Health Options Digest
September 19, 2005
Coalition for Health Options In Central Eugene-Springfield (CHOICES)
In This Issue
From the Editor
What's News and What's Important
In a letter to the editor about Hurricane Katrina, Springfield pediatrician Todd Huffman wrote, "Writer and activist Arundhati Roy once wrote of our crisis-driven media, which picks a crisis to the bone, then drops it and moves on, and how then, for victims, the darkness becomes deeper than it was before the light shone on them. If you doubt this, ask yourself when was the last story you heard or read about the fate of survivors of the South Asian tsunami, which killed over a quarter of a million people not even nine months ago?"
Indeed, what's news is often unimportant and what's important is often not news. What would happen if the media didn't report on the latest news, gossip, celebrity scandal or sports event but rather kept reminding us day after day of what was important?
Here at "Health Options Digest" we try to take a middle road between what's news and what's important, digesting and trying to make sense of the news, often by juxtaposing related stories and connecting the dots.
In Place of Nations
The recent release of the movie The Constant Gardener, based on the novel by John Le Carré, is news but the underlying story is important. In brief, the novel and movie tell the story of a big pharmaceutical company testing an experimental drug on poor people in Africa, covering up the occasional deaths resulting from the drug, and then murdering a British woman who threatens to expose the practice.
While the story is labeled fiction, it expresses a deeper truth. Indeed, a 6-part series titled "The Body Hunters" that appeared in The Washington Post in 2000 documents the practice that Le Carré highlights.
Serendipitously picking up the thread, Marcia Angell, who is a physician and the former Editor in Chief of The New England Journal of Medicine, recently published The Truth About the Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What to Do About It. Her book is informed by Le Carré's. In turn, she reviews the movie and compares it to the novel. (Eugene's own Lois Wadsworth also reviews the movie, but is more interested in the love story between Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz.)
The apparently common practice of using Third World people to test drugs for First World diseases like high cholesterol, obesity, and arthritis and not Third World diseases like malaria raises all kinds of questions about the values of the pharmaceutical industry. Such questions might lead one to question the intentions of other parts of the health care industry, perhaps even here in Lane County. The practices of large pharmaceutical companies and the rising costs of drugs partly explain the rising cost of health care.
But the big pharmaceutical companies aren't Le Carré's real target. They are merely a vehicle for expressing his larger concerns about corporations that are so large and powerful that they are above the law and in a sense above politics and nations.
The prominent role of large corporations in modern life is nothing new. But in an age of rising globalism and multinational corporations, it would be good to ask to what extent corporations serve public interests and to what extent they run counter to such interests.
One might look at the recent activities of Enron, which manipulated the energy markets to produce unnecessary energy shortages in order to boost profits. Now the fate of Portland General Electric, which the now bankrupt Enron purchased in 1997, is up in the air, as reported in Willamette Week.
Questions about corporations could end up being fundamental to how the 21st Century plays out. It's not that corporations are inherently evil: They are not. It's that concentrating power in the hands of a few without adequate checks and balances is almost always bad. The current administration in Washington, D.C. has done little to check the power of corporations, but previous administrations were little better.
Week In Review
Meanwhile, like a bad version of the TV soap opera General Hospital, the game of "Musical Hospitals" continues.
The main story is that PeaceHealth plans to open its RiverBend site by 2008 but also intends to maintain a smaller facility at its current Hilyard site. According to spokesman Brian Terrett, PeaceHealth plans to demolish 65 percent of the buildings at Hilyard.
In order to have two locations, PeaceHealth has applied to the State of Oregon for a Certificate of Need for a second location. Meanwhile, Triad has applied for a Certificate of Need to open its hospital in Eugene. (Because of arcane rules, PeaceHealth can transfer its existing Certificate of Need to Springfield but Triad can't transfer its to Eugene.)
Now here is where it gets interesting. PeaceHealth notified the State of Oregon that Triad didn't yet actually have a site in Eugene, as it hasn't actually acquired the EWEB site. In response, the State of Oregon indicated that it would review PeaceHealth's application first and Triad's later when it is ready. This caused Triad to fear that the Eugene-Springfield area might not need three hospitals and that its later application might be rejected. So now Triad is scrambling to secure a site -- any site -- fast enough to have its Certificate of Need application considered at the same time as PeaceHealth's. The Lane County Commissioners officially ruled out the fairgrounds as a potential site. Triad is even thinking of trying to acquire the same Crescent site that PeaceHealth once owned and that the Eugene City Council rejected years ago.
It is a great irony that John Musumeci, who appears to have run the Gang of 9 cartoons to discredit the Eugene City Council and to provide cover for his dealings with PeaceHealth, now owns the Crescent site that is attracting Triad.
(Note: John Musumeci is a complicated fellow, and shouldn't take our remarks in this space so seriously. His KOPT radio is a great service to the community and he has done other good things. But his brash style clashes with Oregon sensibilities. The rumor that he intends to bankroll Sid Leiken running against Bill Dwyer for Lane County Commissioner, if true, would be another example of the kind of blatant opportunism that doesn't play well here.)
Note that the agreement between PeaceHealth and CHOICES explicitly states that "PeaceHealth will not oppose Certificates of Need if applied for by McKenzie-Willamette/Triad."
In other news, a medical park near Autzen Stadium is in the works, the Eugene City Council and others are discussing what to do with Eugene's aging city hall, plans for a new UO basketball court are on hold due to lack of funding but other projects on campus are moving forward, Wal-Mart is looking to expand in Springfield and perhaps in Eugene, a new recreation center in Springfield is moving forward, and there is talk of a new fire station in Glenwood.
Stepping back to look at the larger picture, the Region 2050 project is trying to plan how the central Lane County area will grow in the next 45 years: Where will people live, work and shop? A key issue is housing for new residents and the rapidly rising cost of housing. If people who can't afford to live in Eugene or Springfield opt to live in Veneta, Harrisburg or Cottage Grove but work in the central cities, then our roads will get clogged with commuter traffic.
Kudos to LTD for doing its part and finding a way for students to ride free.
Speaking of how we grow, Anna Quindlen writes in Newsweek that Hurricane Katrina is a signal that we can't keep growing and consuming but need to change how we live, in particular, growing in ways that don't require such heavy use of cars and fossil fuels that are linked to instabilities in the Middle East and global warming.
