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News
Briefs: Message Control
| Fuzzy Cop Vision | New
Nuclear Threat | EW
Honored| Keep On Trekin'
News:
Green Cleaning: Dry cleaning alternative returns, but most
cleaners still use perc.
News:
City School Bailout: Would an income/business tax be better
than a property tax?
Happening
People: Jan Fairchild
MESSAGE
CONTROL
Accusations that both journalists
and PR professionals are "spineless" and "passive" brought an indignant
response from the crowd at a joint meeting of two professional groups
last week.
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SPEAKERS
AT THE JOINT SPJ/PRSA MEETING ARE JEFF WRIGHT (LEFT), MARILYN
MILNE AND ERIC JONES.
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Eugene-area reporters, editors and PR practitioners
got together at the Oregon Electric Station July 24 to debate ethics,
practices and the meaning of the word "flack." Speakers for the evening
were Jeff Wright of The Register-Guard and two local PR practitioners,
Marilyn Milne and Eric Jones. The event, titled "Friends of Foes?",
was sponsored by the local chapters of the Society of Professional
Journalists and the Public Relations Society of America.
Surprise participants were two local activists, Tim
Lewis and John Zerzan, who videotaped the speakers, along with each
other, presumably for broadcast on Community Television's "Cascadia
Alive!" this week. Lewis blasted both professions, saying "spin doctors,
the PR people and the reporters who are all so passive all over this
country are the ones who are bringing on this corruption and the shit
that's going on all over this world. You are responsible for that
shit."
R-G reporter Diane Dietz responded, saying,
"I'm offended by the idea that journalists are spineless, especially
now in the last year, more of them have died putting themselves in
the line of fire to get the truth … I also have seen among my
colleagues a willingness to really put themselves out to not accept
the company line to get the truth."
Lewis also asked, "What ever happened to the facts
or truth? There isn't any investigative reporting going on. That's
why this meeting can be held with a straight face."
Near the end of the meeting, after Zerzan and Lewis
left, PR practitioner Leslie Habetler said, "I'll guarantee you that
what they were doing here was getting footage for their television
program so that we're going to look like idiots so that he can make
his speech. That's what it was all about. ... And that really offends
me because we're being judged, we're being taken to task for not having
integrity, for not knowing our jobs, for being spineless idiots. But
to me, that was spineless. Nobody else in this room took this
occasion to stand up and make their agenda … and for them to
think they have a corner on truth is incredibly naïve and very
dishonest."
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Slant
´ A major planning decision for Eugene is on
the City Council work session agenda this week while we go to
press. City staff is pushing for what they are calling the "6th
Avenue option" to route three lanes of traffic next to the railroad
tracks north of the new federal building. Let's fully examine
using the existing street grid before encircling our new courthouse
neighborhood with concrete and traffic.
´ Our story on wet cleaning this week is a rehash
of a story we did several years ago when alternatives to toxic
cleaning solvents were news. Wet cleaning didn't catch on in
Eugene back then, but let's make it happen this time. The dry
cleaning industry is self-reporting when it comes to toxic spills
and that's disturbing. What happens behind closed doors is impossible
to control. Until we can completely ban perc and other toxic
cleaners, we can affect change right now by the choices we make
in our consumer habits.
´ Last week's "Undercovered #23" news story
documents the $1.8 billion in military aid given to Israel in
2002 and the $2.1 billion proposed for 2003, but leaves unanswered
the question: "Who is really receiving American military aid
to Israel?" During the past decade, Israel has purchased, with
U.S. military aid, $7.2 billion of weapons from U.S. companies,
including Apache gunship helicopters from Boeing, F-16 fighter
jets from Lockheed Martin, and missiles from Raytheon and Boeing,
according to Foreign Policy in Focus. Since Israel is
required to buy 75 percent of the weapons purchased with U.S.
military aid from American companies, a lot of the money —
our tax money — is aid to the U.S. defense industry.
