citizens of Springfield lining up on the sidewalk four abreast to tour their new hospital. Another photograph documents a drive to "save a baby's life." It shows a youthful member of the Goshen Four Leaf Clover livestock club holding money contained in a glass jar and a cigar box, a donation toward the purchase of an infant incubator.
These people wanted their own hospital in their own town, and they put their money where their mouths were.
Fast-forward now to 2004 and PeaceHealth's RiverBend project. After the political and financial gyrations involving the Eugene City Council, the so-called "Gang of Nine" shenanigans, and the Crescent Avenue proposal, all of which revolved around the Arlie Development Co., PeaceHealth is welcomed into Springfield with open arms by the Springfield City Council.
The projected cost has been estimated at $400 million (give or take $50 million) for a 440-bed facility. This is in addition to the current $60 million upgrade of the existing downtown Eugene facility. PeaceHealth's "Progress" newsletter of April 2 thanks the Springfield City Council for "thousands of hours of work dedicated to the (RiverBend master plan) project by City of Springfield staff." The Springfield City Council appears to have put its mouth where the money is.
In an effort to survive as a lower-cost local community hospital, no longer able to effectively compete in the current health care (read insurance) environment, McKenzie-Willamette joins Triad hospital systems, which, in turn, looks to Eugene as a source of potential new revenue. The partners propose to build a new hospital somewhere in Eugene, possibly just blocks from the existing Hilyard campus of Sacred Heart Hospital. The cost is estimated to be $150 million (give or take $50 million), for about 100 beds. The Eugene City Council welcomes McKenzie-Willamette/Triad with open arms.
I am no expert in medical economics, but I suspect that the up to three-quarters of a billion dollars being budgeted by these hospitals could purchase a great deal of actual health care for the citizens of the Eugene-Springfield area.
The hospitals rightfully claim that their physical plants are old and tired, but I assure you they are not nearly as old and tired as the health care finance system itself. Medicare pays about 38 cents on the dollar for medical services in caring for the oldest, sickest and most complicated patients. As such, Medicare is clearly getting the best deal in town, and it is losing millions of dollars a year according to a recent Register-Guard article.
Likewise, Oregon Health Plan funds are drying up, and the first benefits to be canceled were for mental health and dental care. Alcohol and drug treatment plans are folding as well, due to lack of financial support.
In the private sector, health insurance premiums have rapidly exceeded the budget of most young working families. A high-quality family plan with health and dental benefits can cost more than $1,000 per month.
Those who cannot afford these premiums and who do not work for a business that can provide such insurance still need health care, and for them an unexpected appendectomy represents a financial disaster and years of debt. These uninsured people now crowd hospital emergency departments in ever-increasing numbers, because they will receive medical care regardless of their financial (read insurance) status.
The losses incurred by the hospitals can only be offset by the private insurance plans, thus the tremendous competition for insurance dollars. This puts the insurance companies in an excellent position to make exclusive discount deals with hospitals, which then require patients to receive care at the discounted hospital no matter where it is located or what the patient may prefer.
These are not problems that will be solved by building an opulent medical facility such as RiverBend on the virtual periphery of our population centers. How are the five-star hospital rooms going to be supported? Not by Medicare, the Oregon Health Plan or the working uninsured. They will be supported by the private health insurance plans, and the businesses that can afford them. The recent antitrust suit between McKenzie-Willamette and Sacred Heart is evidence of Sacred Heart's dependence on these plans.
On the other hand, McKenzie-Willamette's problems are not going to be solved by moving to Eugene, as long as the insurance companies are still able to strike deep discount deals with PeaceHealth and require their insured patients to receive care there exclusively, or pay the price themselves.
The decisions made by these hospitals were not so much about health care strategy as they were about business strategy and competition. And I can only assume that the Springfield City Council's decision to allow PeaceHealth to build RiverBend in Springfield was a business decision, with visions of new jobs and new business revenue coming into Springfield.
But what about the vision of those Springfield citizens back in the 1950s, who foresaw their own community hospital as a lower-cost, more personal and more convenient alternative to the Eugene facilities in existence at that time? What about the hospital they built with their own money and owned as a community?
