Mea Culpa: January 12, 2005

Mea Culpa
January 12, 2005
Coalition for Health Options In Central Eugene-Springfield (CHOICES)

Dear CHOICES members and subscribers,

Mea culpa -- my fault.

I story I recently posted, "Springfield Pulls Surprise, Denies PeaceHealth," is my fault. I made it up. It isn't factually true.

I want to be quite clear that I made the story up, as it is possible that some people were confused by the story, which appeared to be written by Bob Keefer of The Register-Guard. Some people believe everything they read is true, or don't read all the way to the end of a story to the explanation.

Indeed, Dave Baker, manager editor of The Register-Guard was confused... well, not really confused, but actually more concerned. Dave runs a good paper and is committed to running stories that are factual, not stuff that people make up. Okay, sometimes The Register-Guard runs stories that are made up. For example, The Register-Guard has often run stories that Dave Barry made up, even if Dave Barry claimed that he wasn't making the stuff up. I think the point is to be clear on who is making up the story, not on whether the story is made up or not.

So to be clear, Bob Keefer, didn't make up the story, I did. That's not to say that Bob couldn't have made up the story. I bet he could have. But his job isn't to make up stories. His job is to report the facts. As a professional journalist, Bob can't report that Springfield has been "been bought and sold by big bucks," even if he might believe or know that to be true. But Bob can report that Dave Ralston said that Springfield has "been bought and sold by big bucks." It might not be true that Springfield has been bought, but it is true that Dave Ralston said that it had. I depend on Bob to report on what happens in Springfield and elsewhere, and you should, too. We are lucky that we still have people like Bob and his colleagues at The Register-Guard, the Springfield News, the Eugene Weekly, and other local media reporting on what happens in our community.

Lee Beyer now heads up the Oregon Public Utility Commission. Before that he was a state senator. His wife, Terry Beyer, is the state representative from Springfield. For some reason, Lee is still on the Springfield Planning Commission, long after others would have left it for bigger and better things. For the record, Lee didn't attend the meeting on Monday and didn't say the PeaceHealth deal was bad for Springfield. He could have said it, and in private he might. But he is sensible enough to not waste his time telling the Springfield City Council to do things they aren't going to do.

But Springfield Planning Commissioner Greg Shaver actually did attend the meeting and did say pretty much what I said he said. Greg knew as well as Lee that Springfield was going to approve the PeaceHealth plan amendments. He just felt it was important to tell them why what they were about to do was a bad idea and what would be a better way to proceed.

Springfield Planning Commission Bill Carpenter didn't attend the meeting and didn't say anything. But at previous planning commission meetings, he has expressed concerns about the process and who is doing what. He could have said what I said he said.

Springfield Planning Commissioner Steve Moe really is the unofficial "Mayor of Glenwood" and a nice guy. He and his wife throw good parties, especially after the annual Filbert Festival. I believe he really does think that it is a bad idea for PeaceHealth to move to the Gateway area. I bet he would love for PeaceHealth or McKenzie-Willamette to move to Glenwood. But he wasn't at the meeting Monday night and didn't waste his time telling the council things they wouldn't act on.

Maureen Weathers really was the mayor of Springfield up until the time she moved to Lowell to be with her husband. And she really was the president of the McKenzie-Willamette board of directors, at least until their merger with Triad. But she didn't attend the meeting Monday night and didn't say anything. Indeed, although everyone continues to be cordial, my guess is that there is still a lot of animosity between McKenzie-Willamette and Springfield. After all, the fact that Springfield is allowing PeaceHealth to move within 2 miles of the current McKenzie-Willamette site, thereby threatening to cut off many of its lucrative emergency room visits, is forcing McKenzie-Willamette to try to move get out from under PeaceHealth's shadow. Perhaps McKenzie-Willamette would love to move to Glenwood, but a few people would have to swallow their pride before that might happen.

Tammy Fitch is the president of the Springfield City Council. Several years ago, she was a participant in the New Community Meeting II, an effort to get business people and environmentalists, Eugeneans and Springfielders to talk and work together. But I have not seen her lately building the kinds of bridges she built back then. Tammy was at the meeting, but didn't ask to hear from Alan Yordy. She did appear to struggle to explain how she had an open mind and that he decision to vote in favor of the PeaceHealth plan amendments was an unbiased decision arrived at solely from considering the evidence before the council.

