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News: True
Customers News: Recycling
Cycles Happening Person:
Yayoe Kuramitsu CONSTRUCTION BOOM COULD HELP ECONOMY Eugene's faltering economy is headed for a major shot in the arm from 10 major construction projects that could pump up to a billion dollars into the local job market in the next five years or so. Here's a rundown of local projects planned to start soon: The state wants to build temporary replacement I-5 bridges over the Willamette and McKenzie rivers at a cost of $39 million in the next 18 months. Permanent bridges 7 to 10 years later will likely cost well over $100 million. The state plans a massive new freeway interchange at I-5 and Beltline. The first phase, completed by 2006, will cost $18 million. Later phases are expected to cost at least another $104 million. PeaceHealth plans a $300 million new hospital in Springfield. McKenzie-Willamette plans an $80 million new hospital, probably in Eugene. School District 4J plans to spend $116 million on new schools and remodeling. The federal government is building a $72 million new courthouse. The city of Eugene wants to spend $9 million a year on street repairs. This month, the city plans to begin work on $3 million in projects funded in part by the city's new local gas tax. More money will come later if the council goes through with its controversial transportation systems maintenance fee. The city is also spending about $500,000 in federal money this year for road work at the airport. The city of Eugene plans to break ground this fall on an $8 million new downtown fire station. The state wants to spend $100 million on a new West Eugene Parkway, if it prevails in legal appeals. LTD will start construction this summer on a $11 million Bus Rapid Transit line. The construction boom could help provide local jobs and boost industry profits. But with projects competing for construction companies, the boom could also drive up costs for local hospitals and taxpayers. — Alan Pittman
DEFAZIO & WYDEN: CLUELESS LOBBYISTS? Congressman Peter DeFazio and Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden have been lobbying for the international Hynix Corporation, but were their efforts contrary to sustaining jobs and profits at the Eugene plant? Last month, Wyden and DeFazio repeatedly urged the International Trade Commission not to raise tariffs against Hynix chips in response to an unfair trade complaint by U.S. competitors. Wyden and DeFazio complained tariffs would threaten jobs at the Hynix plant in Eugene. "I spoke with the U.S. Secretary of Commerce last week to urge him to set the lowest possible tariff rate in this case," Wyden said in a press release. "Oregonians are struggling with the highest unemployment rate in the country, and now is not the time to let a baseless trade dispute torpedo another 1,000-plus jobs in our state." "Hynix has been one of the only bright spots in an otherwise dismal economy in southwest Oregon, and unlike many companies, Hynix has rehired employees after temporary layoffs, even in the midst of recession," said DeFazio in a press release. Wyden and DeFazio's lobbying efforts did not succeed. The Trade Commission upheld a U.S. Commerce Department ruling that imposed a 45 percent tariff on Hynix memory (DRAM) chips. Hynix's low chip prices were illegally propped up by a $12 billion Korean government bailout, the U.S. found. "I'm deeply disappointed," Wyden said in a press release. But while the tariff could hurt profits at the Korean corporation, the tariff may actually help, not hurt jobs in Eugene. The import duty does not apply to chip production within the U.S., which makes the Eugene plant more important to Hynix as a way to avoid the steep tariff. Hynix announced in a press release July 24 that in response to the new import tariff, "Hynix will increase the production of DRAMs in its Eugene, Oregon fab, which is not subject to the CVD [tarrif] duty imposition, to continue to provide quality DRAMs to its U.S. customers." — AP
CONFERENCE FOR PRISONER SUPPORT Is slavery dead in America? Not if you're behind bars. "After slavery was abolished, they [Congress] made sure that slavery in prison was not," says Brenton Gicker, a core member of the Break the Chains prisoner support collective, and a critic of the 13th Amendment. Adding to the crisis in the American penal system are rising prison populations, declining services, prison privatization and racial injustice, organizers say. More than 25 lecturers, writers, performers and artists will convene in Eugene Aug. 8-10 for the first conference organized by Break the Chains. The organization formed about two years ago in response to the Jeffrey "Free" Luers and Craig Marshall case, and works for the rights, education and well-being of political and social prisoners in the Pacific Northwest. Among the speakers at the conference will be Laura Whitehorn, a former political prisoner, writer, and