What we are experiencing at that hospital is a loss of jobs by dedicated people who have been working there for many years. Their future, and the future of Springfield's McKenzie-Willamette Hospital, now lies not in Springfield, but in Eugene.
One can only speculate whether this upheaval would be happening if Springfield had just said "no" to PeaceHealth. One wonders what the City Council and Chamber of Commerce of 1950 would have said.
John Mackey, M.D., practices emergency medicine at McKenzie-Willamette Hospital in Springfield.
Copyright 2004 The Register-Guard
(top...)
Calendar
Monday, May 10 -- Springfield City Council
Springfield City Hall, 225 Fifth St., Springfield
Contact: Amy Sowa, City Manager's Office, 726-3700
5:30 p.m., Work Session, Jesse Maine Room
1. Potential for Urban Renewal Districts in Downtown and Glenwood.
2. Glenwood Riverfront Plan Implementation.
3. Proposed Public Safety Reductions.
4. 2000-2003 Springfield Residential Land Monitoring Report.
(agenda...)
(top...)
Monday, May 10 -- Universal health care subject of discussion
| The Register-Guard | May 7, 2004 |
Universal Health Care for Oregon and Health Care For All-Oregon is sponsoring a discussion at 7 p.m. Monday at the Eugene Water & Electric Board community room, 500 E. Fourth Ave. The topic is "Universal Health Care: Will it Happen?"
For more information, call 484-6145.
(top...)
Monday-Friday, May 10-14 -- Public Health Department focusing on women's issues
By Randi Bjornstad
The Register-Guard | May 7, 2004 |
Putting off a visit to the doctor because you're afraid of bad news is bad medicine, and the county's Public Health Department wants to make sure women have all the information they need to prevent unnecessary deaths from breast and cervical cancer and other diseases.
[This] week, during National Women's Health Week, public health staff members will be stationed at area Bi-Mart stores to answer questions, give out information and talk to women's about ways to change their lifestyles to improve their health.
Here's where to find them:
Monday -- 10 a.m. to noon, 2030 River Road, Eugene; 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., 110 E. Sixth Ave., Junction City.
Tuesday -- 10 a.m. to noon, 1521 Mohawk Blvd., Springfield; 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., 5744 Main St., Springfield.
Wednesday -- 10 a.m. to noon, 1680 W. 18th Ave., Eugene; 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., 4780 Royal Ave., Eugene.
Thursday -- 10 a.m. to noon, 25126 Jeans Road, Veneta; 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., 4310 Highway 101, Florence.
Friday -- 10 a.m. to noon, 100 Gateway Blvd., Cottage Grove.
(top...)
Monday-Wednesday, May 10-12 -- Workshops examine how to plan for pedestrians
Learning how to plan cities to make it easier for people to walk around them will be the subject of four workshops planned for this week by the Lane Council of Governments.
Each four-hour session will focus on a different urban setting in the Eugene-Springfield area, and elected officials, citizens and professionals in fields such as planning, engineering, law enforcement, public health, landscape architecture and education will learn about the latest in pedestrian design and walk through the area to see how design can be put into practice.
Funding for the workshops comes from the National Center for Bicycling and Walking and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, with additional sponsorship by the cities of Eugene and Springfield, the Lane Transit District Commuter Solutions Program, Lane Council of Governments and the Oregon Department of Transportation.
The number of participants will be limited, so anyone wanting to attend should call Jeff Krueger at the Lane Council of Governments at 682-4122.
Here's the schedule:
* Monday -- 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., meet at Springfield Library meeting room; topic: Main Street/South A Street from Mill Street to 10th Street in Springfield.
* Tuesday -- 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., meet at the Gateway Mall meeting room next to Movies 12 and the food court; topic: Gateway Street in Springfield.
* Tuesday -- 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., meet at Tsunami Books; topic: Willamette Street from 24th Avenue to 29th Avenue in Eugene.
* Wednesday -- 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., meet in the Bascom-Tykeson Room in the Eugene Public Library at 100 W. 10th Ave.; topic: Lane Transit District downtown station and vicinity in Eugene.
(top...)
