Code: First few years of implementation will be spent educating public
Continued from page 1
“You’re going to see a lot of land
lords who are upset about the fact
that this code went into effect. And
they’re going to raise their rents, and
they’re going to inform their tenants
why they’re raising their rents,”
Straub said.
Keystone Real Estate broker Susan
Rasmussen said her company plans
to pass the cost on to the tenants.
“We’re just going to bill the ten
ants,” she said. Each tenant in a Key
stone unit will receive an annual bill
for $15, which will cover the fee itself
and cost of collecting it, as well as a
letter explaining the fee.
“They’re building it into their
rents,” Rasmussen said. “Any land
lord who says they’re not is lying
to you.”
While the new code may affect
rents, some doubt it will actually af
fect housing conditions.
“I don’t think this is going
to change things necessarily in the
local market,” said Straub.
“We strongly suspect the landlords in
our group are already meeting the
habitability requirements.”
Straub says the new code closely
mirrors the protections already of
fered to tenants under Oregon’s
Landlord-Tenant Act.
“This is going to make it harder for
tenants to get it fixed than what al
ready existed,” Rasmussen said.
She says fixing habitability con
cerns is “very simple” because Ore
gon law allows a tenant facing habit
ability issues to send a letter to the
landlord that says that unless the
landlord fixes the problem, the tenant
can have the problem fixed and with
hold the costs from rent payments.
Brett Rowlett of the Eugene Citi
zens for Housing Standards, who
helped advocate for the new code,
said the existing protections were in
adequate because they required a
tenant to take a landlord to court in
order to enforce them. This makes it
difficult for those with limited re
sources, such as students, to take ac
tion, he said.
Rasmussen said taking a landlord
to court is not necessary under the
existing protections.
“They just withhold it from the
rent and fix the problem,” Ras
mussen said. “And it’s illegal for the
landlord to retaliate or kick
them out.”
Rasmussen said the only reason to
have a new housing code is to pro
vide more jobs for city employees.
“The good landlords don’t need it
and the bad landlords — there’s
nothing you can do to make them
stop,” she said. “We’re just creating
another level of bureaucracy.”
The Rental Owners Association
has sought to educate its 830 mem
bers on what the new code will mean
for their business, Straub said.
Through informational seminars
and meetings, its newsletter and a
hotline for questions, the Rental
Owners Association has tried to dis
seminate information to its members
regarding the new code.
“Our whole goal and intent is to
have the most informed, the most
knowledgeable and hopefully most
law abiding landlords,” Straub said.
Also, the Rental Owners Associa
tion was involved in hiring the new
supervisor who will oversee the
rental housing code enforcement.
“While the Rental Owners Associa
tion did not support the housing
code, the City of Eugene has been lit
erally bending over backward to an
swer our questions,” said Straub.
“They’ve gone way beyond the call.”
City planning official Stuart Rams
ing spoke at the Rental Owners Asso
ciation’s general membership meet
ing last week in order to help
landlords understand the new code.
“I tried to give them an overview
of the new code and let them know
that is not funded by the $10 per unit
annual fee.
The system is complaint-based,
which means the inspectors will not
be looking for violations. Rather, they
will respond to complaints made by
tenants who have been unable to
resolve problems by writing to
their landlords.
In the early years of the program,
Ramsing says he expects the office to
primarily handle the dispensing in
formation to tenants and landlords
mere won t be any surpris
es,” Ramsing said.
Ramsing says three new
positions have been created
in order to enforce and ad
ministrate the code. These
employees will also be
working on other housing
FOR MORE
INFORMATION
Rental Owners
Association: 485-7368
Housing Code
Information: 682-8282
about the new code.
He said he expects
between 10 and 30 cases
to reach the point
where an investigation
is necessary.
Ramsing declined to
comment on whether
related projects, not just en
forcing the new code. They will keep
records of how much time they
spend working on housing code en
forcement and how much time they
spend working on other tasks.
