Health Options Digest
June 19, 2005
Coalition for Health Options In Central Eugene-Springfield (CHOICES)
In This Issue
From the Editor
Two Weeks In Review
It's summertime, but the news just keeps coming.
No news from PeaceHealth lately. But CHOICES has representatives on the two PeaceHealth committees looking at redeveloping the Hilyard site and developing Phase 2 of the RiverBend site. More when we know more.
He's back! Seems like John Musumeci just can't stand being out of the news, no matter how many times he tells the RG that he won't speak to them. After walking away from the EWEB site in a snit, Arlie has now upped its offer to $29 million.
But what really is the best use for the EWEB site? A public utility, a private hospital, or a commercial mixed-use district?
Historically, the Willamette River was a primary means of transportation for logs and people, a form of power to mills, and occasionally the source of flooding. Rather than simply talking about buying and selling riverfront property as a real estate deal, someone should think about how best to use and preserve the treasure in our midst.
Leave it to Terry McDonald of St. Vincent de Paul to work miracles in our midst. While others wring their hands about the expanding health coverage crisis in our community and across the nation, McDonald rolls up his sleeves, thinks about how to fix the problem, and invites others to do the same.
Ha ha! Was Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken joking when he called for an expansion of Springfield's urban growth boundary? After all, Springfield is surrounded by the McKenzie and Willamette Rivers to the north and south, by Interstate-5 and Eugene to the west, and by the Cascade foothills to the east. Where's Springfield gonna expand?
In any case, Springfield would do well to think about the costs of growth before it rushes to expand outward rather than inward and upward. For example, the Springfield Utility Board may increase water rates 10 percent, in part to keep up with some of the unintended costs of growth. Other costs of growth include the costs of roads, police and fire stations, schools, parks, and so on. before jumping to conclusions, Springfield would do well to consider the emerging conclusions of the Region 2050 project that is looking at how our region might best grow.
Symantec is planning to double in size at its Gateway location.
Meanwhile, downtown Eugene may soon see a major facelift -- for a price.
Question: How come PeaceHealth will contribute $8 million for improvements to the I-5/Beltline but Monaco Coach will contribute nothing for improvements to the nearby I-5/Coburg interchange? Answer: Politics and circumstance.
Amtrak service nationwide is on Congress' cutting block. Service here in the Pacific Northwest might survive, but would happen if Amtrak itself didn't? For more information, visit the National Association of Railroad Passengers web site: http://www.narprail.org/
If you think younger people today are cynical and tuned out, consider the efforts of Quinn Wilhelmi and Jefferson Smith.
The City of Coburg has managed to balance its budget.
The Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority (LRAPA) continues to be a political football. Compare with Springfield Mayor Leiken's comments about leaving the game if they don't get what they want. Maybe the political referees should call for a time out until all the local political plays can cool off enough to remember that we are all neighbors and we need to find ways to work together.
Lastly, it is said that people get the government they deserve. In the case of Measure 37, people approved a confusing and flawed law that will take the courts years to sort out. Don't look to the Legislature to save the people from themselves by clarifying what the voters intended with Measure 37. The Legislature is having a hard time even saving itself and agreeing to a budget for the state's fiscal year that starts in just a few days.
Looking Ahead
McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center is having their big 50th birthday bash this Saturday. Sounds like a good time.
The Lane County Health Advisory Committee has four vacancies for interested citizens.
LRAPA is seeking a Springfield resident.
And the LTD board of directors will have several openings by the end of the year.
Rob Zako, Editor
343-5201
rzako@efn.org
Calendar
Saturday, June 25 -- McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center: 50th Birthday Party
| McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center | |
10 am to 2 pm
Everyone is invited to celebrate 50 years of extraordinary care with McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center.
Join us for hospital tours, prize drawings, birthday cake, free health screenings and more. See our latest technology and remodeled spaces. Learn about new services. Take a walk down memory lane with McKenzie-Willamette. Meet employees and volunteers who have provided "extraordinary care" to our community for the past five decades. Help us make our big FIVE-0 a party worth remembering!
Opportunities
Lane County health panel has volunteer vacancy
| The Register-Guard | June 18, 2005 |
The Lane County Board of Commissioners is seeking applications from residents interested in serving on the Health Advisory Committee.
The committee makes recommendations on matters of public health, planning, policy development, control measures, funding, public education and advocacy, and acts in a community liaison capacity to provide a link between the community and the health division.
There are four vacancies to the four-year terms.
The application deadline is 5 p.m. on July 22. To request an application by mail, call 682-4207.
Air pollution board needs a Springfield resident
| The Register-Guard | June 17, 2005 |
The Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority is seeking a Springfield resident to increase the agency's eight-member board to nine.
The cooperative agency exists by agreement between Eugene, Springfield and Lane County to oversee the establishment and functioning of air quality regulations. It's the only local air-pollution regulating agency in the state. All other jurisdictions are overseen by the state Department of Environmental Quality.
Survival of the local agency has been threatened in recent weeks as politicians in Springfield and Lane County have questioned the role of and the need for the agency.
Two previous applicants were rejected by the board for lack of technical expertise and because some board members believed they would favor being too aggressive in pursuing polluting businesses.
Deadline to apply is July 8. Applications are available on the agency Web site www.lrapa.org or by calling 736-1056.
LTD Vacancies
We hear that three positions on the Lane Transit District board of directors will expire at the end of this year: Position 4 for north Eugene east of River Road and the City of Coburg (currently served by Susan Ban); Position 5 for central and west Eugene, including the University area and downtown, and the Whiteaker, Jefferson, and West Side neighborhoods (currently served by Gerry Gaydos); and Position 6 for west Eugene near Highway 99 and River Road and Junction City (currently served by Dave Kleger).
As the bill to make LTD directors elected died in a Senate committee, these positions will be filled by Governor Kulongoski and confirmed by the Senate. The process of appointments by the governor is akin to black magic. Few understanding how the game is played, or even that there is a game. Nonetheless, those from the areas listed above with an interest in serving on the LTD board might begin making discreet inquiries.
For more information, visit http://www.ltd.org/about/boardmembers.html
McKenzie-Willamette/Triad
Arlie ups ante for EWEB
By Joe Harwood
The Register-Guard | June 7, 2005 |
Three months after withdrawing a $28 million bid for the Eugene Water & Electric Board's downtown campus, Arlie & Co. jumped back into the ring Monday with a $29 million counterpunch. (more...)
