Health Options Digest
October 3, 2004
Coalition for Health Options In Central Eugene-Springfield (CHOICES)
In This Issue
From the Editor
Week In Review
Last Thursday, Judge Ancer Haggerty denied PeaceHealth's motion for a new trial in McKenzie-Willamette's federal antitrust lawsuit.
Although it wants more money, EWEB is still talking with McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center about selling its site for a new hospital.
Now that the State of Oregon has revised its Certificate of Need rules, McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center must now decide whether to gain a brand new certificate of need to allow it to operate outside of Springfield or to go through a shorter process that would restrict its ability to expand for three years.
Looking Ahead
This week on Monday and Tuesday, the Springfield City Council and Springfield Planning Commission will begin looking at the proposed response to the recent court decisions striking down parts of the PeaceHealth plan amendments. As CHOICES understands it, Springfield is starting all over again but looking to merely "fix" the problems identified by the court. The first and only public hearing is scheduled for November 1.
Next week, we will give you a preview of the proposed response to the court decision.
Also next week: reactions to Arnold Schwarzenegger's ideas.
Rob Zako, Editor
343-5201
rzako@efn.org
Calendar
Monday, October 4 -- Research on air quality, health to be presented
| The Register-Guard | October 3, 2004 |
SPRINGFIELD -- Breathless in Lane County, an event sponsored by the Oregon Toxics Alliance to provide the latest research and information on the link between Lane County's air quality and residents' respiratory and cardiovascular health, will take place from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. Monday at Willamalane Senior Activity Center, and from 11 a.m. to noon Tuesday at the Eugene Hotel.
The event is free and open to the public. For additional information, call 465-8860.
Monday, October 4 -- Springfield City Council
Springfield City Hall, 225 Fifth St., Springfield
Contact: Amy Sowa, City Manager's Office, 726-3700
6:30 p.m., Work Session, Jesse Maine Room
A. Council Review of Response to Remand of Metro Plan and Gateway Refinement Plan Amendments and Council Initiated Amendments to the Commercial Lands Study and Development Code (PeaceHealth).
Tuesday, October 5 -- Springfield Planning Commission
Springfield City Hall, 225 Fifth St., Springfield, 726-3753
6:00 p.m., Work Session, Jesse Maine Room
A. Council Review of Response to Remand of Metro Plan and Gateway Refinement Plan Amendments and Council Initiated Amendments to the Commercial Lands Study and Development Code (PeaceHealth).
Monday, October 11 -- Eugene City Council
Eugene City Hall, 777 Pearl St., Eugene
Contact: Lynda Rose, 682-5017, lynda.l.rose@ci.eugene.or.us
5:30 p.m., Work Session, McNutt Room
A. Items from Mayor, City Council, and City Manager
B. PeaceHealth/West University Area Transportation Planning
October 11-15 -- Event encourages commuters to use alternate transportation
| The Register-Guard | September 29, 2004 |
Eugene-area businesses and employees, are you ready for a challenge?
During the week of Oct. 11, commuters will be encouraged to give up their cars and instead walk, bike, take the bus or carpool to work.
The Fifth Annual Business Commute Challenge will reward businesses that have large percentages of participating employees.
On Oct. 13, businesses will count the number of employees who choose an alternative to driving to work that day. Participating employees will be eligible to win prizes, including a Fuji commuter bicycle from Wheelworks and two sets of rain gear from Burley Design.
Businesses with participating employees will compete against similar sized firms. Winners in each size category will get a plaque, with a special award for firms with 100 percent participation.
An awards ceremony will be held at 5:15 p.m. Oct. 14 in the Park Blocks in downtown Eugene. For more information, contact Cindy Clarke, 682-5285, or Diane Bishop, 682-5471.
Monday, November 1 -- Springfield City Council & Springfield Planning Commission
Springfield City Hall, 225 Fifth St., Springfield
Contact: Amy Sowa, City Manager's Office, 726-3700
Public Hearing
A. PeaceHealth Plan Amendments
Tuesday, November 23 -- Springfield Planning Commission
Springfield City Hall, 225 Fifth St., Springfield, 726-3753
Regular Meeting
A. PeaceHealth Plan Amendments
Monday, December 6 -- Springfield City Council
Springfield City Hall, 225 Fifth St., Springfield
Contact: Amy Sowa, City Manager's Office, 726-3700
Regular Meeting
A. PeaceHealth Plan Amendments
PeaceHealth
Vern Katz -- Sacred Heart desperately in need of more room
By Vern Katz
The Register-Guard | September 28, 2004 |
PeaceHealth's recent purchase of the vacant Sony plant in Springfield was welcome news to the medical staff at Sacred Heart for one basic reason: We need more room for patients.