Indeed, many including The (Albany) Democrat-Herald are calling for Congress to reconsider its pork-laden transportation bill and direct the funds to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Speaking of messes that could get worse, look for more fights at the ballot box in 2006 over property rights and land use laws aimed at protecting Oregon.
Good ideas for how to conduct a "Big Look" at Oregon's land use planning program could get lost in the cross-fire.
Oral arguments in a constitutional challenge to Measure 37 were heard last week.
For now, we know of no actual construction that has yet occurred as a result of Measure 37, but there appears to be no end to claims that continue to erode the sense that the rule of law guarantees fair treatment for all.
Lastly, it's a myth that Dave Barry has retired. Read his recent interview in The Miami Herald, in which he explains just how serious humor can be.
Rob Zako, Editor
343-5201
rzako@efn.org
Calendar
SMASH potluck slated at Leaburg Lake
| The Springfield News | September 16, 2005 |
SMASH (Scenic McKenzie Association for Safe Highway) is planning a potluck from noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 25, at Leaburg Lake Lloyd Knox Park, Area 1.
The event is an opportunity for Hwy 126 residents from Cedar Flat to McKenzie Bridge to get together. Participants are asked to bring their own table service and drinks.
Electricity will be available. Live music will be performed. Mike McKay from the Department of Homeland Security will speak on disaster preparedness along with representatives from the fire department.
For more information contact Shirley Latimer at 726-1005.
Opportunities
County seeks applicants for health advisory panel
| The Register-Guard | September 17, 2004 |
The Lane County Board of Commissioners seeks applicants for the Health Advisory Committee, which advises on matters of public health, planning, policy development and more.
The group meets monthly, on the second Tuesday. The deadline to apply is Oct. 14. Applications are available in the commissioners' office, Public Service Building, 125 E. Eighth Ave., Eugene.
For more information or to request an application by mail, call 682-4207.
Input sought on West Eugene Enterprise Zone
| The Register-Guard | September 13, 2005 |
Officials seek residents to volunteer to help design standards for the West Eugene Enterprise Zone.
A joint committee representing Eugene and Lane County will help develop and adopt standards and criteria for the zone, which is meant to enhance economic development through tax breaks. The committee will be composed of two elected officials and two citizen members from each governing body.
"The work of this committee will have a lasting impact by helping to shape the community standards for the jobs created in the enterprise zone," Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy said.
The county and the city will each appoint two citizen members throughseparate application processes. The committee's work will conclude by January 2006.
To apply in the county, go online to http://www.lanecounty.org/CAO/documents/CAO_WebCommApp_locked.doc or visit the commissioners' office, 125 E. Eighth Ave., Eugene. For more information, call 682-4203.
To apply in the city, visit the city manager's office, 777 Pearl St., Room 105, Eugene, or call 682-5010.
Deadline to apply for both is Sept. 23.
Springfield panels seek volunteer members
By Serena Markstrom
The Register-Guard | September 3, 2005 |
SPRINGFIELD -- Civic-minded volunteers have two upcoming opportunities to serve on a city panel.
The Police Planning Task Force has two openings for citizen-at-large representatives and one opening for a business community representative. All three terms expire in 2009.
Established in 1994, the task force provides citizen input to the police chief.
The 10-member group generally meets the first Thursday of each month.
The deadline to apply is Oct. 14. Interviews of all candidates will be conducted by a subcommittee of the current task force. New members will be appointed by the City Council in November.
The city also needs to fill two vacancies on the 12-member budget committee.
The committee is made up of six city councilors and six members of the community and meets April-June, with additional meetings as needed. It reviews the city's financial plans, including the annual budget.
The openings are for Ward 3 and Ward 4 and applicants must live in the ward they wish to represent.
The terms expire Dec. 31, 2008. For more information, contact Norma Barton, budget officer, at 726-3698.
Applications are due by 5 p.m. Sept. 30. Applicants will be interviewed Oct. 17 and appointed Nov. 5.
Application forms for both the task force and the budget committee are available in the city manager's office in City Hall, 225 Fifth St.
PeaceHealth
Sacred Heart Medical Center undergoes revamp
The hospital is building a new facility in Springfield; the Eugene site will be updated
By Aaron Burkhalter, Freelance Reporter
Oregon Daily Emerald | September 19, 2005 |
Sacred Heart Medical Center, Eugene's largest hospital, is preparing to relocate to a state-of-the-art facility in Springfield after a more than 10-year quest for a new facility.
Sacred Heart's new RiverBend Campus on the McKenzie River, slated for completion in 2008, will replace facilities currently located in downtown Eugene, allowing those buildings to be entirely revamped and modernized.
Sacred Heart has been working on either a remodel or a new site altogether for more than 10 years, Brian Terrett of Public Affairs and Communications said.
Once the new campus is built, Sacred Heart will begin work at demolishing the oldest parts of the Hilyard Street campus. Several of the buildings, most of which line the alleyway between Hilyard and Alder streets, will be destroyed. The alleyway will be gone.
No new buildings are planned, and the current campus will be significantly smaller than before, leaving the RiverBend campus as the primary area hospital for seven surrounding counties. (more...)
McKenzie-Willamette/Triad
'Not for Sale' sign goes up at fairgrounds
By Matt Cooper
The Register-Guard | September 14, 2005 |
Lane County commissioners voted narrowly Tuesday not to sell the fairgrounds for at least 10 years, and to ask the public to help chart a course for the aging complex.
Speculation of a sale has been building in recent months, fueled by one commissioner's support for moving the 55-acre complex to a rural area and the possibility that Springfield's McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center might want to move to the fairgrounds' home at 13th Avenue and Jefferson Street in Eugene.
But the 3-2 vote appears to signal an end to such possibilities, at least for now. (more...)
Editorial -- Fairgrounds off the table
| The Register-Guard | September 18, 2005 |
The door closed gently on the notion of selling the fairgrounds for a hospital or some other purpose when the Lane County Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 Tuesday against a sale for at least the next decade. The door slammed, however, when fairgrounds users presented commissioners with petitions bearing the signatures of 6,200 people demanding that the Lane Events Center stay where it is. Developers, look elsewhere. (more...)
