New city ‘flak catcher’fields complaints
The new “flak catcher” for Eugene re
sidents says she has “always wanted a
whack at helping citizens who are upset
by the system.”
Mavis Adams, city investment officer
in the finance department, is on loan for
six months to fill the revolving position.
More formally listed on the organiza
tion chart as Public Service Officer
(PSO), the new member of the
manager’s staff is responsible for filling
citizen requests for information or ser
vice and for looking into complaints
about city procedures or personnel.
The position was created seven or
eight years ago and has a double pur
pose. In addition to providing assistance
to citizens discouraged or thwarted by
the bureaucratic maze, the PSO is ex
posed to the full gamut of administrative
and departmental problems. After six
months of fielding flak, the temporary
staffer returns to his or her department,
hopefully with more understanding of
city processes and of citizen concerns
in dealing with city hall.
Adams was one of three people who
volunteered for the position. She says
showing an interest in doing the job is
one of the main qualifications for filling
the position.
Adams has received approximately
100 legitimate complaints since she be
came PSO three weeks ago and says
people complain about everything from
“the next door neighbor’s shrubs to trees
being cut down.”
Born in Arkansas and schooled in
Yakima, Washington, Adams came to
Eugene in 1961 and joined the city staff
in 1971. An accounting major at Lane
Community College and the University,
she has continued io study manage
ment theory and supervisory techniques
as a part-time University student.
After five years of administering the
business license division and estab
lishing the downtown development dis
trict tax program, Adams has been re
sponsible since early 1976 for invest
ment of city revenues and long-range
planning for city cash flow.
Mavis Adams
J
National grant to help renovate interior of WOW Hall
By KEVIN HARDEN
Of the Emerald
Architectural renovation on the W.O.W.
Hall downtown will begin soon, thanks to a
grant from the National Endowment Fund
for the Arte. According to Jonathon Pincus,
the in-house design coordinator for the
Community Center for the Performing Arts
(CCPA), the $9,960 grant will be used to
completely renovate the interior of the per
forming arts building.
The grant, awarded in June, is to be used
for architectural design renovations from
dimate control to acoustics. The grant is
part of the endowment fund’s program for
the upgrading of cultural facilities that
couldn't otherwise afford the renovations.
Specific areas are included in the grant,
Pincus said. Undetermined amounts of the
money wiH be divided between hiring a
technical theater designer to design seating
and hiring a climate control expert for the
building's heating and cooling system.
The community center was purchased in
December, 1975, by a group of area artists
and interested citizens in an effort to pro
vide the West Eugene area with a commun
ity center which focused on entertainment
activities.
Built by the Woodmen Of the World in
1932, the hall was first used as a fraternal
organization meeting house and then, in
the late 1960s, was rented to civic groups
for their activities. When the building was
purchased by the CCPA, Pincus said, it has
fallen into disrepair.
At their own expense the artists turned
the hail into a performing arte center which
offered rehearsal space, classrooms, a
small performing auditorium and an inti
mate setting to the public at the lowest pos
sible cost.
The CCPA group, which has already
begun the first phase of the renovation, re
searched the possibility of a grant for the
construction early last year. “We wanted to
demonstrate to the community what poten
tial the W.O. W. halt really has,” Pincus exp
lained.
Until the grant was awarded two months
ago, the group had been working on their
own design program, Pincus said.
Acting as a spokesman for the group,
CCPA member Jim Williams proposed
Monday during the Eugene Civic Center
Coimmission hearings that the community
center group work with the civic center
commission to coordinate both design ef
forts. “We’re not competitive,” Pincus exp
lained. ‘They’re a whole different center
from ours. Ours will offer local groups a
performing area, while the downtown
center will be more along the lines of a huge
auditorium.”
WHY DO THE PROS
HAVE THEIR FILM
PROCESSED BY US?
• Borderless non-glare prints on KODAK® paper, other
surfaces on request
• Color negs returned in individual protective vinyl sleeves
— no scratches
• NO extra charge for CROPPING ON ENLARGEMENTS
• CUSTOM service is available
• Most work done in Eugene
• Reliable sales people to count on
HERE’S INCENTIVE
TO FIND OUT WHY!
Musi aocompany order
DEVELOPING
FREE $1 07-SI.50
With prints at
230 each
Expires 8/6/77
KODACOLOR
or
FUJICOLOR
ONLY PLEASE
qerlach’s
I CAMERA CENTERS
where we sell photography....
....not just cameras
849 E. 13th 500 Main St, Springfield
Offer ends Saturday 8/6/77
4
(Specialty Backpacking & Skiing)
SPEEDO
SWIM SUITS
The best selection of nylon
crossbacks in town
GYM SHORTS
All colors - All sizes
TENNIS SHOES &
RUNNING FLATS by
Tred 2 Nike Adidas Bata
Tretorn Patrick Puma Tiger
THE COMPLETE SPORTING GOODS STORE
13th & Patterson_ 342-7021