Health Options Digest
August 7, 2005
Coalition for Health Options In Central Eugene-Springfield (CHOICES)
In This Issue
From the Editor
Two Weeks In Review
Don Kahle, who is never short on ideas, advocated for a 3-way win-win-win solution: 1) Triad should build a new hospital on PeaceHealth's Eugene Clinic site at 12th & Willamette; 2) the City of Eugene should shift money intended to help Triad relocate to the EWEB site to help site a convention hotel between the hospital and the Lane Events Center, informally known as the fairgrounds; and 3) Lane County should use its hotel-motel tax funds to assist putting beds near or help LTD develop a trolley to the Lane Events Center.
As Kahle notes, the settlement with CHOICES requires PeaceHealth to begin divesting itself of the Eugene Clinic area within two years -- or otherwise to begin its own plans to redevelop the site. As PeaceHealth now owns its old Hilyard campus and its new RiverBend and RiverBend Annex (Sony) sites, it likely won't be needing its Eugene Clinic site.
Note that the Register-Guard's correction to Kahle's op-ed itself deserves a correction. Look for one this coming week.
What does Toyota's decision to build a new plant in Canada rather than the United States have to do with health care? New York Times columnist Paul Krugman explains.
In the closing days of the 2005 session, lawmakers in Salem approved a health care bill, proposed studying the rising cost of health care, and approved a mental health bill.
Is Springfield business friendly? If you are Royal Caribbean or Symantec, maybe. If you are a small Mom & Pop business, maybe not.
Is Eugene business friendly? Do you want to do business in Eugene but not pay any or as much property taxes as you otherwise would? Ah, we'll have to wait until Monday to learn the answers to these complex and loaded questions.
In any case, downtown Eugene looks to be taking off... but the concept formerly known as nodal development but now known as mixed-use development may not be.
While the Lane County Commissioners struggle with what to do with the Lane Events Center, Springfield is looking to develop a convention center... the Springfield Chamber of Commerce, that is, with much encouragement if not as much support from the Springfield City Council.
And will Lane County get a special public safety district? Well, the folks in Salem passed a special bill that applies only to Lane County, giving them the authority to do just that.
Are irrigation wells going dry along Game Farm Road, killing the fruit trees there, and construction noise just small prices to pay for progress: a new road to serve a new hospital?
The Lane County Commissioners are recommending that several highways in Lane County be designated "freight routes" -- although they and pretty much everyone else can't really say what the significance of the designation might be.
Ellen Tenity argues for investing in our roads for the good of our economy.
Governor Kulongoski perhaps agrees, as he got the legislature to approve $100 million to "Connect Oregon" with trains, planes, buses and boats.
And Congressman DeFazio managed to get $2.7 billion in federal transportation money for Oregon over the next five years.
But Congressman Don Young of Alaska was able to get $223 million to build a bridge to connect a town of 15,000 with an island of 50 plus an airport. Is that pork or economic progress? Either way, it's your taxpayer dollars at work!
Last November voters passed Measure 37, and Measure 37 is what they will get -- unadulterated and unchanged by the legislature, despite all its warts and flaws. Thus it will fall to the courts to try to figure out what the voters meant when they passed Measure 37. If we are graced with non-activists judges who don't want to create new law, they will probably truthfully say that the people of Oregon aren't lawmakers either, and didn't really have a clear sense in detail of what they were passing when they passed Measure 37. Oh, yes, the people wanted fairness. But people like Renee Ross voted for Measure 37 in November when they thought it would provide fairness, and now aren't so sure when they see their neighbors using Measure 37 to destroy their neighborhoods.
At least the state legislature has finished their work of passing a 2-year budget without doing too much harm. Those lawmakers we have spoken with have left Salem tired and frustrated. These dedicated public servants do the state's work and receive very little in return. But others wonder if those in Salem are really doing the state's work, or if the legislature and those who serve in it have become so dysfunctional that we need new people.
Speaking of leadership, ex-Republican James Chaney is looking for it -- in the Democratic Party of all places!
John and Robin Jaqua recently donated $1 million to Eugene's Shedd Institute of the Arts to help purchase its downtown building. In a different universe, that money might have gone to PeaceHealth to promote state of the art health care and education.
Bob Welch wonders what makes an Oregonian. He also celebrates the "Signs of Hope" around town.
Is it true that Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken has set his sights on higher office?
Eugene City Manager Dennis Taylor received a pay raise -- and a big black eye from a cover story in the Eugene Weekly, labeling him the most powerful man in Eugene. (Actually, the most powerful men in Eugene are neither elected nor publicly known.)
When CHOICES first came together, Tim Shinabarger was a reporter for the Springfield News covering, among other stories, the work of Phil Farrington, the planner from Satre Associates who left to work for PeaceHealth and head up their RiverBend development effort. Since then, Tim has graduated from the UO with a degree in planning and is now himself working for Satre Associates. Times flies, huh?
Our good friend California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger isn't having such a good time.
Being Dave Barry
If Dave Barry were to stop writing humorous columns, someone would step up to try to fill his shoes. (We are speaking here from personal experience.)
Indeed, that appears to be exactly what Garrison Keillor, best known for his "A Prairie Home Companion" radio show, is trying to do with his new humorous columns. (Note: This editor really met Dave Barry at a book reading in Boca Raton, Florida, and met Garrison Keillor in at elevator at the Minneapolis airport, but that is neither here nor there.)
For example, Keillor writes: "He was as surprised as the others when Vice President Cheney returned to Washington in a small civilian aircraft, which was intercepted by F-16s as it entered restricted air space and was forced to land at Andrews Air Force Base where Rosebud was recognized and became vice president again and Ms. Plame was sent to an undisclosed location. That night, Karl Rove spoke on the phone with columnist Dave Barry who told him that the uranium was actually urine samples, and Mr. Rove said, 'That's old news, Dave. We've moved on.' A typical Rove gambit."
Like many Barry wannabes, Keillor's writing is marked by imagined happenings involving newsworthy figures. Keillor's first handful of columns are reproduced below. You be the judge.
Alas, we aren't sure that Keillor's wonderful radio voice migrates well to the written page. We aren't sure Keillor is as funny as Barry. Dave Barry, please come back!
Recycling Dave Barry
If Garrison Keillor doesn't do it for you, the Springfield News and many other newspapers are running "Classic" Dave Barry columns. Remember "Classic Coke"? It was a new name for the old Coca-Cola. Same with Barry: old jokes reprinted. Well, it's better than nothing...
The Return of Dave Barry?
...but what if you didn't have to settle for "Classic" Dave Barry -- or some poor imitation? What if you could read a brand new Dave Barry column? Wouldn't that just make you forget about the fairgrounds, the cost of health care, the mess in Salem, Measure 37, and the lack of sensible leadership in both the Republican and Democratic parties?
In fact, you can read a spanking new Dave Barry column, hot off the presses of the Miami Herald just this past Thursday! You can laugh at how Dade and Broward counties -- yes, the same Florida counties that brought us hanging chads and our first ever selected-but-not-elected president, the same counties that now suffer an average of 2.7 hurricanes per season, the same counties where the temperature and humidity are so high that most people change their shirts four times a day eight months a year -- are starting K-12 school this coming Monday, August 8, so that all the kids who are sweating like pigs and don't have fresh shirts to wear can start sweating early about how they will ever pass the mandatory exams to prove they have actually learned something in school.
There. Don't you feel better already about the weather and education system in Oregon? Just thank Dave Barry!
Looking Ahead
On Monday, the Eugene City Council will discuss hospital development in the central part of the city.
While it isn't yet official, it is clear that the idea of a hospital at the EWEB site is dead. Thus the big issue now if where else -- or whether -- McKenzie-Willamette will relocate. Given that they are investing millions of dollars in their current site, perhaps the urgency to move isn't as great as it once was. Maybe the fairgrounds or the old Eugene Clinic site at 12th & Willamette are best. Or maybe, as we have been saying for years, the folks who should be involved should get together around the table and sort this all out. It's not like the go-it-alone approach used for the past several years has worked.
In other news, PeaceHealth is building a hospital at RiverBend. There are cranes and trucks and piles of dirt and poured concrete. But this is now such a "done deal" that the it is no longer even news. There hasn't been a major news story involving PeaceHealth in well over a month.