´ Congrats to independent gov candidate Richard
Alevizos and his wife who had a baby boy Friday, July 26. Another
likely independent thinker has joined us! Welcome.
SLANT includes short opinion pieces and rumor-chasing
notes compiled by the EW staff. Heard any good rumors lately?
Contact Ted Taylor at 484-0519, editor@eugeneweekly.com |
Most of the meeting was devoted to debating the ethics
and practices of PR and journalism. Wright admonished PR people to
pitch their story ideas "with integrity, but don't extol or exaggerate
to the point of absurdity. Tell us the truth as your client sees the
truth, but don't lie to us." Wright said in his experience, "there
are mostly two types of PR practitioners, those who see their role
as conduits of information and those who see their role as controlling
information. It's not always the practitioner, but the institution
that chooses which of these roles to embrace."
Milne urged reporters to "Use us, put us to work for
you," but also complained about being quoted out of context and reporters
trying to go around her to get a story. "Play by the rules," she said.
"Don't ambush us. Don't mislead us on the intent of your story."
Jones said his background as a reporter and editor
have helped him in his PR work. One of his greatest accomplishments,
he said, is occasionally seeing his press releases "run unedited in
the newspaper … That's message control."
Other topics covered included off-the-record conversations,
the ethics of withholding information from the press, and instances
when PR people refuse to speak to reporters.
— Ted Taylor
FUZZY
COP VISION
The Eugene Police Commission (EPC) completed
its review of community policing last month, with little to show for
the effort.
EPC set out to answer the question of "What exactly
is community policing?" according to commission materials. But the
answer to that question is nowhere to be found in the police commission's
final report.
The report includes some vague statements of community
policing having something to do with "problem solving and partnerships."
Community policing "is related to nearly every aspect of police work"
and the committee "understood that community policing practices had
long been in place in the police department."
The EPC review is only the latest of a thick stack
of community policing reports and studies that have gathered dust
on police department shelves over the last decade. The Eugene City
Council made community policing an official goal of the EPD in 1991,
to little effect.
The Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) interviewed
Eugene police officers and community members in 1997 and reported,
"both the department and the community have struggled to figure out
just what community policing in Eugene is .... A significant portion
of the community interviewees feel that the department has lacked
a clear community-policing vision, and that this void is both stunting
police progress and adding to the community's confusion."
In 1999, then City Manager Jim Johnson said community
policing "needs to get more specific … There's no question we've
lost momentum on it [community policing]," he says. "I wouldn't say
there's very much of it going on."
Former Police Chief Jim Hill defined community policing
as including the EPD SWAT team and SWAT-like Rapid Deployment Unit.
That's a far cry from the friendly neighborhood cop on the beat scenario
described in 1991. In 2001, Hill abandoned the system of neighborhood
beats set up by his predecessor, Leonard Cooke.
Cooke had planned to implement community policing
within existing resources by reprioritizing police work but was forced
out after line officers opposed community policing as soft on crime,
according to city reports.
The current acting police chief, Thad Buchanan, was
head of the RDU under Hill and shared his SWAT definition of community
policing.
The lack of a clear definition and implementation
of community policing within EPD may leave citizens uninterested in
supporting the department. Efforts to fund a new police station have
twice failed at the polls. When the Police Commission held community
workshops on community policing, citizen attendees were outnumbered
by commission members and city staff.
— Alan Pittman
NEW
NUCLEAR THREAT
Tuesday, Aug. 6, is the anniversary of the
dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, and in order to help prevent
another Hiroshima, Eugene activists are hosting two events to highlight
the threat posed to humankind by the Bush administration's Nuclear
Posture Review (NPR) and to outline what Oregonians can do to counter
that threat.
The NPR calls on the Pentagon to draft contingency
plans for the use of nuclear weapons against seven countries —
Russia, China, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Libya and Syria. In addition,
the Pentagon has been told to prepare for the possibility that nuclear
weapons may be required in some future Arab-Israeli crisis. "They
have also been asked to develop plans for using nuclear weapons to
retaliate against chemical or biological attacks, as well as 'surprising
military developments'" of an unspecified nature," says Michael Carrigan
of Oregon PeaceWorks.