Talk of selling fairgrounds had Logging Conference organizers scouting for a new venue
By Ben Raymond Lode
The Springfield News | September 16, 2005 |
It may have been a more timely and important vote than most people realized when Lane County Commissioners on Tuesday voted to not sell the Lane County Fairgrounds.
"We had (already) gone out and looked at sites all the way from Southwest Washington to Roseburg," said Jim Cross, secretary manager for the Oregon Logging Conference, the huge trade show which packs local hotels and restaurants when it comes to the fairgrounds every year -- for now.
Asked how important the commissioners' vote was in sending a positive signal to logging conference organizers that they would still have a place to host the conference in the immediate future, Cross said: "I would tell you that it's very important. As a conference that has been going on for 60 years, it was very disconcerting to us not knowing whether we were going to have a site or not."
The county commission's decision is likely to have had a similar effect on other conference organizers who use the site year-round for events. (more...)
Editorial -- Homeless hospital
| The Register-Guard | September 16, 2005 |
There's no shortage of suggestions about where Triad should build a new $85 million home for McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center. Downtown Eugene, north Eugene, south Eugene, west Eugene, the Lane County fairgrounds, Glenwood, Springfield.
All that's missing is the correct combination of ownership, acreage, zoning, transportation access, proximity to physicians' offices, price, political support and immediate availability. Otherwise, they're great ideas. (more...)
Plans now call for $225 million medical center
By Joe Harwood
The Register-Guard | September 17, 2005 |
The cost of the new hospital McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center wants to build somewhere in Eugene has almost tripled, to $225 million from the initial $80 million estimated 2 1/2 years ago, new filings with the state show.
The steep price hike has little to do with inflation or the ongoing run-up in construction materials, and everything to do with building a facility that can compete better with larger rival PeaceHealth, hospital officials said. (more...)
Whither McKenzie-Willamette?
By Joe Harwood
The Register-Guard | September 19, 2005 |
More than 30 months after announcing plans to build a new hospital in Eugene, McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center's Texas-based majority owner is no closer to finding a suitable location for the $225 million facility than when it started the search.
But the plodding pace Triad Hospitals Inc. set out with back in early 2003 to buy 20 or so acres on which to site the hospital has broken into an urgent dash in the past month. (more...)
Slant -- Civic Stadium
| Eugene Weekly | September 15, 2005 |
Two weeks ago we wrote in this column about Steve Sylwester's suggestion that Civic Stadium be considered a site for a new McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center. No one seemed to be taking the idea very seriously, but it might get more attention now that the Springfield hospital has announced that it's looking beyond the problematic EWEB site to locations in north Eugene. We did hear from Eugene resident Jim Crabbe who read the Slant blurb and got inspired enough to take his concerns about the future of Civic Stadium to the City Council. Crabbe in his three-minute testimony says selling the site would be "an enormous short-sighted mistake," and he praises the stadium for its history, aesthetics, popularity and value as open space. "We as citizens need places like Civic Stadium to stay connected with our histories and to grow as communities that value our public places," he says. We're not eager to see one of our favorite landmarks bulldozed either, but what is the best and highest use for that property? The topic deserves some public discussion. Meanwhile, we're looking at another hospital being built in the suburbs instead of at the city center where it belongs.
Letter -- Give hospital site another look
By Rob Handy, Eugene
The Register-Guard | September 13, 2005 |
Being prudent to have a backup plan, Triad Hospitals Inc. should look closer at locating a new McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center at the Second Avenue and Chambers Street site in Eugene, an area with strong redevelopment potential.
Union Pacific may be willing to sell some of its surplus acreage at the south end of the railyard to make this site even more attractive. The University of Oregon HOPES Design Charette this past spring illustrated some of the many opportunities for designing healthy mixed-use development near the site.
The hospital and accompanying medical buildings and support services would be a good fit here. It is easily accessible to downtown, the university, Springfield and the community south and west of the river.
Siting the hospital near the railyard would likely leverage funding options that could assist any possible environmental mitigation associated with the site. Nearby are developing mixed-use plans for Chambers and near Rasor Park. Close access to the Willamette River Greenway and Bascom bike path would give doctors, nurses and staff intriguing opportunities for transportation options and discretionary time.
In addition to providing medical services and addressing the needs of staff, Triad could send a strong message by siting at Second and Chambers. Triad can address the greatest public interests of the commonwealth by taking the lead in being an anchor for an up-and-coming part of our town that would thrive with Triad making the decision to locate here.
Health Care
The Body Hunters
Part 1: As Drug Testing Spreads, Profits and Lives Hang in Balance
By Joe Stephens
The Washington Post | December 17, 2000; Page A01 |
First of six articles
KANO, Nigeria -- By the time word of the little girl's death reached the United States, her name had been replaced by numerals: No. 6587-0069.
She was 10 years old and a scant 41 pounds. She lived in Nigeria, and in April 1996 she ached from meningitis.
At the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Kano, Nigeria Nurse Mary Jo Frawley of the group Doctors Without Borders comforts Amadu Abdullah, age 6, who was suffering from cholera. He recovered. Staff doctors were disturbed by a 1996 clinical drug trial conducted at the hospital by the Pfizer pharmaceutical company.
An epidemic raged and scores lay dying in this frenetic city of amber dust. Somehow the girl found a refuge: a medical camp where foreign doctors had arrived to dispense expensive medicines for free.
Behind a gate besieged by suffering crowds stood two very different clinics. A humanitarian charity, Doctors Without Borders, had erected a treatment center solely in an effort to save lives. Researchers for Pfizer Inc., a huge American drug company, had set up a second center. They were using Nigeria's meningitis epidemic to conduct experiments on children with what Pfizer believed was a promising new antibiotic -- a drug not yet approved in the United States. (more...)
In Place of Nations
By John Le Carré
The Nation | April 9, 2001 |
Times have changed since the cold war, but not half as much as we might like to think. The cold war provided the perfect excuse for Western governments to plunder and exploit the Third World in the name of freedom; to rig its elections, bribe its politicians, appoint its tyrants and, by every sophisticated means of persuasion and interference, stunt the emergence of young democracies in the name of democracy.
And while they did this-whether in Southeast Asia, Central and South America or Africa-a ludicrous notion took root that we are saddled with to this day. It is a notion beloved of conservatives and, in my country, New Labour alike. It makes Siamese twins of Tony Blair, Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. It holds to its bosom the conviction that, whatever vast commercial corporations do in the short term, they are ultimately motivated by ethical concerns, and their influence upon the world is therefore beneficial. And anyone who thinks otherwise is a neo-Communist heretic.
