NOTE: If you missed the March 30, 2003, issue of Health Options Digest or received it late, we apologize. Our email list server, Eugene Free Network, experienced problems last week. You can get last week's issue from our web site: http://www.efn.org/~choices Dear CHOICES Subscribers, The Springfield City Council did the expected Monday night and approved a request from PeaceHealth for land use changes on its Gateway property (#4-8). But we are a bit concerned by the council's apparent failure to make sure that their decision is in the best interests of Springfield and the larger community. According to The Register Guard, Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken said, "It's the biggest land use decision in the city's history." Yet, at the council's only work session where they had an opportunity to question the decision, only one councilor, Dave Ralston, had any any significant questions about the proposal. The rest acted as if this were just a simple, routine rezoning request. Moreover, the council went against the advice of its own planning commission by eliminating a proposed 60-foot height restriction, saying they thought the restriction was arbitrary. But the planning commission was clearly concerned about protecting the view shed of the McKenzie River and the Coburg Hills. With no suspense left as to what Springfield will decide, the attention has shifted to a possible appeal (#10). There has been much speculation that CHOICES or others may appeal the Springfield decision to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals. But siting a hospital is not a sport, spectator or otherwise. It is the solemn duty of the City of Springfield to make land use decision in compliance with applicable laws. If anyone files an appeal, it will because there are grounds to believe that the City of Springfield has violated one or more laws or regulations. Given that the City of Springfield has not yet finalized their decision -- and won't do so until April 14 -- it is premature for anyone to say whether or not there may be violations. Meanwhile, PeaceHealth CEO Alan Yordy spoke to the City Club of Eugene last Friday (#11). In response to a question concerning flooding, Yordy said that the hospital will include underground parking lots, which will be able to store excess water from the McKenzie River during floods! If you want to talk to a representative from PeaceHealth about this and other issues, join the City Club on Tuesday after 5 p.m. at Cafe Paradiso (#3). In other news, last week both Sony Disc Manufacturing (#13-18, 20-21) and Monaco Coach (#22-24) announced they are cutting jobs. These cuts are having ripples effects throughout the local community, including the canceling of Springfield's annual Filbert Festival (#19). It is important to remember that a new PeaceHealth hospital is not intended to bring new jobs to the community, merely to shift existing jobs to a more modern facility. With cuts occurring at industrial areas at the north end of our region, one might ask what are plans for employment in the area. Indeed, the City of Springfield is supposed to consider such questions before approving the PeaceHealth land use changes. With the Sony plant now vacant, some have suggested that PeaceHealth might acquire (swap?) that land and build there, rather than building on land currently planned for residences. We aren't saying doing so would be a good idea, but it seems worth considering. One might also question the strategy of granting tax breaks to companies that bring jobs to the community, as Springfield just did to a beverage company. Some companies stay for the tax break and then leave -- whether by choice or not -- before they end up paying much in taxes. Us taxpayers are left paying for the infrastructure costs such as roads. Indeed, all roads lead to... well, roads. County Commissioner Bill Dwyer, who doesn't believe in taxation without representation -- or a vote of the people -- has launched a petition drive to overturn Springfield's recently adopted road fee (#26). Meanwhile, our taxes continue to go to new and expanded roads (#27-29). Tell us what you think. Rob Zako, Editor 343-5201 rzako@efn.org ============================================================ Health Options Digest April 6, 2003 Coalition for Health Options In Central Eugene-Springfield ============================================================ * OPPORTUNITIES 1.rg - Two Vacancies on Springfield Planning Commission 2.rg - Serve the city * CALENDAR 3.cc - Tue 4/8 - City Club Of Eugene * PEACEHEALTH'S PLANS 4.rg - Council to vote on new hospital 5.rg - Springfield council approves RiverBend hospital proposal 6.sn - PeaceHealth given the 'green light' 7.rg - Editorial: Springfield says yes 8.sn - Editorial: Now it's on to the next step in PeaceHealth project 9.rg - Live television broadcast puts mayor in national spotlight 10.rg - PeaceHealth appeal 11.rg - PeaceHealth CEO to address City Club * AMBULANCE BOUNDARY RULES 12.rg - Editorial: A matter of urgency * NEARBY DEVELOPMENTS 13.rg - Sony to shut down Springfield factory 14.sn - Sony to close plant 15.or - Sony closes Springfield disc factory 16.rg - Loss of high-tech Sony felt hardest by force of highly skilled workers 17.rg - Wisdom of incentives questioned as recruitment efforts begin anew 18.sn - Sony closure has ripple effect in community 19.sn - Filbert Festival is canceled this summer 20.rg - Editorial: Sony's harsh blow 21.sn - Editorial: Springfield will miss Sony, but the city will survive 22.rg - Monaco Coach set to cut work force 23.rg - Monaco Coach, Seneca Sawmill announce job cuts 24.or - Monaco Coach will slash jobs 25.rg - Zoning affords beverage company tax breaks * TRANSPORTATION ISSUES 26.sn - Dwyer and PAC plan fight against transportation maintenance fee 27.rg - Turn lane gets funds 28.sn - County approves additional funding for road projects 29.rg - Bustling Costco installing new signal * KEY, CREDITS, MORE INFO ====================== Opportunities ===================== ------------------------------------------------------------ 1.rg - Two Vacancies on Springfield Planning Commission ------------------------------------------------------------ By Matt Cooper The Register-Guard, 3/8/03, Page B1 The city is accepting applications for two positions on the seven-member Planning Commission. Members are volunteers with no ward restrictions, appointed to four-year terms. The commission has authority over zone changes, variances, appeals and discretionary-use requests. It makes recommendations to the City Council about growth and development and works with staff in drafting amendments to the Metropolitan Area General Plan, the Eugene-Springfield blueprint for growth. The commission meets on the first and third Tuesday of each month, for about 2 1/2 hours. Applications are available in the City Manager's Office in City Hall, 225 Fifth St. The deadline to apply is 5 p.m. April 11. For more information, call Mel Oberst at 726-3783. Matt Cooper can be reached at 338-2317 or mcooper@guardnet.com. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/03/08/b1.cr.spcitybeat.0308.html News Release: http://www.ci.springfield.or.us/CMO/NewsRelease/NR%202003%20March%206%20Planning%20Commission%20Vacancy.pdf ------------------------------------------------------------ 2.rg - Serve the city ------------------------------------------------------------ By Matt Cooper The Register-Guard The city has openings on its historic commission, the library board and the building board of appeals. There is one opening on the seven-member historical commission, which promotes stewardship for historic preservation. Applicants don't need to be residents or property owners, but are required to meet State Historic Preservation Office guidelines. The city also seeks a volunteer for the Springfield Library Board. Applicants must be registered voters who live within the city limits, and the term will expire at the end of the year. The board provides recommendations for future library development and changes to policy. The city also seeks to fill all five positions on the building board of appeals, which determines the suitability of alternate materials and methods of construction, interprets safety codes and hears building and sign code appeals. Preference will go to applicants with a general background in construction, development, design, marketing, manufacturing or other related fields. Applicants must be residents, registered voters or property owners. Applications are available at the City Manager's Office in City Hall, 225 Fifth St. Application deadlines: 4 p.m. April 14 for the historic commission; 5 p.m. April 4 for the library position; and 5 p.m. April 11 for the board of appeals. For more information on the historic commission, call Kitti Gale at 726-3632. For the library position, call Bob Russell, library director, at 726-3756. For the board of appeals, call Lisa Hopper or Dave Puent at 726-3753. Matt Cooper can be reached at 338-2317 or mcooper@ guardnet.com. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/03/22/b3.cr.spcitybeat.0322.html ======================== Calendar ======================== ------------------------------------------------------------ 3.cc - Tue 4/8 - City Club Of Eugene ------------------------------------------------------------ Tuesday, April 8, 5:15 pm Cafe Paradiso Free and open to the public For info, call 485-7433 Brian S. Terrett, Director of Public Affairs & Communications PeaceHealth Oregon Region, will join the City Club of Eugene for an informal follow up discussion to the April 4 program with Alan Yordy. http://www.cityclubofeugene.org/calendar/2003_04_04.html =================== PeaceHealth's Plans ================== ------------------------------------------------------------ 4.rg - Council to vote on new hospital ------------------------------------------------------------ By Matt Cooper The Register-Guard, 3/31/03, Page B1 Springfield -- The City Council will take its much-anticipated vote today on whether to allow PeaceHealth to build a $350 million regional medical center on residential land between the McKenzie River and Game Farm Road. "It's the biggest land use decision in the city's history," Mayor Sid Leiken said. "When you look at something that's been an institution in one area for 60-plus years" -- Sacred Heart Medical Center in downtown Eugene -- "and now moving to Springfield, it truly is historic." PeaceHealth announced in September 2001 its plans to build Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend, shifting the regional health care hub from the current Hilyard Street campus to a planned state-of-the-art facility in Springfield's Gateway area that would meet the region's need for the next 100 years. The city staff endorsed the project, and the Springfield Planning Commission voted 4-2 in January to recommend the council's approval, although it suggested a 60-foot height limit on buildings that PeaceHealth officials have soundly criticized. Leiken said the RiverBend project would be good for the city's job base and reputation, but he doesn't vote -- that falls to council President Tammy Fitch and the other four councilors. Fitch would say only that there is a fairly good likelihood that the decision will be made tonight. A spokeswoman for McKenzie-Willamette Hospital, PeaceHealth's competitor and a longtime Springfield institution, reiterated her board's opposition to the project. PeaceHealth says 150 to 200 of its 600 doctors have voiced support for the move, while just a dozen or so have spoken against it. But critics say the repercussions to the metropolitan job base, housing and roads warrant review by all local governments, not just Springfield. Likewise, many of the people living near the site want the project to be rejected, said Bonnie Ullmann, president of the Game Farm Neighbors. "People are concerned about increased traffic in the neighborhood, the loss of residential property to commercial property, where the (urban villages) are going to be put, flooding concerns," Ullmann said. Hospital opponent Jan Wilson, coordinator for the Coalition for Health Options in Central Eugene-Springfield, concurred, adding, "It costs too much for the community and it's not the right place." Whatever the council's decision, there is a very real possibility that it will be appealed, Leiken said. If the project is approved, Wilson said her group's response will hinge on the conditions, if any, that the council attaches to the project, as well as the legal plans of other opponents. Lane County Commissioner Peter Sorenson led a majority of commissioners who urged the city, unsuccessfully, to postpone today's decision and establish a multijurisdictional hospital siting commission. Sorenson said he'd await today's result before responding, but he cautioned the council to consider arguments he's made in opposition. "They need to be mindful that these (state) transportation planning rules and land use laws don't go away because of a majority on city council," Sorenson said. The state is also watching closely. Mark Radabaugh, local representative to the Department of Land Conservation and Development, wrote a scathing criticism of the project late last year. If the project is approved, Radabaugh said the decision should address his concerns about the impacts on the metropolitan area's housing, transportation and job base. "We'll evaluate what was approved and determine whether there is an issue that's a legal matter for the (state) Land Use Board of Appeals," Radabaugh said. If, on the other hand, the council denies the proposal, PeaceHealth Planning Director Philip Farrington said a decision to appeal it would hinge on the council's reasoning. If the council approves the project but with conditions that PeaceHealth strongly opposes, "we'd have to examine whether we proceed or not," Farrington added. What's Next * The Springfield City Council will vote on the PeaceHealth project at 7 p.m. today in City Hall, 225 Fifth St. For more information, call 726-3700. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/03/31/b1.cr.peacehealth.0331.html ------------------------------------------------------------ 5.rg - Springfield council approves RiverBend hospital proposal ------------------------------------------------------------ By Matt Cooper The Register-Guard, 4/1/03, Page A1 Springfield -- In what has been called the biggest land use decision in city history, PeaceHealth won approval Monday night to build a state-of-the-art medical center near the McKenzie River, shifting the region's health care hub from downtown Eugene to the urban fringe in the Gateway area. The council's 4-1 vote keeps PeaceHealth on track to open Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend early in 2007, but now attention shifts to opponents and whether they'll appeal the decision to the state Land Use Board of Appeals because of the perceived impacts to the metropolitan area. "I'm expecting an appeal," Mayor Sid Leiken said. "I've heard rumblings that CHOICES will look at it, or 1000 Friends of Oregon." Jan Wilson of CHOICES (Coalition for Health Options in Central Eugene-Springfield) said she'd await the city's formalization of the vote next Monday before deciding whether to appeal, but Lauri Segel, of land use watchdog 1000 Friends, was more blunt. "Yes, we are considering a LUBA appeal," Segel said. "(The councilors' decision) is a pathetic attempt at political leadership. It's that old 'who cares about who lives downstream' mentality." PeaceHealth CEO Alan Yordy said the planned opening in 2007 assumes an appeal will be filed, and he objected to a suggestion by Councilor Dave Ralston, the sole dissenter, that the Bellevue, Wash.