But appearances can be deceiving. Yes, the location of PeaceHealth's new hospital has been decided. But just what will they do with their new location, as well as their old locations? More to the point, how will health care providers be organized in Lane County in the 21st Century? We haven't yet heard a definitive answer.
Rob Zako, Editor
343-5201
rzako@efn.org
Calendar
Monday, August 8 -- Eugene City Council
City Hall, 777 Pearl St., Eugene, Lynda Rose, 682-5017, lynda.l.rose@ci.eugene.or.us
5:30 pm, Work Session, McNutt Room
1. Committee Report and Items of Interest
2. Hospital Development in the Central Core
3. Revised Race Priority Issue Plan
Opportunities
County has volunteer openings
| The Register-Guard | July 17, 2005 |
The Lane County Board of Commissioners is looking for volunteers for a number of committees.
The county seeks applications from citizens interested in serving on the human services commission budget planning committee. The committee provides advice on services that alleviate the conditions of poverty and promote and improve the health, well being, self-sufficiency, and safety of low-income, disadvantaged and disabled Lane County residents.
The deadline to apply is Sept. 9. Applications are available in the Board of Commissioners' office located on the Plaza Level of the Public Service Building, 125 E. Eighth Ave., Eugene. Call 682-3797.
The county also is seeking applications for the planning commission, which makes recommendations regarding comprehensive plan issues and amendments.
The deadline to apply is Aug. 12. Applications at the same address above; call 682-3734.
The county also needs volunteers for the roads advisory committee, which reviews road improvement requirements and develops a five-year capital improvements program.
The deadline to apply is Aug. 12; call 682-6911.
McKenzie-Willamette/Triad
Don Kahle -- One solution for hospital, fairgrounds, downtown
By Don Kahle
The Register-Guard | July 31, 2005 |
Is the current imbroglio over the 55 acres at 13th Avenue and Jefferson Street in Eugene about attracting a hospital, rejuvenating downtown or setting Lane County's fairgrounds on a path toward sustainable finances?
The answer is yes. Or at least it should be. A single solution may address three problems.
Urgency requires we first look at the hospital situation. (more...)
Correction -- Don Kahle
| The Register-Guard | August 2, 2005 |
In a July 31 guest viewpoint, Don Kahle wrote that PeaceHealth had agreed to divest itself of the Eugene Clinic site in downtown Eugene as part of a settlement reached with opponents of PeaceHealth's plan to build a new hospital in Springfield's Gateway area. Such a divestiture is not a part of the agreement.
Fairgrounds friends defend their venue
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | July 28, 2005 |
WEB EDITOR'S NOTE: The posted version of this story was edited July 29, 2005, to include a correction.
The Lane County fairgrounds may not resemble a jewel to passing motorists on West 13th Avenue, but the venue sparkles to the people who conduct business there.
A dozen of them on Wednesday urged the Lane County Board of Commissioners not to move their valuable, centrally located venue. (more...)
Letter -- Who Owns Fairgrounds?
By Peggy Ward, Eugene
Eugene Weekly | July 28, 2005 |
County Commissioner Faye Stewart's ink isn't even dry from his election and he and his accomplices Anna Morrison and Bobby Green are trying to railroad the sale of the fairgrounds. Who do they think they are, holding a meeting behind closed doors with Willamette-McKenzie Hospital people? Do they think they own the fairgrounds property? The "Lane County" title means the citizens of Lane County, not the commissioners.
The relocation study that they are requesting the fairgrounds to do was done in 1995, the end result was that it was not cost effective. Their argument is that the fairgrounds has had some deficit years. If they are so concerned with that then why are they requesting another very expensive study report?
So, what if they have to subsidize the fairgrounds some funds from the Room and Board Tax? There are numerous functions throughout the year at the fairgrounds that bring in many out of townspeople who are spending money in Lane County. The Hult Center and the Eugene Library are also subsidized and there have been no complaints from the commissioners. I feel that the meeting "behind closed doors" is an irresponsible move on the part of those commissioners involved.
Letter -- Selling fairgrounds a bad idea
By Molly I. Halpern, Eugene
The Register-Guard | July 30, 2005 |
Selling or leasing our Lane County fairgrounds is a terrible idea.
Having grown up enjoying this historic location, the Lane County Fair and all the various events during the year, I am annoyed that a tiny handful of Lane County commissioners are maneuvering to auction off this popular facility.
Keeping the fairgrounds within the city is a big bonus, giving great convenience to the county's population center. The gem shows, 4-H Fair, microbrew festival and numerous youth programs mean a lot to thousands of citizens. The fairgrounds has been a pleasant memory maker for almost 100 years.
Placing a hospital on this site is a shortsighted idea; we already have a hospital nearby. There is no reason to dismantle this facility that gives so much pleasure to over a million visitors a year.
Having grown up in rural Lane County and then resided in Eugene during my studies at the University of Oregon, I appreciate the unique connection between urban and rural cultures that the Lane Events Center provides. Call your county commissioners and tell them not to sell out Lane County citizens by selling this priceless facility to narrow special interests. Shouldn't the public interest come first?
Letter -- Sell the fairgrounds to Triad
By Donald Schindler, Springfield
The Register-Guard | July 31, 2005 |
The majority of important factors that are needed to keep the fairgrounds a viable business entity are not there anymore. Continued losses, outdated buildings and expensive maintenance are not sustainable.
As far as the Lane County Fair itself is concerned, I think your money is better spent at the Oregon State Fair in Salem. Add E-coli issues and contamination of Amazon Creek, and I just have to wonder what Lane County Commissioner Bill Dwyer is trying to save.
By the time he accepts the obvious, PeaceHealth's new hospital will be up and running in Springfield and Triad will be left in a very secondary business position. Eugene needs a hospital more than it needs a problem fairgrounds.
Letter -- Consider security at EWEB site
By Bruce H. Anderson, Eugene
The Register-Guard | July 28, 2005 |
There is one important issue that I have not seen discussed in the controversy over where McKenzie-Willa- mette Medical Center should relocate in Eugene.
A July 21 front-page article added yet another compelling reason that argues in favor of Eugene Water & Electric Board not selling its Willamette River site and relocating: the high cost estimates for a move. But nowhere have I seen mention of what, in our post-Sept. 11 world, should be a timely objection to the EWEB property site for a new hospital: security.
If McKenzie-Willamette were to locate on the EWEB property and a terrorist wanted to really strike an awful blow in Eugene, what could be worse than blowing up a railroad car full of explosive material as it passed in one of the many daily freight trains between a hospital and a new federal courthouse?
Security concerns need to be added to the mix. When they are, it seems even more obvious that folks are trying to put a round peg into a square hole, from both EWEB's and McKenzie-Willamette's standpoint. The centrally located, much larger and more and accessible Lane Country fairgrounds property appears better suited for a hospital -- and safer, too.
Come on, decision makers. Stop spending time and money trying to find some way to make a bad deal for both parties appear palatable. Both McKenzie-Willamette and EWEB should stop trying to make Cinderella's shoe fit the obviously wrong foot.
Letter -- Do-nothing approach is wrong
By Henry E. Masterson, Eugene
The Register-Guard | August 5, 2005 |
The Register-Guard's July 24 editorial "Millions for moving" accurately re-reports the Eugene Water & Electric Board relocation story, complete with the overwhelming bias to locate Triad's new hospital to the riverfront site, no other options.
The crowning affront to progressive and future-minded citizens and taxpayers is contained in the final two paragraphs. The newspaper strongly urges the stakeholders to "wait indefinitely to do anything," that is, do nothing! It's time for "redevelopment of Eugene's waterfront to take a back seat!" What?
These statements advocate and support municipal leaders who demonstrate they are totally bereft of the vision and courage to lead Eugene where it needs to go. To do nothing is to hope that it goes away; then, we won't have to accept responsibility for anything. Is that what leadership means in Eugene?
EWEB employs planners and number crunchers perfectly capable of calculating the cost of such a move and will include all the options that have not been addressed in the WBGS report. How much, pray tell, has been added in for architectural and planning fees? What options have been considered? What options are possible that have not been considered?
This editorial suggesting a do-nothing, back-seat approach leaves the citizens and ratepayers athirst for some genuine visionary "Arts and Outdoors" leadership.