In the name of this theory, we look on apparently helpless while rainforests are wrecked to the tune of millions of square miles every year, native agricultural communities are systematically deprived of their livelihoods, uprooted and made homeless, protesters are hanged and shot, the loveliest corners of the world are invaded and desecrated, and tropical paradises are turned into rotting wastelands with sprawling, disease-ridden megacities at their center.
And of all these crimes of unbridled capitalism, it seemed to me, as I began to cast round for a story to illustrate this argument in my most recent novel, that the pharmaceutical industry offered me the most eloquent example. I might have gone for the scandal of spiked tobacco, designed by Western manufacturers to cause addiction and incidentally cancer in Third World communities already plagued with AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and poverty on a scale few of us can imagine. (more...)
The Truth About the Drug Companies
Every day Americans are subjected to a barrage of advertising by the pharmaceutical industry. Mixed in with the pitches for a particular drug-usually featuring beautiful people enjoying themselves in the great outdoors-is a more general message. Boiled down to its essentials, it is this: "Yes, prescription drugs are expensive, but that shows how valuable they are. Besides, our research and development costs are enormous, and we need to cover them somehow. As 'research-based' companies, we turn out a steady stream of innovative medicines that lengthen life, enhance its quality, and avert more expensive medical care. You are the beneficiaries of this ongoing achievement of the American free enterprise system, so be grateful, quit whining, and pay up." More prosaically, what the industry is saying is that you get what you pay for.
Is any of this true? Well, the first part certainly is. Prescription drug costs are indeed high-and rising fast. Americans now spend a staggering $200 billion a year on prescription drugs, and that figure is growing at a rate of about 12 percent a year (down from a high of 18 percent in 1999). Drugs are the fastest-growing part of the health care bill-which itself is rising at an alarming rate. The increase in drug spending reflects, in almost equal parts, the facts that people are taking a lot more drugs than they used to, that those drugs are more likely to be expensive new ones instead of older, cheaper ones, and that the prices of the most heavily prescribed drugs are routinely jacked up, sometimes several times a year. (more...)
The Body Hunters
The Constant Gardener, a film directed by Fernando Meirelles, based on the novel by John Le Carré.
Shortly before I started work on my book The Truth About the Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What to Do About It, a friend gave me John Le Carré's newly published novel, The Constant Gardener, and urged me to read it right away. I did as I was told, and found the tale apposite, to put it mildly. (more...)
Compelling Love Story
Meets Big Pharma in Africa
By Lois Wadsworth
Eugene Weekly | September 15, 2005 |
The Constant Gardener: Directed by Fernando Meirelles. Written by Jeffrey Caine, based on the novel by John Le Carré. Produced by Simon Channing Williams, Tracey Seaward. Executive producers, Gail Egan, Robert Jones, Donald Ranvaud, Jeff Abberley, Julia Blackman. Cinematography, César Charlone. Production design, Mark Tildesley. Editor, Claire Simpson. Costume design, Odile Dicks-Mireaux. Starring Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz. With Danny Huston, Bill Nighy, Pete Postlethwaite, Gerard McSorley, Hubert Koundé. Archie Panjabi, Nick Reding. Focus Features, 2005. R. 129 minutes.
Brazilian filmmaker Fernando Meirelles (City of God) directs this excellent mainstream political thriller based on John Le Carré's novel of the same name with a fiery compassion for Third World societies wronged by the international exponents of a global economy. This overarching theme embraces a love story between Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes), a reticent, by-the-books, foreign intelligence bachelor and a life-loving, by-any-means-necessary, political activist, Tessa (Rachel Weisz). (more...)
The New Deal
If you thought the Texas Pacific deal for PGE was bad, get a load of this.
It really doesn't make sense.
Six months ago, the Oregon Public Utility Commission rejected the Texas Pacific Group's bid for Portland General Electric, saying, "The potential harms or risks to PGE customers from the deal outweigh the potential benefits."
Two weeks ago, Enron presented the PUC with a new plan to distribute PGE's stock to Enron's creditors. Utility watchers say the commission will almost certainly approve that plan.
Yet by almost any measure, the spinoff of PGE to the bankrupt energy giant's creditors is worse for the utility's 767,000 customers than the Texas Pacific deal. (more...)
Nearby Developments
Medical park near Autzen getting off ground
By Joe Harwood
The Register-Guard | September 13, 2005 |
Eugene developer Wally Graff started site preparation work two weeks ago at his fledgling medical office park east of Autzen Stadium in Eugene, and plans to pour the foundation for the first building before the end of the month. (more...)
Councilors will get update on Region 2050 plan: They will talk about how to manage expected growth throughout the valley
By Amber Fossen
The Springfield News | September 12, 2005 |
It's predicted that the region will increase in population to 463,500 people by the year 2050.
Communities throughout the area have been asked to consider how growth should occur, what should be done to protect quality of life and where growth should take place.
As part of the Region 2050 long-range plan, communities are being polled to determine what they want as they build their futures. Meetings have already been held in several cities -- including Walterville, Pleasant Hill, Veneta and Creswell.
The process continues locally this month. (more...)
Picture This: Future Growth
By Scott Maben
The Register-Guard | September 18, 2005 |
Enough people to double the size of Eugene are heading this way.
They will need jobs, houses and more places to shop. They will make the streets and highways more crowded. They will demand more schools and parks, and will strain sewer and water systems.
They're coming -- 160,000 of them, maybe more. (more...)
Residential real estate still flying high in Lane County
By Sherri Buri Mcdonald
The Register-Guard | September 15, 2005 |
Median home prices in Lane County continued to zoom skyward in August, but at least buyers have more homes to choose from than they did in spring or early summer, according to the latest RMLS real estate market report. (more...)
Editorial -- High-flying housing
| The Register-Guard | September 19, 2005 |
The median price of a home sold in Lane County last month was $209,900, up 29 percent from August 2004.
How many people in Lane County saw their incomes rise by 29 percent? The price of anything, including housing, depends on buyers' ability to pay, and in today's real estate market there's a growing tension between prices and incomes. (more...)