Friday, May 14 -- Seminar takes aim at mental health
By Tim Christie
The Register-Guard | May 5, 2004 |
"Creating a Culture of Empowerment in Mental Health Care," organized by MindFreedom Support Coalition, will be from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. May 14 at Lane County Mental Health, 2411 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Eugene.
* Mental health professionals can earn continuing education credits. Cost is $20, but the fee may be waived for people who use the mental health system and family members who request a scholarship.
* Information: Call Kathy Beemer at LaneCare, 682-7576 or kathy.beemer@co.lane.or.us, or on the Web at http://mindfreedom.org. (more...)
(top...)
McKenzie-Willamette/Triad
Fast and Painless Update: Preserve Hospital Choice in Lane County
Rosie Pryor, Director of Marketing and Planning
McKenzie-Willamette/Triad | May 10, 2004 |
Over a year ago, McKenzie-Willamette asked if hospital relocation would require Certificate of Need review. State staff surprised us with their answer.
For PeaceHealth: no.
For McKenzie-Willamette: yes!
They said PeaceHealth's dominant size entitles them to move anywhere in the metro area without regulatory review. But because McKenzie-Willamette is smaller, we must submit to full review to relocate inside the same metro area. Oregon Health Services said 30-year-old CON rules that define a hospital's service area based on market share inside specific zip codes had never been tested by the need for hospital relocation. When we apply the rule--we can't move outside Springfield's 97477 or 97478 (or even to Glenwood, which is 97403) without full review.
State staff concluded the zip code rule has unintended consequences and should be changed. To their credit, they told us CON laws and administrative rules shouldn't impede the successful operation of existing hospitals. They suggested we ask for an amendment, so on March 17, 2003 we asked them to revise the rules to treat Eugene/Springfield the same way they treat Portland: as one urban service area.
In the thirteen months since then, a lot of meetings, maps, proposals, drafts, comments, and re-drafts characterized the rule-making process that culminated not in a rule change, but in creation of a brand new category of CON review called Accelerated Certificate of Need Review for Specific Projects. And even though state staff concluded the service area rule needs to be changed, PeaceHealth hired legal counsel and a lobbyist and consistently objected to any changes to CON rules.
The proposed new process contains penalties for relocation such as a 3-year moratorium on new services, and a requirement that McKenzie-Willamette prove PeaceHealth's move to Springfield would cause us adverse economic impact so severe it jeopardizes our ability to continue to operate, and loss of our services would result in a significant decrease in hospital competition and consumer choice in Lane County.
We continue to believe a simple revision to the service area definition is the best approach. State rules that treat Lane County hospitals equally will help preserve hospital choice in Lane County. If the draft process is not substantially changed, it would be impractical for McKenzie Willamette to use it because of the conditions imposed on the applicant. Without a change to the rules, we must apply for full CON review which is a cumbersome and costly process, subject to appeal-with an uncertain outcome.
Please plan to testify at the May 24th public hearing. It is scheduled at 1:00 p.m. in Harris Hall, 125 East 8th Avenue, Eugene. If you want additional background information, feel free to contact me. Thank you.
If you prefer not to receive Fast and Painless Updates from McKenzie-Willamette, just reply to this e-mail or give me a call and we'll remove your name from our address list.
Rosie Pryor, Director of Marketing and Planning
McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center
1460 G Street
Springfield, Oregon 97477
(541) 726-4789
rospry@mckweb.com
(top...)
Letter: This area needs two hospitals
| By William G. Bruce, Cottage Grove | May 6, 2004 |
I understand that if McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center relocates outside the ZIP codes 97477 or 97478, it would have to wait three years to offer any new services.
I have been a patient in the cardiac care unit twice and have had heart surgery at Sacred Heart Medical Center. I can tell you from my experiences there as a patient, there is a great need not only for additional catheterization labs, but also another heart surgery center in the Eugene-Springfield area. I saw my treatment times -- and other patients' -- being delayed or postponed due to emergencies, staff working through the night, etc. People are kept in the hospital much longer due to the delays.
I can't for the life of me understand why anyone could say there is not a need for another medical center in the Eugene-Springfield area. This area needs two good hospitals. There is no question Sacred Heart is trying to make it as difficult as possible for McKenzie-Willamette to be successful.