The Bush Administration plan reverses an almost two
decades long trend of relegating nuclear weapons to category of weapons
of last resort.
Eugene PeaceWorks, WAND and Oregon PeaceWorks are
hosting the Aug. 6 event from 6 to 9 pm.at Alton Baker Park. A potluck
dinner is from 6 to 7 pm, followed by music, speakers and the floating
of peace lanterns. The Eugene Peace Choir will be performing and Western
Shoshone spiritual leader and anti-nuclear activist Corbin Harney
will be the keynote speaker.
A Hiroshima photo exhibit will be displayed from 11
am to 3 pm Tuesday at 8th and Oak and local peace and justice groups
will have information tables. For more information call PeaceWorks
at 343-8548.
EW
HONORED
Annual awards from the Oregon Newspaper
Publishers Association (ONPA) this summer included three honors for
Eugene Weekly in writing, design and overall content in 2001.
EW competes against other ONPA associate members.
Alan Pittman took a third-place writing award for
three stories he wrote last year: "Census in the City," dealing with
the lack of racial diversity in Eugene; "Boxing Us In," on the sad
state of Eugene architecture; and "Blow Up," his story on the $250,000
Joey Harrington poster and UO athletic spending.
EW took second place in the Design category,
and another second place in the "Target Audience" category, which
is peculiar to the associated members' contest and reflects overall
content.
KEEP
ON TREKIN'
Cascadia Forest Defenders' fourth annual
Trek for Trees is happening this weekend, Aug. 3-4. The pledge ride
for forest defense promotes sustainable transportation and is a fund-raiser
for CFD tree-sits and other campaigns.
The ride begins at 9 am Saturday at the EWEB Plaza,
500 E 4th Ave., and winds along scenic waterways and into the majestic
forests of the Winberry Creek watershed to a camp spot next to the
creek. An optional trip is planned to area timber sales, including
Winberry where CFD has been maintaining a tree-sit for 3-1/2 years.
Sunday morning, the riders will head back to Eugene
for a moderate round trip of about 70 miles. A support vehicle is
available to carry gear. CFD will provide all-vegetarian meals and
entertainment.
Those interested in riding or making a pledge can
contact CFD at 684-8977 or stop by 454 Willamette St, room #205.
Back to Top
Green
Cleaning
Dry cleaning alternative returns, but most cleaners
still use perc.
BY
NICOLE HILL
Classic rock still plays while people fold
and fluff among the tumbling dryers, clanging change machines and
scattered newspaper classified ads at the cleaners on 29th Avenue.
But the laundry that sits on this busy thoroughfare, now known as
LaClair's, has changed a little.
Round the corner past the coin operated washers and
dryers, back to the dry cleaning counter, sits a sleekly designed,
shiny chrome "aqua clean system." The wet-cleaning system, delivered
all they way from Switzerland, uses a biodegradable detergent instead
of the toxic solvent perchloroethylene (perc), which the dry-cleaning
industry nationwide continues to use.
"We knew how bad perc was before even getting into
the business," says owner Debbie LaClair. Perc is classified as a
probable human carcinogen associated with myriad serious health problems
such as reproductive disorders, liver and kidney damage and harm to
the central nervous system, according to Greenpeace (www.greenpeace.org).
"We're about green cleaning and recycling —
we recycle hangers, cardboard backs and plastics," says LaClair, former
owner of Lucky's Tavern. The LaClairs say the smoking ban ran them
out of the tavern business, and starting up a Laundromat seemed like
the only viable option. They found the wet cleaning system to be cheaper
than purchasing and operating a perc machine. "Buying the chemical
is expensive and so are potential spills," says LaClair. "It's also
healthier for us to not be working around perc."