Letter -- How? Priorities
By Rob Handy, Eugene
Eugene Weekly | September 15, 2005 |
Kurt Yeiter (8/25) nicely outlines the conundrums of mixed-use centers (MUC) and frames the question: Can we grow AND improve?
Residents ponder workable alternatives to coffer-draining sprawl on farm and forest lands. Oregon has a strong heritage of public access beaches, enacting the Willamette River Greenway, modeling a bottle deposit-for-return and land use laws that protect the commonwealth -- a pioneering vision lacking in much contemporary planning.
Skeptics point to the city's unintended outcomes at the Royal Node (sprawl on a greenfield at the edge of the Urban Growth Boundary) and the Chase Gardens Node (neighbors got the density and accompanying car traffic, but didn't get the services and transit options).
Optimists will point towards the city's refined approach currently applied to Walnut Node/MUC (resident and business blocks viewed through different lenses) and Chambers MUC (where the grassroots group Chambers Area Families for Healthy Neighborhoods has reinvigorated caring, thoughtful public involvement) as examples of MUC progress.
Like Oregon's visionary planning pioneers, how do we plan for outcomes not fully realized until our grandkids are grown? Start with priorities: Make our parks safe. Create a scale and tenor of new development in harmony with existing neighborhoods. Target density in proportion to neighborhood character. Provide business incentives and siting in accordance with on-the-ground transportation options (bike, pedestrian, mass transit) that make a MUC a live, safe, and a desirable place to be.
Rasor Park MUC is up next for planning. Can the Greenway be respected by new development (like the McMenamin's grill near Autzen) that might face the Willamette along River Road, making the bike path safer and a destination spot for transportation of all kinds?
Could Rasor MUC host hospital-support services when Triad considers siting a new hospital at 2nd and Chambers in Eugene? Yeiter challenges our thinking with his questions, while inviting residents and businesses to get involved with designing the answers. A Neighborhood Initiative is a current City Council priority goal. Grassroots involvement at the neighborhood level is key to determining the shape of our community in the years to come.
Council makes 'Greatest City' slogan official
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | September 13, 2005 |
The Eugene City Council on Monday evening wanted to hear what residents had to say about replacing City Hall.
More residents, however, had another topic on their agenda. They wanted councilors to adopt what has become the city's de facto new slogan: "The World's Greatest City for the Arts and Outdoors." (more...)
Architect says keep City Hall
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | September 17, 2005 |
Otto Poticha, one of Eugene's best known and opinionated architects, knows what he would do about City Hall: renovate it.
The aging building should be preserved and remodeled, not torn down and built from the ground up, Poticha told the City Club of Eugene on Friday.
With its unpretentious look and courtyard design, the building "has a warm, friendly and inviting atmosphere," he said. (more...)
Architect has designs on Eugene
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | September 18, 2005 |
Tom Hacker can't wait to start work in Eugene next month.
His Portland architectural firm was hired Friday to lead the planning effort for a new Eugene City Hall. (more...)
Architecture: How Does a Building Mean?
Facing adulthood: the mid-sized city in identity crisis.
By Michael Cockram
Eugene Weekly | September 15, 2005 |
A recent front-page article (7/10) in The Register-Guard and a photo showing the gaping hole near Willamette and Broadway struck me. The next photo was presented as a potential remedy -- a new mall development in Tualatin. The same developers are planning to renovate a section of Broadway from Willamette to Charnelton.
What made my heart sink was the image of the place -- like so many recent developments, the designers patched together a collision of styles: French Empire, Art Nouveau -- old Europe in a blender. The word Disneyland came up in the article -- an artificial world -- architainment.
The concept of this new development is very positive -- vital pedestrian shops, businesses and residential living downtown. Anything that sucks the life back from the big boxes and into the city center is a good thing in my book. (more...)
Basketball arena planners seek funding for project
The University has secured the space but not the money to build a facility to replace deteriorating McArthur Court
By Nicholas Wilbur, Campus editor
Oregon Daily Emerald | September 19, 2005 |
Plans for a new basketball arena have stirred up a good deal of commotion among skeptical neighbors and students over the last three years, but as deterioration and spatial concerns continue to plague the current basketball facility, McArthur Court, better known as "The Pit," the University is still seeking private contributors for a new arena. Little progress has been made, and the plan remains stuck in the "if" stage. (more...)
University receives grant to fund building projects
A new residence hall and College of Education complex are some of the projects under way
By Nicholas Wilbur, Campus editor
Oregon Daily Emerald | September 19, 2005 |
This year's Oregon legislative session awarded the University $26.65 million in state-funded general obligation bonds, the largest investment for capital construction in 30 years.
As a result, campus will see massive construction projects over the next few years as millions of dollars continue to pour into the Campaign Oregon: Transforming Lives fund raiser.
With $364 million already raised from private donors, the campaign to improve facilities on campus and attract nationally recognized scholars, athletes and students while improving the academic atmosphere at the University is well under way.
Chairman of Campaign Oregon and University alumnus Randy Papé, also president and CEO of The Papé Group, Inc. in Eugene, said in a press release he was excited to see this step forward for education. (more...)
Three firms quick to apply for Eugene tax breaks
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | September 14, 2005 |
Three Eugene firms didn't waste any time stepping forward to apply for property tax breaks in the city's recently approved enterprise zone.
The West Eugene Enterprise Zone took effect on July 1, but a dispute between the county and the city over how to dispense the tax breaks wasn't resolved until Aug. 8.
That same day, Golden Temple of Oregon submitted its application for tax waivers for a planned $11 million, 30- to 40-job expansion at its northwest Eugene plant. Golden Temple makes cereals, snack bars, teas and body care products at its Prairie Road factory.
The next day, Hynix Semiconductor Manufacturing America applied for tax breaks on its planned $500 million equipment upgrade at its computer chip manufacturing plant off West 11th Avenue in west Eugene. Hynix plans to add 91 jobs.
The third firm, Heli-Tech, had submitted its application on July 18. The firm, which makes engine turbine washing equipment and maintenance tools for helicopters, plans to build a $2 million plant in southwest Eugene and add three or more employees. (more...)