-based hospital organization sought to build in Springfield because it would be easier than winning approval in Eugene. PeaceHealth announced plans to build here in September 2001, three months after the Eugene City Council threatened to rezone property in north Eugene to prevent the hospital's construction there. "This is a long ball game, and this is the first couple of innings," Yordy said. "We never assumed this would be an easy process." The state also is likely to look closely at the city's approval of the project. Ralston said the project runs afoul of five state land use goals meant to ensure adequate public input and planning for housing, transportation and economic development. Mark Radabaugh, local representative to the Department of Land Conservation and Development, has said his department will decide whether to appeal to LUBA based on the city's compliance with those goals. PeaceHealth will proceed while appeals are under consideration, Planning Director Philip Farrington said. That means the submission in the coming weeks of a development plan for the 165-acre site, he added. PeaceHealth would face a "judgment call," Farrington said, as to what work to carry out while an appeal is under consideration, and whether it would be worth the risk should LUBA reject the project. In the event that an appeal is filed and upheld, PeaceHealth might be required only to present facts that address LUBA's concerns, Farrington said. "If it was remanded, it could be for supplemental findings ... but not at jeopardy to the project," he added. PeaceHealth also was buoyed by council's rejection of a 60-foot height restriction recommended by the city's planning commission, saying the limitation would have been a "major obstacle" for buildings designed at between 130 and 145 feet tall. The project's most vocal supporter on the council wasn't even there, at least not in person: Councilor Stu Burge, on vacation but participating by way of speakerphone, said opponents are "relatively few ... with little or no vested interest in the city of Springfield." Burge called the planning commission's height restriction "design restrictive and punitive" and suggested that the hospital will prevent the land, once planned for medium-density housing, from becoming an overbuilt "ghetto for the future." Ralston, however, echoed arguments that Eugene and Lane County, not just Springfield, should be a part of this decision that will shift the regional health care hub from Sacred Heart Medical Center in downtown Eugene. Ralston also questioned approval of a project that will probably prompt the city's own hospital, McKenzie-Willamette, to relocate at a cost for both hospitals in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Former Eugene Councilor Gary Rayor, in attendance Monday, agreed, saying, "if this causes McKenzie-Willamette to come to Eugene, I see that as a huge expense that will be paid for in people's medical bills." McKenzie-Willamette board Chairman Maureen Weathers said council's decision makes it "highly likely" that her hospital will relocate, and she indicated that Eugene is a realistic option because that would preserve the metropolitan area's balance of hospitals on either side of Interstate 5 and the Willamette River. The former Springfield mayor said she sympathized with council's inability to consider McKenzie-Willamette's future while voting on a land use issue pitched by its larger competitor. "The rules that are governing this just don't take into consideration the impacts on McKenzie-Willamette," Weathers said. While opponents and supporters alike have painted the project as critical on a metropolitan or even regional scale, Springfield resident Pam Basilius' concerns are much closer to home -- specifically, whether she'll be able to keep her home. Basilius, who lives next to the hospital property, said the project will take about half of her acre of land. A real estate firm offered to buy the 75-year-old farm house for half what it's worth, Basilius said, and she fears that the city also may lay claim to it if she doesn't move. "I'm devastated, because I'm going to lose my house for sure," she said. The council rejected PeaceHealth's request that most of a 33-acre parcel planned for mixed-use commercial development be designated within PeaceHealth property. City planner Colin Stephens said the location of the parcel, and whether any or all of it will fall within PeaceHealth property, will be determined during review of the hospital's 165-acre development plan, to be submitted later this month. What's Next * Appeals: The city will formalize the council's decision next Monday. At that point, interested parties will have 21 days to file an appeal to the state Land Use Board of Appeals. * Master Plan: Meanwhile, PeaceHealth will submit a plan within weeks that includes building locations and sizes, roads and other infrastructure for the entire site. * Opening: Pending appeals, PeaceHealth plans to break ground next spring and to open early in 2007. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/04/01/a1.peacehealth.0401.html ------------------------------------------------------------ 6.sn - PeaceHealth given the 'green light' ------------------------------------------------------------ Council votes to approve land use changes and does away with height restriction By Jaime Sherman, Staff Writer Springfield News, 4/2/03 City councilors cleared the way Monday night for PeaceHealth Oregon Region to build a $350-million hospital complex along the McKenzie River in northwest Springfield. In a 4-1 vote with Councilor Dave Ralston dissenting, the City Council approved land use changes on 33 acres of PeaceHealth's 160 acres between Game Farm Road and the river, and they eliminated the Planning Commission's 60-foot height restriction for the planned hospital. "I'm happy; this was a good first step," PeaceHealth CEO Alan Yordy said. "We have a lot of work ahead, but it gives us the green light." The long-sought land use changes allow PeaceHealth planners to begin the design phase of a 500-bed Sacred Heart Medical Center to open in 2007. The planned campus will have room for a full-service emergency and trauma department, operating rooms, specialty care institutes and physician offices. The complex is dubbed RiverBend. The councilors, who voted to approve the land use requests, said PeaceHealth's requests to amend the Metro Plan and the Gateway Refinement Plan met relevant state criteria, but they said the 60-foot height restriction was arbitrary and best left for deliberation during the design, or master plan, phase. "I will agree to disagree with the Planning Commission on the 60-foot height restriction," Councilor Tammy Fitch said. Brian Terrett, spokesman for PeaceHealth, said his organization is pleased the City Council discarded the previously stated height limitation. "It was everything we had worked for to make sure council had the information they needed to make the decision," he said. "It was really clear the council had done their homework and done thoughtful deliberation." Councilor Dave Ralston presented a lengthy written statement to explain why he couldn't approve the requests. He said PeaceHealth's plans don't adequately meet citizen involvement, transportation, housing, traffic and economic development concerns. An appeal of the City Council's decision is expected by one or more land watch groups such as Coalition for Health Options in Central Eugene-Springfield (CHOICES) or 1,000 Friends of Oregon. In his support for the project, Councilor Stu Burge, who remains on vacation in California and was heard over a speakerphone, called the people opposed to the project "a few individuals ... with little or no vested interest in Springfield." Terrett said PeaceHealth officials won't be surprised to see appeals before the state Land Use Board of Appeals. Hospital design plans won't be halted during the appeals, though. The next step for PeaceHealth on the road to opening the planned hospital is to complete design plans and file a master plan with the city. The plan must then be approved by the Planning Commission and the City Council before crews can begin construction. [Story not available on the Web.] ------------------------------------------------------------ 7.rg - Editorial: Springfield says yes ------------------------------------------------------------ Quality of care matters more than site Editorial The Register-Guard, 4/2/03 PeaceHealth got what it needed from the Springfield City Council Monday: approval to build a $350 million medical center in the Gateway area. The council's decision will sadden those who cling to the hope that PeaceHealth might still be induced to keep its main hospital at or near its current location in Eugene. But as that hope has faded, the dispute over siting has been eclipsed by an awareness of the entire Eugene-Springfield area's interest in obtaining a top-flight regional hospital. The council's decision serves that interest. Monday's approval, which the council is expected to formalize next Monday, is almost certain to be appealed. It won't be surprising if the state Land Use Board of Appeals or the courts find some technical problems with what Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken called the biggest land-use decision in the city's history. If such technical flaws are identified, they will need to be corrected. The real aim of an appeal, however, would not be to ensure that PeaceHealth has complied with Oregon land-use laws. The goal would be to prevent the health-care corporation from building on its 160-acre RiverBend site at the northern edge of the urban area. Such an effort might be worthwhile if PeaceHealth had the option of keeping its main hospital between the University of Oregon and downtown Eugene, where transportation, housing and other urban services already exist. Unfortunately, that option appears closed. PeaceHealth itself ruled out its current location in the course of its site-selection process, concluding that an initial plan to redevelop its hospital on Hilyard Street would be impractical. The city of Eugene found that it could keep PeaceHealth from moving only by condemning and razing a half-dozen adjacent blocks. Now there's evidence that PeaceHealth's preference for a site at the periphery of the urban area is not a matter of stubbornness. McKenzie-Willamette Hospital and its new partner, Triad Hospitals Inc., have been scouting locations in Eugene in case they decide that PeaceHealth will cast too long a shadow over Springfield from its RiverBend site. The only potential property identified near the center of Eugene is the Lane County Fairgrounds -- a site whose acquisition for use as a hospital presents a long list of challenges. Even a much smaller hospital needs more space than can be found in the middle of Eugene. PeaceHealth's new location will be only one of many factors affecting how well it is able to serve the patients it draws from throughout the southern Willamette Valley and beyond. Public-policy decisions that allow the hospital to operate efficiently and economically will promote the community's well-being. For that reason, the Springfield council acted wisely when it declined to accept a 60-foot height restriction that the Springfield Planning Commission had imposed on buildings at the RiverBend site. PeaceHealth's preliminary plans call for buildings more than twice as tall as the planning commission voted to allow. The restriction would have forced PeaceHealth to dramatically reconfigure its design, inevitably resulting in a more spread-out medical complex. The hospital's efficiency might have been affected by a need to connect various departments with long corridors. Some of the aesthetic amenities of the site -- which PeaceHealth contends will contribute to patients' recovery -- would have been sacrificed by doubling the number of square feet covered by buildings. The height restriction, imposed even before PeaceHealth has filed a detailed site plan, was at best premature. It's too bad PeaceHealth can't build near downtown Eugene. But that possibility has receded to the vanishing point -- and, it's important to remember, a sizeable health-care complex will remain at PeaceHealth's current site. If a move must occur, the practical task at hand is to ensure that the Eugene-Springfield area gains a first-rate hospital that will deliver top-quality medical care well into the 21st century. The Springfield City Council has taken a big step toward that goal. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/04/02/ed.edit.hospital.0402.html ------------------------------------------------------------ 8.sn - Editorial: Now it's on to the next step in PeaceHealth project ------------------------------------------------------------ Editorial Springfield News, 4/2/03 The Springfield City Council did the expected Monday night and approved a request from PeaceHealth Oregon Region for land use changes on its Gateway parcel. Now, PeaceHealth can move to the next stage in its plans to build a $350-million, 500-bed hospital complex. The idea has been controversial from the get-go. Sacred Heart Medical Center has been located in Eugene for decades. During that time it has grown from a small hospital in a part of town that was sparsely populated into a regional giant that now finds itself surrounded by the University of Oregon, many residences and several businesses. Consequently, the hospital organization, which is based in Bellevue, Wash., started looking for a new home. It thought it had found one in northeastern Eugene, on Crescent Avenue, but the Eugene City Council changed the zoning designation on the land, which put the brakes on PeaceHealth's plans. Next thing you know, PeaceHealth had purchased land in Springfield between Game Farm Road and the McKenzie River, and it announced in September 2001 that it would build a new hospital at what it came to call its RiverBend site. As the land is located inside Springfield, PeaceHealth has been working with the city of Springfield. That fact has upset some people, including some Lane County commissioners, who argue that both the city of Eugene and Lane County should be involved with planning a regional facility. Others oppose the hospital because of its location. The parcel of land is now pretty much undeveloped, and it is located along a beautiful section of river. Opponents cite concerns about flooding and environmental damage, as well as increased traffic and congestion, and they say the city has failed to comply with state land use goals. Still others opposed the new hospital site because it was so close to McKenzie-Willamette Hospital, and they feared the new hospital could put it out of business. Recently, however, McKenzie-Willamette announced it was forming a partnership with Triad Hospitals Inc. and that a new hospital probably would be built somewhere in the Springfield-Eugene area. The Planning Commission earlier had approved the rezoning request but added a height restriction of 60 feet. The council stripped that from its action Monday night. Hospital opponents are expected to file an appeal to the state Land Use Board of Appeals. They must do so within 21 days after the decision is formalized, which is scheduled for next Monday. The next step for PeaceHealth is to develop a master plan for the site and bring it to the Planning Commission, then to the City Council. PeaceHealth wants to open its new hospital in early 2007. Some wonder whether such appeals might cause PeaceHealth to back off, but a spokesman has said the hospital organization will stay on track and move ahead in the planning stages. This story still has a long way to go, but Springfield's planning process has been on solid ground and is expected to remain so. City planners and officials should take their time to make sure proper planning procedure is followed. In the long run, it will benefit everyone. [Story not available on the Web.] ------------------------------------------------------------ 9.rg - Live television broadcast puts mayor in national spotlight ------------------------------------------------------------ By Matt Cooper The Register-Guard, 4/5/03, Page B1 Mayor Sid Leiken got his 15 minutes of fame Friday. Unfortunately, in these economically strapped times, that boiled down to three minutes and 48 seconds. Leiken was broadcast live on CNBC's "Power Lunch," a look at trends driving the markets and influencing Wall Street. NBC's financial news channel is interviewing the mayors of Springfields everywhere, asking them about the local economy and reactions to war, Leiken said. On Friday, Leiken sat in a chair in his City Hall office under bright lights, while two cameramen fussed over him. "Don't breathe this stuff in," one said, powdering Leiken's face. "You'll start seeing colors." Then it got quiet, as everyone in the room -- that is, Leiken, the two cameramen and four local news people doing stories on CNBC doing a story on Leiken -- waited as Leiken listened for his cue. The CNBC anchors were going to break away from the day's news to interview him from their studio in Fort Lee, N.J., through an earpiece only he could hear. Then Leiken was on, answering questions about Oregon's economy and the local lay of the land, before a TV audience of more than 82 million. He noted the approval of the PeaceHealth project and the death of Sony Disc Manufacturing -- "it was a good news, bad news week" -- and the city's attempt to stabilize the budget with new fees. Leiken also deftly plugged his employer when asked what it's like to be a voluntary civil servant: "I joke that my full-time job is working for the city of Springfield and my part-time job is working for Wells Fargo Bank," he said. In just minutes, it was over -- lights out, cameras off and thank you very much. "All that waiting for, what, two minutes?" Leiken asked, laughing. "That was fun, and I think as much as we can, we put a good positive (face) on our community." Matt Cooper can be reached at 338-2317. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/04/05/b1.cr.spcitybeat.0405.html ------------------------------------------------------------ 10.rg - PeaceHealth appeal ------------------------------------------------------------ By Matt Cooper The Register-Guard, 4/5/03, Page B1 Speaking of PeaceHealth, the legal beagles will have to wait another week before they can attack the city's approval of the project by filing an appeal. The council approved PeaceHealth's plan for a Gateway-area regional medical center this week, and city staff members were to complete the findings of fact -- basically, the information that shows it meets land-use rules -- by Monday. Now the report is due April 14, planner Colin Stephens said, and that's because the near-100-page document will have to be bulletproof to withstand the scrutiny of project opponents. Once the report is finalized, people will have 21 days to file an appeal to the state Land Use Board of Appeals. At least two groups opposed to the Springfield site said they're studying an appeal, and Lane County Commissioner Pete Sorenson -- another critic -- joined the fray Friday. "How (Springfield) writes that decision will be rather important to me as I contemplate the option of seeking an appeal," Sorenson said. Matt Cooper can be reached at 338-2317. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/04/05/b1.cr.spcitybeat.0405.html ------------------------------------------------------------ 11.rg - PeaceHealth CEO to address City Club ------------------------------------------------------------ The Register-Guard, 4/4/03, Page C2 Alan Yordy, chief executive of PeaceHealth, will be the guest speaker at today's meeting of the City Club of Eugene. His discussion will include the medical campus at RiverBend and industry challenges. The meeting will be at 11:50 a.m. at the Eugene Hilton, 66 E. Sixth Ave. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/04/04/c2.cr.rg.briefs.0404.html ================ Ambulance Boundary Rules ================ ------------------------------------------------------------ 12.rg - Editorial: A matter of urgency ------------------------------------------------------------ Ambulance adjustments in place for trial period Editorial The Register-Guard, 4/6/03 Imagine that you're lying in an emergency room after suffering a head injury and listening to a gaggle of neurosurgeons squabbling over who should wield the scalpel and cash the check from your HMO. Not a pretty picture. Political debates and turf battles should have no place in life-and-death health emergencies. Yet that's exactly what happened earlier this year after the Eugene Fire Department adopted a "hard boundaries" policy in which the city handled almost all emergency calls within Eugene's city limits, regardless of whether ambulances from the neighboring Springfield and Lane Rural fire departments were closer. The new policy drew heavy and well-deserved fire from the Springfield and Lane Rural departments and local firefighters unions. They questioned the wisdom of reversing a long-standing "automatic aid" agreement under which the districts' ambulances operated almost interchangeably within the three jurisdictions. Eugene's new policy, they argued, endangered critically ill or injured local residents who in many cases could more quickly be treated and transported by non-city ambulances and paramedics. Eugene Fire Chief Tom Tallon responded defensively at the outset, dismissing the concerns as baseless and insisting that the hard-boundaries policy, in conjunction with a new deployment strategy, was necessary to improve overall response times and boost sagging revenues. The situation further deteriorated when the Eugene firefighters union recently served the city with notice that it intends to file a lawsuit alleging that Tallon and other city officials had wrongly characterized the union's criticism of the new policies as bargaining tactics. Union officials also charged that the city's ambulance changes posed "a life and death issue" for local residents. Considering the high stakes involved, the lives of men, women and children throughout this community, it was essential that these concerns be addressed -- and addressed quickly. That happened late last month when the Eugene, Springfield and Lane Rural departments agreed on a six-month trial period for a revised ambulance policy. Under the arrangement, the most critical calls, representing about a third of the total call volume, will now be served by the closest ambulances. That's a heartening change, one that Eugene should be prepared to extend beyond the trial period. The bottom line in all critical medical emergencies should be getting paramedics to victims as quickly as possible and then getting them to the hospital for life-saving medical care. Meanwhile, the three departments should continue discussions on a range of other important issues, including the future of what had until recently been a steady march toward consolidation by the jurisdictions. Fire officials acted responsibly by calling a halt to the arguing and finger-pointing over ambulance policies, and making necessary adjustments. When the lives of human beings are at stake, all other issues -- from turf battles to revenue concerns to union disputes -- should take a back seat. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/04/06/ed.edit.ambulances.phn.0406.html =================== Nearby Developments ================== ------------------------------------------------------------ 13.rg - Sony to shut down Springfield factory ------------------------------------------------------------ By Sherri Buri McDonald The Register-Guard, 4/2/03, Page A1 Springfield -- After just eight years of operation here, Sony is permanently shutting its compact disc plant in the Gateway area. The surprise move will knock out one of Lane County's largest and most prestigious high-tech employers and throw 277 employees out of work. Sony will phase out the jobs and the factory over the next three months, said Dan Egan, executive director of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce, who was notified of the move by a Sony official. "It's certainly a sad day," Egan said. "Sony has been the best corporate and community partner you could wish for for Springfield and the greater metro area. ... Those will be hard jobs to replace." Egan said his information came from Noreen Franz-Hovis, human resources director at the Springfield plant, in a brief phone conversation on Tuesday. He said the company will release more details to employees at a meeting at 2 p.m. today. Sony officials in Springfield and New York have not returned numerous calls from The Register-Guard. Rumors of layoffs at or closure of the International Way plant have circulated for the past few days, following national media reports of major restructuring by the plant's financially strapped parent company, Sony Music Entertainment. The Springfield closure is part of a plan to cut 1,000 jobs companywide. Employee Byron Baesler, 35, who prepares screens used to print onto compact discs at the Springfield plant, said Sony had given no official word of the local closure yet. "It's not going to affect me like it will a lot of people," said Baesler, who is single. "You can't really be mad because we've seen it coming," Baesler added. The CD music industry is stagnant and saturated with competitors, and Sony has struggled with losses. Still, Baesler said, word of the closure "was very sudden." Another employee, who asked to remain anonymous, said he thinks Sony employees will have a hard time finding new jobs locally. "There's nothing else like it," he said, referring to CD manufacturing. Entry-level production employees started at $9.50 an hour, plus benefits, and generally advanced to $10 an hour after six months, the employee said. The closure is staggering in a number of ways. It marks the abrupt departure of a company whose arrival in Springfield in 1995 was greeted with almost delirious enthusiasm. Springfield and state officials worked hard and very secretly to land the $50 million plant. Government agencies gave Sony about $8 million in incentives, tax credits and other help to build the factory, and over the following five years waived the company from paying about $4 million in property taxes. Sony only began paying its full portion of property taxes in the 2001-02 tax year. Sony's arrival in Springfield came near the beginning a period of rapid high-tech growth in Lane County. Sony's departure comes as the county's high-tech workers have reeled under cutbacks. For example, in 2001, HMT closed its computer hard-drive disk factory in Eugene, cutting 350 workers. Last year, Rosen Products closed its display-screen factory in west Eugene, eliminating 225 jobs. Economists in the past several months have noted that the county's employment levels appeared to have stabilized, and were hoping that there would be no more big closures. Sony's departure is likely to hurt a number of ancillary businesses in the Eugene- Springfield area, possibly including the Shorewood Packaging plant that sits near the Sony factory and has done extensive work for Sony. Shorewood officials did not return calls this week. The departure also will deal a blow to Lane County's tax base. Sony in the current tax year has paid $622,589 in property taxes. That money goes to a number of taxing districts, including the city of Springfield, Eugene School District (which covers much of the Gateway area), and Lane County. The factory had been facing an uncertain future for some time. Last January, amid a tough market for music CDs, Sony eliminated 70 jobs in Springfield. It was the first broad layoff at the factory since it opened in 1995. Sony's music unit has struggled in a changing market where music listeners are increasingly burning their own CDs and downloading music from the Internet. Sony's music unit had operating losses of $142 million in 2002, Reuters reported. Under chief executive Andrew Lack, who replaced industry veteran Thomas Mottola in January, Sony Music Entertainment plans to slash $100 million in annual costs and 1,000 of 10,000 jobs worldwide. A report in The Los Angeles Times in late March quoted Sony executives saying the company would cut about 350 corporate, music-label and support staff members from operations in Los Angeles, New York and Nashville; about 100 jobs in Southern California; about 400 jobs at an international operation, and an additional 300 jobs at manufacturing plants in the United States and abroad. Apparently the 277 jobs in Springfield will make up the bulk of those manufacturing-job cuts. The Springfield plant may have been a target for cuts because it produced mostly music CDs, a market that has plateaued over recent years. The growing market for DVDs is being served by other Sony disc manufacturing plants, such as its facility in Terre Haute, Ind. Sony Disc Manufacturing is a tiny part of the vast Sony Corp. empire. The Tokyo-based conglomerate, which makes everything from television sets and computer parts to movies and the PlayStation game console, is in the midst of companywide cutbacks to improve profits. Matt Cooper and Christian Wihtol contributed to this report. Sherri Buri McDonald can be reached at 338-2367 or sburi@guardnet.com. Sony's Ups and Downs in Springfield Jan. 18, 1994: Sony announces that it will build a $50 million CD factory in Springfield and hire at least 300 workers. July 1995: Factory begins production. 