LET TERS
INSPIRING STORY
What a great article on a great man,
someone I’ve never met but long admired
[“Citizen Terry,” 8/25]. Someday when
I am done working I will show up on
his doorstep offering to help. Truly
inspiring. Made my day, and these can be
disheartening days.
Thanks, Rick Levin!
Amy Isler Gibson
Eugene
NOT SO THRIFTY
Look, I’m all in favor of the celebration
of capitalism done right, but Citizen Terry
may have overlooked one small detail in
his fervor for firm financial footing — his
customers.
St. Vincent de Paul and other nonprofit
thrift stores are retail spaces that people
like me — the “poor but not destitute” —
have depended on for years to fill the gaps
in their households and wardrobes. When
I’m done with an item, I turn around and
donate it back.
Lately, when I go into a St. Vincent de
Paul’s “thrift” store, I consistently find
that the majority of items have retail (or
higher!) price tags. This is unacceptable.
Yes, there is a new moneyed hipster market
that revels in their Macklemore scores and
VIEWPOINT
can afford the thrift chic aesthetic, but I am
not one of them.
Remember your base and price
accordingly, for this fad too shall pass.
Meanwhile, those who can no longer
afford to support your good works are
resorting to home clothing exchanges and
Craigslist bargains.
Angela Kern
Eugene
DOUGHNUT
DISAPPOINTMENT
It’s always disappointing to see
valuable space taken up with articles that
are neither informative, enlightening or
even really witty. Much like your article
on downtown Springfield, your recent
piece on doughnuts was similarly useless
[Fall Chow, 8/25]. Rather than getting any
useful information on where to find a good
glazed raised, we got a lot of rather snarky
criticisms with a dash of armchair pseudo-
philosophy.
For those that are truly interested,
and I suspect many people are, there are
some really good doughnut shops in town.
Despite the author’s rather strange rant
about Dizzy Dean’s, they make a solid
range of good, uncomplicated doughnuts.
For me and many others, there are two
totally dependable doughnut locations.
Market of Choice and Cal’s on River Road
are the top of the doughnut heap. The maple
bars, especially, are thick and doughy with
the perfect amount of luscious maple icing.
And the old-fashioned glazed raiseds are
light, fluffy and perfectly glazed.
I don’t mind humor in your articles and
reviews, far from it. I do object to pieces
that fail in their endeavor to be funny
and end up serving no real purpose at
all, especially in a supplement like Chow
which seems to be geared toward both
supporting local restaurants and giving
your readers the chance to discover the
best Eugene has to offer.
This weakness was made more obvious
by the other articles positively highlighting
several new ventures. And, because of
them, I’m pretty excited to try schnitzel,
Bavarian pretzels, Middle Eastern food
and the new Brails!
Jake Gariepy
Eugene
DOUGHNUT CHALLENGE
What annoyed me the most about Ben
Ricker’s “Glazed and Confused” article
[Fall Chow, 8/25] is that he so clearly had
formed his opinions before even trying
any doughnuts. He had that article written
before stepping a foot into any doughnut
shop. It read like your typical hipster cry
of “It’s Popular, Now It Sucks!” while
idolizing and promoting any hole-in-the-
wall for the sake of sounding different.
I worked at Voodoo for many years,
and I genuinely believe they have the best
doughnuts in town. It pisses me off to read
an article like his because not only do I
think the product is amazing, but Voodoo
is a wonderful business that is full of
thought and quality. The owners of Voodoo
are two of the most exceptionally kind and
generous people you will ever meet. They
have expanded in a cautious and respectful
way to maintain the integrity of their
business and quality of product.
The company has massive roots in their
community and gives back in ways I can’t
begin to list. The owners of Voodoo make
employment there a place where you can
have a career and work happily. They gave
me opportunities to learn and grow that
allowed me to pay my way through college
and have a life I love. I would hate for
people to stop going because journalists
are bored of writing about how great and
popular it is and need to make up new stuff
to get published.