Building a 'supercenter': Local Wal-Mart store will soon get even bigger as construction gets under way for a giant grocery wing
By Ben Raymond Lode
The Springfield News | September 12, 2005 |
At nearly three and a half acres, the Springfield Wal-Mart store on Olympic Street is already the city's largest stand-alone retail store. Now, it's in the early stages of going up to more than 5 acres -- in the process of being turned into a Wal-Mart Supercenter.
And it probably won't be the last Supercenter to open in the metro area. The company is also working to turn its discount store on West 11th Avenue in Eugene into a supercenter.
That supercenter, according to Wal-Mart, would combine a full-service grocery store and the company's traditional 36 general merchandise departments all under one roof. (more...)
New rec center is closer to reality
Construction could begin on facility later this year
By Amber Fossen
The Springfield News | September 16, 2005 |
Plans to build a new community recreation center are moving forward, and construction could begin as early as November.
On Wednesday, the Willamalane Park and Recreation District Board of Directors passed a resolution to finance a new recreation center, which includes the sale of the district's administration center on Mill Street.
Chris Pryor, Willamalane spokesman, said Thursday that it's important for the district to act and act quickly, due to the potential impacts of Hurricane Katrina on the price of steel. (more...)
Momentum builds for Glenwood fire station
By Stacy D. Stumbo
The Springfield News | September 14, 2005 |
A Springfield Fire and Life Safety station in Glenwood may not be a lofty dream.
City officials have been contemplating the possibility for years, but recently, a group of private citizens have brought the issue to the forefront, naming it one of the top priorities for both communities.
Recently, a 20-member TEAM Springfield committee put a potential Glenwood station in its "Springfield Tomorrow 2015" plan wish list. (more...)
Task force: Countless criminals, and no place to put them
By Stacy D. Stumbo
The Springfield News | September 12, 2005 |
Where there's a will there's a way.
At least that's what a task force formed to find revenue sources for a municipal jail in Springfield is hoping.
"We really need a jail here," said Roxie Cuellar, a member of the nine-person task force. "The (Lane County) jail doesn't take misdemeanors. Unless a person is brought in for a violent crime, virtually no one is put in jail anymore."
Cuellar said that thieves and other nonviolent criminals need to learn there are consequences for their actions. At least in Springfield. (more...)
Bethel votes to put local option levy on ballot
| The Register-Guard | September 14, 2005 |
The Bethel School Board voted unanimously Tuesday to go ahead with a local option levy in the May 2006 election. (more...)
Editorial -- Fiscal storm looming: Congress should extend county payment plan
| The Register-Guard | September 13, 2005 |
Lane County lies thousands of miles from the hurricane-prone Gulf Coast, but it could face a devastating storm of a different kind if Congress fails to renew the Secure Rural School and Community Self-Determination Act. (more...)
Study: sprawl, waistlines not linked
By Greg Bolt
The Register-Guard | September 12, 2005 |
Don't blame urban sprawl for America's sprawling waistline.
That's the message from two Oregon State University researchers, who say the nation's "obesity epidemic" probably has little to do with whether people can walk from their house to a store. They've published two studies suggesting that the connection between weight and sprawl is more of a two-way street than some planners may think. (more...)
Transportation
Students to ride free on LTD buses
By Matt Cooper
The Register-Guard | September 16, 2005 |
High-schooler Chelsie Allen says she loves Lane Transit District buses because they're less expensive to take than her "gas hog" of a truck. (more...)
Morrisette wants members of LTD board to be elected
By Matt Cooper
The Register-Guard | September 16, 2005 |
A recent poll showed that 65 percent of local elected officials say the Lane Transit District is doing a heckuva job.
But state Sen. Bill Morrisette isn't one of them. (more...)
Lane Transit District builds new Bus Rapid Transit line
The EmX line will connect downtown Eugene and downtown Springfield beginning in fall 2006
By Gabe Bradley, News Editor
Oregon Daily Emerald | September 19, 2005 |
Construction on the 11th Avenue segment of Lane Transit District's EmX line, which began in April, wrapped up at the end of last week. (more...)
Editorial -- Aid is a matter of priorities
By Hasso Hering
The (Albany) Democrat-Herald | |
Congress has approved spending an additional $60 billion in response to Hurricane Katrina, and if the money is to be spent, it will have to be borrowed first. In a more responsible government, Congress might have provided that funding not "in addition to" but "instead of."
Suppose you have been saving up to buy a new washer and drier because the old set is beginning to make strange noises. The day before you make that purchase, a storm comes up and tears a hole in your roof. So you change plans. The money goes on the roof, and you hope the washer will hold out a bit longer.
In July, Congress approved a transportation bill that includes $286 billion worth of projects to be done over the next five years. Some of these are crucial, but others could wait if something more important comes up.
The bill includes nearly $800,000 for a North Albany park and ride station. It includes more than half a million dollars for a walking path from the railroad depot to Swanson Park. There's more than $1 million for refurbishing the old REA building at the rail yard, which could just as easily be torn down without anybody missing it overly much. There's also more than $10 million toward straightening out Highway 20 in the Coast Range, which will be nice but not exactly a necessity of life.
Shortly after the hurricane struck, a reader sent the Democrat-Herald an e-mail suggesting that federal funds be reallocated to disaster relief. The editor responded by pointing out that federal regulations prohibit such a thing. But the reader had the right idea. If a disaster strikes, a disaster of the enormity of Katrina and its aftermath, who would be so dense as to insist on following the regulations when there's a more urgent need for federal cash?
In the case of the transportation bill, the money comes from the gas tax and does not have to be borrowed. Within the limits of the Constitution, Congress can do whatever it wants. In this case, it might have passed an emergency bill that reallocated some of the gas tax money -- the part not needed for urgent and life-saving projects in transportation -- to help reconstruct the Gulf Coast instead.
County gets new ODOT supervisor
By Ben Raymond Lode
The Springfield News | September 12, 2005 |
Before Jane Lee began working for the Oregon Department of Transportation in 1992, she owned two pizza franchises -- one in Newport and one in Bend.
On Monday, the 46-year-old mother of two will officially take over as area manager in ODOT's Springfield office, which covers all of Lane County. (more...)
Measure 37, Oregon's Land Use Planning System
Tom Kelly -- Now's the time to think about 'Big Look' challenge
By Tom Kelly
The Oregonian | September 12, 2005 |
The Oregon Legislature this session passed a bill that could revive Oregon's pioneering ways while protecting our great quality of life. Senate Bill 82, or the "Big Look," establishes a 10-member task force to look at how effective Oregon's land-use planning program is in handling current and future needs and to make recommendations to the Legislature in 2009.