EWEB silent on Arlie offer
| The Register-Guard | June 8, 2005 |
The Eugene Water & Electric Board of Commissioners on Tuesday night took no action on a $29 million offer for the utility's downtown campus, but did decide to hold a meeting on the matter later this summer. (more...)
Bob Welch -- Musumeci steps up to own mike
By Bob Welch, Columnist
The Register-Guard | June 16, 2005 |
If you missed John Musumeci's interview on his own Eugene radio station Tuesday, you missed the story of him being kidnapped at gunpoint by a disgruntled former employee.
You missed his revelation that he helped save a rare type of butterfly.
And you missed him saying he believes that Triad Hospitals Inc., which owns McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center and has made offers on the Eugene Water & Electric Board site for a new hospital, has decided to back out.
But you didn't miss the unveiling of some "new-and-improved" Musumeci, ready to smoke the peace pipe with Eugene City Councilor Bonny Bettman, whom he believes "threw a grenade" into his plans to develop the EWEB site. Or the revelation of some heretofore secret plan to, say, pay for the construction of a new hospital elsewhere for the right to put in his mixed-use development on the EWEB land. (more...)
Slant -- John Musumeci
| Eugene Weekly | June 16, 2005 |
We caught bits and pieces of the two-hour "conversation" with John Musumeci on KOPT-AM radio Tuesday and we'd be interested to hear what listeners think. Did the program sound like progressive radio or just another conservative talk show? Did host Nancy Stapp ask any hard questions (we might have missed them) or was it mostly superficial? Do you buy into Musumeci's justifications for his past Gang of 9 campaign of character assassination? Is he using his radio station to further his personal political agenda and his business interests, or is he really providing a public service? Have we learned anything beyond how to pronounce his name? Repeat after me: muse-oo-meechy.
Josh Welch -- Talk the Talk
How the right wing is usurping Eugene's progressive radio.
By Josh Welch
Eugene Weekly | June 9, 2005 |
Like many other progressives in Eugene, I was extremely pleased when Air America hit our air waves. They have a strong line-up of heavy hitters: Randi Rhodes, Al Franken, Bobby Kennedy Jr. and several other proud intelligent liberals. They stand for compassion, fairness, security and freedom. They help fill a huge void on talk radio, which is overwhelmingly right-wing.
Shortly after Air America came to Eugene, Churchill Communications LLC (owned by the "development firm" Arlie & Co.) added two local shows: The Afternoon Edition, hosted by proud liberal Nancy Stapp (she rocks!), and the AM Edition with Liz Kelly and Dave Wooten, both registered Republicans. (more...)
Letter -- EWEB site has many problems
By William M. Eddie, Eugene
The Register-Guard | June 15, 2005 |
Much has been written about the proposed move of McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center to the current Eugene Water & Electric Board site. I feel this is not a good idea for the following reasons:
Access and parking will be difficult at best, and impossible during peak traffic hours. We have just learned that the new federal courthouse has virtually no public parking, and this problem will only be compounded by the proposed hospital.
There will be no land to support physicians' offices, labs and X-ray facilities adjacent to the hospital. Surgeons and other specialists need to be close to the hospitals where they practice, preferably within walking distance.
PeaceHealth's RiverBend site in Springfield, which will house a new Sacred Heart Medical Center, has a tremendous volume of land where many of the region's best doctors will be relocating their offices. Springfield will have the complete package that a true medical center requires.
The only place that makes sense to place McKenzie-Willamette is in west Eugene near the Belt Line Road-Roosevelt Boulevard intersection. This area offers enough land to support a medical community now and into the future. Access would be relatively easy via existing streets and could be enhanced by building the West Eugene Parkway.
I sincerely hope the Eugene City Council does not act in haste. The EWEB location would be a shortsighted mistake that would be immediately inadequate and fails to address the future medical needs of our community.
New rules may reduce train noise
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | June 19, 2005 |
Janet O'Bryant and Will Phillips of Eugene haven't had a good night's sleep in years. But they aren't insomniacs.
O'Bryant and Phillips live in separate homes in the Whiteaker Neighborhood, west of downtown, a few blocks from the Union Pacific Railroad tracks.
They are awakened a half-dozen times each night as trains rumble through town, blaring horns. (more...)
New hospital at EWEB site would be 'noisy,' railroad says
| The Register-Guard | June 19, 2005 |
Hospitals and sirens go together just fine. But hospitals and train horns?
Hospitals aren't normally built next to railroad tracks, but Triad would do just that if it succeeds in buying the Eugene Water & Electric Board property in downtown Eugene for a new McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center.
Union Pacific Railroad tracks run right past the EWEB site -- and how might the rumble and horn blasts affect the hospital? (more...)
Health Care
Slant -- Terry McDonald
| Eugene Weekly | June 9, 2005 |
One of Eugene's more creative thinkers and doers, Terry McDonald, tossed out a challenge to the business community last Friday at the City Club. He said leaders of local businesses employing about 50 to 100 employees should "band together" to provide health care, perhaps under the umbrella of the Eugene Chamber of Commerce. If the chamber can't do this, McDonald suggested that interested business leaders meet with him at St. Vincent de Paul to seek what he calls short-term solutions to the health care crisis in Eugene. With 25,000 uninsured employees in Lane County, McDonald says "we don't have the freedom to wait for state or federal action." That's an invitation that should be accepted. If anybody can scrape together a solution for the thorniest problem in this town, it's Terry McDonald.
Collective benefits: Bands and fans come together at concerts to raise money for the uninsured
By Lewis Taylor
The Register-Guard | June 13, 2005 |
Midway through the second song of a recent performance, hip-hop artist Lafa Taylor did something unexpected.
The Eugene rapper stopped rhyming, stopped singing, stopped looping beat box samples together, and asked a technician to dim the lights.
"I took 30 seconds and dedicated that to pushing positive energy with our minds," Taylor said. "I said everyone can do their own thing. If you believe in God, pray to God; if you believe in Buddha, pray to Buddha. If you have no religion, you can just think positive thoughts."
The object of Taylor's positive energy was Mieka Hopps, an uninsured 20-year-old University of Oregon student battling Hodgkin's lymphoma. Taylor joined with a handful of other musicians, artists and dancers for a multimedia benefit at South Eugene High School that was billed as "A Show of Support." The concert raised more than $3,000 for Hopps' medical bills. (more...)