Weirdly enough, I do think I agree with
Mr. Ricker on one point: A doughnut is
a doughnut. It doesn’t need to be made
by organic chickens wearing flannel in
a Mason jar to taste good. However, you
shouldn’t discount a place because it is
BY ROBER T WA RREN
The $7 Million Giveaway
EUGENE AND LANE COUNTY’S TAX BREAK MAKES NO SENSE
I
am baffled by the decision of the Eugene City
Council and the Lane County Board of Com-
missioners to give away an additional $7 mil-
lion, to Singapore-based Broadcom, on top of
the $14 million the company was already get-
ting for creating 229 jobs in the West Eugene Enter-
prise Zone. That’s $21 million, what they paid for the
property, for 229 jobs!
Of course I am happy Broadcom will be creating
jobs at the former Hynix site. These are badly needed
jobs in our local economy. And I am not opposed to
enterprise zones. They were originally conceived to
help disadvantaged rural communities compete for
manufacturing jobs and industrial development. They
were later expanded into urban areas. I believe they
can be very real incentive for companies wishing to
expand and/or relocate here.
In theory, the Enterprise Zone is used to “recruit” a
company that would not have located here otherwise.
I know for a fact that not having an enterprise zone
can be a deal killer for businesses from another area
looking for a place to expand and relocate. The tax
break creates an incentive for the company to make
significant investments in the property and, after the
exemption period ends, they pay property taxes on
the full value of the property. Those property taxes
could be substantial, as they were with Hynix.
And I believe a case can be made for offering the
additional two years of tax waivers. But the extra
4
September 1, 2016 • eugeneweekly.com
two years of property tax waivers should come in
exchange for, well, something. In this case it appears
the city and county caved in and gave away the
additional $7 million and got almost nothing for the
$7 million in return.
They were able to extract a commitment for
Broadcom to contribute a total of $500,000 spread
over five years to the Lane Workforce Partnership.
That’s $500,000 for the $7 million. And Broadcom
will get its investment back since it will be using the
workforce partnership to provide them with qualified
applicants for their jobs.
City Councilor Chris Pryor and Lane
Commissioner Jay Bozievich both claimed the
additional two years, and $7 million, were an
“investment.” Pryor went on to say they were "not
giving money away.” Really! So what did we get in
return for the extra $7 million “investment” of our
money?
It’s not the jobs. The company had already
purchased the site; it was not going anywhere. It
announced in November of last year it would be
hiring 250-300 employees for the new plant. For the
additional $7 million, Broadcom was allowed to pare
that down to 229. For the extra $7 million why not, at
the very least, insist on the upper end of the previously
announced 250-300? Or challenge it to create more?
Broadcom’s Colorado plant employs 800.
It’s not the wages. The company claimed last
November it would be paying wages “way above
the median income.” It has to; the company will be
competing for good employees in an industry that
pays well. The extra $7 million did not compel or
encourage Broadcom to increase the wages at all. In
fact, for the extra $7 million, Broadcom agreed to the
absolute minimum average wage to qualify, $59,073.
For $7 million, why not push for a higher average?
The average wage at Hynix was $70,000.
If it’s not the jobs, and it’s not the wages, then
what is it? It may be another kind of investment.
Local elected officials often feel compelled to “create
jobs.” One tried and true way to do that is to find a
project that is already going to succeed and put some
additional public resources into it and claim credit
for the jobs. Jobs that would, of course, have been
created anyway.
The ability to add two years of enterprise zone
benefits can be a powerful incentive to help a company
decide to locate in a specific community. But when
negotiating with a company like Broadcom, with
8,400 employees and revenues over $4 billion last
year, our team appears to have been in way over their
heads. They gave away $7 million to close a deal that
was already done. I would not call that driving much
of a bargain for our $7 million.
Robert Warren retired from Oregon Business Development Department
(formerly Oregon Economic and Community Development Department)
in June 2012.