Letter -- Fairgrounds a vibrant resource
By Sara Reilly, Eugene
The Register-Guard | August 6, 2005 |
On moving to Eugene four years ago, we found a rather quiet downtown but a surprisingly vibrant resource close to the city center: the Lane County Events Center. What a delight to discover, only a 15-minute bike ride from our home, a rotating carnival of activities for our whole family.
When I list all of the events held at the Lane County fairgrounds that have enriched our lives, I am astonished by the variety: home and garden shows, county fairs, antique shows, cat and dog shows, used book sales, Asian Celebrations, microbrew festivals, heritage fairs, psychic fairs, pottery fairs, 4-H fairs, farmers' markets and the Christmas Holiday Market -- not to mention special events such as the ice show, Lipizaner stallions and even Michael Moore!
If this facility had been located at the far edge of Eugene, we would not have attended a fraction of these events. The Lane County fairgrounds brings the world to the heart of our fair city. Please preserve our wonderful fairgrounds!
Letter -- Sell the fairgrounds to Triad
By Jeff Short, Cottage Grove
The Register-Guard | August 6, 2005 |
A unique opportunity may be available as McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center searches for a new home.
The current Lane County Events Center site provides a good location for a hospital. The sale of the land could generate enough money to build a modern, multipurpose community facility to serve as a fairgrounds and event center.
In Eugene, like many other communities, the old fairgrounds was once on the outskirts of town, but development has encroached to a point that restrictions on activities are limiting the fairgrounds' ability to produce enough income to cover maintenance and operating costs. A new facility could provide expanded and more diverse facilities while reducing operational, maintenance and repair costs.
A fairgrounds is more than just a place to hold an annual agricultural exposition. Fair facilities provide for commerce, tourism, economic development and entertainment, including artistic, recreational, educational and athletic activities. Additionally, fair facilities are used all year by numerous youth and nonprofit groups.
A 1995 study by the Lane County Fair Board found the current fair site insufficient to meet their needs at the time, and the situation isn't any better 10 years later.
Such an opportunity doesn't come along every day. It needs to be seriously considered to create a win-win scenario for the entire community.
Health Care
Paul Krugman -- Toyota, Moving Northward
By Paul Krugman
The New York Times | July 25, 2005; Page A19 |
Modern American politics is dominated by the doctrine that government is the problem, not the solution. In practice, this doctrine translates into policies that make low taxes on the rich the highest priority, even if lack of revenue undermines basic public services. You don't have to be a liberal to realize that this is wrong-headed. Corporate leaders understand quite well that good public services are also good for business. But the political environment is so polarized these days that top executives are often afraid to speak up against conservative dogma.
Instead, they vote with their feet. Which brings us to the story of Toyota's choice. (more...)
Governor to sign health care bill
| The Associated Press | July 29, 2005 |
SALEM -- Gov. Ted Kulongoski is expected to sign a bill that would exempt the poorest Oregon Health Plan recipients from having to pay monthly premiums. (more...)
Senate OKs health, human services bill
By David Steves
The Register-Guard | July 30, 2005 |
SALEM -- After years of making major cuts in Oregon's safety net for the poor and vulnerable, the state Senate on Friday signed off on a human services budget that largely avoids making yet more reductions. (more...)
Senators suggest health care task force
| The Associated Press | July 28, 2005 |
SALEM -- Two state senators -- one a Democrat, and one a Republican -- have proposed a new task force to study the rising costs of health care over the next 18 months.
State Sen. Ben Westlund, R-Tumalo, said there was "enough money in the system," but that the state needs to make sure funds are spent more efficiently.
Westlund proposed the idea of a task force along with Sen. Alan Bates, D-Ashland, a physician.
The new 10-member panel, with an estimated price tag of $55,000, earned approval from the Senate on Tuesday, and now moves to the state House of Representatives.
Former Gov. John Kitzhaber, a doctor and the architect of the Oregon Health Plan, is among those who have agreed to lend expertise and advice to the effort, Westlund said. (more...)
House panel OKs bill for mental health coverage
By David Steves
The Register-Guard | July 29, 2005 |
SALEM -- Thousands of Oregonians with mental illnesses would for the first time be assured insurance coverage for their treatments under a bill passed Thursday to the House floor after languishing for months.
The unanimous committee passage of Senate Bill 1 -- which might be on the House floor for final passage as soon as today -- signaled a breakthrough for those who have spent more than a decade pushing for parity in insurance coverage of mental and physical health issues. (more...)
Editorial -- Insuring equality: Mental health coverage achieves overdue parity
| The Register-Guard | August 3, 2005 |
The Oregon House of Representatives has spoken with admirable clarity in support of Oregonians who are struggling with mental illness, voting 59-1 on Saturday to require health insurers to provide mental health coverage on equal terms with coverage for physical illness. (more...)
Lars Larson -- Mental health parity is the latest unfunded mandate
| The Springfield News | August 5, 2005 |
Health care coverage simply isn't expensive enough yet in Oregon. That seems to be the message behind the latest health care mandate ordered by the brain trust of 90 Democrats and Republicans camped out in Salem. (more...)
Editorial -- First do no harm: Hospital quality reporting helps to reduce errors
| The Register-Guard | July 31, 2005 |
A quiet reformation is taking hold in American health care that has the potential to reduce medical errors and improve the quality of patient care. If it is embraced with courage and candor throughout the health care system, it could address the malpractice insurance crisis in ways that would make damage award caps seem quaint. (more...)
Letter -- Prescription plan hurts poor
By Diane Flanders, Eugene
The Register-Guard | July 27, 2005 |
Richard Barnhart, M.D., (letters, July 20) wrote a concise and factual letter about the appalling lack of health care for the underprivileged in our nation. Now we learn that the state is trying to force cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine to become subject to sale by prescription only. They're kidding, right?
Now low-income Oregonians can't even get relief for a cold or the flu without seeing a doctor first? News flash: These citizens are already suffering many far more serious health issues that go undiagnosed or untreated because they can't afford to see a doctor. Now the state says "Take two aspirin and deal, because that's all you're going to get with next to no money!"
I personally have excellent health insurance, thankfully. I can afford to waste a $20 co-pay to see a doctor if I need to. But for a cold? Doctors don't have enough time in the day as it is and none of them will be taking new patients soon if everyone with a common cold has to get an appointment to treat the symptoms.
Methamphetamine is certainly a destructive problem, but requiring a prescription for cold medicine is not the answer.
Walden supports health-care plan
By Scott Domer
WesCom News Service | July 29, 2005 |
WASHINGTON -- The House passed legislation backed by Rep. Greg Walden this week that would allow small business owners and their employees who are often priced out of affordable health insurance to join together to negotiate better rates. (more...)
More children covered by health insurance
By Petula Dvorak
The Washington Post | August 4, 2005 |
WASHINGTON -- The number of children with medical insurance is increasing nationwide, thanks to outreach efforts and streamlining of government eligibility requirements.
But among the millions of uninsured children, many of them black and Latino, one in three goes an entire year without seeing a doctor, according to a new report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. (more...)
New bill puts limit on noneconomic damages that can be awarded by jury
| WesCom News Service | August 5, 2005 |
The U.S. Senate is considering legislation that would cap noneconomic-damage jury awards at $250,000 in an effort to reduce health-care costs.
The Senate referred the Help Efficient Accessible Low-Cost Timely Health Care (HEALTH) Act to the Judiciary Committee on Friday, one day after the House passed it. While the act caps noneconomic damages, it still allows the injured to receive unlimited economic damages such as lost wages and medical costs.
It also limits the number of years a person has to file a health-care liability action to three years after the date of the injury. (more...)
Nearby Developments
Mayor: A lawyer can help figure out city codes
By Ben Raymond Lode
The Springfield News | July 27, 2005 |
Last week, the owners of a local Fire House Coffee Co. franchise, located in the Value Village parking lot in Springfield, complained about the city's sign code.
Mandy and Earl McDonald, who opened their business in May, complained after the city required them to alter their signage and pay additional permit fees for signs advertising their business.
Their complaints promptly provoked a response from the city's mayor, Sid Leiken. (more...)
Editorial -- Complex codes bad for city image
| The Springfield News | July 29, 2005 |
We're here to let you in on a little secret. If you ever want to "get the goat" of a City of Springfield staff member, there are three little word that will get the job done every time:
"Not business-friendly." (more...)