activist currently creating a correspondence course on HIV and hepatitis C for prisoners; Ward Churchill, a noted Native American activist and scholar who explores genocide, colonization, political repression, the penal system, and indigenous peoples' struggles in the Americas; Safiya Bukhari, a former Black Panther and political prisoner who helped found the Mothers Inside Loving Kids (MILK) group, which was created to help women in prison maintain contact with their children, and Jim Page, a songwriter who will be performing after presentations by lesbian prison activists Chrystos and Leslie Bull. According to Gicker, the conference "should be really nonsectarian and international," dealing with "medical neglect in prison, black nationalism in prison … all different aspects of the prison situation and the different aspects of resistance to it. Pretty comprehensive." Lydia Bartholow, another member of the collective, says, "We have workshops on transgender people in prison; we have workshops on women in prison; we have workshops that focus in on Chicanos in prison; we have workshops that focus in on mental illness … wherever you're coming at it from, there's going to be something for everyone involved in social change in prison." The conference will open at 8:30 pm Friday, Aug. 8 at the United Lutheran Church on 22nd and Washington, and close at around midnight Sunday at WOW Hall. All events held at UO are free, while the collective will ask for donations at off-campus sites. More information on additional presenters, locations and times can be found at www.breakthechains.net "There's one group of people who has absolutely no way of getting their desires out and their word: prisoners. They're a criminalized class, and they can be completely ignored for the most part by the state and by social services agencies." says Bartholow. — Celene Carillo
While Eugene citizens are fasting on the state Capitol steps to protest budget cuts for social services, David Oaks of Eugene will begin a hunger strike this week for human rights in mental health. Oaks is executive director of Support Coalition International. Oaks says he is planning to join the Fast for Freedom in Mental Health beginning Aug. 16. He will join others in Pasadena, Calif. "A beautiful mind is a terrible thing to label, forcibly drug and electroshock," says Oaks in a message to supporters, and he quotes Martin Luther King Jr. saying, "The salvation of the world lies in the hands of the maladjusted!" For more information on the fast, visit www.mindfreedom.org
FARR DEFENDS VOTE ON MEAGER SCHOOL BILL Responding to criticism from Sen. Tony Corcoran in EW, Rep. Pat Farr (R-Dist. 14) says he wants to "assure my friends in education that I will continue to fight for stable and adequate school funding." Corcoran in his "Insider Baseball" column July 31, says Farr "failed his first big test as a freshman after getting elected as an education supporter. He buckled under pressure from the speaker and voted with the Republicans. His justification, that his school districts would be fine with this level of funding, was nonsense." Farr says he voted for HB5077 "because we needed to pass a bill along to the Senate and start the process of adopting the budget. It establishes $5.05 [billion] as the minimum number we are willing to consider and will allow for a carefully deliberated adjustment as the process moves forward. If we had not started the process by the passage of the bill we might be negotiating for weeks with no promise of a conclusion." Corcoran wrote that Farr's vote was "a real disappointment" and if "just two more [House] Republicans had the cajones to take on their leadership," the Senate wouldn't have to try to "fix" the inadequate budget. — Ted Taylor
WYDEN CO-SPONSORS BILL TO TAME PATRIOT ACT On July 31, Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and co-sponsor Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced Senate Bill 1552, "Protecting the Rights of Individuals Act," which virtually dismantles many of the most troublesome provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act. SB1552 would provide more judicial and congressional oversight for searches; require evidence of criminal activity before warrants are issued; modify the definition of domestic terrorism; require more evidence of criminal activity before allowing searches of library, video store, bookstore, or financial records; and require more regular reporting from the Attorney General's Office. The ACLU has done an analysis of the bill and lauded both Murkowski and Wyden for introducing the legislation. The Center for Democracy and Technology has also filed a report on the legislation. Hope Marston of the Lane County Bill of Rights Defense
Committee writes, "If there was any doubt that the tide is turning,
the fact that Ron Wyden is supportive of extensive changes to the UPA
is a definite indication that opposition to the UPA has gone mainstream.