For the work they do that is not re
lated to the new housing code, they
will be paid out of a separate fund
the bureaucracy was re
dundant, saying the policy decision
was made back in November and the
city’s job now is to implement the
new system as effectively as possible.
gabebradley@dailyemerald. com
Fischer: Joining U.S. Marines just another experience to add to his collection
Continued from page 4
“I thought it was going to land right
on top of us.”
The rocket landed 100 yards
away, but the fear that it sparked on
the base was permanent, Fischer
said. From that point on he realized
that the hardest part about war, and
what he considers the most deserv
ing of respect, is performing a task
under conditions of possible death.
The combination of an adventur
ous spirit and love for traveling mo
tivated Fischer to enlist in the
Marines. At 15, he spent a year in
Argentina as an exchange student.
For the first two months he was in a
Spanish-speaking only classroom. It
was not long before he found more
pleasure in traveling the country
with his friend and meeting new
people, which they did for the re
maining 10 months.
After graduating from Woodburn
high school, Fischer spent a year in
Colorado as a dogsled tour guide.
Next he went to Salem to work as a
lobbyist assistant for a session, and
then to Greece for three months to
repair yachts.
“I like to collect experiences,”
Fischer said.
Fischer spent a year at the
University before he decided to join
the military. Adventure and travel
were appealing and Fischer rea
soned that he would still be
young enough to come back and
finish college when his contract
was fulfilled, so he signed on in
December, 2003.
After boot camp in San Diego,
riscner received specialized
training from the School of In
fantry in rifle handling, assault tech
niques and urban combat. He then
joined his fleet at Twenty-Nine
Palms, just outside of Palm Springs,
and trained for four months in spe
cialized infantry assault, desert
combat and warfare training.
Nearly all of the Marines in T\ven
ty-Nine Palms were sent to Iraq. Fis
cher’s fleet arrived in al-Qaim, a city
bordering Syria northwest of Bagh
dad. While al-Qaim does not share
the violent reputation of Baghdad or
Fallujah, guarding the Syrian border
is far from uneventful.
Night raids are one example of
the type of task that is both repeti
tious and life threatening for
“I am the last person my friends
thought would join the military. ”
John Fischer | U.S. Marine Corps
Marines. Luckily, the U.S. Marine
Corps keeps Fischer and his fleet
from excessively dangerous situa
tions by going after insurgent tar
gets at night when they are asleep.
Fischer said that he was pumping
with adrenaline during his first
couple night raids, but that “they
went so fast and smoothly” that it
became like second nature.
“We get ‘em at night to reduce
soldier casualties,” Fischer said. He
said, explaining that even in a per
fectly executed raid during the day
light, 75 percent of the soldiers will
be wounded.
“We’re just doing a job they gave
us,” Fischer said, “and we do it
well.” He added that his unit
captured about 65 percent of
its targets.
Fischer admits, however, that
he does not know if he fully sup
ports the cause. “Every target
captured seems to be replaced by
two new ones,” he said, “(and)
there’s nothing over there that feels
like freedom or democracy. ”
Fischer’s best friend since second
grade, J.P. Elias, said that he was
not excited about his friend’s deci
sion to enlist in the Marine Corps. A
23-year-old senior at the University,
Elias said he does not support the
war effort in Iraq. Having been
friends for 15 years, Elias said he
supports Fischer as his friend, but
he is not any more supportive of
the cause.
“Plus, I know that he wouldn’t
put himself in any stupid situa
tions,” Elias said.
Fischer said he expected his
friends and family to be somewhat
opposed to his decision.
“I am the last person my friends
thought would join the military,” he
said. But regardless of whether they
agreed with the cause, “they all sup
ported me. ”
With encouragement and support
from friends and family, Lance Cpl.
John Fischer will head back to
Iraq in January, 2006 to complete
the remaining two and a half
years of his contract with the U. S.
Marine Corps.
nwilbur@dailyememld.com
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