Webster's Dictionary defines free enterprise as follows: "Freedom of private business to organize and operate for profit in a competitive system without interference by government beyond regulation necessary to protect public interest and to keep the national economy in balance."
(top...)
Cost of Health Care
Commentary: It's time for a better system of health care
| By Nancie Peacocke Fadeley | May 9, 2004 |
On Mother's Day we talk about paying tribute to our mothers.
"But our tributes are hollow," Older Women's League President Joan Bernstein reminds us, "if we as a society fail to ensure that all mothers and older women live in dignity, free of anxiety over adequate health care."
That's why OWL chose health care financing as the topic for its 2004 Mother's Day Report. On Wednesday, OWL members delivered copies of that report, "A Poor Prognosis: Health Care Costs and Aging Women," to every member of the U.S. Congress.
Since health insurance is usually job-related, health care costs are particularly challenging for older women. In many instances the wage earner is the husband, so coverage frequently terminates at the time of his death, retirement, the loss of his job or divorce. Even if she works outside the home, family responsibilities -- including caregiving -- may limit her to temporary or part-time jobs that do not quality her for coverage. Often she works in small establishments that do not provide health insurance, or that offer policies requiring employee contributions she cannot afford. (more...)
(top...)
County Beat: Ex-official offers advice
By Randi Bjornstad
The Register-Guard | May 7, 2004 |
The budget committee -- made up of the five county commissioners and five citizen appointees -- got a letter and a word of advice the other day from Steve Carmichael, former head of the county's juvenile detention system.
"The continual budget crisis seems to be driven extensively by the increased cost of health care for existing and retired employees," said Carmichael, who now receives retiree benefits himself. "Many private and public employers are capping health care at existing levels."
Much as he enjoys the generous health package he still receives, Carmichael said he "would gladly have the benefits frozen at the current level rather than see the health, safety and livability of this county compromised."
As the county faces the prospect of cutting $4.1 million from its discretionary general fund, it has a basic choice to make, Carmichael said. Paying "whatever the insurance companies demand," while at the same time cutting adolescent drug-treatment programs, not prosecuting many property crimes, reducing jail space and cutting back on rural law enforcement, in effect means choosing top-flight health-care coverage for employees "over the health and safety of all citizens of this community."
He offered a couple of suggestions: freeze insurance coverage at current levels now for all non-union county employees; renegotiate labor contracts that include clauses allowing them to be reopened for fiscal emergencies; and spend reserves until other agreements come up for renewal, in order to maintain other important services.
"I know the state of Oregon and other governments have established a limit on their costs, and employees have a choice of what health benefits they want," Carmichael said. "I am not suggesting cutting back on the health coverage for employees -- only freezing what is already a generous package."
County Administrator Bill Van Vactor has estimated the cost of health care for county employees could rise as much as 30 percent next fiscal year. (more...)
(top...)
Panel starts work on budget that cuts police
By Bob Keefer
The Register-Guard | May 4, 2004 |
SPRINGFIELD -- The city will lose two full-time positions in the police department under a spending plan that goes to the budget committee tonight.
Under the plan, the city's general fund operating budget will be $24.1 million, a slight increase over last year's budget of $24 million. About two-thirds of that total pays for police and fire protection.
The overall budget is greater, despite cutting the equivalent of 3.56 full-time positions from the city, because of increases in salaries, the cost of benefits and other expenses. (more...)
(top...)
Citizens line up for say in city budget
By Amber Fossen
The Springfield News | May 7, 2004 |
The daunting task of finalizing the city budget is underway.
Initial discussions on the proposed $24.1 million general fund budget for 2005 brought a full house Tuesday night as the budget committee was briefed on the budget document, capital improvement projects and long range financial projections.
City Manager Mike Kelly said the end of 2005 will see carry over funds of more than $530,000. (more...)
(top...)
No department is safe from county budget ax
By Amber Fossen
The Springfield News | May 7, 2004 |
This year's round of projected Lane County cuts will leave no one unscathed.