Research supporting the use of hospital design to enhance the patient experience is certainly compelling, but frankly, we're so short of space at Sacred Heart that I'd be happy to give up my cubicle of an office if it meant I could make room for one more patient.
The Sony building, now called the RiverBend Annex, will provide a much needed pressure relief valve on the Hilyard campus by allowing staff to move several administrative and support functions off site and reclaim the vacated space for patient care. The relief can't come soon enough. (more...)
Judge Denies PeaceHealth Motion for New Trial
By Rosie Pryor, 744-6164, rospry@mckweb.com
McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center | October 1, 2004 |
Thursday, September 30th, Judge Ancer Haggerty denied PeaceHealth's motion for a new trial in McKenzie-Willamette's federal antitrust lawsuit. On Halloween Day 2003, a Portland jury found PeaceHealth guilty of 1) attempting to monopolize provision of health care and harming market-wide competition in the relevant market, 2) unlawfully discriminating in price of services, and 3) unlawfully interfering with McKenzie-Willamette's prospective relations with others. The jury awarded MWH damages of $5.4 million for each of these three claims, as well as punitive damages of $9.2 million as a result of the interference with prospective relations.
PeaceHealth's motion raised four reasons for a new trial: 1) McKenzie-Willamette was permitted to amend claims without providing sufficient notice to PH; 2) certain evidence was improperly admitted or excluded; 3) erroneous jury instructions were issued; and 4) damage awards from the jury were unsupported.
In his decision, Judge Haggerty establishes the basis for his denials of each of these grounds for a new trial, and sums up by saying the jury awarded damages after concluding PH unlawfully attempted to monopolize the hospital healthcare market. Haggerty states the evidence from which this conclusion could be drawn and damages could be based includes (the fact that PeaceHealth)
* employed one-third of the doctors in Lane County;
* used non-compete provisions in employment contracts with PeaceHealth Medical Group physicians;
* purchased and closed competing hospitals;
* entered into preferred provider contracts that are lawful but exclusionary;
* sought restrictive covenants on property to deter hospital construction; (a reference to PeaceHealth's sale of its Crescent site with a restrictive covenant); and
* plans to locate a new hospital near (McKenzie-Willamette).
While any one of these acts, by itself, may not seem monopolistic or predatory, taken together they were compelling. In his decision to deny a new trial, Judge Haggerty said the jury acted reasonably in its decision to find in favor of McKenzie-Willamette.
We await Judge Haggerty's decision regarding PeaceHealth's motion for a directed verdict, In his 9/30 decision, Judge Haggerty wrote "For reasons that will be amplified in this court's subsequent ruling regarding (PeaceHealth's) Motion for a Directed Verdict, this court concludes that the law was not misstated and (PeaceHealth) was not prejudiced by instructions that were given to the jury."
We also await Judge Haggerty's decision regarding our request for non-economic damages, intended to level the playing field between the two hospitals.
PeaceHealth denied new antitrust trial
By Joe Harwood
The Register-Guard | October 2, 2004 |
A federal judge has denied PeaceHealth's motion for a new antitrust trial, upholding a Portland jury's decision that the Bellevue-based health system engaged in anti-competitive behavior that harmed McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center.
The jury ruled last October that PeaceHealth tried to monopolize the local health care market, engaged in price discrimination and unlawfully interfered in McKenzie-Willamette's business.
PeaceHealth argued in the motion that the jury awards of $5.4 million in economic damages and $9.2 million in punitive damages to McKenzie-Willamette were unsupported by evidence presented during the 13-day trial. In antitrust verdicts, economic damages are automatically tripled, meaning PeaceHealth could be on the hook for $25.4 million, plus millions of dollars in attorneys fees.
In his order this week denying the motion, U.S. District Judge Ancer Haggerty wrote that "the jury awarded damages after concluding that (PeaceHealth) unlawfully attempted to monopolize the hospital health care market." (more...)
McKenzie-Willamette/Triad
ZIP code change goes down hard
By Amber Fossen
The Springfield News | September 24, 2004 |
Eugene it is.