Dave Ralston is a Springfield City Councilor. He was at the meeting Monday night and was the only councilor to vote against the PeaceHealth plans amendments. But he did much more than that. Before voting "no," he gave a thoughtful and impassioned speech explaining why he was voting no. He said better than anyone else Monday night what was true and why the PeaceHealth deal is a bad deal for Springfield. Apparently, Dave looked at the same evidence that the rest of the council looked at and arrived at the opposite conclusion. Someone should get a copy of what Dave said and reprint it. It's great stuff! But I didn't put Dave in my story... well, because I was just making stuff up and what Dave said was too good to make up.

Alan Yordy is now the head of all of PeaceHealth and is now based in Bellevue, Washington. I believe he has been the driving force behind the move to RiverBend and the one with the vision to ensure that PeaceHealth will have the facilities it needs for the next 100 years. Organizations need visionary leaders, and Alan has tried to see what is best for PeaceHealth. I understand that Alan has been with PeaceHealth for many years and started out as a public relations person, perhaps originally holding the job that Brian Terrett now holds. Alan worked for PeaceHealth during the last major Sacred Heart expansion. Although that was before my time, I understand that the expansion required the Mayflower Theater and Poppi's restaurant to be demolished. I understand that there was a lot of public opposition at the time to Sacred Heart's expansion. Bulldozers came in the middle of the night. I've heard that PeaceHealth vowed that they would never again subject themselves to that kind of public opposition that would prevent them from delivering high quality medical care. My guess is that -- more than anything else -- the move to RiverBend is about avoiding another Mayflower Theater fiasco. With 200 acres under its control at RiverBend, PeaceHealth will be able to expand for the next 100 years without ever having to deal with resistant neighbors. It is true that Alan was not at the meeting.

Jill Hoggard Green really was recently named to replace Alan Yordy as head of operations for PeaceHealth here in Lane County. I believe that she was at the meeting, but she didn't testify at all.

Lyle Hatfield really was the Springfield Council president before a cancer took him away much too soon. I had a great deal of respect for him and considered him a friend. We once had lunch together and he told me that Springfield has the land for another 20,000 people before it runs out of space. Springfield is located between Interstate-5, two rivers and several hills. As such, it has nowhere to grow once it uses up its land. No one on council worked harder for Springfield nor understood the issues better. Lyle could have been mayor if he had wanted to be, but it didn't matter to him and Sid Leiken was willing to be mayor. But Sid depended on Lyle, appreciated him greatly, and I am sure does miss him. I don't know if there ever was a handshake deal involving Lyle. But I do know that Alan Yordy publicly thanked Lyle posthumously, saying the RiverBend project never would have happened without Lyle's help.

Sid Leiken is the mayor of Springfield but he never mentioned Lyle at the meeting Monday night. He also didn't tear up, although I understand he does so regularly during his annual State of the City addresses. I'm not quite sure what Sid was thinking Monday night. I doubt he was looking for divine guidance. All I know is that he said he would have approved the plan amendments had there been a tie vote.

Kitty Piercy is the new mayor of Eugene, but she wasn't at the meeting Monday night. I don't know her views on hospitals, Eugene-Springfield relations or town-gown relations. But she ran to be a "Mayor for ALL Eugene," and I know she is trying to bring businesspeople and environmentalists together. I am sure that if she can, she will usher in a more cooperative relationships with both PeaceHealth, McKenzie-Willamette, Springfield, and the University of Oregon.

Dave Frohnmeyer is the president of the University of Oregon, but he wasn't at the meeting. He is one of the few people in the story that I really don't know. I understand the UO is working on some kind of joint venture with OSHU and PeaceHealth related to training doctors, but I have not heard anyone suggest this be called the Alan Yordy Center for Medical Excellence. Dave did recently secure the bond money necessary to purchase the Williams Bakery site for a new basketball court. Having done so, I don't think anyone is seriously considering having the basketball court in Glenwood. In any case, the new court will likely be close to a Bus Rapid Transit stop, which is a good thing.

Jan Oliver is an aide to Dave Frohnmeyer. I am not sure of her exact title, but she is the one who deals with the community whenever the University of Oregon gets into trouble or wants to avoid trouble. For example, she was involved when plans for an expanded Autzen stadium were affecting the planetarium. Jan is also on the local PeaceHealth board of directors. I've talked with Jan about PeaceHealth's plans, and she says that the whole board supports the idea of a "healing environment."

Colin Stephens is a planner for Springfield and has had the difficult task of dealing with all the applications from PeaceHealth. He does his job well and really has spent several years of his life on the PeaceHealth stuff. I like Colin a lot, but I am glad I don't have his job. It's a hard job dealing with the likes of me. He was at the meeting Monday night and was always professional.