LaClair's Laundromat and Cleaners appears to be the
only facility in Lane County using wet-cleaning methods for all fabrics,
and one of only a few in the state. The machines use biodegradable
detergents, control temperature and moisture for each type of material,
and have settings for precise spinning and drying to control shrinkage.
But the problem with using only wet-cleaning, says
Sid Leiken, previous owner of Prestige Cleaners (now LaClair's) is
the attention to detail that more sensitive fabrics require. "It's
more labor intensive," says Leiken, now mayor of Springfield. Leiken,
who owned the first wet-cleaning business in the state, is no longer
in the industry but says wet cleaning was very successful.
"We were very pleased," he says. And he wonders why
more dry cleaning operations haven't followed suit, knowing the dangers
perc poses to groundwater and air quality. "The reaction from the
industry is none."
"There is still too much of the "good ole' boy mentality,"
Leiken continues. He says many dry cleaners feel perc is a great cleaner
and seriously doubt the efficacy of wet cleaning certain fabrics,
let alone the cost involved in transitioning to alternative methods.
Sharon Plantz, manager of McAyeal's Cleaners , says
perc machines have improved. They have absorption cycles that suck
all the toxic fumes into a container. "There is no threat to employees
or the public anymore," says Plantz. "What was done 15 years ago is
just unacceptable now," she says, explaining how new perc machines
prevent fume inhalation and manage waste for proper disposal.
"Of course if there were a way to not use solvents
that would be great," Plantz adds. But she doesn't think it's possible
to wet clean certain woolens and dark colored fabrics that bleed.
Still, Leiken is convinced just managing perc waste
isn't enough. "Here we are year 2002 and we are still using perc,"
Leiken says. "I think it will take a younger generation to come in
with a proactive attitude."
There have been some policy changes in regards to
perc management, at least in Springfield, Leiken says. After the costly
cleanup of contaminated ground water due to spills from an old dry-cleaning
facility near the Waremart store on Mohawk and Centennial, the city
began implementing restrictions on the use of perc. Because Springfield
relies on underground wells for drinking water, unlike Eugene, city
officials adopted a drinking water protection ordinance, which prohibits
new dry cleaners from using perc, Leiken explains. Since the ordinance
came into effect, no new cleaners have started using the wet-cleaning
method. However, Leiken is pleased to see several dry cleaners switching
over to alternative solvents such as synthetic hydrocarbons, which
are petroleum based.
Perc is 1-1/2 times the weight of water and has the
propensity to travel downwards, which is why ground water contamination
becomes an issue, DEQ officials report. Petroleum-based solvents are
lighter, so if there were a spill the solvent would stay on the surface
of the water, making the cleanup more feasible.
But Elaine Glendening, coordinator of the dry cleaner
program at the DEQ, says the petroleum and silicon-based replacements
also offer challenges to dry cleaners. "The reason people are not
flocking to these alternatives is because they would have to buy new
equipment. The cost of replacement is expensive — $60,000 to
$70,000 — it's a capital expenditure." And Glendening says the
profitability of some Oregon dry cleaners is already questionable.
To take some weight off struggling cleaners, according
to DEQ officials, the dry cleaning industry proposed legislation in
1995 in response to concerns about liability under Oregon's cleanup
law, which requires responsible parties to pay for contaminated property.
Dry cleaners now pay fees to a fund to be used for cleaning up solvents
at contaminated sites. Also, the statute requires all dry cleaners
to implement waste minimization and hazardous waste management practices.
The DEQ does not check on dry-cleaning facilities
regularly, but Glendening says cleaners have to report annually about
how they manage waste. Owners are required to report spills, however
only about one operator reports every year. Officials say they hope
that's because there really are no spills, although they can never
be sure. If a site is contaminated, a property owner, deciding to
sell, or a business owner can apply to use the money from the fund.
The DEQ then investigates the site to be sure they were managing waste
properly, in order to be eligible for the money.