2000: Sony says it is retooling the factory so it can produce DVD discs whenever corporate officials give the OK. January 2002: Sony says it is cutting 70 jobs, the first major layoff at the plant. August 2002: Sony says it is adding a DVD packaging line and 19 jobs at the plant. September 2002: Tom Costabile, longtime head of the plant, quits to become president of the U.S. manufacturing arm of Warner Music Group. April 2003: Sony announces it will shut the Springfield plant. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/04/02/a1.sony.0402.html ------------------------------------------------------------ 14.sn - Sony to close plant ------------------------------------------------------------ City's fourth-largest employer putting 290 out of work By Jaime Sherman, Staff Writer Springfield News, 4/2/03 [Photo: Sony Disc Manufacturing, the $50-million, 335,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Springileld, is closing after elght years. The company's cost-cutting move comes as a surprise to many people in the community.] After eight years as one of Springfield's largest employers, the Sony Disc Manufacturing plant is shutting its doors. Sony Music Entertainment officials will announce today the closure of its Springfield manufacturing plant and the mass layoff of nearly 300 employees. The company's cost-cutting move at Sony Disc Manufacturing, the fourth-largest employer in Springfield, comes as a surprise to many people in the community. Mayor Sid Leiken learned of the layoffs from a Sony official in Springfield Tuesday afternoon. "She has just called to confirm that they will be dosing the plant," he said. "I do not have specifics on employee situations, but obviously this will be a sad day for the community." Rumors began to circulate among the company's 290 employees Monday that Sony executives will arrive in Springfield today to tell plant employees they will lose their jobs and the facility will close permanently. The reason for the plant closure remained unclear Tuesday, but national reports suggest Sony is struggling financially to remain competitive in the music and entertainment business. The Springfield plant has the ability to package DVDs but lacks the capability to make DVDs, a hot commodity in the entertainment business. In mid-January, employees within Sony Music Entertainment began to suspect upcoming changes in the company. Andrew Lack, the former NBG president and chief executive officer, was named the new chairman and chief executive officer of Sony Music in January. Rumors spread throughout the United States that Lack would restructure the company and cut at least 1,000 jobs worldwide to save money and keep Sony competitive in the world market. One-third of the cuts, or about 300 jobs, were anticipated in the areas of manufacturing and distribution. Neither Quintin Mikell, Sony's vice president and chief executive officer in Springfield, nor John McKay, the company's national vice president of media relations in New York, returned calls from a reporter. Leiken said the Sony announcement is unfortunate. "We've been through difficult times before, and we will come out of this," he said. "Most importantly, though, I'm concerned about the welfare of the families who have been working at Sony." Leiken said he will work with city staff and state officials to find jobs for the men and women who receive pink slips. "More importantly, we'll work hard to find good, solid, family wage jobs that will hopefully replace these jobs in the future, he said. Jack Roberts, executive director of the Lane Metro Partnership, said Sony's announcement is a disappointment and an unfortunate reality with today's economic woes. "Obviously, it's a disappointment to us. And it will have an impact for us," he said. "It just reminds us of our job to continue to pursue new jobs and investment in the community from existing businesses and businesses looking to locate here." Roberts said even with the closure, he thinks the community has benefited from Sony's presence in the area. "The main thing people need to keep in mind is Sony made a tremendous, positive impact on Springfield and Lane County in general," he said. Sony Music Entertainment must abide by a federal law that requires employers to give a 60-day notice when closing plants or issuing mass layoff notices. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which has been in place since 1989, applies to companies that employ 100 or more people whenever they lay off 50 or more people. Leiken said he anticipates Sony will abide by the federal labor law and keep employees on for 60 days before closing down the plant. The Springfield plant at 123 International Way opened in May 1995 with Tom Costabile at the helm. The $50-million, 335,000-square-foot manufacturing plant, located on 120 acres near the McKenzie River, produces pre-recorded digital media. Since 1995, the company has expanded to offer products that include audio compact disc, CD-ROM, PlayStation game discs, digital authoring services and packaging and assembly of DVDs. Costabile led the company through various changes and layoffs until September when he left to work for Warner Music Group. Mikell, the plant's manufacturing director, was promoted to vice president and general manager. The company reported 375 employees in March 1999 and it had gained another 25 employees by 2000. In January 2002, Sony's work force in Springfield was reduced 20 percent because of market conditions. The company never fully regained its staffing levels even with the addition in September of 19 employees, who operated a new DVD packaging line until recently. The latest employee count was near 290. [Story not available on the Web.] ------------------------------------------------------------ 15.or - Sony closes Springfield disc factory ------------------------------------------------------------ By Jeffrey Kosseff Oregonian, 4/3/03 Sony Disc Manufacturing closed its 277-employee Springfield plant on Wednesday. The shutdown of the compact disc plant eliminates one of Lane County's first and largest technology employers. But economic development officials say it will not devastate the county's economy or the Oregon technology industry. "It's disappointing, but I believe our community has done very well to diversify itself over the last decade," Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken said. In a written statement, Sony said it would continue manufacturing discs in Indiana and New Jersey. The announcement is part of a worldwide reduction of 1,000 workers from Sony Music Entertainment, which employs about 10,000. When Sony built the 365,000-square-foot plant in 1995, it was the first high-profile tech operation to move into the Eugene-Springfield area, Leiken said. The company had hoped the plant would grow to 1,000 employees. Springfield attracted Sony by providing tax incentives as well as reduced prices for land that had been vacant. "It was a very good thing for Springfield to do, then and now," said state Sen. Bill Morrisette, D-Springfield, who was mayor when the city recruited Sony. "They put us on the map, so to speak. Sony was responsible for jump-starting economic development in the city of Springfield as our timber companies closed. Other companies came because of them." Since then, other large employers such as Symantec, a maker of security software, have moved into the same industrial park. And Shorewood Packaging opened a Springfield plant largely to package Sony's CDs. Since then, Symantec surpassed Sony in its local employee number, Leiken said. And Shorewood has diversified so that Sony represents only a small portion of its business in the area. "Seeing them shut the plant down is going to be felt, but the good news is that that area is still the hottest industrial site within Lane County," he said. Although some suppliers and service providers might feel it, the closure won't have a large effect on Oregon tech companies, said Jim Craven, Oregon lobbyist for the American Electronics Association. "I'm sure there's some local ripples in terms of some suppliers, but I think it's more food and facilities and paper and catering," said Craven, whose group does not represent Sony. "I wouldn't characterize them as really part of the Oregon tech food chain." But the closure will rob the area of high-paying jobs with good benefits as well as a company that has been active in the community, said Jack Roberts, executive director of the Lane Metro Partnership, an economic development agency. "They were a good employer and a good corporate citizen," Roberts said. In total, the company owns about 75 acres at the plant site, Roberts said. "You have a very modern facility that has been well-maintained," Leiken said. "It's ready to go for another company that would expand locally or one that we would target for recruitment." Sony officials' decision to close the plant reflects the company's internal reorganization, not the Springfield economy, Roberts said. "They have to contract their CD music division generally, and we happen to be the ones they have picked to shut down," he said. In February, the Eugene-Springfield area's seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate was 7.7 percent, less than the statewide average of 8.6 percent. http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/business/1049374758290281.xml?oregonian?fng ------------------------------------------------------------ 16.rg - Loss of high-tech Sony felt hardest by force of highly skilled workers ------------------------------------------------------------ By Matt Cooper The Register-Guard, 4/3/03, Page A1 Springfield -- Sony's gone. Sony Disc Manufacturing ended its eight-year presence here with shocking finality Wednesday, suddenly closing its factory, leaving teary employees and the rest of Eugene-Springfield to pick up the pieces. The entertainment giant announced that it had "ceased operations" at the Gateway area manufacturing plant that employed 277 people. The cause: sagging demand for music CDs and a restructuring of its struggling parent company, Sony Music Entertainment. The immediate closure of the prestigious high-tech employer will hurt the factory's suppliers and business partners, and sharply reduce Sony's property tax payments, although these losses don't seem to be overwhelming. [Photo: An emotional Starr Barton leaves the Sony plant Wednesday: "We're all really upset. We're all a big family in there and it happened really suddenly."] For Sony employees, however, the opposite is true: They're suddenly out of work and trying to recover from an announcement that left some of them feeling blindsided. What does Starr Barton think of Sony? Barton, a printer of six years with the company, just started crying. "We're all really upset," she said. "We're all a big family in there and it happened really suddenly." Some employees sensed Wednesday's announcement looming in the CD industry's stagnancy. Rumors of a closure or cutback at the International Way factory had intensified in recent days. But the news -- made in brief company notifications to some local officials on Tuesday, and at a closed meeting to employees at the plant on Wednesday -- still was surprising to insiders, neighboring businesses and others. Sony's public comment has been limited to a single press release, four paragraphs long, which it released Wednesday afternoon. No company officials have agreed to talk. Sony didn't always try to keep such a low profile. Government officials lavished $12 million worth of subsidies and tax breaks on Sony in the past eight years; Sony has made many generous local charitable donations, and Sony executive Tom Costabile, while he headed the plant, took a prominent role in fostering economic development in Eugene-Springfield. Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken said Sony could have warned the community about the pending closure. "How Sony tells their employees, that is their business," Leiken said. "From my vantage point, it would have been easier if we'd had a communique letting us know what's going on and how we can be dealing with this." Employees spoke well of Sony even minutes after the announcement, but many were uncertain of their next moves. Tony Riddle said he'd try to find computer work locally "or just move on elsewhere," while Pam Warden, who worked in shipping and receiving, planned to balance her job search with the purchase of a puppy. Myles Ralston, a 35-year-old maintenance technician and father of two, will consider going back to school to train as a machinist. "Thank you for the employment," he said. "I wish it could have been longer." Sony's relations with workers have been stressful at times. In 1997, union officials launched an unsuccessful drive to organize the plant, claiming employees were concerned about high turnover and heavy overtime. Early last year, following the layoff of 70 workers, several workers complained Sony had given them no severance pay. Sony wasn't legally required to give severance at that time, but many companies typically do so to reward longtime employees who are laid off. This time around, workers will have a legal claim to a severance package, said Chuck Forster, executive director of the Lane Workforce Partnership, a job-assistance agency. Under federal law, when a company announces a complete plant closing, it must either give employees 60 days warning, or else 60 days pay, Forster said. Sony is likely to give the employees 60 days pay, he said. As for finding new work, Sony employees "have the advantage of being well-skilled and highly motivated," said Jack Roberts, executive director of the Lane Metropolitan Partnership. That makes them an asset in attracting other businesses to the area, he said. But Forster said most of Sony's workers -- those in production, typically earning $9 to $10 an hour -- will struggle to find similar work here, because their skills were specific to the only manufacturer of its kind in Lane County. Sony employees in technology and management will be employable locally, Forster said, but those on the highest rungs will have to look elsewhere. "It's a sad closure because they've been a great corporate partner in Lane County," Forster said. "It's important for people to realize that there will be jobs for people, it may take some time, they may need to change their career choices or be trained, but in the long term there will be job opportunities." One big bruise to Lane County