John Musumeci is a land speculator who heads up Arlie & Company. He is also the founder of the "Gang of 9," which among other things skewered the Eugene City Council for considering that perhaps a hospital on Coburg road past Costco might not be such a good idea. He really did borrow money from PeaceHealth's parent corporation in Bellevue, Washington, which he used to buy the RiverBend site. But I have no proof that there was a secret handshake deal. He really did turn around and sell most of that site to PeaceHealth for almost twice what he paid for it. When PeaceHealth and Musumeci couldn't agree on who would get to do the prime mixed-used development on the site, the relationship soured and eventually PeaceHealth bought out the last 12 acres that Musumeci owned. Arlie & Company has talked a lot about doing an "urban village." Indeed, Arlie swapped land with PeaceHealth as part of the deal and now owns the Crescent nodal development site out on Coburg Road where PeaceHealth had earlier planned to build a hospital. The City of Eugene has approved plans for nodal development on the Arlie site. I think all that is needed now is a real developer -- as opposed to a speculator -- to come in and actually build something. Lastly, Musumeci has bought a local radio station that runs Air America Radio, a liberal alternative to conservative talk radio. Some say that Musumeci is trying to position himself to buy up more media in the Eugene-Springfield area, perhaps even The Register-Guard. I have never met Mr. Musumeci and don't know what he is like. He has testified before about PeaceHealth's plans, but stopped doing so after he sold the last of his interest in the RiverBend site. He was not at the meeting Monday night.

Suzanne Arlie really is the wife and business partner of John Musumeci. Arlie & Company is named after her. I don't know her at all and she wasn't at the meeting Monday night.

John and Robin Jaqua are pillars of the community. John is a retired attorney. Both have given generously to the community, including to PeaceHealth and the University of Oregon. The UO law library is named after John Jaqua. Mr. Jaqua was on the board of directors of Nike, although I believe that he recently stepped down. The family owns considerable property across the McKenzie River from the RiverBend site. They have been quite generous in working to protect and preserve lands along the McKenzie River. They never envisioned that a 9-story hospital would be build right across the river from them. They were both at the meeting Monday night, but didn't testify. Their attorney, Al Johnson, spoke on their behalf.

Al Johnson is one of the top land use attorneys in the state. When the Jaquas were first concerned about PeaceHealth's plans and decided that they needed legal assistance, they wanted the best. Although the Jaquas and CHOICES are separate, have different interests, and have filed separate appeals, folks with CHOICES have had a chance to work with and learn from Al. I have very much appreciated getting to know Al. Al was at the meeting Monday night and did testify. As Springfield has again approved legally flawed plan amendments, Al may have to file another appeal on behalf of the Jaquas against the City of Springfield. I'm not making that up, and so I didn't include Al in the story.

There were lots of other folks who were really at the meeting. Almost all of those who testified for the PeaceHealth plan amendments are PeaceHealth employees or consultants. Most of the people who testified against the amendments have been involved in appeals against the city of Springfield, and will likely be so again.

Finally, I, Rob Zako, was at the meeting Monday night. Things actually happened the way that Bob Keefer reported they happened (see below) -- not the way I imagined they might have happened. It's really too bad, isn't it? I think my win-win-win-win-win version is better than the win-lose-lose-lose-lose version we are stuck with. But maybe we aren't stuck with the real version, maybe it isn't too late. After all, the difference between fact and fiction might not be so great. In this case, all it would take is for people to actually act in ways that they could act, but for whatever reason they choose not to act. All it would take is, well, for people to act like Dave Ralston acted, to be courageous and do the right thing, simply because it the right thing to do. And perhaps CHOICES and others will need to appeal again, just to give folks more time to build up the courage to do the right thing. Appealing, per se, won't ensure that the right thing happens. Appealing merely creates the opportunity for people to reconsider their decisions.

In conclusion, I apologize to The Register-Guard and to everyone I mentioned in my made up story for suggesting that they might behave in ways they have, in fact, not. I hope my apology clears up any confusion people might have between fact and fiction.

For CHOICES,
Rob Zako
343-5201
rzako@efn.org

CORRECTION: Posted January 17, 2005

Dear CHOICES members and other subscribers,

Here at CHOICES we strive to be accurate in reporting and interpreting news about hospital siting and related issues -- even when we make stuff up! Yes, believe it or not, we strive to make sure that even the stuff we make up is true -- or at least based in reality. That is why we have a team of fact checkers that review everything we publish. Unfortunately, times being what they are and more and more of the work being outsourced, mistakes sometimes slip through. (Translation: We don't really have a team of fact checkers, except for all our alert readers, i.e., you. Thanks for helping us out!) Our team of fact checkers... err, alert readers, caught the following:

Correction: Lyle Hatfield was never mayor of Springfield, even though we mistakenly referred to him as such. Lyle Hatfield was the president of the Springfield City Council. We regret the error.