Our work is not finished. Besides the UPA, there are still executive
orders and Department of Justice orders that violate our constitutional
guarantees. Time to call every Senator and ask them to co-sponsor this
important legislation!" For more information and updates, visit www.lanerights.org
True
Customers The city recently paid $25,000 for a report that focuses on better serving developers as the city's "customers." "Governmental performance is measured by customer satisfaction," says the 49-page report by San Diego consultant Paul Zucker. "The community perception is that Eugene is a hard place to get things done, i.e., it is anti-business." Zucker offered dozens of recommendations on how the city could speed permits to developers and be more "flexible" in enforcing laws designed to protect the environment, quality of life and public safety. "Planners should take a problem solving role rather than a regulatory role" toward developers, Zucker said. The end goal should be "standing around the completed project singing Kumbaya." But at a recent council meeting to review the report, no one sang Kumbaya. Councilor Betty Taylor said the city should focus on citizens, not developers, as its true customers. "What are planners for?" Taylor asked. "Are they there to satisfy the needs of the community, or are they there to satisfy developers as quickly as possible?" Eugene Mayor Jim Torrey, elected with record-breaking donations from developers, said the city should do more to serve developers. "We have a problem on this council that somehow developers are bad and other people aren't," Torrey said. But Councilor Bonny Bettman responded, "Nobody thinks developers are bad. The question is how much they should dominate the process." Zucker acknowledged Taylor's concerns. "There's a danger to say the customer is the developer," he told the council. "Many of the customers are residents, businesses, persons in this city who simply want to carry on with their life." But Zucker's report focuses heavily on developers rather than citizens as the city's customers. In writing the report, Zucker met with only five citizens or homeowners, but met with 16 people representing the development industry. The small portion of the report devoted to citizen concerns notes that they feel community interests are underrepresented in the planning department, city staff do not return calls or provide information when asked, staff spend too much time with developers, the city has failed to comply with state requirements to protect natural habitats, and citizens were not part of earlier customer service efforts. The Zucker report comes on the heels of a $22,000 business climate survey this spring that also focused on developer concerns to the exclusion of the broader community. The survey found that at least some businesses view Eugene as anti-business. But the unscientific study had only a 19 percent response rate and couldn't conclude that a majority of local businesses were critical of the city climate. That some developers don't like popular regulations is nothing new in Eugene. In 1996, the city's comprehensive Growth Management Study found citizens favored more regulations to protect water quality and natural habitats by scores of 70 or more out of 100. The Chamber of Commerce gave such new environmental regulations a zero priority. Zucker said "increasing flexibility" in the planning code was his top recommendation, but councilors questioned how that could be done. Councilor Scott Meisner noted that developers had just successfully appealed the city's updated land use code by arguing that it was too vague and didn't include clear and objective standards. Councilor Nancy Nathanson said the city should have taken a different, outcome-based approach to regulating development during its massive code update over the past five years. "It's too bad we spent so many months and years and dollars getting to this." Zucker noted that the city's land use code update project had failed in one of its major goals. "The original intent of a new code was to streamline and simplify. However, the result has been the opposite." But overhauling the code at this point would be a "huge project," Councilor David Kelly said. "Where are the staff resources to do that?" The Zucker report noted that many citizens and developers felt that the planning department was understaffed. But the report did not analyze whether the staffing level was adequate compared to other cities or to the work load. "I don't know that we could ever fully staff the requirements of our code," said city Planning and Development Director Tom Coyle. He said the department needs twice as many planners. One source of funding for more planners may be to stop subsidizing permits for developers. The Zucker report noted that developer application fees cover only about half the staff cost of reviewing the applications. "In a time of staff shortage, it may be useful to look at this situation," the report said. Bettman faulted the study for focusing on complaints from developers rather than an analysis of what the optimum staffing level for the department would be. Councilor Taylor said the city could have better spent its money on an independent performance audit of the planning department's efficiency rather than paying Zucker $8,000 a day for his three-day visit to the city. In all, Zucker found Eugene's Planning Department "generally well run" with staff "a cut above what we normally see." Zucker didn't have the same thing to say about the quality of local developers. He noted that it was "unusual" for them to submit complete applications for building permits. Last year, for example, only four out of 13 subdivision applicants and three out of 35 partition applicants provided complete applications for their permits.
Recycling
Cycles In a world of SUVs, cars and trucks, Eugene remains a haven for bicyclists, its city map overlaid with an extensive network of bike paths. And cruising along those paths is every variety of biker, from the hardcore tandem teams to the casual cyclists with three-speed cruisers.
