Tightrope
Lane budget balances
on unstable highwire
By Steve Hooks
Of Ihe Emerald
If misery loves company, as
the old addage goes, Lane
County and the University
should be best friends The
county, like the University, faces
a serious financial crunch
Before they balance the bud
get, county officials expect to
add more cuts and layoffs to a
casualty list begun in July
Basically, it means things
won't get done,'' says Scott
Lieuallen. county commis
sioner
A first-time visitor entering the
Lane County Public Services
Building won't get help from the
information desk That has been
"closed due to budget cuts."
the sign says
Others may be surprised to
find the building shut tight on
Fridays A four-day work week
for county employees, another
result of budget cuts, has been
in effect since July However,
those who have business at the
county courthouse will usually
be served on Fridays.
County employees will also
have to make do with fewer on
the-job services "People
vacuum their own offices now,”
Lieuallen says
But reductions in cleaning
crews are only symptomatic of
r
the greater problem
On the advice of a special
task force, the commissioners
trimmed an additional $132,000
in September from the budgets
of the general services and in
formation systems department
and community health and
social services department
The money-saving measures
eliminated or combined about
nine management and secre
tarial jobs in those departments,
according to a county memor
andum
The GSIS cuts mean county
records, especially elections
records, will take longer to
process, says Steven Ickes. di
rector of GSIS
To bear its $89,000 share of
the cuts, GSIS laid off a man
ager and an executive secretary
and eliminated two vacant man
agerial and clerical positions,
Ickes says
The CHSS share of the bur
den is $43,000 CHSS eliminat
ed another vacant position from
its job roster, says Janet
Chapell, director Further
vacancies may be eliminated or
combined, she says
We re kind of torn between
keeping things solid and moving
and the need to save money,”
Chapell says ‘‘The public
probably doesn't see a direct
impact right away (because of
’We've just been trying to get the damn (budget) balanced,
services for the county
Photo by Dave Kao
says Steve Ickes. director of general
the cuts) But it makes things
harder to do.” she says
Like the other county depart
ments. CHSS endured the direct
impact of the earlier cuts and
layoffs in July The public health
division of the CHSS saw
$800,000 pared from its budget,
Chapell says The department
has also lost grant money since
then, she adds
"We had a (senior citizen
medical) screening program
that was really popular That
was eliminated We reduced
family planning by about one
third." Chapell says.
Cuts also pinched the flu shot
program. "This year, we re only
going to give them to seniors,"
Chapell says
These county health services,
like many other county pro
grams, were shelved July 1 The
commissioners started the fis
cal year by slicing and dicing
various agencies so the county
could meet a scaled-down bud
get of $31 million
After voters rejected the
county's May request to in
crease the property tax base by
$10 million, officials put into
action the contingency budget
that required the drastic cuts
But during the summer,
voters approved a special tax
levy for county law enforce
ment Officials also learned
that revenue from federal timber
lands will yield the county $5.7
million.
Despite the relief, budget
cutting measures have cost the
county “a couple of hundred
people in terms of layoffs," says
Jim Phelps, finance and man
agement director
The county also must find
$468,000 more to balance this
year's budget and $9 million to
balance next year's budget,
Ickes says.
“That $9 million is not on us
now, but is facing us squarely,"
he says. “We are planning a
policy retreat to try to develop
some clearer priorities for the
1983-84 budget."
The retreat is planned for
December, in time for the arrival
of the new county administrator,
Ickes says.
Photo by Dave Kao
Vance Freeman and Peter DeFazio, candidates for a Lane County Commission position, debated over mostly econ
omic issues, in Springfield, Tuesday night.
Debate focuses on economics
By David Brown
Ot th* Enwrald
Resuming county services five days a
week, while maintaining reduced em
ployee hours, was one idea advanced
at the debate which brought together
the candidates for Springield's District
2 seat on the Lane County Board of
Commissioners.
Challenger Peter DeFazio criticized
the current policy which closes the
Public Service Building on Fridays.
Incumbent Vance Freeman argued
that employees commuting five days
per week would cost those employees
money on top of what was already lost
through cuts in payroll and hours
The debate focused mainly on the
county’s economic issues.
"I feel very strongly that the county
should undertake economic develop
ment efforts’’ utilizing existing staff,
said DeFazio, an aide to U S. Rep. Jim
Weaver, D-Ore.
“I have a little problem with starting
up another agency when we re already
short people,” responded Freeman,
former Springfield mayor and city
councilor
He told the 50-menber audience he
favored creating jobs through reducing
impediments in land-use planning to
business development
Freeman’s experience as a
commissioner and budget committee
member leads him to believe the county
must live with it's existing budget.
“We are on a no new revenue
policy," he said.
“I’d like to take a more active role in
the budget committee,” DeFazio said.
Last year, when faced with budget
deficit, the county commission simply
put out a new tax levy and went home,
he said
The county should scrutinize depart
mental spending, DeFazio said And
ground-level county employees should
have more say in cost savings, he said
“The people who do the work from day
to day have many of the best ideas
about cost savings,” he said.
Freeman contended the county does
recognize such suggestions and has
acted on them. But "we don't have the
funds to contribute” to programs ex
panding on that resource, he said.
To trim monetary waste, DeFazio
suggested depositing county funds in
local banks, making more money
available for loans to local businesses
"We do not have any surplus funds,"
and strong restrictions dictate the han
dling of county revenue, replied
Freeman. Depositing the money in two
Portland banks eliminates the problem
of "keeping a trail" on the money, he
said.
Faculty campaigners
request student aid
to hand out leaflets
"Save Oregon — No on 6," a recently
organized faculty group campaigning
against Ballot Measure 6, is requesting
help from interested students in dis
tributing leaflets Saturday, according to
Dorothy Anderson, committee chairper
son
The measure, if passed, would abolish
all statewide land use planning laws and
eliminate the Land Conservation and
Development Commission.
Anderson, former land use planning
chairperson for the League of Women
Voters, says the leaflet distribution is part
of a series of events including radio,
television, and newspaper ads designed
to block the passage of measure 6
She says about 75 to 80 people, in
cluding members of the Audobon Socie
ty, Sierra Club, League of Women Voters
and local land use planners, will be dis
tributing information door to door.
Volunteers can pick up leaflets for
distribution between 9:30 a m. and 10:30
a m at two locations.
Students living close to campus can
pick the leaflets up at the Survival Center
in the EMU. The other location is Ander
son’s house, 939 E. 21st St
Anderson, who participated in leaflet
distribution against similar ballot mea
sures in 1976 and 1978, says it is a suc
cessful campaign method because "it's
one way that you're sure of getting a
broad scope of information to a lot of
people."
She says "a lot of people like that
personal touch. They think, Oh, you
care that much.' "
According to Jan Flaherty, assistant
director of the campus Survival Center
and treasurer of “Save Oregon — No on
6," about 20 students have volunteered
to help.
Flaherty says, "The people I've talked
to are really interested. I want to get at
least 35. The more the better."
For more information call Flaherty at
686-4356 or Anderson at 345-2820.