What it comes down to, Glendening says, is that the
responsibility rests with the businesses. "It's not the state of Oregon's
problem if the site gets contaminated." She says the 1995 legislation
was proposed by the dry-cleaning industry, and banning the chemical
altogether wasn't part of the discussion. "It's just un-American to
do that," she says.
David Monk with the Oregon Toxics Alliance lives a
few blocks from a dry cleaner. He says he's concerned with the accumulative
effect of breathing off-gasses everyday. "If there were no alternative,
I could see managing this, but when there is a clear alternative there
is no reason to be using perc." Perc levels in air quality measurement
are not high enough to be monitored by LRAPA. But the Greenpeace website
says along with workers, people who live in close proximity to dry
cleaning plants are at high risk. "The accumulative effect of inhaling
this each day is what we are not factoring in," Monk says.
Monk feels that if small businesses can't make the
change to wet cleaning or other alternatives, the government should
offer a market-based approach. "If there is a clear alternative, let's
demand that it be used," he says. "When business is creating a dangerous
situation for citizen, government should step in. The burden should
not fall on the shoulders of citizens."
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"Here
we are year 2002
and we are still using perc.
I think it will take a younger generation to come in with a
proactive attitude."
– Sid
Leiken
|
Businesses were once allowed a tax break for purchasing
alternative machines for wet-cleaning or petroleum-based solvents,
but that program was discontinued in 2000. Glendening says not enough
dry cleaners were taking advantage of the tax refund. Less than 10
percent were using the program, she says.
Monk points out that money should be spent on implementing
alternatives rather than managing perc waste. It costs $150,000 to
$400,000 to clean up a site where drinking water is involved, says
Richard DeZeeuw, a DEQ program coordinator.
In Eugene, city officials found contaminated ground
water under the new library building during excavation. The DEQ did
an environmental clean up, removing the solvents. However, Brad Black,
project manager of the library says they aren't sure where the contaminants
came from. "The risk is there of finding residual products anytime
you do work downtown," he says.
Sitting right next to the new library is McAyeal's
drycleaner. DeZeeuw says the DEQ has just begun assessing pollution
around McAyeal's site to check for off-gassing and ground water contamination.
However, city officials think the pollution could have come from a
number of places, including a mechanic shop that used to be in the
area. Auto shops used to use perc as a degreaser in cleaning tools.
Over at LaClair's, water is their only concern. The
new European model wet cleaner is almost up and running and the LaClair's
are relieved they won't have to deal with waste management and DEQ
regulation. Now the question arises as to whether certain fabrics
can really be wet cleaned, but Debbie LaClair says they're not giving
in to the industry's doubts. "Your only limited by your fear of experimentation,"
she says.
DEBBIE
AND HENRY LACLAIR USE SWISS TECHNOLOGY TO CLEAN DELICATE FABRICS.
Back to Top
City
School Bailout
Would
an income/business tax be better than a property tax?
BY
ALAN PITTMAN
Eugene city councilors voted 6-2 last week to
move forward with a plan to bail out local schools with a city property
tax levy of $8 million per year.
Councilors struggled with questions about city taxpayers
subsidizing kids from outside Eugene and legal complications with
Measure 5 property tax limitations. The equity and legal issues could
be largely solved by forwarding a local income and business tax package
to voters instead of a property tax.
The council didn't discuss the option of a non-property
tax at their meeting. Such a solution was opposed behind the scenes
by school supporters who worried that a new type of tax would be difficult
to pass, according to Council President David Kelly. "In the political
reality, the challenge of trying to convince voters to pass a tax
different than what they're used to would add to the difficulty of
getting something passed," Kelly says.
If approved, a package of non-property taxes could
generate the $8 million a year to fund schools, according to city
studies. For example, a surcharge on state income taxes for those
earning more than $100,000 a year (beginning at 2 percent and increasing
to 4 percent for incomes over $500,000) would generate roughly $5
million per year. A .014 percent tax on gross business receipts would
raise another $1.5 million per year. A 10 percent surcharge on state
corporate excise taxes could raise the remaining $1.5 million per
year.
