WHO WILL PAY FOR
TRACKTOWN USA?
If and when the track and field’s international governing body,
International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), brings
its world championships to Eugene in 2021, it will be the biggest
track event Hayward Field has ever seen.
But the cost of bringing the global track event to Eugene is
just one part of the scandal that has erupted over the event and
touching the group that has worked to bring it here, TrackTown
USA. The nonprofit is pressing ahead with organizing the cham-
pionships, and the decision to put state funding into this Eugene
event lies in the hands of Oregon legislators.
Hayward is seen as a mecca for runners and has hosted the
Olympic Trials, but 30,000 seats are needed to host the IAAF and
Hayward currently seats 10,500. Forty million dollars is the num-
ber that has been cited repeatedly as what is needed from the state
for infrastructure and renovations to bring the event to Eugene.
The track and field world was stunned in April 2015 when, af-
ter being passed over for the 2019 IAAF championships, Eugene
was suddenly awarded one of the world’s largest athletic events,
the 2021 championships.
In November 2015, allegations of doping and bribery rocked
the IAAF, and Sebastian Coe, the new head of the IAAF, ad-
mitted to taking undisclosed, yearly payments of $150,000 from
Nike for years. Oregon-based Nike has been a key player in
backing the effort to bring the IAAF to Eugene.
In December, it was announced French prosecutors were in-
vestigating the decision to award the championships to Eugene,
leaving the championships a question for many.
Back in 2014, then-governor John Kitzhaber pledged $40 mil-
lion to the event. But earlier this January, The Register-Guard
revealed that after TrackTown’s Executive Director Vin Lananna
first contacted Kitzhaber for funding, the request was met with
“coolness and skepticism.” The governor soon changed his mind.
The R-G writes, “Kitzhaber’s apparent reversal coincided
with almost $400,000 in campaign contributions he received
during a 42-day period in September and October 2014 from
athletic apparel giant Nike, its co-founder Phil Knight and its
CEO Mark Parker, as well as four members of the UO Board
of Trustees.”
EW contacted Lane County’s legislators to ask them if they
would vote for a $40 million subsidy to bring the games to Eu-
gene.
Rep. Nancy Nathanson has been named as the legislator who
would introduce a bill in the 2016 short session that begins in
February to fund the event. She says the R-G “misunderstood
the purpose of the bill, based on what must have been old and
incomplete information.”
Nathanson tells EW, “My bill will increase resources for the
Tourism Commission to invest in furthering the state’s tourism
industry, to promote all of Oregon, and specific sites, activities
and places in every region. TrackTown would be eligible to sub-
mit a proposal to the Commission, just as other projects submit
grant requests.”
Sen. Floyd Prozanski says he supports bringing the games
to Eugene, and “I am willing to support a state funding bill, but
I must see the actual proposal before I can state whether I will
actually vote for the bill.”
Sen. Lee Beyer, like other elected officials EW contacted,
says he has not seen a proposal for the $40 million but that “the
biggest part of any funding would come from a 1-percent in-
crease in the statewide hotel room tax.” He points out that the
tax, currently at 1 percent, is “dedicated to promoting tourism”
and that it’s “probably worth noting that the hotel tax is gener-
ally paid by out-of-state visitors, not Oregonians.”
Lananna told The Oregonian that TrackTown has now scaled
back its request for a lodging tax increase that would generate
$25 million, but if it doesn’t get the $40 million it needs in the
short session, “we’ve got five years to bring people around.”
