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Building
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COMMISSIONER JOE BERNEY
PUSHES THROUGH CRITERIA FOR
CONSTRUCTION FIRMS TO BUILD
COURTHOUSE
By Henry Houston
A
BY PAU L N E EV E L
HAPPENING
PEOPLE
t a busy diner in Springfield, Com-
missioner Joe Berney excitedly tries
to show Eugene Weekly a video of
the Lane Board of County Commis-
sioners passing a community ben-
efits agreement — the first time the
county government has taken such
action, he says.
Watching a clip from a commissioners’ meeting just
isn’t possible when there’s a buzz of silverware clanging
on plates and coffee cups thudding on tables, so Berney
puts his phone back in his pocket.
Seen later, the video shows county commissioners
unanimously supporting what Berney pushed for: a
community benefits agreement.
“This is a series of historic commitments from Lane
County that has never existed before,” he says.
Kail Zuschlag, an assistant business manager with
a local branch of the International Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers, agrees. He says the agreement
will help those working in the construction industry,
preventing them from having to make the choice
between a doctor visit or buying groceries.
The community benefits agreement establishes five lo-
cal impact goals that must be met in the construction of the
courthouse — that is, if the construction project gets placed
on the ballot in May and if voters approve funding it.
Berney says the agreement is a representation
of everything he ran his campaign on: living wages,
health insurance, renewable energy and decreasing
greenhouse gases.
The agreement was what it took to get Berney to
support placing a courthouse bond measure on the
ballot. The Board of Commissioners will officially decide
later this month whether to ask voters to foot the bill
for a new courthouse. If the measure passes in May, the
board — thanks to Berney’s politicking — will prioritize
certain bidders who meet certain criteria.
The community benefits agreement has been touted
as a way to stimulate the local economy and invest in the
county’s local workforce.
The language of the community benefits agreement
promotes the use of local businesses, contractors and
workers; ensures that jobs with the courthouse project
pay a living wage and offer family health-care benefits;
prioritizes diversity and equity in the workplace;
incorporates sustainability in the project’s design and
construction; and uses state or federally approved
training and apprenticeship programs.
The agreement offers a fair chance to local organized
labor rather than letting out-of-state contractors win
the courthouse project bid and bring in a non-local labor
force.
It creates an even playing field for unions, Berney
says.
“Unions want living wages [and] benefits, they want
enough resources to feed their families and put a roof
over their heads,” he says. “That’s a labor agenda, and
that’s what this does.”
Bob Bussel, director at the UO’s Labor Education and
Research Center, agrees with Berney about the aim of
the county’s community benefits agreement.
“Unions tend to support these things because they
support raising standards,” Bussel says. “A lot that is in
here are things that are really in the wheelhouse of unions
in general and building trade unions in particular.”
More local contractors buying from more local
suppliers can lead to a greater stimulus to the local
economy than if a community benefits agreement
weren’t included in a capital project, Bussel adds.
Zuschlag says unionized labor has been waiting a
long time for something like this.
“Cut-rate contractors” that don’t reinvest in their
workforce have held down local contractors and local
workers, he says. Although contractors are supposed to
pay their workforce prevailing wages, a project’s lowest
bidder often cheats by misusing workers — for example,
by having laborers do electrical work.
The community benefits agreement is an investment
in supporting the local Lane County construction
industry, Zuschlag says. It can help local — union and
nonunion businesses — catch up with the rest of the
state of Oregon in wages, health care and retirement.
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“It is a choice by the community to support the working
families,” he says. “It stops the race to the bottom.”
County Administrator Steve Mokrohisky said during
the Feb. 5 meeting that the agreement should not result
in higher costs to build the courthouse and will make
sure the county can still keep the project within its
budget.
“There’s no extra cost in doing this,” Berney tells EW.
“Municipal construction projects require something
called prevailing wage. Any higher costs, we’re just
looking at profit margins for general contractors.”
Zuschlag adds that the cost of a project doesn’t
increase just because a contractor wants to take care
of their workers and that “a really bad contractor might
charge the same as a good one.”
In the community benefits agreement’s language, the
county says officials will work with other jurisdictions
that have developed similar programs. One jurisdiction
named is the University of Oregon.
In November 2017, the UO and its general contractor,
Hoffman Construction, with offices in Portland and
Seattle, developed a project labor agreement for the
construction of the Phil and Penny Knight Campus
for Accelerating Scientific Impact. It’s similar to
a community benefits agreement, according to
Kelly McIver, director of strategic engagement and
communications at the university.
The agreement commits the general contractor
to establish an apprenticeship program; recruit and
retain women, minority and emerging small business
subcontractors; and hire military veterans who are
interested in entering the construction industry.
The UO and Hoffman meet monthly to ensure all
aspects of the agreement are being followed, according
to McIver.
Berney says he hopes he can serve on the oversight
body for the community benefits agreement to ensure
it's properly executed.
He adds that the county’s community benefits
agreement for the courthouse is just the beginning.
“I got the county administrator officer to say on the
record to say that if this thing passes, the county will
work with the Eugene school district to encourage them
to have a similar community benefits agreement for the
construction of $300-plus million bond they already
approved,” Berney says.
If that’s the case, Zuschlag welcomes it.
“The community benefits agreement and different
associations doing it often will benefit us in the industry
in the long term,” he says. ■
Lou Moulder
“I took my first ballet class in Germany at age three,” says Lou Moulder, whose father
was serving in the Army. She also took classes in Alabama and Tennessee before her
family settled in Dallas, Texas, when she was eight. “In high school, I taught young children
at the Whistle Stop Dance Studio,” she says, “but after high school, I worked at retail
and office jobs. Later on, I began to teach yoga and ballet. I assumed that I wouldn’t
make a career in dance, but I figured out that teaching dance could work for me.” In
2006, at age 30, Moulder flew to Eugene for a weekend visit. ”As a little kid I wrote a
paper,” she recalls, “I thought I’d end up in Oregon.” Six months later, she headed north
with a full car, including her cat. Once in Eugene, she worked from home for a year as
an administrator for an air conditioning company. She began teaching adult ballet and
tap at Ballet Northwest Academy in 2008, and she graduated magna cum laude from
the University of Oregon with a degree in dance in 2013. When the academy closed in
2016, Moulder brought her classes and a core group of students to the well-established
Dance Factory studio. “Some of the students are very serious,” she says. “Others are
just there to have fun.” Moulder also teaches dance and Pilates to small groups (five or
less) and individual clients at Bodies by Pilates in the Tamarack Wellness Center. “For
individual sessions, I usually work with people recovering from an injury or looking to
improve their posture or balance,” she says. “I put together a sequence of exercises,
personally crafted for each client. I focus on getting people to move correctly.”
E U G E N E W E E K LY . C O M