The Lane County Budget Committee is reviewing departmental details for the fiscal year 2004-05 proposed budget. All departments were directed to reduce budgets by 9 percent, or $4.1 million total, to prepare a balanced budget while gaining more stability going into the 2005-06 fiscal year.
The $4.1 million reduction is intensified by state, federal and grant cuts and David Garnick, senior management analyst for the county, said the problem boils down to expenditures trumping revenues. (more...)
(top...)
Nearby Developments
The return of Best Buy due in 2005
By Sherri Buri McDonald
The Register-Guard | May 4, 2004 |
SPRINGFIELD -- Gateway's commercial area will get a new look as the aging Clarion Hotel is demolished and replaced with big-box stores, including electronics giant Best Buy.
Richard Boyles, president of Sycan Development, said he'll raze the 30-year-old, 234-room hotel in mid-May and start construction in early July on a 45,000-square-foot space for Best Buy and an adjacent 6,100-square-foot retail space that has no tenants lined up yet.
Those buildings should be completed in January 2005, Boyles said. (more...)
(top...)
Springfield City Beat: Urban renewal plan
By Bob Keefer
The Register-Guard | May 8, 2004 |
Public officials think Glenwood and downtown Springfield look ripe for redevelopment using tax-increment public financing.
That's where property taxes resulting from increased property values go to an urban renewal agency for some period of time, perhaps 20 years, to pay for creating and running the agency.
Eventually the deal expires, and cities and counties enjoy higher tax revenue from the now more valuable property.
Whether the public supports that idea might be another question.
The topic will be discussed Monday evening at a City Council work session, beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the Jesse Maine Room, City Hall, 225 Fifth St., where Community Development Manager John Tamulonis is to present three options for city leaders to consider:
* Option 1: Do little or nothing. "Let the 'invisible hand' of general market forces gradually provide for any changes within downtown or Glenwood," his report says.
* Option 2: Continue the city's "modest and very opportunistic level of involvement in fostering development" through community development block grants and other small programs.
* Option 3: Provide "sustained support for long-term investment to realize opportunities for the redevelopment of downtown and Glenwood." That likely means a formal urban renewal district with tax-increment financing.
Tamulonis doesn't provide a recommendation to the council, but it's a fair bet he's rooting for Option 3. "Now would be an opportune time to move forward with urban renewal for downtown and Glenwood," he writes.
He also includes a page-long time line for establishing an urban renewal plan that starts with establishing a study area boundary in June and ends with voter approval in the November general election.
(top...)
New luxury coach maker launched
By Sherri Buri McDonald
The Register-Guard | May 6, 2004 |
COBURG -- Lane County's booming RV industry is about to roll out a new manufacturer -- Legacy Coach.
Tom Nestell, a co-founder of Coburg-based Marathon Coach, at a news conference today will formally announce the creation of the new coach maker that will specialize in converting bus frames into luxury coaches.
The company initially will start with 30 employees, mostly in production, said Jack Roberts, executive director of the Lane Metro Partnership, an economic development group.
It hopes to have about 60 employees within 12 months, and 160 within two years, he said. (more...)
(top...)
Coburg's Newest RV Business
A new motor coach company has rolled into the already-booming RV town of Coburg.
"Legacy Coach" is open for business, and the company is promising dozens of well-paying local jobs.
And it offers another specialized niche service for RV customers.
"We will take an empty shell and put a custom luxury interior in it," said Tom Nestell, president of Legacy Coach. (more...)
(top...)
Development Report: Wal-Mart proposes limited store expansion
By Joe Mosley
The Register-Guard | May 4, 2004 |
It's not enough to make it a "supercenter" like the controversial store planned for Wal-Mart's West 11th Avenue location, but Eugene's other Wal-Mart is in line for some alterations of its own.
The Arkansas-based retail chain has submitted an application to the Eugene Planning & Development office for a 5,065-square-foot addition to its Green Acres Road store, at the northeast quadrant of the Belt Line Road/Delta Highway intersection. Also planned is an expansion of the store's garden center under a new "glazed canopy."
The company's estimated cost for the expansion -- which will push the store to a total of 130,674 square feet, plus its covered outdoor areas -- is $437,500. (more...)
(top...)