It's about time. (more...)
Anna Quindlen -- Don't Mess With Mother
The long view is not about patching levees, or building houses, or assigning blame. It's about changing the way we all live now.
By Anna Quindlen
Newsweek | September 19, 2005 |
The dark aftermath of the frontier, of the vast promise of possibility this country first offered, is an inflated sense of American entitlement today. We want what we want, and we want it now. Easy credit. Fast food. A straight shot down the interstate from point A to point B. The endless highway is crowded with the kinds of cars large enough to take a mountain pass in high snow. Instead they are used to take children from soccer practice to Pizza Hut. In the process they burn fuel like there's no tomorrow.
Tomorrow's coming.
The cataclysm named Katrina has inspired a Hummer-load of rumination, about class, about race, about the pathetic failure of the Feds after four long years of much-vaunted homeland-security plans. The president made himself foolish, calling for an investigation into who fouled up, perhaps ignorant of Harry Truman's desk plaque reading THE BUCK STOPS HERE. The press rose to the occasion, awakened out of its recent somnambulant state, galvanized into empathy and rage. The public was remarkable, opening their homes and their wallets.
But the failure by government, in the midst of a hurricane season forecast early on to be a monstrous one, illustrates once again the lack of a long view. The long view at the moment is not about patching levees, or building houses, or getting oil rigs back up and running, or assigning blame. It's about changing the way we all live now. (more...)
Leslie L. Lewallen -- Protecting Right to Limit Government and Protect Property Rights in Oregon
By Leslie L. Lewallen
Pacific Legal Foundation | June 2005 |
One of our most treasured liberties is the right to own and make reasonable use of private property. By almost any definition, property ownership is at the very core of what most people call the American Dream. However, for a growing number of landowners living under Oregon's oppressive and often arbitrary land use regulatory scheme-lauded by "smart growth" proponents as a symbol for the rest of the nation-this dream has become more of a nightmare.
For over 13 years, PLF's Northwest Center has been fighting in court in support of Oregon citizens who have been injured by the state's burdensome land use laws. A 1994 case singled out by the U.S. Supreme Court in Oregon was the first warning sign to government that the tide was beginning to change. The precedent set in Dolan v. Tigard upheld constitutional safeguards to landowners forced to pay excessive impact fees as a condition of their building permits. As a result, the city of Tigard paid the Dolan family $1.5 million in just compensation for a bike path it could have purchased for $14,000 when the Dolans first applied for their permit.
Last November, Oregon voters built upon Dolan's precedent by passing Measure 37, a groundbreaking initiative that requires government to compensate landowners if a regulation substantially reduces a property's value or limits its use. Under Measure 37 property owners may either claim compensation for their monetary losses, or in the alternative, receive exemptions from the offending land use rules. (more...)
Measure 37 goes to court, with a wary statewide audience
The judiciary -- with Marion County up first -- may steer how Oregon balances land-use planning and development
By Laura Oppenheimer
The Oregonian | September 12, 2005 |
Starting Tuesday, court battles will determine whether Oregon's new property rights law actually translates into homes and businesses.
Nearly a year after Measure 37 passed, both sides are using legal minutiae to wage a philosophical war over how Oregon plots its future.
First up: a Marion County hearing on planning advocates' attempt to knock down the entire law. They say it violates the state constitution by favoring longtime property owners in Oregon over more recent landowners.
Meanwhile, property owners who've applied for new building opportunities under Measure 37 need courts' help to start construction. And, in some cases, nervous neighbors are counting on judges to thwart development. (more...)
Suit challenging Measure 37 goes to judge
By Laura Oppenheimer
The Oregonian | September 14, 2005 |
Oregon's controversial property-rights law, Measure 37, is now in the hands of a judge. (more...)
Marion County judge considers Measure 37 fate
Suit claims land-use law is illegal because it favors certain people
By Peter Wong
The (Salem) Statesman Journal | September 14, 2005 |
The fate of the property-compensation measure that Oregon voters approved last year now rests with a Marion County judge. (more...)
Judge hears constitutional challenge to landmark property rights law
By Mark Engler, Freelance Writer
The Capital Press | September 16, 2005 |
SALEM -- The first phase of the legal fracas surrounding Oregon's Measure 37 climaxed here this week.
Lawyers for various parties in dispute over the constitutionality of the statewide citizens' initiative debated their positions in Marion County Circuit Court in what is probably the initial stage of years of litigation over basic questions about the property rights law that forces governments, in certain instances, to pay to regulate private property. (more...)
Land rights claim challenges zoning
By Joe Harwood
The Register-Guard | September 14, 2005 |
A Eugene couple with a 14.3-acre parcel just east of the Kiechle Arm of Siltcoos Lake in Dunes City are seeking to subdivide the coastal property into one-acre lots under Oregon's new property rights law. But Lane County officials are opposing the request. (more...)
Abrams case goes to planning director
By David Bates
The (McMinnville) News-Register | September 13, 2005 |
The 50-lot subdivision and strip commercial development Maralynn Abrams is proposing along McMinnville's Hill Road will be decided by Yamhill County Planning Director Mike Brandt on his own. (more...)
County OKs two big Measure 37 subdivisions
By David Bates
The (McMinnville) News-Register | September 15, 2005 |
Yamhill County Commissioners approved Wednesday two more Measure 37 claims covering more than 200 acres.
That will clear the way for subdivisions featuring up to 110 lots. (more...)
New Measure 37 claims cover 360 acres
By David Bates
The (McMinnville) News-Register | September 17, 2005 |
Yamhill County Commissioners will consider nearly a dozen Measure 37 applications Monday, most calling for development of farmland in Dayton and Newberg areas.
Collectively, they would grant development rights to nine property owners for at least 120 homes on more than 360 acres. And the count of homes could go a lot higher, as numbers are not specified in some of the applications. (more...)
Chafing at Measure 37, Tigard passes 1st claim
The decision advances a plan to build a strip mall on 10.45 acres at Southwest 135th and Scholls Ferry
By Luciana Lopez
The Oregonian | September 15, 2005 |
TIGARD -- The City Council approved Tigard's first Measure 37 claim Tuesday night, even as councilors vented their frustration at the measure and as residents expressed worries about traffic and the environment. (more...)