Correction: Alan Yordy is still in Eugene, even though we indicated that he had moved to Bellevue, Washington. We regret the error.

Correction: Although it is true that Alan Yordy was not at the Springfield City Council meeting on January 10, it wasn't because he had moved to Bellevue, Washington. In fact, Mr. Yordy missed that meeting because he was on a medical mission in El Salvador. One of the Sisters retired and started a medical program for the camposinos (country people) in rural El Salvador. We regret the error.

Correction: In our recent "Mea Culpa," we referred to the last major expansion of Sacred Heart and mentioned the demolition of the Mayflower Theater. In fact, we had our history a bit scrambled. The expansion of the Support Services Building occurred in 1987 and the expansion of the Physicians and Surgeons Building occurred in 1991. We regret the error -- and would appreciate hearing from anyone who knows the history of those two distinct expansions in more detail.

Again, thanks to all our alert readers for catching our mistakes. If you catch more mistakes, or hear any breaking news or rumors, please let us know.

For CHOICES,
Rob Zako, Editor
343-5201
rzako@efn.org

P.S. Memo to Bob Keefer: I know you can't report the things I "reported," as much of what I wrote isn't factually true. But perhaps you might report that I said these things, even if we both know they aren't factually true... ;-)

P.P.S. And for the factual story, read what Bob Keefer really wrote:

January 11, 2005

Rules altered to allow RiverBend

By Bob Keefer
The Register-Guard

SPRINGFIELD -- Amid accusations by one of its own members that it had been "bought and sold," a glum-looking City Council approved land use rule changes Monday night to allow PeaceHealth to build a $380 million regional medical center next to the McKenzie River.

"We have been bought and sold by big bucks," Councilor Dave Ralston said in voting against the amendments. "I don't like that feeling much."

But the five other councilors, supported by the mayor, voted to go along with a series of complex changes to the Eugene-Springfield Metro Plan and Springfield planning rules to allow the RiverBend complex on the city's northern edge.

"I don't look at it as being bought and sold," Mayor Sid Leiken said. "Frankly, I think we bend over backward for even small businesses."

The planning rule changes came in response to rulings by the Oregon Court of Appeals and the Land Use Board of Appeals, which found last year that the RiverBend project did not satisfy land use transportation requirements and was inappropriate in an area slated to be a residential zone.

In response to the transportation ruling, PeaceHealth has committed itself to making certain that the transportation system is not overtaxed by the RiverBend project, even before its completion.

But on the zoning issue, the city basically decided to change the pertinent designation from residential to commercial and loosen restrictions on commercial uses.

Planning Commissioner Greg Shaver told the council that the city is ignoring years of work and public input that went into the Gateway Refinement Plan, one of the documents amended Monday, which spells out land use policy in the Gateway area.

"What you have before you is the staff's and (PeaceHealth's) original proposal," Shaver said. "Not the planning commission's recommendation."

Shaver said a better solution would be to put language in the Metro Plan establishing a "major medical" zone, instead of trying to fit the large regional medical center into inappropriate zoning designations.

Al Johnson, a lawyer for landowners John and Robin Jaqua, who won last year's victory at the Court of Appeals, agreed that such a Metro Plan amendment was the way to go.

"I don't think you're doing PeaceHealth any favors at all," he told the council, predicting more appeals and further delay of the project.

Opponents have 21 days to file an appeal. Johnson said a new appeal is likely.

P.P.P.S. And here's the story in the Springfield News:

January 12, 2005

City changes its rules for PeaceHealth

The Springfield News

To no one's surprise, the Springfield City Council last night approved zoning and rules change to allow PeaceHealth Medical Group to put a hospital in at the RiverBend area near the Gateway neighborhood.

Over the objections of Councilor Dave Ralston -- who said at a previous meeting that it "doesn't make sense for two cities to be switching hospitals at a cost of $800 million" -- the council green-lighted the complex package of changes by a vote of 6-1.

The rule change was necessary because of a ruling by the Oregon Court of Appeals last July. Among other things, the court ruled the hospital could not be set up as an "auxiliary use" to the current residential zoning at RiverBend. Auxiliary uses include things like schools, libraries and parks; because the hospital would serve the whole region and not just a neighborhood or two, the court said, it won't qualify as an auxiliary use.

So the city started the process of getting the 99-acre plot rezoned to a commercial designation, and adjusting the city's planning rules and Eugene-Springfield Metro Plan to fit the project.

Opponents of the changes have 21 days in which to file an appeal, and are widely expected to do so.