NEWS BRIEFS
slant
• How is RiverBend doing in this economic crisis? Hospital bed census is run-
ning at a respectable 80 percent, but we hear rumors that the facility is losing
money and is planning layoffs of 10 percent of its management ranks. That’s an
exaggeration, says PeaceHealth’s PR person Jenny Ulum, but she does say
some 13 people in administration are losing their jobs, and some other unfilled
positions are now on hold. Managers are also taking a 4.5 percent pay cut
between now and June. What’s going on? Ulum says more patients are showing
up without insurance, and people are delaying medical procedures because of
the economy. It all has an impact on PeaceHealth revenues.
Ulum says patient care staff will not be cut at RiverBend, but rumors per-
sist of overworked and overstressed nurses and aides.
• Economic worries could also interfere with PeaceHealth’s plans to relocate its
Nurse-Midwifery Birth Center from its current location at 511 E. 12th Ave. to
a new facility planned near RiverBend. Advocates for the move are lobbying for
the new center at PeaceHealth’s corporate board meeting in Washington state
June 30 and have gathered 523 signatures on a petition. Not everyone’s happy
with losing the center at its handy 28-year Eugene location, but one source
tells us she’s worried PeaceHealth’s board might see the Birth Center as redun-
dant and simply close it and not build the new $417,000 facility on its
$600,000 one-acre lot. However, the Birth Center appears to be a priority for
the hospital’s foundation. Advocates for the move have a blog at www.lanecof-
bc.blogspot.com
officer during an anti-pesticide rally on May
30 of last year, and witnesses say that
another officer dragged him by the hair and
slammed his head against the ground. He
has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor
charges of obstructing traffic and resisting
arrest.
Recently more controversy has
arisen in the case, with
the Eugene Police
Department sus-
pending its investi-
gation of officers’
actions until after
legal proceedings
are finished.
At Tuesday’s
hearing, Judge Jack
Billings allowed the
defense access to the Taser
records of all officers at the scene.
Fine said that hard drives within the
weapons record when they are fired
and should clear up confusion about
when Van Ornum was first Tasered.
The DA said only one Taser was
deployed, but Fine requested records of all
Tasers carried by officers at the rally. Fine
said Van Ornum was shot twice while he was
prone. Some witnesses report seeing him
Tasered once while he was standing, in order
to “get him down,” Fine said.
Billings also granted the defense access
to some EPD disciplinary records, if they
exist, of any prior unlawful and excessive
use of force by the two officers involved in
the case. Fine argued for access to all com-
plaints of unlawful or excessive force by the
involved officers, but the judge said that he
would allow access only to complaints
against the officers that had been “affirmed
and sustained” by an internal review.
The defense will also be able to use
interviews conducted by agents of the state
or the city of Eugene, said Billings. That
means the defense will be able to use any
reports given to the police auditor by wit-
nesses sympathetic to its case.
The judge granted access to officer Bill
Solesbee’s department cell phone records, if
available, after Fine requested a recording
of Homeland Security’s two calls alerting
the officer to the rally. Because the calls
went to a cell phone, the DA said they were
not recorded. The times of the calls would
show up on the cell phone records.
Among the requests Billings denied was
one in regard to an officer who came for-
ward 11 days after the incident saying she
had witnessed Van Ornum during
the setup of the rally. Fine said
coming forward 11 days after
in incident was unusual and
wanted to see if it was in
response to an internal memo or
email. The judge ruled that request
irrelevant after the DA said it
would require searching through
hundreds of documents. He also
denied a request for a time record
to see if the officer was at the rally
when she said she was.
Judge Billings also said the
question of whether Solesbee’s
possible service as a police officer
for a contractor in Iraq prior to
Tasering Van Ornum was not rele-
vant. According to a 2007 story in the
New York Times, many contractors are
coming back from Iraq with the same kinds
of combat-related mental health problems
that afflict United States military person-
nel.
A trial date for Van Ornum is currently
set for Feb. 10.
— Jessica Hirst and Camilla Mortensen
4J SEEKS INPUT
ON BUDGET
Eugene School District 4J is preparing
for significant budget cuts due to the wors-
ening Oregon economy and declining pro-
jections for tax revenues. The district is
asking students, parents and community
members to weigh in on priorities via an
online survey posted on the district’s web-
site: www.4j.lane.edu The survey will be
open through Sunday, Feb. 1.
The district is expecting a budget short-
fall of $14 million to $17 million for next
year. That’s about 10 percent of the dis-
trict’s operating budget, or equivalent to the
cost of operating two of the district’s high
schools for one year.
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• How can Eugene’s form of government be improved? Eugene is a city that’s
too large for a manager/council model where the council only sets policy and
the unelected manager has power over everything else. The issues were out-
lined at the monthly Brewhaha political gathering Jan. 21 sponsored by The
Lane Bus Project and EW. On the panel were Steve Candee, an LCC political
science prof; Bonny Bettman and Paul Nicholson, both former councilors; Josh
Foster, UO grad student; and Gary Gillespie, union activist.
Several points stand out from the discussion: Meaningful oversight and
transparency are more important than our form of government, and our cur-
rent system has little of either. The trend nationwide is to move away from our
current manager/council model, and a growing number of cities are adding
independent performance auditors and bringing legal services in-house. We’d
have a more balanced and democratic city government if we gave our mayor a
vote on everything (instead of being just a tie-breaker), allowed our council to
vote on major contracts and the hiring of key department heads, paid our
councilors a living wage and provided councilors with staff support.
All these things, and more, can be done by updating our current form of
government.
• Springfield’s elected officials are eager to grow the town in land size and
population, but do the residents of Springfield understand what it means for
them? Developers and speculators will rake in short-term profits, but property
owners will pay long-term higher taxes to fund expanded sewers, streets, public
safety and schools. And higher property taxes mean higher rents.
One reason cited for expanding Springfield’s urban growth boundary is the
need for industrial land, but will recruiting new manufacturing to Springfield
help or hurt the city’s economy? Some lessons can be learned from the jobs
rollercoaster caused by Hynix, Sony and other large manufacturers who have
come and gone.
Here in Eugene, economic hard times are generating a desperation for
jobs, and unscrupulous profiteers and politicians are circling to prey on that
desperation. Will a new Lowe’s on the edge of town “create” more jobs? No.
There’s only so much stuff local people will buy. Such big chain stores are more
likely to take jobs from already existing local businesses. Will tax breaks for a
university area housing developer create jobs? No. If there is demand, the
housing would have been built anyway. With the economy sick, people should
be wary of those who are selling snake oil.
• Sam Adams this week decided to not resign as mayor of Portland, and this is
good news. Portland has a multitude of challenges that far exceed the signifi-
cance of hanky-panky that appears to be consensual and otherwise legal. We
suspect the hullabaloo is driven by political agendas more than moral outrage.
Let’s get past this distraction of pubic business and get on with public busi-
ness.
• A new blog gives us a peak inside the large brain of UO economics professor
and scientist Bill Harbaugh, who’s currently on sabbatical. Harbaugh’s inter-
ests are exceptionally broad. He writes about everything from neuroeconomics
(what’s that?) to improving access to Oregon public records. You can also find
quirky comments from Harbaugh’s students. Check out harbaugh.uoregon.edu
SLANT includes short opinion pieces, observations and rumor-chasing notes compiled by the EW staff. Heard
any good rumors lately? Contact Ted Taylor at 484-0519, editor@eugeneweekly.com
EUGENE WEEKLY JANUARY 29, 2009 7