A Royal Bargain: How Springfield and state officials negotiated to bring Royal Caribbean to port
By Sherri Buri McDonald
The Register-Guard | July 24, 2005 |
From their first meeting with Royal Caribbean executives early last year, local economic development officials knew they'd have to bargain hard to recruit the company to Oregon. (more...)
Symantec requests tax break extension
By Sherri Buri McDonald
The Register-Guard | July 29, 2005 |
SPRINGFIELD -- Symantec Corp. is asking the city for two additional years of enterprise zone property tax breaks on a $35 million addition to its customer service center in the Gateway area. (more...)
W. Bruce Mulligan -- Eugene sends the wrong message to businesses
By W. Bruce Mulligan
The Register-Guard | July 28, 2005 |
The Eugene City Council's recent threat to seek termination of the new West Eugene Enterprise Zone rather than compromise with the zone's co-sponsor, Lane County, is financially shortsighted and, worse, provides further evidence to support the perception of animus against business in Eugene. (more...)
Editorial -- Tax break bonanza: Enterprise zone 'savings' can't be banked
| The Register-Guard | July 29, 2005 |
Intel Corp. announced last week that it would build a $3 billion computer chip factory in Chandler, Ariz., employing 1,000 people. By some calculations, this means Eugene has saved local governments about $100 million.
If Intel had chosen to build its plant in the newly reactivated West Eugene Enterprise Zone, the company could have qualified for a three-year property tax abatement. The taxes on a property worth $3 billion would be about $45 million a year -- or $135 million over three years. Computer chip plants depreciate rapidly, so call it $100 million.
The Eugene City Council and the Lane County Board of Commissioners are trying to reach an agreement on how to limit these property tax breaks. The willingness to continue discussions is welcome; the enterprise zone can be a useful tool for creating jobs and expanding the tax base, and both local governments accept the idea that tax breaks should be limited in some fashion. (more...)
Mayor's version of compromise on tax breaks may end impasse
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | August 2, 2005 |
A high-stakes proposal from Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy that is supported by Hynix, the city's largest high-tech employer, may break the deadlock today with the Lane County Board of Commissioners over the size of tax breaks given to businesses in Eugene's enterprise zone.
But don't look for Piercy to get unanimous backing from her own council colleagues. (more...)
Lane commissioners approve proposal on enterprise zone
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | August 3, 2005 |
Call it the assist from the "big elephant in the room."
In this case, the elephant was Hynix Semiconductor Manufacturing America Inc., Eugene's largest high-tech employer and property taxpayer.
The firm's influence with city officials appears to have settled the dispute between the City Council and Lane County Board of Commissioners over how to dispense tax breaks in the west Eugene enterprise zone, at least for the near future. (more...)
Slant -- Enterprise Zone
| Eugene Weekly | August 4, 2005 |
Do you pay taxes? What a sucker. As we go to press, Lane County and Hynix are cajoling the city of Eugene into a enterprise zone compromise that appears to guarantee Hynix tax breaks of nearly $100,000 per new job created at the corporation. Holy shit, that's a lot of money. It's more than triple the $30,000 city-proposed cap the county had earlier appeared to agree to. If Hynix adds 100 jobs, as it says it might, the corporation will get a $10 million break over three years, as opposed to $3 million. That $7 million of additional corporate welfare could have been spent locally on schools (it's counted outside the cap), parks, police, prosecutors, jails, social services, tax rebates or whatever the county and the city wanted. If this is the deal the council is forced to strike with the county, the city should demand a firm contract. The county commissioners have proven they can't be trusted. Voters should remember the county's betrayal next time the county proposes a big tax increase on everybody else. Piercy is trying to make a bad situation better, but ended up negotiating a compromise to dilute a compromise that was already a bad idea. One final note: The president and CEO of Hynix Semiconductor America sent a note Aug. 1 to Piercy and Commissioner Anna Morrison "in full support of the compromised cap," with a reference at the bottom to Bobby Lee, corporate communications officer. Yep, the same Bobby Lee who was on the City Council during battles with Hyundai/Hynix in 1997. The revolving door continues to spin.
Editorial -- Zeroing in on the zone: Piercy's compromise deserves support
| The Register-Guard | August 5, 2005 |
A compromise brokered by Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy promises to rescue the city's partnership with Lane County in the West Eugene Enterprise Zone. The Lane County Board of Commissioners voted to support the compromise Tuesday. If Piercy can persuade the City Council to accept her proposed rules for property tax breaks in the zone, a costly and damaging round of bureaucratic and legal wrangling can be avoided. (more...)
Eugene City Beat: City to weigh enterprise zone proposal
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | August 7, 2005 |
A few weeks ago, Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy tried to explain how one of her votes on the controversial west Eugene enterprise zone might be interpreted. (more...)
Kitty Piercy -- Enterprise zone: Fair compromise
By Kitty Piercy
The Register-Guard | August 7, 2005 |
What keeps you awake at night? For me lately, it's been the thought of Eugene's West Eugene Enterprise Zone turning into a free-for-all with no community standards. As I worked toward a compromise between Eugene and Lane County that would retain local control, I kept asking myself these questions -- and getting these answers: (more...)
Dedicated To The Core: Downtown revival isn't news to business owners who love their locations
By Sherri Buri McDonald
The Register-Guard | July 31, 2005 |
There's a resurgence of business in downtown Eugene, and it's not just because some attractive rents can be had amid the vacant storefronts.
Many of these business owners say downtown is at a turning point, and they're willing to stake their business futures on the future of downtown. (more...)
Clear as Mud
City muddles mixed-use development.
By Alan Pittman
Eugene Weekly | July 28, 2005 |
Eugene planning staff came to the City Council last week for an endorsement of their approach to controlling urban sprawl and traffic congestion with denser and walkable mixed-use centers. They didn't get it.
Potential mixed-use centers.
What they did get was criticism of allowing tall apartment and commercial buildings next to established single-family homes and a unanimous council vote to use "opportunity siting" to more carefully chose sites for higher density rather than blanket up-zoning neighborhoods. (more...)
Locals off on a quest for a new convention center: Private businesses say they're on board
By Amber Fossen
The Springfield News | July 27, 2005 |
Hosting a major event in Springfield right now would be like inviting 30 guests to a celebration in your closet. There's just no room.
It's no secret that Springfield has been short on meeting space ever since the Clarion Hotel (formerly DoubleTree) closed in 2004. The 12,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space helped accommodate guests, serving as a civic center for more than 25 years.
Its shuttering and subsequent demolition have left the city without a facility from which to play host as demand for convention space continues to grow.
"It's not a question of 'should we,' it's a question of 'when will we' build more space," said Dan Egan, executive director for the Springfield Chamber of Commerce. (more...)
City council moves cautiously forward with plan for Springfield convention center: Councilors don't want city to play too big a role
By Amber Fossen
The Springfield News | August 3, 2005 |
The idea of spending city time and money to explore siting and developing a conference center in Springfield received lukewarm support Monday.
Acknowledging a need, Springfield City councilors approved funding $25,000 and dedicating one-eighth of a full-time staff member's time to further conference center studies. However, councilors said they don't want the city to be a main player in the center's development. (more...)
Letter -- Don't forget mayor's efforts for center
By Bill Morrisette, Springfield
The Springfield News | August 5, 2005 |
The July 27 article, "Locals off on a quest for a new convention center," makes no mention of Mayor Sid Leiken's longtime dream of creating a conference center in the Gateway area.
In fact, Sid and I had discussions along those lines over the years and with the certainty of the PeaceHealth hospital build-out, it makes sense to put it on the front burner.
This is truly an exciting time for Springfield under Mayor Sid's strong leadership. Other Gateway-area improvements we have discussed include moving the urban-growth boundary north to match the UGB on the Eugene side of I-5. The dream of a quality 18-hole golf course along the McKenzie River with a major hotel to go with the conference center -- that will be the piece de resistance of Springfield's Gateway-area development.