With the growth of the cycling community comes the growth of an appropriate support structure. Namely, a whole slew of retail shops catering to bike enthusiasts. Among them are Paul's Bicycle Way of Life, Hutch's, High Street, Collins, Eugene Bicycle Works, Blue Heron, REI, Wheelworks, Equinox, the Center for Appropriate Transport, and others. New to the fold, however, is Revolution Cycles. You may wonder why young shop-owners Shane Ayrsman and Ben Leonard felt Eugene needed another bike shop. But upon setting foot inside the modest, Blair Boulevard business it becomes quite clear that Revolution Cycles is different. Just three months old, the shop is located in an orange cinder block building at 296 Blair. The store interior is somewhat Spartan, as bike shops go: A single pegboard wall displays their small assortment of bike accessories and the only real decoration is the bicycle that hangs in the front window — a Crawford ladies bicycle, circa 1896. Complete with wooden tire rims and decaying rubber tires, the antique bicycle not only adds to the shop's character, but also says something about the owners' vision. "I use it as a sales tool," says Ayrsman, who feels that the technology of bikes has not changed much in the last century. "It's mostly all the little parts that have changed — the frame is basically the same," he says. Ayrsman and Leonard deal in remanufactured bikes. Used bikes come in from all over — they'll buy them from their customers, find them at garage sales and even pick some up from other recycling places, such as BRING. Once they've adopted the bikes, they strip them down, discard the old and broken "little parts" and replace them with new ones. Once ride-able, the bikes go out onto the floor and complete the picture of the shop. Along the walls stand lines of bicycles, usually around 35 or 40, that Ayrsman and Leonard have restored to their former glory, or to a new glory altogether. "Most bike shops have 20 or 30 of the same bike," says Ayrsman. "Here, it's what you see on the floor and you may not see one of those ever again." That variety and the versatility of Leonard and Ayrsman has made the shop very successful so far. It also helps that the Revolution bicycles are considerably cheaper than their mainstream counterparts. New bicycles at Paul's start at about $220 and run as high $6,000, but Ayrsman says they sell basic reconditioned bikes for around $100 and the most expensive they've sold was $1,300. But Ayrsman feels that good prices are not the key factor to their success. Instead, he credits their approach to selling their rebuilt bikes. "When it comes right down to it, it's only right if it's right," says Ayrsman, who has a passion for customer service as well as bicycles. He says he will stand and chat with customers about the weather for 20 minutes before they even get around to talking about bikes. And when it does come around to bikes, he has his customers ride a few around the block, makes adjustments and makes sure it's the right fit. Ayrsman says "the used car salesman approach" happens in some bike shops, but that he's going for something different. "My take on this is you have to sell yourself before you sell your product," he says. "And, honestly, no one knows that." Both Leonard and Ayrsman have long histories as bicycle gurus, and are ex-mechanics from Paul's Bicycle Way of Life. When they found they had topped out at Paul's, they decided to go into business for themselves. "Nobody's really doing this," says Leonard, "definitely not the way we're doing it. We saw that niche and we filled it." It seems, given today's economic climate, starting your own business would be a struggle. But according to Leonard, that has not been the case. "The shop is totally supporting itself," he says. "It took one very minimal loan [to start up] and from what we've made already we could pay that off." Leonard and Ayrsman themselves are trying to get the shop solidly self-sufficient before they really try to make any money. "We paid ourselves some this month," Leonard says with a smile. "But most of it goes right back into the shop." Ayrsman laid out their long-term goals: "What we want to be able to do is to walk away, have a salary for each of us, have a nice bank account build up for the business so it can support itself," he says.
"My family was always generous, in spite of the war thing," says Yayoe Kuramitsu, who was born in the Gila Bend internment camp in Arizona in 1943. "They had three grocery stores and a restaurant — fed a lot of people who couldn't pay." Kuramitsu studied art at San Jose State, taught high school for two years on Oahu, then returned for a master's in social work from Boston College. "My mother taught me the concept of service to humanity," she says. After seven years at medical centers in Hawaii, she joined her sister in Eugene in 1977. "It was the best thing I ever did," she says with enthusiasm. "The richness of culture — so many good causes to get involved in." In addition to 19 years at Sacred Heart, where she directed the medical social work department and the Center for Senior Health, Kuramitsu has served on 20-plus boards and committees, from the Oregon Health Plan to Meals on Wheels. Semi-retired for five years now, she consults pro bono at the Alzheimers Association and puts in one full day per week as an eligibility screener at Volunteers in Medicine, a clinic for uninsured working people. "I like to support underdog organizations," she notes. — Paul Neevel
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Yayoe
Kuramitsu