is the loss of the Sony name -- a well-regarded international brand. That loss is hard to quantify, but other effects of the closure can be measured in dollars and cents. For the fiscal year that ends June 30, Sony will pay $832,000 in taxes, Lane County taxation manager Angela Smith said. That money is divvied up between the Eugene School District for operations and bonds; for bonds in Lane County, Springfield and others; for Lane County operations; and for city of Springfield operations. Sony will still have to pay property taxes on its plant for the fiscal year July 1, 2003, to June 30, 2004, based on the plant's value as of Jan. 1, 2003, Smith said. After that, the taxable value of the plant may be cut if it remains empty. Companies that thrived off Sony -- at one point, the manufacturer did business with 460 of them in Eugene-Springfield -- will have to rethink their budgets. One obvious company is 136-employee Shorewood Packaging, a stone's throw from Sony on International Way. Plant Manager Eileen Bartko said that while 30 percent of her company's business was related to Sony, much of it was only indirectly tied to the manufacturer, and the local Shorewood plant will survive. Full City coffee roasters, which once held a contract as Sony's vendor, will feel the hit as Sony employees stop showing up at the Eugene stores for lattes on their way to work, owner Michael Phinney said. "The money they spend in the community, the taxes they pay -- that will all be gone," Phinney said. Springfield's mayor struggled to quantify the departure of what was once the city's signature high-tech company. "There's no doubt that Sony was the beginning of truly lifting the image of our community from more of a blue-collar, timber-dependent town to looking at high-tech opportunities," Leiken said. "We're all disappointed, but we're not discouraged -- it was a huge victory, a catalyst that has built our industrial park into a real positive." Stu Burge, a Springfield councilor whose ward includes Sony, also put the closure in philosophic perspective: "These things happen," he said. "It's too bad for the community, especially the employees. That's a real tragedy. But we'll survive with or without Sony." At a nearby sandwich shop, however, the reaction wasn't as hopeful -- "a cloud of despair," in the words of Edward Barbian, manager of Quizno's Subs. Barbian said he counted on Sony for 5 percent to 10 percent of his lunch crowd. Customers Sue Atkinson and Angela Stockdall worried about the employees, the loss of tax money and the departure of a large employer. Nobody saw a silver lining. "It's one more high-tech firm leaving the area," Barbian said, "and it's disappointing." Reporter Sherri Buri McDonald contributed to this report. Sony Unemployment At upcoming meetings, Lane Workforce Partnership will help Sony employees find work. * Friday: 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Workforce Network, 2510 Oakmont Way (Conference Room 1). http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/04/03/a1.sonyone.0403.html ------------------------------------------------------------ 17.rg - Wisdom of incentives questioned as recruitment efforts begin anew ------------------------------------------------------------ By Sherri Buri McDonald The Register-Guard, 4/3/03, Page A1 In the 1990s, the Eugene-Springfield area eagerly hitched its economic wagon to the burgeoning high-tech sector, welcoming such firms as Symantec Corp., Hyundai and Sony Disc Manufacturing, and helping others, including HMT Technology Corp. and Rosen Products, expand. What a wild ride it's been along this new Oregon trail -- from peak high-tech employment in the late 1990s, to a series of plant closures in the past few years, as the nation slipped into economic recession. [Map: Industrial centerpiece -- Sony factory was state-of-the-art eight years ago.] HMT and Rosen Products shut down in the past two years, and on Tuesday, Sony's 277-employee compact disc plant joined them. An official with the plant's parent company in New York confirmed that the Springfield site ceased operations on Wednesday, as part of a broader strategy to cut 1,000 jobs companywide. The move will foist Sony's giant 365,000-square-foot International Way factory onto the market. It's the largest vacant local industrial property for sale or lease in recent years. The abrupt loss of Sony, which many local residents had viewed as a solid, reputable firm with a promising future, has shaken some in the community. It raises anew the question of whether helping high-tech manufacturers such as HMT and Sony with lucrative incentive packages is a wise economic development strategy. Government agencies gave Sony about $8 million in incentives, tax credits and other help to build the factory in 1995, and over the next five years waived Sony from paying about $4 million in property taxes. Some economists have argued for years that recruitment through subsidies is a losing approach. "We simply shouldn't be in the position of subsidizing these location decisions with public dollars -- that also means forgoing property tax dollars," said Ed Whitelaw a consultant and an economics professor at the University of Oregon. But even as Sony on Wednesday was notifying employees that they were out of work, local economic development officials continued to argue that incentives are necessary, especially when a company has narrowed down sites and is making a final decision. They describe companies such as Sony as victims of global economic conditions that couldn't have been foreseen. Sony's closure is unfortunate, said Jack Roberts, executive director of the Lane Metropolitan Partnership. "At the same time, it's somewhat reassuring that this is one of those things that we have no control over," he said. "It's no reflection on our business climate or our economy, so it's not a bad omen." The agency played a central role in bringing Sony to Springfield. Roberts said he and others view Sony's loss as a reason to continue to recruit businesses aggressively. "Just because you land a business doesn't mean they'll be here long-term, so we have to constantly be looking for new jobs," Roberts said. Dan Egan, executive director of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce, agreed. "It points out the need to continually look for new clusters, and new jobs that diversify and grow your economy," he said. Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken said he expects a new operation will move into the Sony campus within 12 months. "Our strategy is a good strategy and we will continue to focus on those corporations that will be a good fit," Leiken said. "Right now, you just have a market that's in a funk." The metro area is better off because of Sony's presence here for nearly eight years, Roberts said. "They have been a good employer," he said. They've made a major contribution to our area. They've been a great catalyst for this area. Other businesses came because of that. Development in Gateway area was kicked off. The infrastructure improvements put in place remain, so all that is positive. "I think we just need to remind people that in this global economy we keep hearing about, we have to be prepared for changes," Roberts said. Rather than offering companies subsidies, Whitelaw advocates a different approach. "The best recruiting strategy for a municipality or a state ... is to do well what they're supposed to do well, namely pay attention to roads, sewer systems, schools and parks," Whitelaw said. "If you don't do those right, then no amount of recruitment strategy will keep these firms here and viable over time." Whitelaw believes that the local economy will survive without Sony. "The loss of Sony may be a bad cold," he said. "It may be some kind of flu, but it's not severe acute respiratory syndrome. It's not fatal and it comes with the territory. "Sony is a nice illustration of the kinds of risk you've taken," he added. "The downside is you've lost the employer and you're out the money." Whitelaw said the global and national manufacturing sectors built up too much capacity throughout the '90s boom, and the only way to shed that excess capacity is to go into recession for a while. "There are some national forces that need to work themselves through the system, and until that happens, no recruiting strategy short of some divine intervention will somehow help the Eugene-Springfield area out of this," Whitelaw said. Joe Cortright, an economist with the Portland firm Impresa, has studied high-tech clusters throughout the country. He has warned communities the size of Eugene-Springfield to avoid recruiting 500- to 1,000-employee branch factories that are trying to escape the high cost of doing business elsewhere. Eventually, those companies will find a cheaper place to do business, Cortright says. He also advised steering clear of assembly operations because workers in Asia or Latin America can do it for much less. A more rewarding strategy, he said, is to pursue operations that do higher level research, development and product design. Sony said it is moving the Springfield factory's work to Sony factories in Indiana and New Jersey. That consolidation is part of a series of cuts aimed at reducing costs. The market for the music CDs that the Springfield factory made has sagged as more consumers download music off the Internet and create their own CDs using home computers. Reporter Matt Cooper contributed to this report. Factory on the Market? Closure turns Sony plant into Lane County's most prominent vacant factory. 123 International Way: 365,000-square-foot complex on 34 acres. Built in 1995. Includes warehouse, manufacturing, office space; sound studio; fitness center; cafeteria. Adjacent land: Sony owns four parcels of vacant, industrial-designated land in International Way area totaling about 40 acres. Of that, Symantec Corp. has option to buy 12 acres next to Symantec's International Way service center for expansion. Sony might put rest of land up for sale. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/04/03/1a.sonytwo.0403.html ------------------------------------------------------------ 18.sn - Sony closure has ripple effect in community ------------------------------------------------------------ By Kim Sullivan Springfield News, 4/5/03 As news of Wednesday's closure of the Sony Disc Manufacturing plant spreads throughout the community, a ripple effect can be felt beyond the loss of wages to the 277 affected employees. During its eight years in Springfield, Sony has been a major contributor to many local agencies and organizations. While rumors have been circulating about company cutbacks for nearly a week, Sony officials didn't officially tell employees of the plant's permanent closure until a closed meeting Wednesday afternoon. A formal announcement from Sony Music Entertainment to the general public said: "Sony Disc Manufacturing has confirmed that its Springfield, Oregon, manufacturing plant has ceased operations. As a result, the company's U.S. manufacturing activities will be shifted to its operations in Pitman, N.J., and Terre Haute, Ind. In all, 277 employees will be affected by the closing of the Springfield plant. ... These changes are part of a broader initiative announced by Sony Music Entertainment on Friday, March 28. At that time the company issued the following statement: 'Sony Music Entertainment has confirmed that it has implemented a series of organizational changes designed to streamline operations and position the company for future growth. As a result, 1,000 employees from various offices around the world will be leaving the company. Sony Music Entertainment has a little under 10,000 employees worldwide.' " According to industry analysts, such as Barry Willis of Stereophile magazine, the cutbacks are part of a restructuring initiated by the company's new chairman and chief executive, Andrew Lack. After Lack took over in January, he immediately announced the company was due for "streamlining," Willis reported. Sony was ranked third largest among the music industry's top five producers in the U.S. market share in 2002, but it reported operating losses of more than $140 million on revenue of approximately $4.4 billion, Willis said. In late February, Sony announced cutting its work force by about 10 percent and said one-third of the cuts would come in the area of disc manufacturing. Local Sony employees were to attend meetings on unemployment issues such as severance pay Friday morning or afternoon at Lane Workforce Partnership, a job-assistance agency. When Sony first built its 335,000-square-foot, high-tech plant in May 1995, its arrival led the way for development in the Gateway area and was followed by Shorewood Packaging and Symantec, Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken said Thursday. Leiken said he was disappointed that some employees -- and the community at large -- was blind-sided by the plant's closure. "The city has zero correspondence from Sony," Leiken said, "and that has been disappointing. While there are just under 300 layoffs, this will affect thousands of people." Leiken said after conversations with Jack Roberts, executive director of the Lane Metro Partnership, he is assured the Sony site will benefit the city some time in the near future. "Depending on Sony's next step," Leiken said, "we've got a very attractive site available. We're sure we will attract another business to what's the hottest industrial site in Lane County." Nonetheless, Leiken said, there is a sadness with Sony's departure. Along with providing entry level jobs at higher than average salaries, Leiken said, Sony was a great contributor to Springfield and to Lane County. "They were the ultimate corporate citizens," Leiken said. "People will remember the closing of the plant, but people will also remember Sony was very involved in every aspect of our community." Denise Brittain of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce agreed. "They helped both financially and with people power," Brittain said. The company encouraged employees to become involved with the community and showcased employees' volunteerism in newspaper ads over the years. The company contributed to Springfield Chamber events, such as the annual golf tournament in July and the UO Tailgate Auction, as well as United Way of Lane County, the OASIS intergenerational tutoring program at Page Elementary School, "Build Your Baby's Brain" (a compilation of classical music on a CD given to all babies born in Oregon hospitals in the year 2000), Start Making a Reader Today program, Goodwill Industries, McKenzie-Willamette Hospital's Festival of Trees and local schools. Sony also contributed to several programs at the University of Oregon, including the School of Music and last year it donated a farmhouse it owned to Court Appointed Special Advocates to use for its administrative office. In 2000, Sony Disc