Slant -- Glenwood
| Eugene Weekly | July 28, 2005 |
What else is going on in Glenwood? That long-ignored, funky stretch between Eugene and Springfield is finally getting some attention. Despite the haphazard roadside shops, car lots and trucking businesses along Franklin Boulevard, the area has tremendous potential. Williams Bakery is relocating there on 15 acres, and we hear buzz about investors working up plans for riverside condos north of Franklin. The Wildish family owns a lot of the available land in Glenwood and we hear they are being selective in who they sell to, trying to shape a more liveable and attractive future. Some industrial sites are being considered, but they will likely be in south Glenwood on Wildish land towards McVay Highway. The idea of a regional convention center in Glenwood is getting attention, and it could compete with plans for a new Eugene regional convention center. We've always liked the idea of PeaceHealth building in Glenwood, but construction of its new hospital has begun at RiverBend. McKenzie-Willamette doesn't seem to have Glenwood on its radar, despite the latest roadblocks to the hospital acquiring the EWEB site in Eugene.
Location, Location, Location ... Lowell?
By Scott Maben
The Register-Guard | July 31, 2005 |
LOWELL -- In real estate, location is everything. And for Mia Nelson's housing development here, the view from the side of Disappointment Butte says it all.
The 3,000-square-foot homes marching up First Street look down on the little town on the north bank of Dexter Lake, across the lake to the old covered bridge at the turnoff from Highway 58, and to the Cascade foothills beyond.
But location has also been an obstacle to selling lots in what Nelson has named Sunridge. The incorporated city of 900 residents has an image problem that keeps some people from even considering moving to Lowell, she said. The town is full of single- and double-wide trailers, oversized lots and aging bungalows placed on blocks 50 years ago as temporary shelter for workers who built Dexter and Lookout Point dams. (more...)
Development Report: Answers to land use questions a click away
By Joe Harwood
The Register-Guard | August 2, 2005 |
Lane County last week rolled out yet another online innovation in the hopes of making it easier for residents with land use questions to find answers.
The newest feature allows those with Internet access to identify the land use zoning of all rural properties in unincorporated Lane County with a few keystrokes. (more...)
Task force prioritizes plan for public safety
By Bill Bishop
The Register-Guard | July 29, 2005 |
An emerging plan to improve public safety countywide by cracking down on criminals and protecting children will focus on methamphetamine cooks and drug dealers, addicts who steal, domestic violence, drug and alcohol treatment, and crime prevention. (more...)
Gov signs public safety district bill
| The Springfield News | August 3, 2005 |
On Monday, Gov. Ted Kulongoski signed House Bill 3301, clarifying the authority to have a county public safety district in a county with a boundary commission and an existing, overlapping county service district -- a description that fits only Lane County.
Rep. Debi Farr (R-Eugene) sponsored the bill. (more...)
Homebuilders: We will appeal
| The Springfield News | August 5, 2005 |
The Home Builders Association of Lane County have announced they will appeal a circuit court judge's ruling and continue to contest the Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission's System Development Charge methodology. (more...)
Transportation
Parkway construction draining neighbors' wells
By Amber Fossen
The Springfield News | July 29, 2005 |
Irrigation wells are going dry -- and homeowners in the Game Farm Road area feel it has everything to do with construction.
With the Pioneer Parkway extension project under way and movement on the RiverBend site, area residents are feeling the pinch -- on their well water levels. (more...)
Editorial -- Crews should have warned about area wells drying up
| The Springfield News | August 5, 2005 |
The folks who live in the area along the new Pioneer Parkway extension aren't particularly happy right now. Their wells are dry, their fruit trees are dying and they had to figure out why the hard way. (more...)
City OKs after-hours noise
By Amber Fossen
The Springfield News | August 5, 2005 |
Sometimes getting the job done means working into the night.
Delta Construction Co. of Eugene requested, and was granted, a special noise permit for work on the Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway project. This means work can carry on outside of the 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. timeframe dictated by city code.
The application was approved as part of a package of consent-calendar items at Monday night's City Council meeting. (more...)
New signal in store for Gateway
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | August 6, 2005 |
If you own a car in Lane County, you probably have driven on Gateway Street, one of the region's busiest roads.
Traffic often gets congested on the street that leads to Gateway Mall, a U.S. Post Office, several motels and other businesses in the area.
So when a new Best Buy store opened off Gateway Street in March, talks intensified between the shopping center owner and the city about a traffic signal to serve the store and the rest of the new shopping area, called Crossroads Center.
Next month, a proposal for the shopping center owner to pay for a $150,000 traffic signal at the entrance to the store will go to the City Council for approval. (more...)
County Beat: Commission OKs freight route plan
By Diane Dietz
The Register-Guard | July 29, 2005 |
The future network of truck-friendly roads in Lane County is nearly settled: Wide asphalt lanes that are more easily navigable by freight traffic may ultimately run from Eugene to Veneta to the Coast.
But freight-traffic upgrades probably won't disturb main street Junction City or the scenic McKenzie Highway. (more...)
Ellen Teninty -- Investing to build and repair roads is vital to our economic prospects
By Ellen Teninty
The Register-Guard | August 2, 2005 |
It's summer, and along with blackberry brambles and foxgloves, our roadways are adorned with orange cones and heavy construction equipment. Instead of cursing the inconvenience, you can appreciate that these are tax dollars well spent toward our common economic health.
Those orange cones represent public investment that creates a good business climate and does more to improve our competitive advantage in the global economy than offering tax breaks.
A prosperous economy requires efficient transportation. Supply trucks stuck in traffic can fuel a company's decision to relocate. With the latest practice of keeping almost no inventory, the importance of timely deliveries is essential. And then you've got to get the products to markets where they can be purchased by people who are not stuck in traffic. Commuting time is also calculated into quality-of-life rankings and affects both where a company locates and its workers' satisfaction.
Failure to take care of the existing roads and bridges is a mistake that slows the economy, consumes our precious time and even costs lives. (more...)
Bill to fund alternate transportation
By Joe Harwood
The Register-Guard | August 4, 2005 |
SALEM -- The Lane Transit District could be a big beneficiary under landmark legislation passed Wednesday that will provide $100 million for nonhighway transportation projects in Oregon.
Dubbed "Connect Oregon," Senate Bill 71 is the first-ever major state spending bill dedicated exclusively to rail, airport, public transit and maritime port capital construction projects. (more...)
Transportation funds coming Oregon's way
By Joe Harwood
The Register-Guard | July 29, 2005 |
WASHINGTON -- Led by U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, Oregon's congressional delegation appears to have snagged $2.7 billion for the state's highway improvement and mass transit programs in the nation's new five-year federal transportation plan. (more...)
Congress OKs $47 million for state highways
By Amber Fossen
The Springfield News | August 3, 2005 |
Major federal funding is headed down the highway from Washington, D.C., to Lane County's front door.
Congressman Peter DeFazio, D-Springfield, announced last week congressional approval of a highway bill that will infuse more than $47 million into area transportation infrastructure projects. A total of $2.7 billion will be funneled to the entire state over the next five years, creating more than 127,000 jobs.
The news came on the heels of Senators Gordon Smith and Ron Wyden's announced authorization of $1 million for transportation improvements around the federal courthouse for the Interstate-5 interchange in Coburg and for the I-5 Franklin-Glenwood Interchange Study. (more...)
Editorial -- Seniority's dividend: DeFazio plays key role on transportation bill
| The Register-Guard | August 3, 2005 |
Aside from its sheer size, the remarkable thing about the $286 billion transportation bill approved by Congress last week is its bipartisan character. Republicans and Democrats worked together to craft the legislation, which allowed Rep. Peter DeFazio to be an effective advocate for Oregon's interests. (more...)
Editorial -- DeFazio should be proud of highway bill
| The Springfield News | August 5, 2005 |
Congressman Peter DeFazio, our Thurston-area neighbor, has pulled off something really remarkable. He should be proud of himself. (more...)
Ketchikan bridge cited as example of highway bill pork
By Bennett Roth
The Houston Chronicle | August 4, 2005 |
KETCHIKAN, Alaska -- If taxpayers want to see how their federal highway dollars are spent, they should head north to this small port (population 15,000). It just got a $223 million federal grant to build one of the nation's largest bridges.
It will rise 200 feet above water and be almost as long as the Golden Gate in San Francisco. It will link this tourist-oriented town at the southern tip of the state to an island with about 50 inhabitants and an airport with fewer than 10 flights a day.