Editorial -- Medicinal music: Benefit concerts help uninsured pay medical bills
| The Register-Guard | June 15, 2005 |
Remember this classic peace movement bumper sticker: "It will be a great day when schools get all the money they need and the Air Force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber"?
Oregon could produce a variation on that theme: "It will be a great day when Oregonians get all the health care they need and (take your pick: insurance companies, hospitals, pharmaceutical manufacturers) have to hold benefit concerts to cover their rate increases." (more...)
Social services estimates up $66 million
By Charles Beggs
The Associated Press | June 7, 2005 |
SALEM -- Rising caseloads and other changes have increased the estimated cost of state health care and other social services by at least $66 million since Gov. Ted Kulongoski submitted his proposed 2005-07 budget in December. (more...)
Governors' group proposes cutbacks in Medicaid costs
By Robert Pear
The New York Times | June 16, 2005 |
WASHINGTON -- The National Governors Association offered sweeping bipartisan proposals on Wednesday to rein in the growth of Medicaid, saying states should be allowed to charge higher co-payments to beneficiaries and should be entitled to larger discounts from drug manufacturers and pharmacies.
Governors also said state officials should be able to establish different benefit packages for different Medicaid recipients, and that Congress should limit the courts' ability to issue consent decrees and other orders affecting Medicaid.
Congressional Republicans embraced many of the ideas as a basis for legislation they hope to pass within six months. The governors persuaded Congress to make huge changes in welfare in 1996, and they hope to play a similar role as Congress tries to revamp Medicaid this year. (more...)
Bush's Medicare talk hits buzz saw of protest over Social Security
| The New York Times | June 18, 2005 |
MAPLE GROVE, Minn. -- President Bush came here on Friday to promote the Medicare drug benefit, enacted 18 months ago with help from AARP. But he was greeted by people protesting his plan to overhaul Social Security. (more...)
Michael Barone -- HSA's work
By Michael Barone
townhall.com | June 13, 2005 |
How many times have you heard that health care costs are rising at record rates? Well, they aren't any more.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that health care costs rose 7.5 percent in 2004, well under the 11.4 percent rise in 2002. The BLS also reports that costs for employers for health insurance per employee per hour worked has slowed down even more. From March 2001 to March 2002, it rose 11 perecnt; from March 2002 to March 2004, it rose 9 percent each year. But from March 2004 to December 2004, it rose only 3 percent.
Something is going on out there. Politicians and political commentators always assume that government must do something new and different if health care costs are to be held down to bearable increases. But the evidence is that health care costs are being held down, by the workings of the marketplace, partly in response to health care legislation passed in the last four years. (more...)
Canada Court Nixes Health Insurance Ban
| The Associated Press | June 10, 2005 |
TORONTO -- Canada's Supreme Court dealt a powerful blow to the state monopoly on health care Thursday, striking down a Quebec ban on private health insurance for services provided under the country's Medicare system of universal coverage.
Although the unanimous ruling applies only to Quebec, it is sure to bring similar cases in other Canadian provinces and give impetus to a growing movement pushing for public and private care.
Government leaders rushed to defend the current system, and Medicare supporters voiced fears the ruling will bring a two-tiered system favoring those with money and possibly hurting care for the poor. Proponents of change say it will improve care by offering more choices and cut waiting times for treatment.
The Supreme Court said Quebec's prohibition violated the province's charter of rights by threatening the lives of patients, and the justices noted other countries have successfully combined private and public care. (more...)
Canadian health care dealt a blow
By Clifford Krauss
The New York Times | June 10, 2005 |
TORONTO -- The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a Quebec law banning private medical insurance in a decision that represents an acute blow to the publicly financed national health care system. (more...)
Paul Jacob -- Canada's medical gulag
By Paul Jacob
townhall.com | June 19, 2005 |
Canada is not a communist country. Really, it's not -- except when it comes to medical care. (more...)
Nearby Developments
Sid Leiken -- Metro area needs some elbow room
By Sid Leiken
The Register-Guard | June 17, 2005 |
Springfield and Eugene do share some common values. Among these is a strong belief in the importance of a clean environment and an excellent quality of life. Growing in ways that preserve and enhance these very things we hold dear is important on both sides of the freeway.
But there does seem to be a difference in how Springfield and Eugene accept the reality that growth is inevitable and that planning for growth is an equally shared responsibility. Part of this responsibility requires expanding our urban growth boundary. (more...)
Symantec plant to double in size
By Sherri Buri McDonald
The Register-Guard | June 17, 2005 |
SPRINGFIELD -- Security software maker Symantec Corp. on Wednesday bought 14.7 acres next to its facility here and plans to build a 200,000-square-foot addition that could double its local work force, company officials said Thursday.
The expansion will double the size of Symantec's Gateway campus and create capacity for a total of 2,000 employees. The company's existing 198,000-square-foot customer service center houses 900 employees.
Symantec hopes to break ground on the addition in August and complete it by next July, company officials said. (more...)
Development Report: Future looks bright for central Springfield hub
By Joe Harwood
The Register-Guard | June 14, 2005 |
SPRINGFIELD -- Things are looking up for the shopworn commercial hub at Centennial and Mohawk boulevards in central Springfield. (more...)
Springfield's utility rates may rise by about 10 percent
By Joe Harwood
The Register-Guard | June 8, 2005 |
SPRINGFIELD -- The Springfield Utility Board is considering a water rate increase averaging 10 percent to offset lower-than-predicted consumption rates and to keep up with some of the unintended costs of growth. (more...)
City may be perfect downtown partner
By Joe Harwood
The Register-Guard | June 6, 2005 |
West Broadway in downtown Eugene boasts new city-funded pavement, sidewalks, planters, trees and flowers -- and rows of old, privately owned empty storefronts.
The business partnership wanting to redevelop those vacant buildings and bring them in line with their publicly funded surroundings is likely to find that Eugene officials are eager to give their blessing.
Eugene may have a reputation as a tough place to do business, but when it comes to downtown, the city has a history of working hard and spending heavily in the hope of revitalization. (more...)
Downtown developers may work with ORI
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | June 9, 2005 |
Scrambling to get its mired downtown Eugene office construction project off the ground, Oregon Research Institute is thinking of joining forces with a major downtown property owner.