Less than half of the 912 Glenwood residents, polled on whether or not to keep Eugene's 97403 ZIP code or make the switch to Springfield's 97477, bothered to submit their vote. Despite low turnout, the decision has been made and the majority of voting Glenwood residents don't want to make a change.
Of 381 responses, 160 were "yes" votes and 221 were "no" votes. The "no" vote equals 58 percent of the returned surveys, according to the U.S. Postal Service, which conducted the survey on behalf of the city.
John Tamulonis, Springfield community/economic development manager, said this is the first real chance the city's had to poll residents. He said the Postal Service had internal details to be worked out, such as route changes and senior staffing placements. (more...)
EWEB still open to negotiations with Triad
By Randi Bjornstad
The Register-Guard | September 28, 2004 |
Although it wants nearly $16 million more to build a new headquarters than Triad Hospitals Inc. has initially offered to pay for its old headquarters, the Eugene Water & Electric Board has not closed the door on the idea of selling the utility's 23-acre complex on the Willamette River to Triad for a new McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center.
EWEB's directors met in special session Monday to review the board's position on a possible counteroffer to Triad, which in August offered $22.9 million for the property.
EWEB General Manager Randy Berggren said he hoped to arrange a face-to-face meeting between EWEB and Triad representatives in the next several weeks to see if the price gap can be closed and a sale put together.
In the meantime, he plans to meet in nonpublic session with EWEB's directors about the costs of acquiring and developing property for the utility's field operations and administrative headquarters. (more...)
New state rules may help Triad move
By Amber Fossen
The Springfield News | September 29, 2004 |
McKenzie-Willamette hospital has a tough choice:
State rules regarding hospital sitings were recently modified by the Oregon Department of Human Services, establishing an expedited process that might make it easier for McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center to relocate to a new service area.
The only catch is, if they take advantage of it, they won't be able to make any changes to their services for three years after the move.
As negotiations between Triad Hospitals Inc. and the Eugene Water & Electric Board continue, hospital officials will need to evaluate the state's decision to figure out if the rule change will be beneficial to McKenzie-Willamette.
According to Rosie Pryor, McKenzie-Willamette spokeswoman, the newprocess could hinder the hospital's ability to serve the local community. (more...)
Health Care
County recognizes health care heroes
| The Springfield News | September 22, 2004 |
Bringing a federally qualified health center to Lane County was a task that took a community working together to pull it off. The Lane County Health and Human Services Commission recently honored three contributors with special Health Care Hero Awards. (more...)
Hospitals face suits over care for needy
| The Associated Press | October 1, 2004 |
PORTLAND -- Attorneys for two patients without insurance have filed lawsuits against Legacy and Providence hospital systems, alleging that the nonprofits are not living up to their obligation to help the neediest.
The suits allege that the hospitals not only fail to give charitable care to the poor, but they charge uninsured people higher prices than those who have insurance. (more...)
Measure 35: Physicians' push and lawyers' pull leaves patients in middle
By David Steves
The Register-Guard | October 3, 2004 |
The fight over Measure 35 is like a bitter feud between neighbors in a gated community.
Doctors are pushing to pass the measure, which puts a constitutional cap on how much money they can be sued for in malpractice cases. Trial lawyers, who sue these doctors on behalf of patients, are trying to defeat it.
But unlike battling rich neighbors, who might try to keep the fight private, the doctors and the lawyers are dragging Oregon's entire electorate into the squabble. They're doing it by spending millions of dollars trying to convince voters that they'll bear the brunt of a bad election outcome.
If the measure passes, the trial lawyers' campaign warns, patients will lose their rights to recoup full compensation for their noneconomic damages.
Physicians, meanwhile, insist that if Measure 35 is defeated, voters will lose access to their own medical caregivers, who will be forced by high malpractice insurance costs to get out of risky medical practices, such as delivering babies. Physicians also argue that they may simply get out of medicine or move their practices to states with caps on malpractice lawsuit awards. (more...)
As Waistlines Expand, Fat-fighting Efforts Increase
| KEZI | September 27, 2004, 3:55 p.m. |
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Two of Oregon's largest hospitals are expanding their programs to treat morbid obesity, hiring more doctors, adding space for weight-loss surgery and spending more money to market their programs.
Legacy Health System and Oregon Health & Science University are responding to the growing number of obese patients in Oregon, where about a fifth of all adults are considered overweight enough to be classified clinically as obese.