Retailer, planners hash out store site
By Joe Mosley
The Register-Guard | May 8, 2004 |
Double-gang electrical boxes, 16-penny nails, hanging fuchsia baskets and several thousand other items are coming closer to the reach of hardware shoppers in west and south Eugene.
Home Depot Inc. is proceeding with plans to build a 131,863-square-foot store at the shuttered Movieland cineplex at Seneca Road and West Seventh Place, just north of the Fred Meyer store on West 11th Avenue, according to the company's filings this week with the city.
The project is currently in the site review process with Eugene's Planning and Development Department. A "development assistance" meeting between city planners and Home Depot representatives is scheduled for May 25. (more...)
(top...)
Governor: Industrial sites ready for developers
| Corvallis Gazette Times | May 4, 2004 |
PORTLAND -- Developers can take their pick of 11 new ready-to-go industrial sites around the state, along with a new Web site that Gov. Ted Kulongoski said Monday will help market Oregon to the rest of the nation.
The governor ordered the so-called "project ready" industrial sites not long after taking office in 2003, and made them one of his top priorities in his address to the second statewide economic summit last December.
Two sites are in Portland, and another two are in Pendleton. The other cities with sites are Central Point, Eugene, Hermiston, Hillsboro, La Pine, Springfield and The Dalles. (more...)
(top...)
Transportation
Delays await Jasper Road motorists
By Amber Fossen
The Springfield News | May 5, 2004 |
The Jasper Road Extension project is well underway and motorists can expect lane closures and delays as work continues into the summer months. (more...)
(top...)
Elections
Longshot candidate used to beating odds
By Randi Bjornstad
The Register-Guard | May 6, 2004 |
He knows it's a long shot to win election against a longtime, well-known elected official like North Eugene County Commissioner Bobby Green, but facing the odds doesn't seem to daunt Greg Ringer. (more...)
(top...)
Lane County candidates file reports
By Randi Bjornstad
The Register-Guard | May 7, 2004 |
The biggest infusions of money in the East Lane County commissioner race in the past month have come from the pockets of the candidates or their relatives. (more...)
(top...)
Champions of the Campaign: Two paid managers and hundreds of volunteers run the race for Eugene mayor
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | May 4, 2004 |
Peter Bartel and Jana Rygas, although active in local politics, aren't exactly household names on the minds of Eugene voters. Yet by the time the primary election concludes May 18, voters will be familiar with their work.
Bartel and Rygas are the campaign managers for Nancy Nathanson and Kitty Piercy, the top two candidates vying to succeed Mayor Jim Torrey.
Nathanson is a city councilor and a University of Oregon-based systems manager for a consortium of college libraries. Piercy is a former state representative and public affairs director for Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon.
Bartel and Rygas lead campaign organizations differing in size and strategy. Partisans on each side reveal how Nathanson and Piercy are perceived by their closest sup- porters. (more...)
(top...)
Chamber raises $40,000 for election
By Diane Dietz
The Register-Guard | May 4, 2004 |
The Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce will have as much as $40,000 in political donations going into the primary election and a burning desire to clear the way for business expansion.
The chamber's C-PAC committee will make small contributions to individual candidates, but -- more importantly -- will spend behind the scenes to help its entire slate of candidates, chamber Executive Director David Hauser said.
The goal is to place Nancy Nathanson in the mayor's seat, elect challengers Maurie Denner and Tom Slocum to the council and return Councilor Scott Meisner, ensuring a business-friendly government for years to come. (more...)
(top...)
Torrey Backs Bush and Nathanson
By Alan Pittman
Eugene Weekly | May 6, 2004 |
Mayoral candidate Nancy Nathanson isn't the only politician running for office that Eugene Republican Mayor Jim Torrey has thrown his weight behind. Torrey is also backing George Bush for President. According to federal election records, Torrey, owner of a billboard advertising company, gave $2,000 to Bush last Sept. 8.
(top...)
Developers Fund Meisner, Slocum, Denner
Eugene Councilor Scott Meisner has claimed to support the environment in his campaign for re-election. But Meisner's Oregon League of Conservation Voters record of only 10 percent pro-environment votes has earned him campaign cash from developers.