The public money was secured by the state's lone congressman, Don Young, the powerful chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Deriding the project as a "bridge to nowhere," critics charge it is one the most egregious examples of "pork barrel" spending that members of Congress stuffed into the $286.4 billion highway bill Facing a federal budget deficit, President Bush once threatened to veto the transportation bill if it contained bloat, but he is scheduled to sign it next week. (more...)
Measure 37, Oregon's Land Use Planning System
M37 bill moves in House; talk of compromise stalls
By Mark Engler, Freelance Writer
The Capital Press | July 29, 2005 |
SALEM -- Legislation to "fix" Measure 37 took another step toward passing in the Republican-controlled Oregon House of Representatives last week, and at the same time further slid toward likely oblivion.
Amendments to Senate Bill 1037 introduced by Rep. Bill Garrard, R-Klamath, during a House State and Federal Affairs Committee meeting July 20 probably aren't going to pass muster with Democrats in the Senate should the full House end up passing them.
On a 3-2 party-line vote, the committee added amendments to solidify a landowner's right to transfer Measure 37 "waivers" to future owners and also to remove the "tract-of-record" provisions passed by the Senate that would have established a process for the state and counties to approve construction of a single-family home on rural lands without the property owner actually having to file a Measure 37 claim.
Garrard, chairman of the now-closed House Land Use Committee, said finding a Measure 37 compromise "acceptable to all parties" is unlikely at this late stage of the Oregon legislative session, and that property rights advocates who supported Measure 37 couldn't support the Senate's version of SB1037 passed earlier this month. (more...)
Kulongoski deals on property rights
The governor compromises with House Republicans on a bill to let Measure 37 claimants pass on rights when selling land
By Laura Oppenheimer
The Oregonian | July 30, 2005 |
Gov. Ted Kulongoski compromised Friday on one of the most controversial aspects of Oregon's new property rights law after negotiating with Republican legislators.
Senate Bill 1037, which emerged from the House budget committee with the Democratic governor's blessing, now would allow successful Measure 37 claimants to pass on new development rights when they sell their land.
The Republican-controlled House is expected to approve the bill in the next few days. While the Democrat-controlled Senate is skeptical, Kulongoski's support tips the odds -- and shakes up the already contentious politics of land-use planning. (more...)
Governor, Democrats spar over property idea
| The Associated Press | July 31, 2005 |
SALEM -- Democratic Gov. Ted Kulongoski has agreed to a compromise proposal that would allow property owners to pass along rights to develop their land if they won claims under a voter-passed property compensation law.
But Senate Majority Leader Kate Brown, D-Portland, said Saturday that Democrats will move to reject the proposal if the House approves it. (more...)
Peter Bray -- Kulongoski's plan to make Measure 37 worse
| BlueOregon.com | August 1, 2005 |
The governor has made right-winger and M37 sponsor Dave Hunnicutt "proud". How? By agreeing to support Senate Bill 1037 which, quite simply, gives property speculators even more rights than Measure 37 itself. (more...)
Letter -- Measure 37 transfers a bad idea
By Pam Hardy, Eugene
The Register-Guard | August 7, 2005 |
Gov. Ted Kulongoski's compromise allowing Measure 37 rights to be transferred was a travesty.
What it seems that the supporters of Measure 37 don't get is that while these claims are economically profitable for a few people in the short run, they can be devastating to the neighboring property values, or to the character of the community as a whole. Communities should have the right to direct their own future.
The first rule in real estate is location, location, location. What matters to land values is context.
Even without transferrable development rights, Measure 37 exposes communities to a renegade neighbor who cares little for the surrounding values. But most longtime residents usually have a sense of appropriateness and responsibility. Further, most don't want to do anything but build a single home for themselves, or their kids. That's reasonable.
Making Measure 37 rights transferable wold have left neighborhoods exposed to external developers with no community accountability. This is wrong.
Measure 37 was about allowing people to do what they originally wanted with the land. It was not -- or should not have been -- about creating extraordinary rights on a few properties at the expense of everyone else.
Compromise land use bill clears House
By Joe Harwood
The Register-Guard | August 3, 2005 |
SALEM -- A compromise bill intended to clarify the state's new property rights law passed the GOP-controlled House on Tuesday, but the prospects of the legislation surviving a vote in the Democrat-controlled Senate this afternoon appear dim. (more...)
Property rights compromise bill is expected to die in state Senate
If legislators defeat the bill, which addresses Measure 37 questions, key issues could be decided in the courts
By Laura Oppenheimer
The Oregonian | August 3, 2005 |
Senate Bill 1037, which passed 40-18, represents a last-minute compromise between property rights activists and Gov. Ted Kulongoski. But planning advocacy groups and many Democratic legislators say it jeopardizes Oregon's landscape. (more...)
Editorial -- Fight another day on Measure 37
Lawmakers should fix the property-rights law in the interim, not during the hectic final days of the session
| The Oregonian | August 3, 2005 |
The swirl of the last days of the legislative session is no time to untangle the snarl of private rights and public impacts created by Measure 37. State senators are right to oppose the 11th-hour compromise brokered by Gov. Ted Kulongoski.
The plan the governor agreed to and the House approved Tuesday would do little but grease the way for Measure 37 claims. We sympathize with the governor's predicament. He opposed the property rights measure, but now has an obligation to untie the legal and policy knots created by an initiative supported by 61 percent of voters.
Yet his deal gives landowners and others who hope to exploit the new law what they most want -- the right to pass on Measure 37 claims when they sell their land -- but gets little in return. If it were to become law, Measure 37 supporters would have no incentive to negotiate a broader agreement to protect key farm and forest lands, or otherwise limit the law's harmful effects. (more...)
Editorial -- Rights must remain
| The (Albany) Democrat-Herald | August 4, 2005 |
The Oregon House had common sense on its side this week when it passed a bill related to Measure 37.
The bill says that if property owners win the right to develop land under Measure 37, the right stays with the land even if it's sold.
The opposing view holds that development rights belong only to the owner who wins them. But this would have nonsensical results. (more...)
Bill cleaning up land use measure fails to pass in divided Senate
By Joe Harwood
The Register-Guard | August 4, 2005 |
SALEM -- The state Senate split along party lines on Wednesday, with the Democratic majority killing a bill that sought to iron out some of the wrinkles in Oregon's new property rights law.
Lawmakers from both parties said they expect that the courts will now try to settle questions on Measure 37, possibly leading to a series of rulings that are at odds with one another. (more...)
Senate rejects, ends bill to revise Measure 37
By Laura Oppenheimer
The Oregonian | August 4, 2005 |
Attempts to revise Oregon's new property-rights law officially died Wednesday when the Senate defeated a last-minute proposal. (more...)
No Measure 37 fix in offing
By David Bates
The (McMinnville) News-Register | August 4, 2005 |
It appears safe to add Measure 37 to the list of issues the Oregon Legislature is leaving on the table this year. (more...)
What the Legislature did -- and didn't -- do: Land Use
By Laura Oppenheimer
The Oregonian | August 7, 2005 |
Land-use activists got little attention this session except on two issues: Oregon's new property rights law and annexation. Even then, talk didn't always translate to action. Lawmakers reached a stalemate after months of negotiation over voter-approved Measure 37, which promised landowners money or a chance to build when planning rules cut into value.
The Republican-controlled House wanted to maximize property owners' rights. The Democrat-controlled Senate wanted to limit construction or find a way to pay applicants.
Senators killed a last-minute compromise between the governor and property rights activists, saying it jeopardized Oregon's landscape. That leaves the 2,000-and-counting claims filed with local governments and state agencies open to interpretation.
Meanwhile, legislators prevented Beaverton from forcibly annexing four companies -- Nike, Columbia Sportswear Co., Tektronix Inc. and Electro Scientific Industries Inc. -- for three decades. Small business owners and homeowners get a two-year reprieve.
There's good news for those who didn't get their way. A work group will study annexation, and a $600,000 task force will traverse Oregon to re-evaluate the state's planning program. After 32 years in practice -- and seven months of bickering in Salem -- everything is on the table.
Claim raises questions about Measure 37
By Jerry Raehal
The (Molalla) Pioneer | July 20, 2005 |
When Measure 37 was passed in November, Renee Ross thought it was a good idea.