The combination of obesity and poor fitness is expected to soon surpass smoking as the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. (more...)
Burden of Health Costs Grows, Even for the Insured
By Vanessa Fuhrmans
The Wall Street Journal | September 23, 2004; Page D2 |
Americans suffering from chronic illness--even those with private insurance--are increasingly having trouble paying for their medical care, a new study shows.
Those with chronic conditions made up a significant portion of the population: At least 57 million, or one-third of U.S. working-age adults, now deal with some kind of long-term illness, such as diabetes, heart disease or depression. And they have become particularly vulnerable to soaring health-care costs: More than one in five are in families with problems paying their medical bills, according to a study from the Center for Studying Health System Change, a nonprofit policy research group funding primarily by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
What is striking, though, is that many of these people aren't from the ranks of the uninsured. They have traditional medical benefits, but the coverage is shrinking.
On health care, U.S. worse off than 4 years ago
| The Associated Press | September 28, 2004 |
WASHINGTON -- American workers are paying more for their health insurance and getting less than they were four years ago, and the situation is particularly acute in several states important in the presidential race, said a consumer group that has been critical of President Bush.
Families USA also noted that the number of people without insurance jumped significantly since Bush took office, with more than 85 million people uninsured at some point during 2003 or 2004.
Borrowing a comparison President Reagan made famous in the 1980 campaign, Families USA asked whether the nation is better off today than it was four years ago in terms of health care. (more...)
Sprawl May Harm Health, Study Finds
By Rob Stein
Washington Post | September 27, 2004; Page A03 |
People who live in sprawling communities tend to suffer more health problems, according to the first study to document a link between the world of strip malls, cul-de-sacs and subdivisions and a broad array of ailments.
The study, which analyzed data on more than 8,600 Americans in 38 metropolitan areas -- including the Washington region -- found that rates of arthritis, asthma, headaches and other complaints increased with the degree of sprawl. Living in areas with the least amount of sprawl, compared with living in areas with the most, was like adding about four years to people's lives in terms of their health, the study found. (more...)
Mixing medicine and faith
| By Ellen Goodman, Globe Columnist | September 30, 2004 |
When I was a kid I just assumed the separation of church and hospital. It's not that I didn't believe in the power of prayer, but when my appendix burst I wanted a guy in a white coat, not a white collar.
The first time I realized how different things were in the Bush era was when W. David Hager was appointed to an advisory board of the Food and Drug Administration. Hager was an ob-gyn who prescribed Corinthians and Romans for PMS.
After that we saw the government take contraceptive information off one website and put phony links between abortion and breast cancer on another. That was just the beginning.
Welcome to the era of faith-based medicine. (more...)
Time to review health, retirement benefits
By Eileen Alt Powell
The Associated Press | October 3, 2004 |
With the arrival of fall, many companies flood employee mailboxes with brochures about next year's benefit program offerings, reminding workers that this is the time to select new health insurance and retirement savings options.
It can be confusing, especially when it comes to choosing from a variety of health care plans that can range from health management organizations to indemnity insurance. And workers often are asked to review their 401(k) retirement account contribution levels.
While people who work with small companies often have few choices, those at large firms may have dozens of alternatives, said Dallas Salisbury, chief executive of the nonprofit Employee Benefit Research Institute in Washington, D.C.
He urges workers to read their enrollment material carefully and get help from their company's human resources personnel if they don't fully understand their options.
When it comes to deciding on health care coverage, "the first thing workers need to do is decide whether they have any reason to anticipate that they'll need to file any claims next year," Salisbury said. (more...)
Nearby Developments
Bullish on Springfield: Springfield mayor foresees good things in city's economic future
By Ben Raymond Lode
The Springfield News | October 1, 2004 |
With Oregon moving toward a different and more service-oriented economy, cities and communities around the state are doing their best to keep up the pace.
Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken thinks Springfield is keeping up with the best of them.
But the mayor thinks continuing long-term planning and hard work is necessary to keep a positive momentum going in a community that, not too long ago, based much of its existence on heavy industry. (more...)
City, county talk about Glenwood: Commissioners have questions, tax-base concerns
By Amber Fossen
The Springfield News | September 24, 2004 |
Springfield city officials met with Lane County Commis-sioners this week to seek county feedback on the proposed Glenwood Urban Renewal District, going to a vote on the November ballot.