ORI will miss a key deadline on July 1 because of difficulty in getting loans for its proposed $24 million office building on the former Sears property, at West 10th Avenue and Charnelton Street. The site is owned by the city.
Now, with city officials ready to grant a time extension, ORI is considering a joint development idea from Eugene businessmen Tom Connor and Don Woolley, who own numerous downtown properties. (more...)
Editorial -- Not only in Eugene: Oregonian mocks critics of Whole Foods
| The Register-Guard | June 14, 2005 |
Eugene's anarchists tried, but even they could not kill the city's reputation as a patchouli-scented fly trapped in the amber of the 1960s. The stereotype lives on, and The Oregonian reached for it in an editorial commenting on the "uproar" over plans for a Whole Foods Market grocery store in downtown Eugene. Something like this, the Portland newspaper marveled, could happen "only in Eugene," which it described as "Oregon's most famously counterculture city."
Uproar? Eugene has seen uproars, and this isn't one of them, at least not yet. What roar there has been -- up, down or sideways -- could happen anywhere, and certainly doesn't fit The Oregonian's template of hippies resisting a natural food store. (more...)
Paul Nicholson -- Selling Out to Whole Foods?
Local businesses deserve a level playing field.
By Paul Nicholson
Eugene Weekly | June 16, 2005 |
Whole Foods Inc., an Austin, Texas-based juggernaut, recently revealed an interest in locating in downtown Eugene. Proponents claim the project won't involve a subsidy to Whole Foods Market. However, it does involve swapping city land for land that the Shedd Institute for the Arts owns and then building a parking structure.
Whole Foods Markets is supposed to pay a fair price for the parking it uses, but if Whole Foods pulls out, the citizens may still be stuck with a parking structure we don't need. In addition, Eugene will abandon long-standing plans to use the land for other purposes and will allow a private corporate project to dictate the timing and nature of a major public capital project. Furthermore, the city is already considering using urban renewal funds, property taxes diverted from the general fund and state school taxes for street and other improvements to support the project. I call that a subsidy.
So why do somersaults to attract Whole Foods Market? Is it to help Eugene's economy? Don't believe the propaganda that Whole Foods' competitors will not be harmed. The average Whole Foods Market does more than $19 million in sales annually. Other whole food stores, bakeries, coffee shops, restaurants, and grocers face the peril of a large corporate competitor. (more...)
Developers put price on rebuilt downtown
By Sherri Buri McDonald
The Register-Guard | June 18, 2005 |
The proposal to revitalize West Broadway with new housing, offices and shops could be a massive undertaking, spanning more than 700,000 square feet of space downtown and costing more than $180 million, according to preliminary estimates from Tom Connor, one of the developers.
That's about five times the size of Broadway Place, a housing/retail development downtown, and the cost of 2 1/2 federal courthouses or of six Eugene public libraries. (more...)
Eugene coffeehouse closes, cites influence of loiterers
By Sherri Buri McDonald
The Register-Guard | June 14, 2005 |
Cafe Paradiso, a coffeehouse and live music venue in downtown Eugene, closed abruptly last week. (more...)
Editorial -- Paradiso lost: Cafe closes for social, not economic, reasons
| The Register-Guard | June 15, 2005 |
Businesses come and go, but ordinary economic rhythms didn't cause the closure of Cafe Paradiso in downtown Eugene. The cafe shut down for social reasons: Street people gathering nearby formed a gantlet through which many customers preferred not to pass. The only good solution to this problem is dilution -- to bring people downtown in such numbers that panhandlers and the like are lost in the crowd. Such a solution may be at hand, but it comes too late for Cafe Paradiso. (more...)
Development Report: South hills builder revises rejected housing plan
By Joe Harwood
The Register-Guard | June 7, 2005 |
The developer of a proposed upscale south hills housing subdivision that was denied by the city earlier this year appears poised to try again. (more...)
Eugene City Beat: South hills residents continue to press city to buy land despite developer's plans
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | June 12, 2005 |
Opponents of a developer's plan to put houses on a large, ecologically valuable parcel in Eugene's south hills were disappointed last week when the City Council did not direct the parks department to buy the property. (more...)
Hilly Habitat
Council moves to protect natural areas.
By Alan Pittman
Eugene Weekly | June 16, 2005 |
The Eugene City Council voted June 8 to move toward protecting rare natural areas in the south hills, potentially reversing a developer victory over regulations two years ago.
The move on a 5-4 vote directing staff to consider pileated woodpecker habitat as part of a pending natural resource inventory could effectively reverse a 5-3 decision two years ago by a pro-development City Council to block protection of valuable upland natural areas. (more...)
Editorial -- Eugene's land-use limbo: Council vote may extend uncertainty
| The Register-Guard | June 19, 2005 |
Local governments are supposed to perform periodic reviews of their state-approved land-use plans. The Eugene City Council must have misread the requirement as demanding perpetual review, because its process has been under way for 10 years. Just as the end of the periodic review was coming into sight, the council voted in support of a motion that could extend it another year or two.
The council ought to clear up the confusion as soon as possible, and backtrack if necessary. (more...)
Transportation
Letter -- Parkway will never be built
By Rob Handy, Eugene
The Register-Guard | June 12, 2005 |
The Oregon Department of Transportation's proposed $169 million West Eugene Parkway project isn't passing muster with the Bureau of Land Management. Ditto for the Army Corps of Engineers, another project partner.
Still another cooperating partner, the Federal Highway Administration, holds its nose at this proposal and turns the other cheek. Yet ODOT continues to fritter away taxpayer dollars planning for a project that is going nowhere and has diminishing support by the month.
Eugene needs an integrated transportation and land use alternative that will address connectivity challenges along Highway 126 and West 11th Avenue, can solve future congestion issues and preserves the west Eugene wetlands. ODOT's proposed West Eugene Parkway fails on all counts. ODOT needs to account for the concerns and values of all of this project's cooperating agencies, including the businesses and residents of the city of Eugene. ODOT has a current agreement with the Oregon Consensus Program, which helps facilitate collaborative agreement-seeking processes among various stakeholders. ODOT should use them.
The West Eugene Parkway will never be built. It's time ODOT faced its denial and accepted its part with prolonging the pain this community has endured around this ill-fated project. It's time for ODOT to stop wasting taxpayer dollars planning a dead-end project and support exploring alternatives that all stakeholders can live with.