With a neighbor receiving approval from the Clackamas County Commissioners on a controversial claim, she is no longer so sure. (more...)
Measure 37 claims take toll in cost, scheduling
Washington County planners juggle cases as six-month deadlines loom for deciding inquiries
By Richard Colby
The Oregonian | July 28, 2005 |
HILLSBORO -- Washington County planners are trying to sort through an onslaught of Measure 37 claims, most or all from rural landowners, as deadlines approach for a decision.
Mark Brown, Washington County's manager of development services, and his staff are juggling nearly 250 claims from county landowners. Most want to build at least one home on land zoned exclusively for farming, or for growing and cutting timber.
The number of claims has resulted in overtime and other expenses for development services, which is part of the Department of Land Use and Transportation. Applicants are not required to pay a fee when they submit a claim. (more...)
More Measure 37 claims line up
By David Bates
The (McMinnville) News-Register | July 26, 2005 |
The Yamhill County commissioners reviewed seven more Measure 37 claims totaling more than 470 acres Monday.
Together, they would allow property owners to build more than 70 new homes on land primarily zoned for farming.
They decided that one of the claims is large enough to merit a public hearing -- a rare step. (more...)
Pressured to grow
Measure 37 claims place Ashland in a tight spot
By Damian Mann
The (Medford) Mail Tribune | July 24, 2005 |
For 31 years, Willis Lee has watched the suburbs of Ashland edge closer and closer to his 23 acres perched on the eastern hills.
Now, thanks to Measure 37, the 71-year-old resident may benefit from the development boom that's hit Jackson County, getting approval from the county last week to split his property into five-acre lots.
Considering the growth in the valley and Ashland, Lee doesn't see his plan as controversial. (more...)
One Measure 37 request tabled
By Adam R. Cherry
The (Klamath Falls) Herald and News | July 25, 2005 |
Garret and Jean Hilyard are ready to go. They have a plan, surveyor and real estate agent for the subdivision they want to build on their 69-acre lot. There's only one thing holding them back: zoning laws.
The Hilyards' Measure 37 claim was tabled by Klamath County commissioners, who couldn't decide Wednesday night whether to waive or change zoning laws for the property on Keller Road, which is currently restricted for exclusive farm use and is just outside Klamath Falls' urban growth boundary.
It was one of three such Measure 37 claims before the commission. Two others were approved. (more...)
Gearhart will enact temporary ban on splitting property
By Laurel Eddy
The Daily Astorian | August 4, 2005 |
GEARHART -- People who want to divide their land into two or more properties won't be able to for a while in Gearhart. Subdivisions and partitions will end temporarily as soon as the city can set up a moratorium, the City Council decided Wednesday. (more...)
Other News
Editorial -- An incredibly shrinking Legislature
It is imperative that Oregon remake its Legislature into an assembly strong enough to tackle the state's problems
| The Oregonian | August 7, 2005 |
The legislators are packing up, the lobbyists are gone, but a question lingers in the sudden quiet of the state Capitol: Is this still the place to solve Oregon's problems? (more...)
Russell Sadler -- It's time we put grown-ups in charge of state Legislature
By Russell Sadler
The Register-Guard | August 6, 2005 |
An all-nighter in Salem. The longer it goes on, the longer the Legislature resembles high school.
In the writhing death rattle of the expiring legislative session, lawmakers passed a bill creating the Public Commission on the Oregon Legislature. This 30-member commission is to study ways of improving "the body's administration, procedures, facilities, staffing and overall capacity."
It is a futile task. The Legislature's problem is not organization. The Legislature's problem is immaturity. (more...)
James Chaney -- Public split from GOP hits a nerve nationwide
By James Chaney, For The Register-Guard
The Register-Guard | August 7, 2005 |
In early June, I decided to leave the Republican Party after having been a registered member for 25 years. I've gathered since then that I'm not alone in having made that decision.
What made my departure different is that I decided to leave, for better or for worse, in a very public way.
I wrote an essay explaining my reasons for leaving -- essentially, that "my" GOP had drifted so far from its traditional moorings in honesty, practicality and common sense so as to be unrecognizable to many rank-and-filers like me -- and this newspaper printed it on June 26. I expected a response, but not the one I got.
In this broadband era, the reaction wasn't just local; it was national. Through nothing more than our 21st century version of word of mouth, within three days I was getting calls, e-mails and letters from all over the country, and invitations to appear on talk radio not just in Oregon, but also in Boston and in a broadcast heard across Canada. (more...)
Jaquas give big money to Shedd Institute
By Bob Keefer
The Register-Guard | August 5, 2005 |
Philanthropists John and Robin Jaqua have given $1 million to Eugene's Shedd Institute of the Arts to help the nonprofit music organization buy its downtown building, it was announced Thursday.
As a result, the Shedd's main performance hall will be christened the Jaqua Concert Hall. (more...)
Bob Welch -- Oregonians may not be just born here
By Bob Welch, Columnist
The Register-Guard | July 31, 2005 |
Through binoculars, I was surprised to see it last Tuesday, north of Yachats: a kayaker beyond the breakers, veering toward about 20 miles of rocky shore. He was wearing a wet suit but no flotation device.
Within an hour, a wave had separated him from his kayak, a Coast Guard helicopter was circling overhead and his craft was headed for Santa Cruz.
Everything turned out fine. Exhausted, he got to the beach. And I was able to grab his kayak as waves rammed it into the rocks.
Interestingly, when I dragged it to the guy's wife, she told me they were from Ventura, Calif. In essence, they didn't know the nuances of Oregon, the rules of the road, the ways of the waves.
Later, thinking about it, I was reminded that a lot of Oregonians don't either. (more...)
Bob Welch -- A time of the signs: Enjoy while they last
By Bob Welch, Columnist
The Register-Guard | August 2, 2005 |
I was returning from an interview Monday with a woman about the "Show kindness" signs around town, wondering how much they really contribute to our community.
I was feeling kind of cynical.
Then, within a few minutes of each other, I saw two signs: One was from a money-seeker at the Coburg-Belt Line interchange: "Will take verbal abuse," his cardboard sign read, "for pocket change."
The second was on the helmet of a motorcycle rider. I couldn't read the small print, but I could read the two-word obscenity directed at me.
So long live the "Show kindness" signs. (more...)
Dusty times put gravel makers in the pollution thick of it
By Diane Dietz
The Register-Guard | July 25, 2005 |
The hot, dry wind and the busy construction season have led to disagreements between Eugene gravel companies and the Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority over how much dust abatement is enough. (more...)
Pollution at issue in plant's expansion
By Diane Dietz
The Register-Guard | July 28, 2005 |
COBURG -- Weyerhaeuser Co. wants to boost production at its Coburg veneer plant by one-third without the hassle of meeting contemporary air pollution standards.
The expansion without upgraded air pollution controls is allowed under federal rules for older plants. The increased emissions are not thought to be high enough to hurt human, plant or animal life, according to the Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority. (more...)
Governor to use veto to scrap ban on tougher pollution rules
By Charles Beggs
The Associated Press | July 30, 2005 |
SALEM -- A budget bill that's worded to block Gov. Ted Kulongoski's plan to have Oregon adopt California's tougher auto emission standards is headed to his desk -- and a veto of the provision he opposes. (more...)
Slant -- Sid Leiken
| Eugene Weekly | July 28, 2005 |
We hear rumors that Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken is getting some encouragement from local folks with money to run for higher elected office. He's not denying it, but he's also not saying much, other than he's enjoying being mayor.
City manager gets merit pay raise
| The Register-Guard | July 26, 2005 |
Thanks to Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy, City Manager Dennis Taylor got a $6,177 merit pay raise on Monday to go along with a cost-of-living adjustment. (more...)
Dennis the Menace?
City Manager Taylor threatens local democracy.
By Alan Pittman
Eugene Weekly | August 4, 2005 |
Dennis Taylor isn't a name many people in Eugene would quickly recognize. He never had to stand in the bright lights to run for public office. But he's the most powerful person in the city. (more...)
Eugene City Beat: Top planner sees progress in city's parks
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | July 31, 2005 |
If you're lucky, you have a dream job.
Andrea Riner counts herself among the lucky ones. (more...)