Commissioners questioned the impact on the county's tax base, who would be voting, and whether or not eminent domain (condemnation) would be used to acquire property for potential projects funded through the district. The board also stressed the importance of an informed public. (more...)
City to study Glenwood renewal
By Bob Keefer
The Register-Guard | October 2, 2004 |
SPRINGFIELD -- The Springfield Economic Development Agency is tan, it's rested and it's back. After almost 20 years of inactivity, the public agency will meet at 6 p.m. Monday in the Jesse Maine Room at Springfield City Hall, 225 Fifth St.
The agency, which consists of the mayor and members of the City Council, has been resurrected to oversee possible creation of an urban renewal district in Glenwood.
The district will be on the November ballot for approval or rejection by city voters. (more...)
Helping renters 'fire the landlord': St. Vincent de Paul's project gets first-time homeowners set up with their own places
By Ben Raymond Lode
The Springfield News | September 29, 2004 |
Many people dream of owning their own home. However, caught in an endless cycle of never ending bills and struggling to meet rent many give up and remain renters -- some for their entire lives.
But for Springfield residents scouting for that elusive first home, there may be a glimmer of light on the horizon.
Over half a dozen brand new homes, erected in a quiet cul-de-sac on Fairhaven Drive in Springfield, are ready to be occupied by qualifying first-time homebuyers -- two months before they were supposed to be.
The 10 houses, some of which are already occupied, are funded by the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Lane County, Inc. (more...)
Local housing market still hot
By Christian Wihtol
The Register-Guard | September 28, 2004 |
Hunting for a house was a nail-biting experience in Lane County in August, as the metro area's housing market continued to sizzle, the latest home-sales data show.
The supply of homes for sale remained at a 2 1/2 -year low in August, homes that sold in August were on the market an average of just 45 days, and prices held well above the year-ago level, according to the monthly report from RMLS, the Portland-based firm that runs the multiple-listing service for the Lane County market. (more...)
Council debates enterprise zones
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | September 30, 2004 |
Should Eugene resume giving property tax breaks to industry under the state's enterprise zone program -- but limit the recipients to only those companies that redevelop existing buildings or old industrial sites?
That question was left on the table Wednesday during an initial City Council discussion about the wisdom of waiving property taxes as a way of helping businesses grow and generating local jobs.
Such breaks are a controversial topic in Eugene, which had an enterprise zone for 10 years. (more...)
Plans on tap to raze Ramada, replace it with a retail store
By Joe Harwood
The Register-Guard | September 28, 2004 |
With the extensive renovation and expansion of Oakway Center mostly complete, the McKay family of Eugene is turning its sights to the east side of Coburg Road and the 4.4 acres occupied by the Ramada Inn.
McKay Investment Co. earlier this month submitted an application to the city to demolish the Ramada Inn, at 225 Coburg Road, and replace it with a 49,865-square-foot retail store.
The development would include 171 parking spaces, a new street into the site that aligns with an Oakway Center driveway, and extensive landscaping. (more...)
Global melt-down: Shuttered Springfield silicon smelting plant to be redeveloped
By Joe Mosley
The Register-Guard | October 3, 2004 |
SPRINGFIELD -- The neo-Gothic industrial sector of town is going suburbia. Springfield's old Globe Metallurgical Inc. silicon smelter -- the hulking reminder of a pollution-spewing, electricity-sucking industrial sector that has all but died out in the Pacific Northwest -- will be leveled, salvaged and replaced by a tidy commercial concept known on the East Coast as a "contractors' mall."
Yes, mall -- the 14-acre Globe property will become Springfield Contractors Village, offering office and storage yard space for building tradespeople. Even the "C-word" -- condo -- comes into play, with space in the facility's three buildings expected to be sold condominium-style to small- and medium-sized contractor occupants. (more...)
Transportation
Council eyes taxes to fix streets
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | September 28, 2004 |
At the urging of city staff, Eugene city councilors on Monday decided that they will once again consider tax hikes to curb a growing backlog of street repairs.
Councilors instructed City Manager Dennis Taylor to develop three tax proposals to raise money for street improvements. City public works officials say the money is needed to prevent a backlog of street repairs from doubling from its present level and reaching $180 million in 10 years.
Taylor and public works officials are to bring back to councilors proposals that would:
* Hike the city's gas tax by 2 to 5 cents a gallon.
* Impose assessments on homes and businesses.