For funding schools, a personal income tax surcharge
combined with a business/corporate income tax would have three advantages
compared to a property tax, but also one big disadvantage —
political uncertainty.
´ Income/business taxes are more progressive than
property taxes. Property taxes hit the poor comparatively harder than
the rich, according to the Center for Tax Justice (CTJ). In Oregon,
CTJ estimated in a 1996 report, the poorest 20 percent of households
(income less than $25,000) pay about 6.9 percent of their family income
to property taxes and about 2.6 percent to state income taxes. The
wealthiest 1 percent of households ($277,000 or more) pay 2.3 percent
of family income to property taxes and 4.4 percent to income taxes.
Adding a business income or gross receipts tax and
corporate income tax would increase local tax fairness. In the nation,
Oregon ranks 43rd in the share of taxes paid by businesses but fifth
in the share paid by individuals, according to a 1997 study by the
Oregon Public Employees Union.
´ Alternative taxes wouldn't run afoul of Measure
5 property tax limits. Measure 5 prohibits school districts from raising
local property taxes to increase funding for their local schools.
To get around this limitation, attorneys for the city and 4J advised
the council to not focus funding at reducing class sizes and to include
money for services that benefit the community at large in the levy.
As a result, the proposed property tax levy would raise money for
school music, nurses, counselors, librarians and athletics and for
some citywide youth programs, but not for hiring teachers to reduce
over-crowded classrooms. The levy would, however, indirectly fund
teachers by freeing up some money the district now spends on such
non-core expenses, according to 4J Superintendent George Russell.
An income/business tax option would have none of these
Measure 5 limitations and could directly fund core academics and reduced
class sizes. Multnomah County has used a business tax to hire teachers
and reduce class sizes without legal problems.
´ An income tax could be more equitable, reducing
city subsidies for 4J families living outside city limits. An income
tax could be structured to include income earned in Eugene from non-city
residents. Such revenue would compensate for the estimated 23 percent
of Bethel and 4J families that do not pay city property taxes.
Kelly acknowledges the possible advantages of the
income/business tax, but says the political risk may not be worth
it. He points out that in 1999, a proposed county income tax surcharge
failed with 74 percent voting "no."
But the 1999 county tax did not exempt lower income
residents and was for an unpopular expansion of the county jail. Property
tax proposals for funding jail expansion have also failed twice at
the polls. In contrast, Eugene voters have strongly supported school
funding measures. In 1998, 4J passed a $12.2 million bond measure
with 66 percent support. In 2000, 64 percent supported 4J's local
option levy. In May, 67 percent voted for a $116 million bond measure
for school buildings.
A city tax measure to support schools will already
require voters to understand a new idea. Adding a new form of taxes
could increase voter confusion. But, then again, a income/business
tax option would have the political advantage of progressive, more
equitable taxes directly funding classroom academics. The City Council
has scheduled a final vote on the school funding measure for Aug.
12.
 |
Jan
Fairchild
In 1979, when her daughter was 2, speech therapist Jan
Fairchild discovered the Church of the Brethren in Fort Wayne, Ind.
"They had a pre-school that started with 2-year-olds," she explains.
"Within a year I was going to services." Fairchild was attracted by
the liberal views of the Brethren, an historic "peace church" that
moved from Germany to the U.S. in the 1700s to escape persecution.
"We are committed to community outreach and social justice," she notes.
"I got involved — served in every lay position." After 25 years
in speech therapy, Fairchld retired in 1996 to complete studies at
Bethany Theological Seminary in Richmond, Ind. Two years ago she became
pastor of the Springfield Church of the Brethren. "I'm still not over
the culture shock," she says. SCB shares a former Main Street motel
complex with Brethren Housing, a homeless shelter started by the church
in 1984 and now managed by Sheltercare. "The church is small but diverse,"
Fairchild says. "An African-American family, an Asian-American, a
few who are openly gay and lesbian. We're a publicly affirming congregation
— everyone is welcomed." — Paul Neevel
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