Business Beat -- People -- Tim Shinabarger
| The Register-Guard | August 2, 2005 |
CORRECTION (ran 8/3/2005): Michael Howard, a new hire at Satre Associates in Eugene, worked as a planning assistant for the city of Medford. An item in the Business Beat column Tuesday on Page B2 incorrectly reported his position.
Satre Associates, P.C., a Eugene consulting firm specializing in planning, landscape architecture and environmental resources, has hired two new land use planners.
Michael Howard previously worked as an intern for the city of Medford. Tim Shinabarger is a former reporter who served internships with the Springfield Planning Department, Lane County Community and Economic Development Department, and the University of Oregon Planning, Public Policy, and Management Department.
David S. Broder -- Tough Times For the Terminator
By David S. Broder
The Washington Post | Sunday, July 31, 2005; Page B07 |
SACRAMENTO -- On July 11 Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger scored his biggest victory of the year, signing a budget in which the Democratic-controlled legislature gave him almost everything he wanted in his effort to cure this debt-plagued state government.
But hard on the heels of that triumph, one of Schwarzenegger's aides told me last week, "Ka-chunk, ka-chunk. It was like getting run over by the front and rear wheels of a truck." (more...)
Garrison Keillor -- The Land Of The Free and the Home of the Berries
| Tribune Media Services | June 28, 2005 |
These summer days when strawberries are in their prime seem to bring out the kindness in people. You bring home a little carton of hand-selected berries and wash the best one and pop it in your wife's mouth and this is a statement of tenderness. Tenderness and stubbornness make for a good marriage and marriage is the true test of character -- to make a good life with your best critic. You have many critics but your spouse is by far the best-informed of all of them.
I favor marriage between people whose body parts are not similar. I'm sorry, but same-sex marriage seems timid, an attempt to save on wardrobe and accessories. Marrying somebody from your team. Still, it's probably good for them to have to fight for the right to marry. My parents eloped against strong opposition from both families and they were in love for the rest of their lives and held hands and were tender on into their eighties. Of course they always had fresh strawberries. (more...)
Garrison Keillor -- Discordant Notes Among the Supremes
| Tribune Media Services | July 5, 2005 |
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor must enjoy her job a lot to have stayed on until she is 75. And Justices Stevens (85) and Rehnquist (80) must be fond of theirs, too. The rest of us who do not dwell in marble halls or enjoy supremacy of any kind tend to consider retirement around the age of 60 and start to make plans and announce them to others. We do this lest others begin to drop hints the size of bricks that it is time we take the Long Walk across the ice floes.
But the folks on the high court have a lifetime deal, sort of like the Grand Mufti of Uzbekistan, or the Duke of Earl, and nobody can tell a justice when it's time to put on her coat and go home. This has been a problem in the case of some justices, judging from memoirs. When Chief Justice Burger finally pulled the pin, there seems to have been great relief among the other eight. He was cranky and grumpy and starting to forget where the door was. (more...)
Garrison Keillor -- Reining in the Dog Days of Summer
| Tribune Media Services | July 12, 2005 |
When it comes to the summer doldrums, a person's brain shrinks to pea-size and one forgets about lofty moral values and takes the short view, and so I turn on the air conditioning and burn up precious non-renewable resources for my own comfort and pleasure even if it does mean that glaciers shrink and the Arctic tern is threatened, I just want cool air to blow on me as I sip a cool drink.
I like licorice herbal tea, iced. It's better than beer because you can drink 10 or 15 glasses and still remember your name and address and you don't emit all that gas. Perhaps the licorice comes from an endangered plant whose demise will mean curtains for the great auk, but it's too hot to worry about that now. I bought the tea at my local co-op which is run by people who wear clothing made entirely from broccoli and I shop there because everything is organic, which is my version of kosher -- it means that someone else has worked out the moral arithmetic so I don't have to worry about it. Which it's too hot to do anyway. I don't think about morality, I read trashy magazines about the excesses of the rich and famous. (more...)
Garrison Keillor -- Q&A With Garrison Keillor
| Tribune Media Services | July 13, 2005 |
Question: Why are you writing a newspaper column?
Answer: I am writing the column because I am a newspaper reader, and I have been ever since I was a child. I am a daily newspaper reader. I love newspapers. I love them in the face of the Internet, which I also am fond of. I am partial to newspapers and so I have always wanted to do this. I didn't do this for many years for various reasons. I am at an age when many of my high school classmates are retiring, and I feel like starting something new.
I also am doing it because I love the form. I love 750 or 800 words, I believe in that form -- the short essay. I could easily go off and write a longer form, and find someone to publish it, but I love that short form.
This may be something that only other writers would understand, but it is like the sonnet, which is 14 lines. It is never more than 14, and has a certain rhyme scheme and meter. Writing a sonnet is a challenge to a writer. To be able to put something into that form, it's like running the 100-yard dash. It takes a certain talent to do the dash, and it has its own nature, its own character.
Finally, I want there to be a humorist in the newspaper. I am happy for that to be me. It's a heroic challenge to write a comic essay of 800 words every week for a newspaper, and I take that very seriously. (more...)
Garrison Keillor -- A Layman's Guide to the Valerie Plame Affair
By Garrison Keillor
Tribune Media Services | July 19, 2005 |
I feel it's time for me to step forward and tell what I know about Karl Rove's conversation with columnist Robert Novak in which Mr. Novak reportedly told Mr. Rove that CIA operative Valerie Plame had been responsible for her husband Joseph Wilson going to Niger to debunk the White House's claim that Saddam Hussein was shopping for uranium in Africa to make nuclear weapons and that's why we invaded Iraq, and Mr. Rove said, "Yes, I've heard that, too." Mr. Rove has been accused of revealing the identity of a covert intelligence officer. This simply isn't true. (more...)
Garrison Keillor -- The Inexorable Ascent of a Harvard Man
By Garrison Keillor
Tribune Media Services | July 26, 2005 |
Had the president nominated a bullet-headed troglodyte for the Supreme Court, Democrats were prepared to take to the phones, fire up the Web sites, and sic the dogs of direct mail on him, but when he brought forth a summa cum laude Harvard man, the crowd quieted down and the dogs crawled back under the porch. The gentleman, John G. Roberts, has a fine resume and did well at Harvard. Barring some unsavory revelation about close ties to the Gambino family or membership in a secret militia group, welcome to the Court, sir. (more...)
Garrison Keillor -- Answering the Call of the Chattering Classes
By Garrison Keillor
Tribune Media Services | August 2, 2005 |
Don't ask me why, I bought a deluxe cell phone that can send text messages and take photographs and video. It also may be used to dial phone numbers and talk to people. It does everything except trim your ear hair and maybe it can do that and I just haven't figured out how. It plays Puccini's "O Mio Babbino Caro" when somebody calls me, which gives each call special beauty and poignancy, and I carry it with me wherever I go and phone in updates on my progress: I'M AT THE GROCERY -- YOU CAN'T HEAR ME? -- THAT'S ODD. YOU'RE COMING IN LOUD AND CLEAR. I'LL TRY YOU LATER ON MY WAY HOME. (more...)
Dave Barry -- Mid-life crisis causes Dave to, uh, go topless
By Dave Barry
The Springfield News | August 3, 2005 |
Note: Dave Barry is a humor columnist for the Miami Herald. His column appears every Wednesday in The Springfield News. Currently he is on a year-long vacation, so The News is re-running classic columns from the past. This one was originally published on Feb. 23, 1997.
I got a convertible. Now, I know what you're going to say. You're going to say: "Dave, you pathetic fool, you're 49 and you're having a midlife crisis. Trade that thing in immediately and get a car more suitable for a person your age, such as a 1910 Hupmobile with air bags." (more...)
Dave Barry -- School on Aug. 8? Are they insane?
By Dave Barry
The Miami Herald | August 4, 2005 |
Here's a multiple-choice test:
When should the school year start?
A. Sometime around Sept. 1, when most of the United States of America has started school for many decades.
B. On Aug. 8 -- also known as "smack dab in the middle of summer" -- when the average Florida classroom is roughly the same temperature as a pizza oven.
If you answered "A," you are correct. If you answered "B," you are an official of Miami-Dade or Broward public schools. These officials have decided that our children need to start school on Monday, when children from normal places are vacationing with their families, or attending summer camp, or lying on the sofa picking their noses and playing video games, which is what God clearly intended early August to be used for. (more...)