* Submit to voters a property tax-supported bond issue. (more...)
Editorial -- A tale of two taxes: Street funding plans meet different fates
| The Register-Guard | September 29, 2004 |
The Eugene City Council voted 5-3 Monday to ask the city manager to prepare proposals for financing street maintenance. The split vote is a sign that the discussion is already off to a rocky start -- if a substantial minority isn't ready to even ask for proposals, opposition to the proposals themselves can be expected. Yet Eugene has come this way before, and can glean useful lessons from experience. (more...)
'Stinking Albatross'
The WEP is starting to smell like it's already dead.
By Alan Pittman
Eugene Weekly | September 30, 2004 |
Even some of the West Eugene Parkway's biggest boosters are starting to sound like they don't want the project now.
Eugene Mayor Jim Torrey, a long-time WEP booster, said at a council meeting Sept. 22 that the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) had done Eugene a "disservice" by dragging out the final parkway decision for so long. Torrey said dedicating money to the WEP had diverted money from projects like relieving congestion on Beltline Highway. Torrey said Beltline, not the WEP, is the city's "number one" need for road improvements. (more...)
Highway, welfare bills die quietly
By Jim Abrams
The Associated Press | October 1, 2004 |
WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers, fighting among themselves and with the White House, have given up trying to pass highway and welfare bills this year that held the promise of tens of thousands of jobs.
The nearly $300 billion measure to fund highway and mass transit programs for the next six years "should have been the easiest piece of legislation for this Congress to pass,'' said Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore. (more...)
Report: U.S. can eliminate oil: 'Think tank' outlines plan to profitably switch to other energy sources
| The Springfield News | September 24, 2004 |
The Rocky Mountain Institute in Snowmass, Colo., early this week released Winning the Oil Endgame: Innovation for Profits, Jobs, and Security, a peer-reviewed, Pentagon-cofunded blueprint for making the United States oil-free by 2050.
This plan outlines how American industry can displace petroleum more cheaply than it can buy it, in the process restoring competitiveness and boosting profits. (more...)
The Autonomist Manifesto (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Road)
By John Tierney
The New York Times | September 26, 2004 |
When you drive into San Diego on Interstate 15, you can see the highway of the future. In fact, you can see two different versions of it in the same lanes.
In the center of each of the express lanes are faint black smudges, each a couple inches in diameter, spaced at intervals 1.2 meters apart. Beneath each smudge is a stack of magnets. A car with the right equipment can drive down the road all by itself, guided by the magnets and radar that tracks nearby cars. Here at last is the automated road that futurists have been promising for so long. Here is the ''beam control'' highway that ''Popular Mechanics'' envisioned in a fanciful 1940 article about a family's one-day jaunt from Washington, D.C., to visit Aunt Lillian in California. When engineers in San Diego sent a caravan of eight Buicks down I-15 at 65 miles per hour, the steady-handed computers at the steering wheels kept the cars spaced just 15 feet apart. By squeezing three times as many cars on the highway, this technology could drastically ease traffic congestion -- if only engineers could figure out a way to get millions of drivers to buy these systems. For now, the beam-control highway is still in the future.
Meanwhile, a much simpler technology is already eliminating traffic jams on I-15: a computerized gatekeeper that charges variable admission to the express lanes, raising or lowering the toll every six minutes, depending on how many drivers take the offer. If similar computers were charging variable tolls in other cities, they could not only ease congestion on existing roads but also generate the money to pay for new roads. Americans, liberated from bumper-to-bumper traffic, could rediscover the joy of driving -- and that, paradoxically, is one reason why it would be so politically difficult to actually install this technology across the country. Any policy encouraging drivers to use their axles of evil is now suspect.
Americans still love their own cars, but they're sick of everyone else's. The car is blamed for everything from global warming to the war in Iraq to the transformation of America into a land of strip malls and soulless subdivisions filled with fat, lonely suburbanites. Al Gore called the automobile a ''mortal threat'' that is ''more deadly than that of any military enemy.'' Cities across America, with encouragement from Washington, are adopting ''smart growth'' policies to discourage driving and promote mass transit. Three years ago, at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new freeway just outside Los Angeles, Gov. Gray Davis declared that it would be the last one built in the state. Standing at the cradle of car culture, he said it was time to find other ways to move people. (more...)
Elections
Election campaigns heating up around town
By Amber Fossen
The Springfield News | October 1, 2004 |
Political action committees have begun to march across the city.