Letter -- Parkway would relieve gridlock
By Steve Ames, Springfield
The Register-Guard | June 19, 2005 |
Imagine Interstate 105 not being there. Look at our area's traffic gridlock.
Having people vote on road projects can have serious consequences. A four-lane vs. six-lane Ferry Street Bridge has hampered our safety and the viability of downtown Eugene. I think it would have made a world of difference in many choices of hospitals, retail and living developments.
We must at some point trust the professional traffic planners. Without adequate roads, more pollution and fuel wasting occurs.
The West Eugene Parkway should be built to prevent the traffic congestion that is sure to come. We must also plan better for the future.
Gridlock, Eugene-style
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | June 11, 2005 |
Lander Beauchamp stepped carefully around cars blocking his path and a crosswalk in downtown Eugene on Friday, surprised by what he saw.
Cars and trucks were backed up on West Seventh Avenue leading west from downtown as far as the eye could see. "It makes you feel like you're living in a big city," he said.
Many people would have preferred to avoid the sensation.
Eugene-Springfield motorists for nearly a month have been dealing with traffic delays caused by the Interstate 105 construction project. But the situation reached meltdown on Friday, as the clogging expanded to embrace downtown Eugene when the northbound lanes of the Washington-Jefferson Street bridge leading out of the city center were closed for work. The continued closure of both lanes of westbound I-105 at the Coburg Road exit added to the congestion.
The road repair work had ripple effects throughout the city. (more...)
A Method to the Traffic Madness
By Diane Dietz
The Register-Guard | June 14, 2005 |
Did you swerve? Did you scream in anger?
Going westward from Springfield, did you head onto remote McKenzie View Drive on the north side of the McKenzie River, motor almost up to Coburg, and then head south into Eugene to avoid congestion along Interstate 105?
What small openings have you found to slip through in the web of closures of this spring's I-105 construction project?
Were you one of the drivers who squealed his tires through the "Sound on Wheels" parking lot in central Eugene on Friday to escape the jam on Seventh Avenue?
Were you one of the family members trapped in the downtown Hult Center parking garage on Saturday -- after the Thurston High School graduation ceremony -- by the unbroken flow of traffic on Seventh Avenue?
The choices you made during the logjam are of keen interest to transportation planners at the Lane Council of Governments who study driver behavior. This spring's roadblocks provided them with a grand experiment. They hope what they've learned will enable the metro area to better plan its roads. (more...)
Eugene City Beat: They fixed THAT street? City explains
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | June 19, 2005 |
The summer road construction season is here, even if summer weather isn't, leaving some motorists to wonder how the city decides which streets to repair. (more...)
Roadwork funding cuts two ways
By Bob Keefer
The Register-Guard | June 16, 2005 |
COBURG -- When the state Department of Transportation rebuilds the interchange at Belt Line Road and Interstate 5 in the coming decade, PeaceHealth will pay $8 million of the $110 million price tag.
That's because PeaceHealth's $350 million RiverBend regional medical center, under construction just to the east, will boost traffic through the freeway interchange.
But when ODOT rebuilds the I-5 interchange a few miles north at Coburg, nearby Monaco Coach Corp. will pay nothing toward the $15 million project, even though the large volume of traffic generated by Monaco's expanding business is one reason ODOT cites for undertaking the project. Nor will any of the traffic-heavy businesses around Monaco help pay for the roadwork.
Why the difference? (more...)
Traffic Relief: An Idle Dream?
By Niki Sullivan
The Associated Press | June 13, 2005 |
SALEM -- The state's busiest stretch of road -- Interstate 84 in Portland -- is a maddening snarl during rush hour. Traffic slows from 65 mph to a crawl. Cars inch forward as they struggle to enter the city in the morning and leave in late afternoon.
More than 170,000 cars travel the six lanes on I-84 near 33rd Avenue every day, a 20 percent increase from 10 years before, according to Oregon Department of Transportation figures for 2003 and 1993.
With no room to widen the lanes, ODOT spokesman Dave Thompson said, it's an example of what the department faces around the state: Demand for roads far outpaces supply.
Around the state, more people are driving more miles in more cars than ever before.
That means increased traffic, and the Department of Transportation says roads can't be built fast enough to keep up. (more...)
State studying mileage tax
| The Associated Press | June 6, 2005 |
SALEM -- Plans are moving ahead to possibly tax Oregonians according to miles driven instead of through a gas tax.
A one-year test is planned for Portland beginning next March involving about 300 drivers who have not yet been selected. (more...)
Letter -- Cars beat out trains for funding
By A.O. Erickson, Eugene
The Register-Guard | June 6, 2005 |
Nice juxtaposing! I hope people catch the irony in placing two articles together in the May 27 Register- Guard.
First, Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta tells Amtrak to cut back because of debts that may reach $40 million. Next, Congress extends highway spending to $218 billion.
I also liked the recent letter explaining that some wars were necessary. If it hadn't been for the American Revolution, we might be something like Canada, suffering from sensible ideas like universal health care.
Amtrak route cuts proposed
| The Associated Press | June 16, 2005 |
WASHINGTON -- Amtrak would have to end all of its cross-country routes, service between Chicago and New Orleans and the Auto Train to Florida under big cuts in taxpayer subsidies approved Wednesday by a House subcommittee.
The proposal was part of a transportation bill that would reduce Amtrak's budget by more than half and limit federal subsidies to $30 per passenger per ride. (more...)
Other News
Dianne Lobes -- For true community dialogue, start in small groups
By Dianne Lobes
The Register-Guard | June 13, 2005 |
Eugene loves to talk. That's part of our progressive reputation. We're rightfully proud of it -- we laugh about it, we pat ourselves on our backs and we assume that we're advancing community dialogue and actually getting somewhere. But are we?
Or do we like to talk sometimes just to hear the sound of our own voices? Do we really know what "dialogue" means: a conversation between two or more persons? Do we hear but not listen? (more...)
Ideas Spawn Student-Run Think Tank
By Jeff Wright
The Register-Guard | June 15, 2005 |
Back when he was a teenage whippersnapper, Quinn Wilhelmi wrote a 20Below essay in The Register-Guard urging his peers to "save the world." Then he went off to Stanford University and was not heard from again.
Until now. Wilhelmi, 20, has emerged with a new title -- executive director of the Roosevelt Institution -- but with the same mission to save the world.
