• In 1995 when Hyundai/Hynix landed $50 million in
tax breaks for building in the west Eugene wetlands,
hundreds of outraged citizens packed meetings. How
could so much public money be given away to a
mega-corporate factory using tons of toxic chemicals
without a vote or even a hearing? The answer then
was that the state enterprise zone (EZ) program that
the city had signed up for almost a decade earlier
provides corporate welfare without public accounta-
bility. Unless there’s a similar outpouring of public
outrage before April 11, history could very well repeat
itself. The City Council is poised 7-1 to set up a new
enterprise zone that would potentially give Hynix
another $100 million. If Hynix expands, it will qualify
for another huge tax break, without a vote or public
hearing. Proponents argue that tax breaks create
jobs, but almost all economists and researchers tell us
that corporations come and go based on cheap labor,
access to markets and other factors more important
to their bottom line. State employment economists
have found that most of the new jobs go to people
moving here rather than the local unemployed.
Proponents claim the EZ mostly helps local small
businesses, but 95 percent of the breaks have so far
gone to Hynix. Proponents say they’ll attach local
standards to the breaks, giving companies that aren’t
providing sustainable, family wage jobs less money.
But state law doesn’t allow meaningful or significant
local standards and Hynix is likely to get its full break,
despite its history of layoffs, employment discrimina-
tion, environmental destruction and massive use of
chemicals, water and power. In the end, the EZ
amounts to little more than an unfair corporate hand-
out. Some of the more progressive councilors say the
resolution they will vote on April 11 represents a valu-
able compromise, but the EZ boundaries were only
reduced by 10 percent and Hynix, still stands to suck
up 95 percent of the potential hand-outs. The majori-
ty of people in Eugene believe corporations should
pay the same taxes they do. The council vote should
reflect that.
• Congrats to Willamette Week and reporter Nigel
Jaquiss for winning a Pulitzer Prize for the paper’s
exposé on Oregon power broker Neil Goldschmidt’s
sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl when he
was mayor of Portland. This prize is a big deal for WW
and Jaquiss and is well-deserved. Kudos to Jaquiss
for taking on the most powerful figure in Oregon and
hats off to WW for supporting his risky work. It was a
brave and difficult undertaking considering
Goldschmidt’s intimidating legal and political
resources. Our own Sen. Vicki Walker deserves a little
piece of that Pulitzer. She supplied Jaquiss with some
of the critical documentation that sent him and WW
on their gutsy investigation. We at EW particularly
relish success in the growing genre of journalism we
call alternative newsweeklies. In this business we
have lots of fun each week writ-
ing about quirky stuff and pok-
ing fun at convention; but we
also labor digging deeply into
the world of money and
power that operates behind
closed doors. With some
humility, we like to think that
our investigative reporting
on government, busi-
ness and the environ-
ment also brings
about positive
change. WW’s sto-
ries on
Goldschmidt (and
ALL VEGAN
more recently on the secret PGE papers) are embar-
rassing The Oregonian into doing more thorough
reporting. Likewise, we hope EW’s scoops and depth
of reporting are encouraging the R-G to become a
better, more relevant newspaper. Competition is a
boon for readers, and for democracy.
• Several of our readers have complained about our
Date Girl column a few weeks back (3/10) that fea-
tured a letter written by a man who admitted his sex-
ual attraction to pre-adolescent girls. So we asked
writer Judy McGuire what kind of reaction she got
from the same column in Seattle Weekly. She tells us
she got a great many responses, and every one was
positive. It seems people in Seattle welcome open dis-
cussion on sensitive topics.
• A couple of hate letters came in this week regarding
the pope, and we won’t be publishing them, not
because of their arguments regarding birth control
and homosexuality, but rather because of their
seething tone. Come on, people. It’s always open sea-
son on religion and politics, but let’s show the man a
little respect.
• Saturday was a great day downtown with the opening of
a bustling and lively Saturday Market and lots of activity
at the new Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza.
Appropriately enough, some free speech happened, spon-
sored by the Wayne Morse Youth Program downtown. The
program was followed by drumming, dancing, Frisbee-
tossing and other Eugene-style celebrations of spring and
community. Lane County Farmers Market is also up and
running. Not a lot of fresh produce yet, but this is a great
time to meet local farmers, buy some fruit trees, and sign
up for Community Supported Agriculture programs.
Nothing beats local produce.
Best New Restaurant 2004
The 4th Annual Bard’s Birthday Celebration
Shakespeare in Italy
FRESH BAKED
Boiled & Hearth
Baked Daily
A delicious evening of dining, theatre & music to benefit
Free Shakespeare in the Park
S UNDAY , A PRIL 17, 2005
First seating at 6:00pm, Second seating at 8:00pm
$35 per person *Reservations required
Eugene
810 Willamette
341-1335
Springfield
5768 Main St.
868-1072
2435 Hilyard • Eugene, OR 97405 (in the Humble Bagel)
www.iraila.com • Open Wed.-Sun. @ 5pm • 541-684-8400
APRIL 7, 2005 9