Meisner's leading campaign contributor is the local Giustina family of loggers, land and real estate speculators and developers. In two other key council races, the state's leading pro-sprawl lobbying group -- the Homebuilder Association PAC's "Oregonians for Affordable Housing" -- has made major donations to Maurie Denner and Tom Slocum.
Here's a look at how pro-sprawl and anti-environmental interests are backing their slate of candidates for the Eugene City Council with big bucks, according to reports of contributions made by April 1: (more...)
(top...)
Nathanson accuses Piercy of smear tactics
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | May 8, 2004 |
The mercury in the Eugene mayor's race is rising, with Nancy Nathanson accusing opponent Kitty Piercy of misleading and unfair campaign ads.
Nathanson leveled the charge last week after voters received in the mail a pair of campaign brochures -- one from Piercy's campaign, and one from the Oregon League of Conservation Voters on behalf of Piercy -- that attacked Nathanson's voting record on the Eugene City Council. (more...)
(top...)
Mayoral campaign breaks spending records
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | May 7, 2004 |
With help from a slew of labor activists, professors, retirees, businesspeople and others, Eugene mayoral candidate Kitty Piercy has shattered city election records for raising and spending money in her bid for the city's top political spot. And the primary election is still 12 days away. (more...)
(top...)
Eugene City Beat: Voluntary spending limits impede candidates
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | May 9, 2004 |
When lofty theory and gritty reality compete, it's often reality that prevails.
Take Eugene's voluntary campaign spending limits. The curbs are off to an unimpressive debut in their first election, the 2004 primary that is 10 days away. Only three of 13 candidates for mayor and City Council agreed to limit how much they will spend on trying to get elected. And the three who agreed are long-shots at best.
Meanwhile, candidates who didn't agree to the limits are raking in and spending lots of cash. Kitty Piercy already has set contribution and spending records for a Eugene mayoral election. (more...)
(top...)
Editorial: Election 2004: Summary of recommendations
| The Register-Guard | May 9, 2004 |
Following is a summary of recommendations The Register-Guard has made to voters for the May 18 primary election. The editors are fallible human beings who stand an average chance of being wrong. However, these recommendations are made after sincere appraisals of the choices on the ballot. Where there are no contests, no recommendations are listed. (more...)
(top...)
Slant: Elections
Elections are hectic and curious times for newspapers and EW is no exception. It's a bit of a circus as we try to sort out rhetoric from reality, follow the money, and sift through conspiracy theories about missing lawn signs and errant campaign mailings (as we go to press, Andrea Ortiz is wondering why hundreds of her mailed fliers have not arrived at their destinations in Zip Code 97404). We debate whether or not leadership "style" is really important in candidates, and what the hell is a "real Democrat"? We poke fun at some clueless R-G endorsements and note that some others are right on. And we laugh at the R-G's use of labels such as "liberal" and "moderate." Track the words and predict the endorsement. Piercy was described as "liberal," Nathanson as "moderate." We ponder why the R-G put County Commission candidate Bobby Green's mug on the front page above the fold the same day ballots arrived. The R-G's lead story May 4 was a lightweight feature on people managing local mayor campaigns, but buried inside on the bottom of D-1 was an important story on the Chamber of Commerce trying to buy the election. And did the R-G editors designing the front page story on the mayor candidates May 1 know the photographer prominently shown taking the photo was EW Editor Ted Taylor? We notice KEZI seemed to be giving extra attention to Nancy Nathanson (Chambers money went to Nancy) and we're curious why their website poll shut down after it showed Kitty with a huge lead. We track campaign financing as best we can (it takes a lot of digging) and discover that donations tell stories that we don't get from the candidates themselves. In all, the primary races of '04 have been quirky, fun, educational and exhausting, and we can hardly wait for November.
(top...)
Editorial: Endorsements 2004
May primary picks for national, state and local races
Below are EW's endorsements for the May Primary. Not all races are discussed since many are uncontested in the primary, and we've given focus and extra space to some of the races that we think are particularly important, or have not gotten much attention. Ballots are due at the county elections department by May 18. It's too late to register for this election, but if you are registered, please take the time to study these important candidate choices -- and vote! (more...)
(top...)