Billed as the country's first student-run policy research group or "think tank," the Roosevelt Institution was launched in February by Wilhelmi and other Stanford students dismayed by the results of the 2004 presidential election.
The fledging group has expanded to more than 50 college campuses across the nation -- including the University of Oregon -- and attracted considerable media attention. (more...)
Slant -- Jefferson Smith
| Eugene Weekly | June 16, 2005 |
Last Saturday morning Jefferson Smith, a '96 UO political science graduate, challenged the '05 UO poli sci grads to "change fundamentally the mechanisms by which we govern ourselves." As founder and director of the Oregon Bus Project, Smith is working at that challenge himself. His project website talks about involving young people, bridging the urban-rural divide, going to the grassroots -- "combining fun with the serious business of politics." Smith closed his ringing commencement remarks with a series of questions "our own grandchildren will ask," such as: "Where were you when we still had plenty of fossil fuels? Where were you back before the temperature of the earth was threatening to rise and melt icecaps? Where were you when the country's election system and economic system were relatively corruption free? Where were you when the U.S. still was the envy of world markets? Where were you when Oregon threatened the nation's shortest school year? Where were you when the country was at the turning point of history -- deciding what kind of place we wanted to be, and how we were going to get there? And we'll be able to say, we were here: doing something, and saying something, answering history's questions. We were here."
Editorial -- Chalking up good ideas: The Chalkboard Project is making progress
| The Register-Guard | June 17, 2005 |
Oregonians have a lot of experience with education reform efforts -- so much that when a new initiative like the Chalkboard Project comes along, it's easily mistaken for something familiar.
Some see another empty exercise in pulse-taking and plan-writing. Others expect it to march on Salem and demand more money for schools. But other groups are already doing those things. The Chalkboard Project has a different approach, one that could prove pro- ductive. (more...)
Manager profile discussed
| The Register-Guard | June 7, 2005 |
SPRINGFIELD -- An executive search firm hired to find a new city manager will meet individually with the city councilors and mayor on June 27, Human Resources Director Bill Spiry said at a council subcommittee meeting Monday. (more...)
Coburg officials project an end to city's red ink
By Karen McCowan
The Register-Guard | June 14, 2005 |
COBURG -- The city budget committee will consider a budget tonight that would do something few here thought possible a couple of months ago: end the current fiscal year with a small cash carryover. (more...)
Power struggle puts LRAPA in jeopardy
By Diane Dietz
The Register-Guard | June 8, 2005 |
A power struggle on the Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority board is threatening to shut down the 37-year-old agency. (more...)
LRAPA Still Shaky
By Kera Abraham
Eugene Weekly | June 9, 2005 |
In recent months, internal fractures at the Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority (LRAPA) have provoked both public and industry watchdogs to examine the agency more closely (see "Up in the Air," EW 4/21/05).
Lack of confidence could mean death for the agency. Both the Springfield City Council and the Board of County Commissioners have threatened to pull their annual LRAPA contributions, which could prompt the EPA to rescind an annual grant contingent on local funding. Those losses could fold the agency. (more...)
Editorial -- Don't scrap LRAPA: Partners can settle squabble over appointments
| The Register-Guard | June 11, 2005 |
Eugene has the muscle to win a battle over representation on the Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority board of directors. It would be a Pyrrhic victory, undermining already shaky intergovernmental relations and leading to the demise of the local air pollution agency. The city of Eugene must understand that in seeking to lead its regional partners, it risks being perceived as dominating them. (more...)
Politics puts LRAPA on the brink
By Diane Dietz
The Register-Guard | June 13, 2005 |
The fate of the Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority is likely to be decided by sundown next Monday.
That's the last chance for the Springfield City Council to withdraw its financial support of the air agency before passage of the annual city budget. (more...)
LRAPA agrees on budget, not its fate
By Diane Dietz
The Register-Guard | June 15, 2005 |
The Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority survived its latest contentious board meeting Tuesday, but its fate is still uncertain. (more...)
More Than One Agenda
By Kera Abraham
Eugene Weekly | June 16, 2005 |
The first item on the Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority (LRAPA)'s June 14 board meeting agenda was clear enough: to interview two candidates for the open at-large board position and then appoint one of them.
The interviews happened. The appointment didn't. (more...)
Senate OKs strict power plant rules
By David Steves
The Register-Guard | June 14, 2005 |
SALEM -- Citizen-led campaigns against power plants in Coburg and other Oregon communities paved the way to a unanimous vote by the state Senate on Monday to set tougher approval standards for future energy generation develop- ments. (more...)
Fair Energy Bill Passes
By Kera Abraham
Eugene Weekly | June 16, 2005 |
The Oregon Fair Energy Bill, SB 527, passed in the state Senate on June 13 by a unanimous 29-0 vote. The bill will now go to the House.
Lisa Arkin of the Oregon Toxics Alliance helped to draft the bi-partisan bill with Sens. Bill Morrisette (D-Springfield) and Doug Whitsett (R-Klamath Falls), and Reps. Phil Barnhart (D-Eugene) and Bill Garrard (R-Klamath Falls).
In recent years, residents of Coburg, Turner and Klamath Falls have complained to their legislators about the inability of local governments (and their constituents) to weigh in on decisions about large gas-fired power plants proposed in those areas. Under current law, the governor-appointed Energy Facility Siting Council has the authority to override state and local land-use regulations in approving new power plant siting. The Fair Energy Bill would require the siting council to work with local governments if they object to such an override. (more...)
Editorial -- Feeling the heat: Lawmakers cave on tough emissions standards
| The Register-Guard | June 6, 2005 |
Frustrated by the failure of the Bush administration and Congress to address global warming at the federal level, the governors of Oregon, Washington and California have attempted to forge a regional strategy to address climate change problems.
California led the way under former Gov. Gray Davis by adopting rules to reduce vehicle carbon dioxide emissions. Last month, Washington's governor signed a law that would bring California's tough emissions standards to that state. There was a caveat: The new standards would not go into effect until Oregon enacts the same rules.
Now, the Legislature is doing its regressive best to thwart Gov. Ted Kulongoski's efforts to move Oregon toward the new standards. Last Thursday, a bill requiring Oregon to adopt California's tailpipe standards stalled in the Senate Environment and Land Use Committee.
Meanwhile, the House Budget Committee is expected to approve a budget for the state Department of Environmental Quality that bars the agency from spending money to develop the stricter standards. The move would prevent Kulongoski from administratively adopting tighter emissions standards. (more...)
