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COUNTY NURSES
MAY STRIKE
Lane County nurses represented by Local 2831 of the
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees (AFSCME) have set a tentative strike date for
Jan. 23 after months of negotiations with the county over
their contract, and in particular health insurance.
There are about 60 nurses working for Lane County in
positions such as Lane County Mental Health, the jail, in
schools and as home visiting nurses for at-risk moms and
babies. According to a statement on the AFSCME website,
the nurses also conduct “the epidemiological investigative
work that keeps communicable diseases at bay and
administers thousands of immunizations a year.” The
nurses “generally serve lower-income clients who depend
on our services for their medical care,” the statement says.
Union representative Jim Steiner says health insurance
is a particular concern for the nurses because they have
more exposure to diseases, particularly those nurses
working in public health.
The nurses say there are currently eight nursing
vacancies at the county and “we fear there will be many
more as employees leave Lane County for more lucrative
positions, given the actions being taken by the county.”
In a statement issued to the media, Lane County says
one of its “primary interests is having the nurses unit move
to a new health plan that more than 1,000 county employees
have already moved to.” The county says that the plan “is
still more favorable than the health plans offered by most
public and private sector employers” and says “this is very
important to the county because it will save the county
hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
In a separate statement issued to county staff in regard
to the possible strike and negotiations with the nurses, the
county says, “Having the nurses on their own plan would
increase our insurance and administrative costs by
approximately 2 percent or about $500,000 for the 60
members, plus the increased annual costs of approximately
happening people
$121,680. So, the total cost for maintaining the nurses on
their old plans is approximately $621,680 per year!”
Steiner says, “That’s a bald-faced lie. The administrator
is not being honest about that; there’s no validation for it.”
He says with only 63 nurses on staff, that means the
county would be paying $9,500 per nurse to track them on
their plan, which he calls “ridiculous.”
“Our nurses bring a ton of revenue in,” Steiner says. He
estimates it at more than $2 million a year for the county
and asks, “Why are they screwing around with our nurses
when our nurses bring in money?”
For more information on the possible strike go to www.
oregonafscme.com.
— Camilla Mortensen
LTD SEES GAIN
IN RIDERSHIP
With college students taking over Eugene and the
additional EmX line to the Gateway area, Lane Transit
District has seen a 2.4 percent increase in ridership for the
first six months of its fiscal year. This could bode well for
ridership on the proposed West 11th EmX line.
Since July 1, the district has recorded 5.2 million
customer boardings, with October and November each
exceeding one million, according to LTD.
This rise is likely due to the increasing number of UO
and LCC students who ride the campus area routes,
according to Andy Vobora, a spokesman for LTD.
The Oregonian reports that Portland’s transit service,
TriMet, whose ridership is also up, speculates its increase
may be due to a desire to be distracted while riding
— texting and reading on trips. LTD doesn’t have wireless
and doesn’t plan on offering it in the future, Vobora says,
but a study out of DePaul University on curbside buses
showed having wireless on buses could increase ridership
even more — passengers were willing to take a longer,
slower ride for the convenience of having internet access.
Locally, EmX is one of the reasons ridership has gone
up. Jan. 9 marked the one-year anniversary for the
Gateway EmX line, and the addition has contributed to the
overall rise in riders, according to Vobora.
“It leveraged additional trips,” he said. “People were
going on the existing line into the Gateway area and then
back.”
BY PAUL NEEVEL
JANET MCDONALD
Born and raised in Eugene, Janet McDonald is the
daughter of a logger, Sam Sears, who lost a leg in an
accident when she was in third grade. “He still wears
suspenders,” says McDonald, who visits him regularly
to help with household chores. “He’ll be 91 in
February.” A few years ago, when her mother was
suffering with Parkinson’s, McDonald was there to
drive her to appointments and to help out around the
house. Half a year after the death of her mom in July
of 2008, her husband, wood products distributor
John McDonald, suddenly developed a brain tumor
and died. In need of an income and aware that her
father and others his age didn’t look forward to
leaving their comfortable homes for assisted living,
McDonald joined with her daughter Michelle Daggett
and started a new business, Daily Home Services,
aimed at providing help with everyday tasks such as
housework and errands. “My dad was the first one;
that’s how it all started,” says McDonald, who currently
has four regular clients plus three on an on-call basis.
