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"The real fear for me is that
people won't be educated about
this issue. They'll vote for a
PUD because they hate Enron.
They won't think of what it
takes to run an efficient utility."
—Suni Miani
expíense of the earth and people all over the world
for far tix> long,” Newell says. She hopes the pro
posed PUD would make solar, wind and other
alternative energy choices more mainstream.
Q ueer E mployees
a t PGE F i e r c e l y L o y a l
to T heir C o m p a n y
t’s presumptuous to think that I would want
to work for a PUD just because there is a
lesbian board member,” said Kregg Arntson, a
member of GALE Force (Gay And Lesbian
Employees and their Friends), a queer employee
group at PGE.
He has been a public information officer for
seven years at the 2,700-employee company in
Portland. A native Oregonian, Arntson pier-
forms regularly with local theater and music
companies, including the Oregon Symphony
Pops. In August 2002, The Ptrrtland Business
Journal recognized him as one of the city’s “Forty
Under 40" for his business and civic leadership.
Arntson and the other members of GALE
Force contend that their company has been
unfairly maligned because of the Enron scandal.
“We are not Enron,” he says. “We are extremely
loyal to PGE."
Arntson says that what happens in local
headquarters is a far cry from the corrupt corpo
rate misdeeds of their parent company. In tact,
most GALE Force members profess affection
and deep respect for their CEO , Peggy Fowler,
an outspoken supporter ot her gay, lesbian and
transsexual employees.
“1 moved here from Florida for this job
because of the leadership," says Brian Craig, an
information technology specialist.
“PGE was one of the first large corporations
to take on No on 9,” says Patrick Stupek, who
has worked as a supervisor of corporate commu
nications tor seven years. “They pulled in other
corporations to fight that measure as well. And
they were one of the first companies to stop giv
ing contributions to the Boy Scouts after they
banned gay Scouts.”
•
“l transitioned at this company,” says Devan
Deuel, a lead field operations technician and an
out transsexual. “And I had the hill support of
my managers.”
“If people vote tor this PUD, they will he
hurting their gay and lesbian neigh
bors," says Jann Gilbert, a project
coordinator for customer energy
resources. GALE Force members
worry that a PUD would not pro
vide queer employees the powerful
platform PGE has proved to he.
Additionally, they are dubious
about the proposed PUD’s ability
to deliver the same quality service
as PGE. Or PacifiCorp, for that
matter. Gilbert lives in a Pacifi
Corp district and wonders how the
proposed PUD would affect her
home service.
PUD advocates “have no
plan," she says. “W hat are they
going to d o r
“In order to keep rates low,
they’re going to have to slash
salaries,” says Margo Bryant, a special needs pol-
icy supervisor. “Plus they would lose half the
service area, so they’d have to cut jobs.”
If GALE Force members are any barometer,
PGE employees take pride in their work and
their service to the community. Arntson credits
GALE Force and the company’s six other diver
sity groups with increasing customer service and
employee knowledge. Because employees from
many different departments converge at GALE
Force meetings, they can learn from one anoth
er how various aspects of the company work.
Arntson, who has a desk job, has joined
Deuel on meter-reading trips so as to better
understand the service PGE provides. “I don’t
think I would have done that if it weren’t for
this group,” he says.
Not surprisingly, corporate leaders at PGE
are fighting the proposed PUD measures, calling
the effort a “government takeover.” PGE says
that in the event of the PUD being voted in,
rates would go up, taxes would go up, service
would falter, checks and balances would disap
pear, all with inexperienced people at the helm.
While this chaotic picture might he overly
d(x>m-and-gloom (a number of U.S. cities have
effective public utility districts, including Los
Angeles and nearby Columbia River PUD), the
Oregon Public Power Committee plan has been
criticized for being thin on realistic strategy.
Sum Miani, chairwoman of GALE Force
and a 15-year employee at PGE, says: “The real
fear for me is that people won't be educated
about this issue. They’ll vote for a PUD because
they hate Enron. They won’t think ot what it
takes to nin an efficient utility."
“The picture these measures are painting of
our company is not the company we know,”
Bryant says. She and others feel strongly that
now is an important moment for PGE to regain
its gixxl standing in the public eye. They worry
that public ignorance on this matter could cost
them their jobs as well as their hard-won accep
tance and voice at work.
Says Miani, “We want txjr company back." JH
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C ounty P ublic U tility D istrict visit the Internet
sites uw w .oppc.ny, uavu ».enronfraudinfocenter.com,
uxvic.[xmlandgeneral.com and
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