Governor loses DEQ budget fight
By Niki Sullivan
The Associated Press | June 17, 2005 |
SALEM -- Two of Democratic Gov. Ted Kulongoski's environmental initiatives -- to clean up the Willamette River and toughen air quality standards to help reduce global warming -- were blocked Thursday by a vote in the Republican-controlled House.
The action came as House members voted 32-26 to adopt a proposed budget for the state Department of Environmental Quality over objections from Democrats, who said the budget bill was unconstitutional. (more...)
Elections
Candidate puts time on his side for May election
By Matt Cooper
The Register-Guard | June 10, 2005 |
The election for seats on the Lane County Board of Commissioners is almost a year away, but one commissioner already faces a challenger who has come out swinging.
Bill Fleenor, a 55-year-old businessman from Mapleton, filed recently to face Commissioner Anna Morrison in next May's election to the seat representing western Lane County. (more...)
Measure 37, Oregon's Land Use Planning System
Council mulls tax to help fund land use claims
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | June 14, 2005 |
If the city of Eugene must pay property owners because of land use regulations, perhaps property owners who benefit from government actions should pay the city.
The City Council on Monday decided that it wants to learn more about taxing property owners as a way to deal with the potential financial effects of Measure 37. Passed by voters last fall, the state law allows landowners to seek compensation from state and local governments if land use rules lessen property values.
The law does not provide funds for governments to pay claims, but it gives governments an option to waive land use rules. (more...)
'Smart-growth' hub hit by law
By Maria Saporta
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution | June 6, 2005 |
PORTLAND -- Contained within its unique urban growth boundaries, Portland, for three decades, has been heralded as the national anti-sprawl model.
The boundaries were set to contain cities and towns to areas where there was water, sewer and transit, and at the same time, preserve farmland and open space outside those lines.
But on Nov. 2, 2004, voters in Oregon approved Measure 37, which was designed to protect the private property rights of those outside the boundaries.
That measure, approved by an overwhelming 61 percent of voters, has rocked the very foundation of Portland's "smart-growth" model and has sent the region into a morass of confusion and legal entanglements. (more...)
Measure 37 proclaims: Subdivide and conquer
The dismantling of Oregon's land-use laws creates heroes and hope nationally for legions of property rights advocates
By Laura Oppenheimer
The Oregonian | June 12, 2005 |
Bill Moshofsky, David Hunnicutt and Ross Day crisscross the country like rock stars, filling auditoriums and fielding questions from fans wondering how they toppled Oregon's land-use laws.
Before Measure 37 -- Oregon's new property-rights law -- the three attorneys tended business from a threadbare Tigard office called Oregonians In Action.
Now, they're the new hope for America's property rights advocates and the inspiration for a nationwide movement to scale back land restrictions. They're also the biggest threat to environmentalists, who idolize Oregon's iconic farm and forest protections. (more...)
Was Measure 37 a failure?
Over at the High Country News, contributor Randy Stapilus (of Carlton, Oregon) has a take on Measure 37. To him, it looks like it's a failure for the right-wing anti-land-use crowd that pushed for its passage. (more...)
Legislators set sights on House for bill to implement Measure 37
By Don Jepsen for the Mail Tribune
The (Medford) Mail Tribune | June 2, 2005 |
SALEM -- The House Land Use Committee on Wednesday took up the knotty issue of crafting a bill to implement Ballot Measure 37, after an effort by the Senate went down in flames.
Rep. Bill Garrard, R-Klamath Falls, predicted two months ago that his committee would end up writing the bill. That was confirmed late last week when Sen. Charlie Ringo, D-Beaverton, could not muster the votes for his proposal, Senate Bill 1037. (more...)
House tries to rewrite Measure 37
Oregon lawmakers are hoping to revise the property rights law before Legislature adjourns
By Laura Oppenheimer
The Oregonian | June 7, 2005 |
SALEM -- Big ideas torpedoed an attempt to rewrite Oregon's new property rights law in the state Senate.
The plan to clean up Measure 37 -- and overhaul Oregon planning in the process -- was shooed off the Senate floor and into another committee last week after months of negotiations. It's unlikely to resurface, with lawmakers deadlocked on how to redefine farmland or restrict claims under the measure. So land-use leaders in the House are taking one last swipe at Measure 37 as the Legislature enters its final weeks.
They said Monday there is only one way to address the issue: Stick to the basics.
Nobody likes the law as written, but nobody will budge to broker sweeping land-use reforms. Ending the legislative session without action means hundreds of disputes will play out one-by-one in local planning offices and courtrooms. (more...)
Measure 37 legislation entering make-or-break stage
By Mark Engler, Freelance Writer
The Capital Press | June 10, 2005 |
SALEM -- The likelihood is dwindling that the Legislature will pass any major changes to the Oregon property-rights law voters approved last fall.
Still, the House of Representatives Land Use Committee meeting all this week to try to reach a consensus on changes to the measure -- the vehicle for which is House Bill 3120 -- hoping to construct language with realistic chances of pleasing not just House Republicans, but passing muster with the Democrat-controlled Senate, where efforts to rework Measure 37 collapsed last month.
The House Land Use Committee chairman, Rep. Bill Garrard, R-Klamath Falls, has said he's interested primarily in clarifying Measure 37 and "making it work better."
That means honing it to best meet the expectations of those who voted in favor of it, he said.
Garrard said he's hopeful his committee will pass the bill on to the House floor by next week. (more...)
Mark Anderson -- Legislature must act now on Measure 37
| The Oregonian | June 10, 2005 |
The Oregon Legislature should not adjourn without adopting legislation implementing Measure 37.
Concerns over Oregon's land-use laws and their effect on individual property owners have simmered for more than 30 years. Despite many attempts, there is still no legislative agreement on compensation mechanisms for affected landowners, or how forgoing enforcement of regulations should work.
Measure 37, now Oregon law, without clarification or implementation is not the answer to these issues. (more...)
Measure 37: Panel defines land-use transfers
Subsequent owners could use waivers of land-use restrictions
By Niki Sullivan
The Associated Press | June 14, 2005 |
When Measure 37 was approved by voters in November, it allowed property owners to have some land-use laws waived but didn't specify that future owners of the property also would receive those exemptions.
That meant, for example, that landowners might have to develop the property themselves instead of selling it to someone who wanted to build, throwing a kink in some claimants' plans.