Editorial -- Mary Zemke speaks up
| The (Bend) Bulletin | September 11, 2005 |
Jefferson County Commissioner Mary Zemke gave both barrels Wednesday to a Measure 37 ordinance she herself had supported. Good for her. Most of the time, holders of public office ought to behave decorously and play nicely with their colleagues. But when it comes to absurd public policies, it sometimes makes sense to let fly.
Measure 37 has certainly engendered absurd public policy, much of it designed to limit the impact of the measure itself. The measure, approved last November, was intended to allow people to use their property as they could at the time they bought it. It does allow governments to enforce subsequent land-use restrictions, but, in doing so, the measure is supposed to compensate property owners for the reduction in their land value.
The measure threatened to kick the legs out of state and local land-use policies, and various governments have responded by thwarting it in a number of ways. The most onerous such land mine, supported by the state attorney general's office, denies claimants in many places, including Jefferson County, the right to transfer wwaivers to land-use rules when they sell their property. (more...)
Patrick J. Wright -- Taking Measures
By Patrick J. Wright
Mackinac Center for Public Policy | September 14, 2005 |
(The following is the written testimony on which Mackinac Center Senior Legal Analyst Patrick J. Wright based his oral remarks to the Michigan House Committee on Government Operations on Sept. 13, 2005.)
Public attention to property rights has increased considerably in the past few months because of an important U.S. Supreme Court ruling. On June 23, 2005, the court issued a decision in Kelo v. New London, a case that involved an eminent domain dispute in the state of Connecticut.
The people of Oregon have recently put this idea into practice with "Measure 37," which was passed on a popular ballot in 2004 with 60 percent of the vote. Measure 37 essentially assumes that the value of a property owners land should be determined only by the marketplace; it should not be diminished by state and local regulations without compensation. If a regulation is enacted in Oregon for the benefit of society, and if that regulation diminishes the value of the land after a property owner has acquired his or her interest in it, society in general must pay the cost. Under Measure 37, the cost is not shifted to the landowner. (more...)
Other News
Letter -- We must remain compassionate
By Todd Huffman, Eugene
The Register-Guard | September 19, 2005 |
Not long after Hurricane Katrina finally died an unnoticed death somewhere across Canada, a hurricane of compassion gathered strength and swept across America, opening our hearts and wallets to aid the many victims of Katrina's catastrophic aftermath.
While I am not proud of my government right now, I am very proud of us, of we the people. We have risen to the occasion, to the tune of nearly a billion dollars donated to private relief agencies.
The road ahead for Louisiana and the Gulf Coast is still piled with debris. Even once it is passable, the road will be long and hard. These areas will continue to need our help and our attention long after the cameras have departed for the next crisis, or for the next trivial scandal that masquerades as news.
Writer and activist Arundhati Roy once wrote of our crisis-driven media, which picks a crisis to the bone, then drops it and moves on, and how then, for victims, the darkness becomes deeper than it was before the light shone on them. If you doubt this, ask yourself when was the last story you heard or read about the fate of survivors of the South Asian tsunami, which killed over a quarter of a million people not even nine months ago?
If there is a lasting legacy to Katrina, let it be that Americans remain consistently compassionate, not just in the days immediately following catastrophe. And let it no longer take tragedy to remind us of our humanity.
Mayor Maybe
Is Piercy really a progressive? So far it's hard to tell.
By Alan Pittman
Eugene Weekly | September 15, 2005 |
Paul Nicholson would seem like a natural supporter of Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy. He's a former progressive city councilor and owner of the eco-friendly Paul's local chain of bike shops.
Dave Hauser would seem like a natural Piercy opponent. He's president of the Eugene Chamber of Commerce, a group frequently at odds with progressives over urban sprawl, corporate tax breaks and environmental destruction.
But Nicholson says he's "disappointed" with Piercy's first nine months in office. "She's fallen down on the really fundamental issues."
In contrast, Hauser says the Chamber of Commerce is "pleased" with Piercy. "I think she's doing a good job." (more...)
Council ponders choices for new city manager
By Amber Fossen
The Springfield News | September 12, 2005 |
There's more than a nibble of interest for the role of Springfield City Manager.
After posting the position for six weeks, 45 applicants threw in their bids for the seat at the helm of the city, including two people who already work for the city.
The job posting closed last Wednesday and now the process of whittling down the stack begins. (more...)
Editorial -- California (sigh) leads
| The Register-Guard | September 14, 2005 |
If Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski keeps a private list of reasons to envy his counterpart in California, he can add this: Arnold Schwarzenegger has a bill on his desk mandating fire-safe cigarettes. Kulongoski could have signed a similar bill earlier, but the Oregon House of Representatives, in a craven bow to the tobacco lobby, denied him the opportunity. (more...)
Interview With Dave Barry: Humor after tragedy
| The Miami Herald | September 10, 2005 |
Tom Fiedler: Do you think seriously about humor?
Dave Barry: I have to because people always ask me. I didn't use to; I mean, I just thought as a kid growing up that humor was, everybody got humor, and everybody just thought it was fun to laugh and stuff. At some point when I became a trained professional in the humor field, I found that everybody wanted to probe into it. So at some point I started developing theories about it. None of them maybe, they may all be completely false, these theories, but I do have quite a few of them now . . . just because people ask me, like I'm an expert. Like I studied it.
Fiedler: Tell me one.
Barry: Well, I have this theory that basically the fundamental reason for humor is sort of human need to deal with the fact that the world is irrational and dangerous and random and that it ends in death. And like penguins don't know that, which is why so few penguins get into the humor field. I'm not saying they're not funny, but, you know, just being professional. (Fiedler: I hadn't thought of that.) But animals in general just don't seem to figure that out.
But humans figured, oh my gosh, the world -- I mean, even though I live a wonderful, good life, I could be killed at any minute or horrible things could happen. And even if everything goes great, I'm going to die, probably without any teeth.
So there are two basic ways that we deal with that. One is religion -- OK, it's not really going to end, it's going to go on and on. And the other is to find humor in it, to laugh at it. I really think that most jokes in the end, when we laugh, we are releasing a tension that we feel about something that's a little scarier and incongruous and insane about our lives around us. So that's my humor theory. (more...)