“There is such a need for it. People need companionship
as much as they need me sweeping the floor or
cleaning the bathroom. It brings me joy to put a smile
on a senior’s face.” Learn more at www.
dailyhomeservices.com
• We know that our messy democracy is all about
anybody running for office if she/he wants to. Witness
the Republican primary. But it’s too bad when two
progressive Eugene environmentalists run against each
other, draining money and energy from the real fight
against the local extreme right, which is increasingly
using its deep pockets, the courts and the press to
attack dreaded liberals like Lane County Commissioner
Pete Sorenson. We wonder why state Sen. Floyd
Prozanski has signed on with his bicycling buddy Andy
Stahl against Pete. Some politicos speculate that the
backdrop here is the congressional seat held by
Democrat Peter DeFazio. When DeFazio tires of that
weekly Eugene-D.C. flight, who will go after his seat?
Maybe all the above; maybe none.
• Lane County’s redistricting Ordinance 9-11, pushed
through late last year by the Tea Party majority on the
County Commission, is in the hands of the Oregon
Court of Appeals, but this tricky case without legal
precedents won’t be resolved anytime soon. Looks like
the May primary elections will go ahead with the new
district boundary lines. Attorney David Force says he
will file the next round of paperwork with the court in
February and he expects oral arguments to happen in
April or May, with a decision coming in summer or fall.
“If the Court of Appeals finds in our favor,” he says,
“Lane County probably will appeal it to Oregon’s
Supreme Court. We also will have that option if the
Court of Appeals rules against us.” Kudos to the folks
who are pushing this case in an attempt to make our
commissioners accountable to the thousands of
citizens who are affected by their unabashed
gerrymandering.
• Can you really be terrorized by an event you slept
through or otherwise didn’t even notice? Emails from
City Councilor George Poling indicate he didn’t know
the topless Occupy Eugene-related “Vagilutionaries”
beat their gong outside his house until someone sent
him the YouTube video the next day. Poling was soon
denouncing protesters as terrorists and blaming Mayor
Kitty Piercy for not sympathizing with his plight soon
enough. These emails and dozens of others that shed
light on what was going on behind the scenes over the
holidays were uncovered by an EW public records
request. Look for “Topless Turvey Terrorism” this week
at www.eugeneweekly.com
• Mining has stopped at Parvin Butte, according to a
letter sent from Lost Creek Rock Products’ attorney to
Lane County. We’re still a little unclear about how
sheriff’s deputies can go out and stop a party in the
woods and arrest people, but can’t stop illegal mining
destroying the environment and devastating a
community. But kudos go to the folks on staff at the
county who have been bird-dogging Greg Demers and
Norman and Melvin McDougal and their mine, as well
as to the elected officials — Commissioners Faye
Stewart and Jay Bozievich and Sen. Floyd Prozanski
— who withdrew their support for LCRP’s nearly half
million dollar ODOT grant application for a venture that
plans to send the illegally mined gravel and rock for
use on the Coos Bay Rail Link and at the Port of Coos
Bay.
• Concerned about issues like illegal mining at Parvin
Butte, folks like the McDougals and Demers, the
Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling that removed
all restrictions on corporate political contribution and
“Who owns Lane County”? Head over to Occupy the
Courts at 11 am Friday, Jan. 20. Occupy Eugene will
rally at the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza, 8th and
Oak, then march to the new U.S. Courthouse and join
up with the Eugene chapter of We the People for a
noon rally and afternoon of talks (see Activist Alert). If
the weather is bad, the events will move indoors to
First Christian Church at 11th and Oak.
SLANT includes short opinion pieces, observations and rumor-chas-
ing notes compiled by the EW staff. Heard any good rumors lately?
Contact Ted Taylor at 484-0519, editor@eugeneweekly.com
LIGHTEN UP
Losing a lawsuit but prevailing in several investigations allows
County Commissioners Handy and Sorenson to point out that
not all the lies our adversaries spread about us are true.
BY R A FA E L A L DAV E
6 JANUARY 19, 2012
EUGENE WEEKLY
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