A House panel Monday tentatively decided that waivers of land-use laws would be transferrable an unlimited number of times for 10 years, or as long as two years after the original claimant sells the property.
The House Land Use Committee's move disagrees with an opinion issued by Attorney General Hardy Myers, which said the measure as it was written did not legally entitle Measure 37 waivers to be transferred from one owner to another. (more...)
Editorial -- Put a deadline on Measure 37
A fix for the property-rights measure could be helpful, if the Oregon Legislature doesn't rush through big changes
| The Oregonian | June 18, 2005 |
Measure 37 is a big, crude property-rights monster now loose in Oregon. It has the potential to chew up farmland, trample niche markets that farmers haven't even invented yet and inflict lasting damage on Oregon's countryside.
There's one good thing about this monster, though: The Oregon Legislature has the power to tame it. Measure 37 is a statute, not an amendment to the Oregon Constitution. So, at least in theory, legislators can fix it. (more...)
Regional panels could decide land-use issues
By Don Jepsen for the Mail Tribune
The (Medford) Mail Tribune | May 26, 2005 |
SALEM -- A bill that would replace the statewide Land Conservation and Development Commission (LCDC) with five regional commissions has been sent to the House Budget Committee for fiscal analysis.
The proposal, House Bill 3483, was forwarded by the House Land Use Committee Monday following a brief hearing. Rep. Bill Garrard, R-Klamath Falls, said Speaker Karen Minnis, R-Wood Village, asked the committee to expedite the measure.
The regional approach is the latest wrinkle in the debate over land-use planning following the passage of Ballot Measure 37. HB3483 doesn't speak directly to the initiative, but could be a bargaining chip in determining the fate of Senate Bill 1037, which would implement provisions of Measure 37, approved by voters in November.
Sen. Charlie Ringo, D-Beaverton, chairman of the Senate Environment and Land Use Committee, said he hopes to get a Senate vote on SB1037 this week so it can be forwarded to the House. (more...)
Church land use exemption criticized
By Charles Beggs
The Associated Press | June 14, 2005 |
SALEM -- Religious organizations would be exempt from land use regulations that restrict property uses under a bill passed Monday by the House, although even the sponsor said the measure probably is too sweeping.
Republican Rep. Mac Sumner of Mollala introduced the bill to give greater flexibility to churches that want to build new churches for expanding congregations. Sumner is an elder at the Mollala Christian Church, which wants to build a new church on 10 acres of land zoned for exclusive farm use near Mollala.
Critics said the bill goes much too far and would allow religious groups to put various facilities on any property they own, without any regard for land use planning rules. (more...)
Measure would limit annexations in Beaverton
By Niki Sullivan
The Associated Press | June 18, 2005 |
SALEM -- The city of Beaverton would be prohibited from incorporating land into city limits without consent from local voters until 2008, under a bill that won approval from House members Friday. (more...)
Measure 37 deadline passes; 1st suit arrives
As cities and counties rush to respond within 180 days after a claim is filed, a key question is when the clock starts ticking
By Laura Oppenheimer
The Oregonian | June 9, 2005 |
It's deadline time for Oregon governments processing Measure 37 claims, now that six months have passed since landowners started applying under the state's property rights law.
But not every claimant will get answers within the 180 days allotted, and the first legal appeal has been filed charging the government took too long. (more...)
Measure 37 claim dispute heads to court
| The Associated Press | June 10, 2005 |
PORTLAND -- The first appeal of a Measure 37 claim has been filed by a Dundee man charging that he has not gotten an answer to his land use claim within the allotted 180 days.
More such appeals likely will follow. (more...)
Judge: Gorge area outside realm of Measure 37
By Mateusz Perkowski, Freelance Writer
The Capital Press | June 10, 2005 |
HOOD RIVER -- Conservatively dressed and mostly middle-aged or elderly, they didn't look like the kind of people you'd usually see waving signs in the streets.
The small group of demonstrators in front of the Hood River County Court House on June 1 gathered in anticipation of a decision that was crucial to all of them: a judgment regarding the validity of Measure 37 claims within the Columbia Gorge Scenic Area.
The Measure 37 initiative, which passed in Oregon last November, allows state, county and city governments to waive or modify land-use regulations adopted after a property owner bought land, or to provide compensation for property value lost as a result of the regulations. One of the exceptions to the initiative, however, is that it does not apply to land-use regulations required by federal law.
This has left some landowners within the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area -- adopted by the federal government in 1986 -- feeling orphaned. (more...)
Measure 37 claim gets limited approval from county
Landowner may take case to court; board appoints commissioner Pat Roberts to PSCC executive committee
By Tom Bennett
The Daily Astorian | June 9, 2005 |
The Clatsop County commissioners followed the recommendation of county staff Wednesday and granted a landowner a very limited approval in his ballot Measure 37 claim.
The commissioners voted to give Lowell Patton the opportunity to develop 55 acres of forested land east of Astoria to the zoning standards of 1989, which would allow him to build no more than seven residential home lots.
Patton had asked to be allowed to go back to the rules as they were in 1969, the year his Oregon Lumber Export Co. purchased the property, located off U.S. Highway 30 between Fernhill Road and Claremont Road. For Patton, that meant one homesite per acre, or up to 55 lots (more...)
Medford officials split on Measure 37 property claim
By Meg Landers
The (Medford) Mail Tribune | June 17, 2005 |
The city's first Measure 37 claim was continued to mid-August on Thursday as City Council members appeared to rally to the cause of the homeowner.
Keith and Christie Thomas filed a claim with the city after having difficulty selling their Elm Street house because of a 19-year-old zoning change which put their house into a "nonconforming use" category.
They requested that the city either rezone their property or grant them an exception so interested buyers could find a mortgage lender who would approve a loan.
But city planners don't see the Thomases' claim as legitimate. (more...)
Hillsboro says no to first Measure 37 claim
A couple in the Witch Hazel area says a proposed road change depreciated the value of their property
By Esmeralda Bermudez
The Oregonian | June 10, 2005 |
HILLSBORO -- The City Council has rejected the city's first Measure 37 claim, saying the claim by a couple in the Witch Hazel area was submitted prematurely, before land-use rule changes took effect. (more...)
First M-37 hearing ends with agreement
The first Measure 37 claim hearing held by the Wallowa County Board of Commissioners last week ended in a compromise and an extension. (more...)