In the weeks to come, campaign efforts will gain speed as PAC members work to inform, advocate and solicit support for local measures going to a vote this November.
Three different camps are working to provide Springfield residents with accurate information about the proposed public safety facility, the Willamalane community center and Glenwood's urban renewal district.
The measures could change the face of Springfield and Glenwood if approved. (more...)
East Lane challenger's spending is up
By Randi Bjornstad
The Register-Guard | September 28, 2004 |
The battle for the East Lane County commissioner's seat, pitting incumbent Don Hampton against challenger Faye Stewart, has cost $150,000 so far.
However, while spending for the year splits almost evenly down the middle, contribution and expenditure reports filed Monday show that since the May primary, Cottage Grove lumber scion Stewart has spent more than twice as much -- nearly $39,000 to just over $16,000 -- in his effort to unseat Hampton, a retired Oakridge teacher appointed to fill a vacancy on the board a year ago. (more...)
'Run, Jim, Run' PAC ran mostly on business cash
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | September 28, 2004 |
Business, development and timber executives, including some who don't live in Eugene, were the biggest financial backers of the "Run, Jim, Run" effort that unsuccessfully urged Eugene Mayor Jim Torrey to embark on a write-in campaign against mayoral primary winner Kitty Piercy in November.
And the contributors' giving may not be over yet, as the campaign is $16,248 in the red and plans to hold a fund-raiser. (more...)
Timber backs land use attack
By Diane Dietz
The Register-Guard | September 28, 2004 |
A handful of Lane County timber businesses are bankrolling a measure to make government pay whenever zoning or other regulations lower private property values -- or else abandon efforts to regulate. (more...)
Council opposes land use measure
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | September 30, 2004 |
Saying that state ballot Measure 37 would throttle Eugene's ability to regulate land use, the City Council on Wednesday went on record against the proposal in a 7-1 vote.
If approved by voters in November, the measure would require governments to pay landowners whenever a zoning or land use regulation lowered property values. In certain cases, the measure also would be retroactive to regulations put into place in the past. Instead of paying the affected property owners, governments could opt to waive regulations for the property owner.
City Councilor David Kelly said Measure 37 would throw the predictability that land use regulations bring to communities "out the window" because landowners could argue that height restrictions, building setbacks and other rules enacted after they purchased their property diminish the value of their land. (more...)
Editorial -- Measure 37 -- No: It's a stealth effort to eliminate land-use laws
| The Register-Guard | October 1, 2004 |
Supporters of Measure 37 are right about one thing- their proposal is all about "takings." It's about taking away this state's landmark land-use system. Supporters say they're seeking fair compensation for when property values are diminished by government regulation. But make no mistake: Their real aim is to subvert Oregon's land-use laws. (more...)
Jay Bozievich -- People should be trusted to use own free will
By Jay Bozievich
The Register-Guard | October 3, 2004 |
From the presidential race down to the Oregon ballot measures, many choices in this election boil down to trust: Do you trust people to use their own free will? How you answer that question will determine how you vote.
President Bush's proposals on reforms to rescue Social Security from bankruptcy hinge on allowing people keep control of a small percentage of their own money in personal retirement accounts. The argument against this reform is that people might not invest and use their own money wisely -- they might invest in emu farming, putting all of their eggs in one basket, so to speak, and lose everything.
So, the people who oppose personal accounts think that they can do a better job of safekeeping an individual's money by giving it to the government to manage instead.
In other words, those against private accounts believe that people are too reckless and uneducated to be allowed to make their own choices with their retirement money. (more...)
Other
Coburg police chief to quit moonlighting as city administrator
By Karen McCowan
The Register-Guard | September 29, 2004 |
COBURG -- After three years as combination police chief and city administrator here, Mike Hudson plans to resign the latter post.
Hudson on Tuesday said he intends to return to full-time service as police chief, the post he was originally hired for in 1998. He said the decision was voluntary and was not connected to the recent suspension of City Recorder Peggy de Montmorency and City Council action last week ordering a performance audit of the city's 2003-04 books, accounts and finances.
Hudson had not yet officially submitted his resignation late Tuesday, but Mayor Judy Volta said she was aware of his plans and agreed that the move was unrelated to the issues that led to the audit.
Lane Council of Governments consultant Jamon Kent was already at City Hall on Tuesday, working as acting administrator. (more...)