— Camilla Mortensen
BY PAUL NEEVEL
HAPPENING PEOPLE
JON LABROUSSE
The son of an active-duty Marine, Jon Labrousse
grew up in several West Coast cities, then went to
high school in Hawaii. “Most of the kids were Asians
and Pacific Islanders,” he says. “It was a huge
growth experience.” He enrolled at Oregon State
University to study engineering, but after a required
reading class with John Campbell he began writing
poetry and changed his major to English. He spent
two years teaching in Japan and South Korea
before settling in Eugene in 1996 with his wife,
Tasha Katsuda. “We met at OSU,” he says. She
embarked on a career with the school district as a
teacher, then as administrator, while he finished a
master’s in education, worked as a teacher and a
tech consultant, and was an at-home dad for
children Malia and Kegan. After years of submitting
his poems to journals, Labrousse broke out as a
performer at local poetry slams and with Team
Eugene at the 2005 National Poetry Slam. Since
December 2010 he has taught seventh and eighth
grades at Ridgeline Montessori Public Charter
School, where his own kids have been students.
When the school lost its part-time Spanish teacher
to budget cuts, he applied for a grant to buy seven
ukuleles for his classroom. “Music is a language,”
he says. “Every morning starts with music. The kids
love it.” More ukes were added, and a performance
group, TRUE (The Ridgeline Ukulele Experience),
that has played many local stages. “I used to be
known as a poet,” Labrousse says. “Now I’m the
guy who plays ukulele with the kids.”
• What’s the buzz with the Oakleigh
Meadow Cohousing (OMC) project? “We’re still
moving forward,” says Will Dixon, the local
architect for the controversial project off River
Road next to the Willamette River bikepath.
“We received re-approval of our tentative PUD
application back in October,” Dixon says. “No
surprise, the opposition has appealed this
once again to LUBA. On Nov. 12 we re-applied
our final PUD application. We are hoping for
final PUD approval early 2016, and anticipating
the opposition to appeal this as well.” Dixon
says the appeals “will not keep us from being
able to finalize our building permits and start
construction.” The development has 22
families committed out of 28 units, and Dixon
says, “We are more committed than ever to
see this project through.”
Meanwhile, neighborhood activist Paul
Conte tells us, “OMC (and city staff) are trying
to circumvent laws and regulations that are in
place to protect the safety of residents of new
developments, as well as current residents
whose safety would be affected by the
impacts of new development.” Conte says
Oakleigh Lane, which allows resident parking
on the gravel shoulders, must accommodate
two lanes of traffic to adequately serve OMC
and emergency vehicles, but the narrow “sub-
standard” passage includes private property
and “the owners have a right to park on that
pavement or even forbid cars to travel over it.”
• What happens to the huge volume of
human hair that gets swept up at salons and
barbershops in Lane County? Salon DeLange
at 3011 N. Delta Hwy. in Eugene is diverting its
waste products, including hair, to a specialized
recycling center in Seattle. “The hair that is
recycled is used to absorb oils spills, and it is
both more effective and greener than the
synthetic alternatives,” says Haley Jones
from the salon. DeLange has been recently
certified as a Green Circle Salon, along with
Bare Body Waxing and Hair Studio above
Beppe and Gianni’s Trattoria near Hayward
Field.
• Kathy Stewart-Bronson, owner of
Ultimate Fitness LLC Personal Training and
Massage Therapy, will be moving and
expanding her business on Friday, Jan. 15, to
82 Centennial Loop. Ultimate Fitness
specializes in post-rehab training and
therapies, people with multiple sclerosis and
Parkinson’s, along with goal-specific
training. Stewart-Bronson will start teaching
exercise classes again in February. See
ultimatefitnessor.com for schedule.
• The Network Charter School has
purchased the building at 2550 Portland
Street, previously occupied by Security First
Child Development Center. A welcoming event
with teachers, parents and board members
will be at 2 pm Tuesday, Jan. 19, at the new
location. Light refreshments and student
entertainment are planned. Call 344-1229 for
more information.
• Free one-on-one job help sessions are
being offered from 4 to 6 pm Thursday, Jan.
14, and again Thursday, Jan. 28, at the Eugene
Public Library. Preregister for the half-hour
counseling sessions by calling 682-5450.
eugeneweekly.com • January 14, 2016
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