Manufacturing was given an award for "economic enhancement" by the Lane Council of Governments because of strong community involvement. Brittain said the local community will also feel the loss of meeting space at Sony's state of the art facility, located on about 120 acres bordering the McKenzie River. "It's a loss, all the way around," Brittain said. http://www.springfieldnews.com/articles/2003/04/04/local/news1.txt ------------------------------------------------------------ 19.sn - Filbert Festival is canceled this summer ------------------------------------------------------------ By Jonni Gratton Springfield News, 4/5/03 Springfield's Filbert Festival, the city's signature annual family summertime celebration, is canceled this summer. Filbert Festival Board Chairman Chris Pryor said Wednesday that sponsorship for the event was just too difficult this year. "The Filbert Festival is a sponsorship-driven festival, and that's what we want to keep ticket prices down. Because of the economy and all the other different things going on, people are not stepping up for sponsorships," Pryor said. Instead, the board is planning a one-day festival and a "big" concert at Island Park, and board members hope to bring the festival back next year, Pryor said. The Filbert Festival began in 1989 as a family-oriented event and has been held along the Willamette River at Island Park. Steve Moe has served on the board since its second year, serving as chairman, co-chairman and member. "A group of Springfielders got together and wanted to put together a unique Springfield event. They put together a mini-festival," Moe said of the festival's origins. "What we've tried to do here is put on a Springfield event showing that we are a unique city. It's been our goal all the time, which we call our 'Springfield party.' It shows our community and invites all our friends to have a fun weekend." Moe said for two of its first years, the city sponsored the event just to get it started. Sponsorships have been sold to help pay for the cost of putting the three-day, late-summer event together. Over the years, the event has run on its own from sponsorships that range from thousands to hundreds of dollars at different levels, Pryor said. Some of the major sponsors have been Les Schwab, Jerry's Home Improvement Center, Sanipac, Buell Funeral Chapel, Springfield Utility Board and Lochmead Farms, along with numerous other businesses and organizations. Ticket prices last year were $5 for adults and $3 for children for day tickets. A three-day pass was $8. Children under 6 entered free. Last year between 20,000 to 25,000 people attended. Moe said the board hired a manager each year to pull the event together. For the past two years Big Green Events managed the festival at a cost of $20,000 a year, Moe said. Pryor said the Filbert Festival has always had a hard time breaking even. The event has been about the same size over the last 13 years. Last year there were 50 community booths, 25 food booths, live music, arts and crafts, river activities, outdoor activities, a family fun run and fireworks. Over the years, new events have been included, such as bungee jumping and last year's Ducks On Parade. Some of the favorite activities are the SUB Beach, where families can play in the sand under a big tent; the Nutty Kingdom, which has lots of kids activities; and Art For Your Garden. Moe said the board has always provided the best entertainment and fireworks. Last year the board raised $3,800 for the 20-minute fireworks display that is one of the best in the area. Pryor said that although the Filbert Festival would not go on this year, it is not cancelled for good. He said the board plans to work with the Springfield Chamber of Commerce and Willamalane Park and Recreation District to put on an all-day, concert event tentatively set for July 26 or Aug. 2 "We want to do more than a concert, but to have an afternoon event going into evening with food, different kinds of entertainment and things for kids, and culminate with a big concert and fireworks. We may reach out to a big name for this," said Pryor. He said the board hopes to know who's coming by mid-April. Moe said many people are disappointed about the Filbert Festival being cancelled this year. "But with the economy and war, it's a year to maybe step back a little bit. It's not dead. We hope to bring it back next year as it has been in the past," he said. http://www.springfieldnews.com/articles/2003/04/04/local/news2.txt ------------------------------------------------------------ 20.rg - Editorial: Sony's harsh blow ------------------------------------------------------------ Plant closure hurts a shaky economy Editorial The Register-Guard, 4/3/03 Any plant closure that throws 277 people out of work comes as bad news -- particularly now, when many of those workers will have a hard time finding jobs with comparable pay and benefits. But Sony's decision to close its Springfield plant is a doubly bitter blow. Since it opened in 1995, Sony's compact disc manufacturing plant has been the central symbol of Springfield's successful economic diversification. A huge multinational company chose Springfield above all other locations in the world, paving the way for other high-technology companies to come to Lane County and helping the city outgrow its near-total dependence on the wood products industry. The closure of the Springfield plant looks like a desperate cost-cutting move on the part of Sony Disc Manufacturing, a division of Sony Music Entertainment -- the world's largest producer of pre-recorded compact discs. The recorded music industry has been bleeding because of people's ability to download their own music or record their own discs. At the same time, the CD format is losing ground to DVDs, the latest generation of optical disc storage technology. The 335,000-square-foot Springfield plant, however, seemed reasonably well insulated against the turmoil in its industry. It was the newest of Sony Disc Manufacturing's 10 production facilities, including its four in North America. Sony purchased three times as much property as it needed in the Gateway area, suggesting that it might someday expand. The company maintained a high-profile corporate presence, supporting educational, cultural and charitable institutions in a manner that a here today, gone tomorrow company like hard-drive disc maker HMT Technologies never did. But Sony put most of its DVD-making investments in its larger plant in Terre Haute, Ind. Sony chose to make DVD packages, but not the discs themselves, at the Springfield plant. A compact disc factory that reflected the state of the art when it opened eight years ago is effectively obsolete today. Sony received about $8 million in tax incentives in exchange for agreeing to build its $50 million plant in Springfield. The direct payoff for those inducements had only recently begun to materialize, with the plant going on the property tax rolls and contributing $623,000 to local governments and schools. The indirect payoff has accrued from the beginning in the form of payrolls and jobs at ancillary businesses. Local governments, of course, would have received nothing from Sony if the company had decided to build elsewhere in 1995. The tax incentives represent unrealized potential income, not an out-of-pocket cost. Still, there's a bargain implicit in tax abatements, and local governments should seek some way to protect themselves, perhaps through the forfeiture of funds held in escrow, in case the bargain isn't kept. A company's commitment to a community should extend beyond its period of special tax treatment. By losing Sony, Springfield will soon gain a large, ready-to-go industrial site of a type that is hard to find in Oregon or anywhere along the Interstate 5 corridor. That's little consolation to the workers who will soon be looking for jobs in a market that has few to offer. But if Sony understood the value of the Gateway site, others can recognize it as well. Springfield and Lane County have endured darker days than these. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/04/03/ed.edit.sony.0403.html ------------------------------------------------------------ 21.sn - Editorial: Springfield will miss Sony, but the city will survive ------------------------------------------------------------ Editorial Springfield News, 4/5/03 Springfield got a double dose of bad news this week: Sony Disc Manufacturing is closing and the Springfield Filbert Festival won't take place this summer. The news about Sony was sudden and disturbing. The newspaper was informed late Monday afternoon by an anonymous employee that the plant might be closing. Although Sony officials weren't talking, it was confirmed by Mayor Sid Leiken Tuesday and on Wednesday the news was official. The plant closed immediately, leaving close to 300 workers without jobs. Sony has been in Springfield since 1995, and the city was gratified and enthused about a high tech plant coming to town. And the plant has been good for and good to Springfield. Its location in Gateway drew Symantec and various supporting firms, making the Gateway area a desirable area for other businesses. In addition, Sony has donated much to the community -- in both time and money. So it is dismaying to hear that its doors have closed. The news about the Filbert Festival is not so much dismaying as it is disappointing. Started in 1989, the annual festival has been a wonderful weekend of activities designed for the whole family. Entertainment, fun stuff for kids, garden art and lots of food -- all located along the Willamette River in a beautiful green park -- set it apart from other festivals. Last year it drew more than 20,000 people. Board President Chris Pryor said the festival was having trouble getting enough sponsors to put it on this year. Instead, a scaled-down version will be held on one day in mid-summer that will feature an afternoon event with food and activities topped off by a major concert and fireworks. Pryor said board members hope to bring the festival back next year when the economy is better. This isn't the first time Springfield has faced adversity. The town was hit hard in the 1980s when the lumber industry went south. Before then, Springfield had many mills and various timber operations, and unemployment jumped considerably when they encountered problems. The area has long been known for its boom-and-bust cycles, and that was one reason the city has looked toward diversifying its economy. High tech was a desirable component of that, but high tech, it turns out, also has its ups and downs. A major problem at the Springfield plant, for example, was a quick and drastic change in technology. Sony workers made CDs and packaged both CDs and DVDs. They did not make DVDs. But thanks to the growing practice of people downloading music from the Internet and burning it onto their own CDs, sales of CDs have fallen, placing the Springfield plant at risk. Keeping up with quick changes in technology isn't easy, and large manufacturers often can't adapt easily. It takes creative minds to try to predict what will happen next. City officials remain hopeful that someone will take Sony's place. In addition, Mayor Sid Leiken has pledged he will work with city staff and state officials to find replacement jobs for those laid off. Springfield will survive these blows. The business community is still vibrant and the city has much to offer. Perhaps by this time next year, the Sony plant will house another company that adds to our economy and employs many people. As for the Springfield Filbert Festival, it is hoped that by this time next year board members will be well into the planning stages of the 2004 festival. After all, we could use a good party. http://www.springfieldnews.com/articles/2003/04/04/opinion/news1.txt ------------------------------------------------------------ 22.rg - Monaco Coach set to cut work force ------------------------------------------------------------ By Joe Harwood The Register-Guard, 4/3/03, Page B1 Coburg -- Monaco Coach Corp. will shut all of its production lines in Oregon and Indiana next week for one week and then cut its work force by an unspecified number of jobs amid a slowing recreational vehicle market. Managers at the Coburg-based company told employees earlier this week that Monaco would close Monday and then restart production on April 14, said a worker who didn't want to be identified. When production resumes, it will be with fewer workers, the employee said. Employees will find out today who will have a job after the break, the worker said, adding that Monaco could reduce its work force by as much as 25 percent. Monaco employs about 2,000 workers in Oregon. The bulk of those employees are at the company's headquarters and industrial campus in Coburg. Other operations include plants in Springfield, Bend and a service facility in Harrisburg. Monaco has more than 3,000 workers in Indiana. The company has issued no public comment on the matter. Monaco officials for nearly two years have declined to speak with The Register-Guard. The company several weeks ago reduced production and cut employees to 32-hour workweeks after its inventory of completed RVs started to accumulate and orders from dealers slowed. Nationwide, shipments of RVs from manufacturers to dealers rose in February by 3.1 percent, the smallest increase in a year, according to the Virginia-based Recreational Vehicle Industry Association. The flattening, after several months of steady gains, indicates consumers are reining in spending, in part because of the Iraq war and partly because of weakness in the economy. "Of all the things that are discretionary spending, motor homes are about the most, so you'd expect to see some effect from the war," Ronald Muhlenkamp told Bloomberg News. Muhlenkamp's $800 million fund owns shares of Winnebago Industries Inc., Monaco and Thor Industries Inc. Winnebago, the largest maker of motor homes, cut production 20 percent last month. Fleetwood Enterprises Inc., the second-biggest maker of RVs, said it had seen some "reluctance" by dealers to increase their inventories. But not all RV manufacturers are cutting back. Luxury motor coach maker Country Coach Inc. in Junction City two weeks ago announced it is in the process of hiring 150 new workers. Coachmen Industries Inc., which leads U.S. travel-trailer sales, last month said it was adding capacity at two plants because of increasing demand for motor homes and travel trailers. Thor, the largest maker of recreational vehicles, earlier this week said its retail sales rose 15 percent in March and 17 percent in February. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/04/03/b1.bz.monaco.0403.html ------------------------------------------------------------ 23.rg - Monaco Coach, Seneca Sawmill announce job cuts ------------------------------------------------------------ By Christian Wihtol and Joe Harwood The Register-Guard, 4/4/03, Page A1 Coburg -- More grim economic news rained on Lane County on Thursday, as Seneca Sawmill in Eugene announced it was cutting 115 workers and Monaco Coach Corp. announced it has cut 850 jobs at its Oregon and Indiana facilities. Seneca blamed its reduction on low-priced wood imports from Canada and a lack of federal logs for its mill, while Monaco said it had to make steep production cuts because nationwide demand for recreational vehicles has slipped. The job cuts at Seneca mark only the second time in the Eugene-based company's 50-year history that it has laid off workers. The first time was in 1981, when a severe recession swamped Oregon's economy, said Seneca Vice President Dale Riddle. The cuts leave the mill with 305 workers. At Monaco, cuts were made "in all departments in the company," Monaco chief financial officer Marty Daley told investment analysts in a conference call. Monaco wouldn't disclose how many jobs it cut in the Lane County area, where it has its corporate headquarters, plus two factories and a service center. However, the local cuts will possibly total more than 200 workers. Prior to the cuts, the company's operations in Coburg, Harrisburg and Springfield employed roughly 1,700 people, making Monaco one of the largest local firms. The companywide cut of 850 jobs represents a 15 percent reduction in the overall workforce of 5,900 people. If that percentage were applied to the Lane County area workforce, the layoffs here would total roughly 250 jobs. In announcing the cuts, Monaco also said it would shut all its factories for the week of April 7-11 and may make additional temporary shutdowns later in the year. Monaco said it must pare back production because consumer unease and the war in Iraq have hurt sales. Thursday's announcements came just one day after Sony suddenly shut its compact disc factory in Springfield, putting 277 people out of work. Also, the bankrupt Emporium department store chain is laying off about 200 Lane County workers as it shuts its Eugene headquarters and five Lane County stores. There's scant expansion in Lane County's manufacturing and other sectors to absorb all these workers, said Brian Rooney, an economist with the Oregon Employment Department. "A lot of people with similar skills are competing for a limited number of jobs," Rooney said. "They'll try to see how salable their skills are in this area," he said. "Maybe they need to develop new skills, or maybe they need to go where their skills are more salable." Lane County's manufacturing sector had been reviving in recent months, clocking in at 19,000 jobs in February, up 500 jobs from a year earlier. But the losses at Monaco, Sony and Seneca will reverse that trend. "The area's manufacturing sector would be hard pressed to absorb that many" laid-off workers, Rooney said. Monaco President John Nepute told investment analysts the company is cutting weekly production of motorized RVs from a total of 177 units to 133 units. The company makes motorized RVs at its factories in Coburg, Springfield, Bend and Indiana. The company also said it will reduce production of towable trailers from 65 units a week to 55 units. All the towables are made in Indiana. In the conference call, Monaco officials said the drop in demand had been brewing for some time. "We wish we could have recognized this slowdown earlier," said CEO Kay Toolson. "Maybe we could have done a lesser rollback three months ago." To adjust to slackening demand, the company cut its workers to a four-day workweek in mid-February, he said. Meanwhile, Seneca general manager Rick Re said two factors led to his company's 27 percent work force cut. Re blamed the continued "illegal dumping of government-subsidized Canadian wood products into the United States" and the lack of logs coming off the federal forestlands that encompass much of Lane and Douglas counties. Lumber producers in the United States and Canada have been embroiled in a trade dispute since last May, when the Bush Administration imposed duties averaging 27 percent on Canadian wood products entering this country. The administration imposed the tariffs on the Canadian lumber imports -- used mainly in residential construction -- after declaring that Canada's provinces unfairly subsidize their companies by selling them rights to cut government timber at below market prices. The administration also determined that Canadian mills were illegally dumping lumber on the U.S. market at prices below the cost of production. Instead of stemming the southward flow of lumber, the ploy backfired when Canadian mills increased production in an effort to lower per-unit costs. Lumber imports from Canada rose 2.3 percent in 2002, according to Random Lengths, a Eugene-based wood products newsletter. "We are getting squeezed," Riddle said. "The logs are given away to our competitors (in Canada) for just about free and down here you can't get any." Riddle noted that the Canadian government ties the prices for trees in its public forests to the prices mills are able to get for their finished lumber. When wholesale lumber prices drop, the government reduces the cost for logs so mills can break even or post a profit, Riddle said. Lumber prices for dimension lumber are near 10-year lows, without accounting for inflation. The Canadian government also restricts sawmill closures and imposes minimum employment levels on the companies there that buy public timber. Seneca's mill in Eugene is among the most efficient in the world, Riddle said, "and we still can't compete with the Canadians." Riddle said harvest restrictions on federal forestland in the United States continues to haunt independent operators like Seneca who partly rely on public timber to supply mills. He said the administration's Healthy Forests Initiative, which would cut some of the environmental restrictions that make it tough to harvest public timber, should help open up the forests to more logging. But real progress on the effort, which environmentalists have decried, is months away, Riddle said. Many wood products executives recognize that logging on federal land will never return to the high levels of the late 1980s. Many, including Riddle, say they would be happy to have the one billion board feet of timber a year promised in former President Clinton's 1994 Northwest Forest Plan. Harvests on federal lands have never come close to that. Riddle said Seneca owns 165,000 acres of forestland. With three shifts at the mill, that land can supply about half the logs the mill needs. Cutting the 115 jobs and dropping to two shifts means the forestland will supply about three-fourths of the mill's need. Seneca's move follows the announcement by Roseburg Forest Products in Douglas County last week it was cutting 450 jobs, mainly at a plywood plant near Roseburg. The company said it was facing a general slowdown in demand plus competition from imports. These layoffs "are a sign that things are starting to peter out in that industry," economist Rooney said. As of February, Lane County had 5,000 jobs in wood products manufacturing. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/04/04/a1.monaco.0404.html ------------------------------------------------------------ 24.or - Monaco Coach will slash jobs ------------------------------------------------------------ By Ted Sickinger Oregonian, 4/4/03 Monaco Coach said Thursday that it will cut 850 jobs, including 450 at its plant in Coburg, as it tries to reduce ballooning inventories of recreational vehicles amid slackening demand from dealers. The job cuts amount to about 15 percent of the company's 5,900-employee nationwide work force, which includes 3,000 workers in Oregon. The remaining 400 layoffs come at the company's plant in Indiana. As part of its effort to "substantially reduce" inventories, Monaco also said it would shut its plants in Oregon and Indiana for a week beginning Monday. Monaco's announcement punctuates a bad week for manufacturing jobs in Oregon and adds to a long list of family-wage job cuts the state has suffered during an economic downturn now heading into its third year. Roseburg Forest Products said Tuesday that it was cutting 450 jobs as it scaled back plywood production at a plant in Dillard, just south of Roseburg. On Wednesday, Sony Disc Manufacturing announced the closure of its 277-employee plant in Springfield. And on Thursday, in addition to the Monaco layoffs, Seneca Sawmill in Eugene said it was cutting 115 of 420 workers. Those cuts come on top of the loss of 26,500 manufacturing jobs, or 12 percent of the state's manufacturing employment base, in the past two years. The job losses have contributed to one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation during that period. It was 7.3 percent in February, down from a high of 8.4 percent in January 2002. What is unclear to economists is whether the latest flurry of layoffs is the last shakeout before a long-predicted recovery, or a sign of another recessionary dip driven by war worries and rising energy prices. Oregon's economic forecast has predicted growth -- albeit anemic -- starting in the fourth quarter of 2002 and accelerating at the end of 2003. "It's looked like we were at the bottom of the downturn and even beginning to gain jobs, but those gains may be farther off than we were hoping," said Art Ayre, the state's employment economist. That could be bad news for legislators, who are straining to craft a state budget amid plunging tax revenues. The lumber, RV and disc manufacturing businesses have little in common, save some economic cyclicality. Jack Roberts, former Oregon labor commissioner and current director of the Lane Metro Partnership, an economic development agency in Lane County, said he was still bullish on the area's RV industry. Roberts cited the fact that a Monaco competitor, Country Coach, is hiring again after earlier layoffs. He said the opposite situations amounted to timing differences. Roberts also said he had received assurances from Monaco Chief Executive Kay Toolson that the company's production cuts were temporary, driven by gas prices, and that it probably would be back to full production in 60 to 90 days. "We don't see this as a permanent layoff and loss of livelihood like Sony's" closure, Roberts said. No company assurances Mike Duncan, Monaco's head of investor relations, was unwilling to offer any such assurances. Employees were offered no severance, or indications that their jobs would return in the near future. "If the environment gets a little tougher, we may have to take steps to slow production even further, but for now we feel like we've taken the appropriate steps," Duncan said. Demand for Monaco's RVs, with resulting orders from dealers, has seesawed in recent years. A recessionary pullback and the Sept. 11 shock were counterbalanced by a strong recovery last year. RV-makers have benefited from low interest rates and a slew of retired baby boomers taking to the road. RV sales had been forecast to rise 2 percent this year. But sales have shown signs of weakening the past two months, with other manufacturers nationally reporting cutbacks similar to Monaco's. Monaco's Toolson said in a release Thursday that economic conditions and the military conflict were pressuring consumer confidence, and that dealers had become cautious in purchasing new inventory. The company's inventory of finished RVs has ballooned from $42 million at the end of the year to $70 million today. Monaco spokesman Mike Duncan said the company typically would have $10 million worth of finished RVs on hand. Quarterly results fall Monaco on Thursday announced its preliminary results for the quarter ended March 29. It estimated earnings of 15 cents to 20 cents a share on sales of $271 million to $273 million in the quarter. Analysts had expected the company to earn 29 cents a share on sales of $276 million. "It was bad," said Jeff Tryka, an analyst with Delafield Hambrecht in Seattle. "Revenues were in the ballpark, but earnings were a lot lower than we were expecting." Seneca Sawmill said its layoff of 115 Eugene workers was driven by "dumping of government-subsidized Canadian wood products" in the United States and overly restrictive logging rules on this side of the border. "We're facing political and legal issues that are above and beyond our control that require this action, Seneca General Manager Rick Re said. Ted Sickinger: 503-221-8505; tedsickinger@news.oregonian.com http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/business/1049461103217020.xml?oregonian?fng ------------------------------------------------------------ 25.rg - Zoning affords beverage company tax breaks ------------------------------------------------------------ By Joe Harwood The Register-Guard, 4/1/03, Page B1 Springfield -- Now that its new beer and wine distribution center is up and running, Mt. Hood Beverage Co. can drink a toast to the city's enterprise-zone property tax breaks. The program will exempt Mt. Hood from about $134,000 a year in property taxes for the next three years. The Portland-based company last November moved into its 157,500-square-foot regional distribution facility on 10.6 acres in developer John Hammer's industrial park on the west side of 42nd Street, opposite Weyerhaeuser Co.'s linerboard mill. Mt. Hood previously operated out of space it leased at 555 Shelly St. in west Springfield. Springfield's enterprise zone covers numerous parcels of industrial land spread throughout the city, including Hammer's 52-acre industrial park, said John Tamulonis, the city's economic development manager. Industrial firms, including warehouse and distribution facilities, can qualify for three- to five-year exemptions of property taxes in the the zone. Other firms taking advantage of the waivers include Sony Disc Manufacturing and Symantec Corp., both in the city's Gateway district. To qualify for the waiver, Mt. Hood had to spend at least $25,000 on construction or equipment and increase its employment level by at least 10 percent. Mt. Hood spent approximately $8.6 million building and equipping the new facility, according to documents submitted to the city. The Lane County Assessor's Office has not yet calculated the exact amount of Mt. Hood's property taxes for the 2003-2004 tax year. But based on the current rate of $15.64 per $1,000 of assessed value, Mt. Hood's property tax waiver would be worth approximately $134,500 for the tax year beginning July 1. Over the three-year exemption period, the firm would save $403,500 or more, depending on whether Springfield voters approve new bond measures. Firms can apply for an additional two-year waiver at the end of the initial three-year period if they meet certain requirements. In the 12 months before it applied for the property tax waiver, the company employed an average of 43 workers, according to the documents. The firm said in the documents that it planned to add five new workers and bring its annual employment average to 48, an 11.6 percent increase. Officials at the firm's headquarters could not be reached for comment Monday. Company officials have previously said the head count increases in the summer months when demand for drinks rises. The company's Springfield outlet serves the Lane County marketplace. Mt. Hood also has distribution facilities in Portland, Salem, Roseburg, North Bend, The Dalles and in the Washington cities of Yakima and Kennewick. Other businesses in the industrial park include Lane Forest Products, which recently bought just over two acres for its landscaping supply business, Hammer said. The firm had been leasing the land. Hammer said the bulk of the park's infrastructure work is complete and he will begin actively marketing lots later this month. Development Report runs every Tuesday. To suggest items, contact Joe Harwood at 338-2364 or jharwood@guardnet.com. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/04/01/b1.bz.develop.0401.html ================== Transportation Issues ================= ------------------------------------------------------------ 26.sn - Dwyer and PAC plan fight against transportation maintenance fee ------------------------------------------------------------ By Jonni Gratton, Associate Editor Springfield News, 4/2/03 County Commissioner Bill Dwyer, acting as a Springfield citizen, thinks the city of Springfield's soon-to-be implemented road fee is unfair and it should go before the voters. Dwyer has completed the filing process for an initiative petition to gather signatures to repeal an ordinance authorizing the city to impose a transportation system maintenance fee. A political action committee, Citizens Against Unfair Fees and Taxes, was filed with the city recorder on Feb. 14. The Springfield City Council adopted the transportation maintenance fee Dec. 9 to help a failing street fund. The fee could raise $1 million annually. [Photo: Bill Dwyer] While the fee has not been set, councilors have discussed charging residents $1.75 a Month. Businesses may be charged based on the number of trips they are responsible for, which could fall between $25 a month for fewer than 5,000 trips to $550 for more than 40,000 trips. Fees, which could appear on Springfield Utility Board bills, will be determined this spring. Springfield also passed a 3-cent gas tax in mid-March to raise $60,000 each year to help renew the street fund and provide for future street work. Both are expected to be implemented July 1. The city of Eugene passed similar fees just ahead of Springfield. "There should be a nexus between what type of taxes you levy and what it's being levied for. The city has also adopted a local gas tax. They haven't found a tax they haven't like yet," Dwyer said Monday. "If they want to have a tax and the citizens want to be taxed, then let them. But I Think they ought to ask folks first." Citizens Against Unfair Fees and Taxes have scheduled a signature gathering meeting Friday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at a the old Springfield train depot, located at 101 A St. The initiative petition was accepted by the city Thursday after about four weeks of paper work and city counsel review. Campaign coordinator Leslie Weinstein said petitions, consisting of a cover and signature sheet, will be sent out to a large list of people who are against unfair taxes. The front of the sheet provides a title and summary of the issue and calls for the question to repeal or not. Chief petitioners are listed as Dwyer, Curtis Greer and Bryan Murphy. Instructions are provided for circulators and signers. On the back is room for 20 signatures. "We hope to get a minimum 0f 1,500 signatures," Weinstein said. "We expect to get it done within a few weeks. Then it will be put on the next Springfield ballot." With 2003 an odd year, no primary or general elections are scheduled. Annette Newingham of Lane County Elections said the next elections are both special elections, one in May, which is for special districts, such as schools, fire and water districts, and one in September, which is for measures. If the PAC can gather the required 1,194 signatures and can meet Oregon Revised Statutes procedures throughout the process, Citizens Against Unfair Fees and Taxes could possibly have its initiative to repeal the city ordinance on the September ballot. "We've got a list of people who offered to volunteer. We are going to earnestly start collecting signatures. Quite a few businesses want petitions; quite a few people want petitions directly. We have a year to gather," Dwyer said. Dwyer also expects it will take only several weeks to gather enough signatures. "I want it in an election right away. I don't want them (the city) to get used to spending the money," he said. City Public Works Director Dan Brown has stated that there has not been adequate pavement preservation in the last few years. The city approved the transportation maintenance fee because the state gas tax revenue has remained stagnant since 1993 and because of declining Lane County road funding. Dwyer said the city is spending very little toward maintenance, but spending is going toward new roads. The city received $500,000 in city/county road partnership funds for fiscal year 2002-2003, which is the minimum based upon a county formula for cities. For fiscal year 2003-2004, Springfield is expected to receive the base $500,000, as well as $5.2 million to extend Pioneer Parkway, $200,000 for Laura Street renovations and $1.8 million for the Jasper Road Extension Phase I project. For information on the Citizens Against Unfair Fees and Taxes, call 343-7250. [Story not available on the Web.] ------------------------------------------------------------ 27.rg - Turn lane gets funds ------------------------------------------------------------ By Randi Bjornstad The Register-Guard, 4/4/03, Page C2 With a few harsh words for the Oregon Department of Transportation, county commissioners have decided to foot the bill for a turn lane to get drivers safely off the McKenzie Highway onto Thurston Road. ODOT recently told the county that it couldn't come up with its share of the matching money for the joint construction project on State Highway 126. The county could cover the difference or scrap the project, ODOT suggested. With a bit of pique, commissioners decided this week to pay for the project, which could cost up to $500,000. More than a dozen accidents -- including one that severely injured Commissioner Tom Lininger's young son -- have occurred at the intersection in the past several years. "I find it offensive that ODOT has just diverted all this really heavy truck traffic onto this highway (because of deteriorating freeway bridges on the Interstate 5 freeway), and now they want to dump this project," Commissioner Bill Dwyer said. Even with the additional county money, the project could still face problems. "We still need to have some fairly detailed conversations with ODOT because this involves county funding on a state highway and who does the work," county Public Works Director Ollie Snowden said. "At best, if all it works out, we're probably looking at a year or more before anything happens." Randi Bjornstad can be reached at 338-2321 or rbjornstad@guardnet.com. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/04/04/c2.cr.rg.countybeat.0404.html ------------------------------------------------------------ 28.sn - County approves additional funding for road projects ------------------------------------------------------------ By Jonni Gratton Springfield News, 4/5/03 The Oregon Department of Transportation is unable to match funds for a safety project in Springfield that would provide a right-of-way acquisition at Thurston Road and Highway 126. The project will be completed, but Lane County will pay for the entire bill and take over the project, which came in at a revised cost estimate exceeding $500,000. The Thurston right-of-way project, a Cottage Grove project and Eugene School District 4J project are all part of the county's revenue sharing program that allocates cities and the state money for projects chosen by the county through application. Each project has fallen short due to increased estimates. Over the past four years 12 accidents have been reported at what is becoming a more dangerous spot at Thurston Road and Highway 126. Recently heavy-haul trucks were rerouted to the highway due to deterioration of three bridges in the Eugene-Springfield area. And with state budget cuts, less Oregon State Police patrol the highway. Mike Russell, capital improvement coordinator for Lane County Public Works, said the ODOT district office requested the project be withdrawn from the Fiscal Year 2003-07 Capital Improvement Program. The request included transferring the existing $200,000 the county put up for the project to a Cottage Grove project at Fourth Street and Harrison Avenue. The project had been considered in past years, and early estimates led the county to put up $200,000. ODOT was to provide $50,000. A new cost estimate has the project exceeding $500,000. County commissioners scoffed at the idea of ODOT running out of money for the projects with Anna Morrison and Bill Dwyer criticizing ODOT's partnership. "I'm bothered that these ODOT projects have cost a whole lot more than the estimates," Morrison said. "Everyone of these (projects) have turned into a fiasco. The majority had been discussed for many years and put into motion. Then, the (ODOT) money is gone." Dwyer said the projects were like a "black hole." "I hear a huge sucking sound," he said. Commissioners Peter Sorenson, Tom Lininger, Morrison and Dwyer voted 4-0 to adopt a motion to pay for the project. Commissioner Bobby Green was absent. Public Works Director Ollie Snowden said the county would be able to fund the project with money left over from the Frank Parrish bridge project. An approved low bid taken on an estimate of that project would provide enough money to complete the Thurston Road-Highway 126 project. The board also approved two other projects to receive more funding for completion. Additional funds for Cottage Grove's Highway 99 at Harrison Avenue and Fourth Street project will be provided for the $720,000 project by transferring $200,000 from the available Road Fund and transferring another $175,000 out of the remaining unencumbered balance of the Community Development Road Improvement Assist-ance fund. This is also an ODOT partnership project that had an increase in its estimate. The total cost of the project is $1.96 million. Additional funds of $196,000 for the Eugene School District 4J West 14th Street Project for a proposed school will be provided under the Community Development Road Improvement Assistance Fund. Eugene requires that the street be widened from 21 feet to 28 feet. http://www.springfieldnews.com/articles/2003/04/04/local/news4.txt ------------------------------------------------------------ 29.rg - Bustling Costco installing new signal ------------------------------------------------------------ By Edward Russo The Register-Guard, 4/1/03, Page B1 The days of the daring dash from Eugene's Costco onto Chad Drive are numbered. A traffic signal to let motorists leave Costco's busy parking lot without having to dart between vehicles on Chad Drive is supposed to be installed by June. The signal at Costco's main driveway, one block east of Coburg Road, will let two lanes of motorists make a left turn onto Chad Drive without having to worry about cross traffic. The signal will also direct traffic going right. [Map: Lighting the way -- Costco paying for traffic light on Crescent Avenue.] Costco, based in Issaquah, Wash., decided to install the signal and do related road and driveway improvements without urging by Eugene officials. The increased traffic generated by the store and nearby developments has made it difficult for customers to exit onto Chad Drive, at times making it a hassle to shop at the store, said Costco's Chief Executive Jim Sinegal. "It's a safety issue, but more of a congestion issue," he said. The work is costing Costco about $350,000. Costco's big-box store attracts a large share of the 8,100 cars that use Chad Drive daily. During the winter shopping season, the traffic is so thick that Costco hires off-duty police to direct motorists. Leaving Costco also is complicated by the traffic coming onto Chad from the shopping center on the north side of Chad that houses Shopko, PetSmart and other stores. Costco's four-way traffic signal will control that traffic, too. The traffic signal should be welcomed by Costco shoppers. Shopper Toni Webb of Springfield said she no longer leaves Costco from the main driveway, preferring instead the exit on the east edge of the Costco parking lot because there is less cross traffic. At the main exit point, one block from the major intersection of Chad Drive and Coburg Road, "you have to sit there for hours, especially during the holidays," she said. Eugene's assistant traffic engineer, Brian Genovese, lauded Costco's work. "If you can shop under more comfortable conditions, it's good for Costco and its good for us because there will be fewer accidents and fewer near misses," he said. Often, the city of Eugene requires private developments to help pay for traffic signals and other public improvements. But the city in 1989 gave Costco permission to build the store without putting in a traffic signal. At that time, traffic was much lighter on Chad. Since then, Costco, with the city's permission, expanded its 118,000-square-foot store and added gas pumps. That drew more traffic. Also, several businesses opened on Chad Drive during the same period, including Chambers Communications Corp., Levi Strauss & Co. and Guard Publishing Co. Last year, Costco asked the city if it would pay for a traffic signal, Eugene Traffic Manager Tom Larsen said. But the city installs only a couple of signals a year, he said, and Costco's project would have been put on a years-long waiting list. Instead, Costco decided to pay for the work to get the project done, Larsen said. Costco began the work early last month. Construction includes the extension of a turning lane into Costco's main driveway for arriving shoppers and an acceleration lane for motorists who will make right hand-turns onto Chad Drive. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/04/01/b1.bz.costco.0401.html =========================== Key ========================== "Health Options Digest" is best read with an email program that recognizes links to web pages. It includes leads from and links to stories and opinions from the following publications: rg = The Register-Guard sn = Springfield News ew = Eugene Weekly cn = Comic News ode = Oregon Daily Emerald cc = City Club of Eugene Newsletter or = Oregonian ac = Arlie & Company For some stories, two links are given. 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