Community Voices Weekly: Job market blues

Happy Sunday, Lookout Eugene-Springfield,

It was another eclectic week in the Community Voices mailbag: timber heirs bending the rules, homelessness, data centers, wildfires. (Scroll down to the “recent letters to the editor” section to read them all.) Let’s jump right in…

… Starting with something I wrote. Large layoffs at the Springfield True Value Hardware warehouse and Eugene manufacturer Bowtech added evidence to something I’ve been thinking for a while: Although the job market is rough everywhere right now, it’s rougher in Oregon (which has the country’s highest unemployment and ranks third to last in job growth), and in Lane County (which has lost 1,200 jobs over the past year).

Maybe a local politician can only do so much about the economy. But at the very least, I wrote, they should talk more about economic policies and how to create opportunities for unemployed and underemployed workers.

In my column, I mention the governor’s Prosperity Council and the city of Eugene’s Technical Advisory Group – both efforts to improve the economy, and both sure to draw battle lines between business and labor factions of state and local politics.

What I really want to know is what you think of these reports or my thoughts on the job market. Send me a letter: lte@lookoutlocal.com

Homelessness column touches a nerve

I had a feeling that Congressional candidate Monique DeSpain’s July 27 guest column about homelessness would generate some strong responses.

It did. And they’re still coming in.

Last week, former Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis added her voice to the criticism of DeSpain’s argument – that the root cause of Oregon’s homeless problem is one-party Democratic rule and its embrace of permissive housing and substance use policies.

“Tell that to the chronically homeless individual who faces a waitlist just to enter one of our community’s alternative shelters, not to mention housing,” Vinis wrote.

But Kel Williams, a Springfield resident and retired police officer, heard a lot of good points in DeSpain’s column. After interacting with people who are homeless due to economic conditions, substance abuse, and those who are homeless by choice and cause trouble, he feels organizations like the Eugene Mission are best equipped to help people who are willing to admit they need it.

“We need to support them and operations like them. We also need to support our local businesses, citizens and police in holding the other faction accountable and giving them consequences for their actions,” Williams wrote.

Opinion grab bag

Try as I might, I couldn’t think of any way to tie these interesting but completely unrelated letters to the editor together under one theme.

I was particularly interested – and disturbed – by the topic Springfield letter-writer Mike McFarlane raised: Thanks to online prediction market platforms, people are actually betting on how big wildfires will be. It sets a dangerous precedent, and while he’s glad to see lawmakers taking notice, they need to act.

“Our firefighters should never work a line while anyone profits off what they know,” McFarlane wrote.

Lookout’s reporting that an unidentified client was asking the city of Eugene for information about the shuttered Hynix property – including whether a data center would be allowed there – sparked a strong reaction from some readers.

But there’s likely no need to get worked up, according to Eugene letter-writer Wyn Manselle. The property’s zoning should already forbid it.

“It’s plausible that the demands on Eugene’s power grid from a hyperscale data center could be argued to be an ‘offensive external impact’ under the zoning,” Manselle wrote.

Despite the closure of the Springfield Public Library on Mondays due to budget cuts, supporters like Friends of the Springfield Public Library continue advocating for staff and patrons. Among that work? Informing the many patrons who were unaware of the change when they showed up on a recent Monday.

“Our takeaway from this was that the city had failed to communicate the change effectively and failed to provide the level of service the library is known for,” the group wrote.

With a new superintendent and board member, is Springfield Public Schools ready to move past the drama of last year? That’s the hope of Eugene letter-writer and retired educator Larry Lewin.

“This upcoming school year will be the time for the board, the superintendent and the senior administration to get in sync and start functioning at a high level to make Springfield Public Schools the gold standard for a new direction in local public education,” Lewin wrote.

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recent guest opinions

I’m a Lane Electric Cooperative customer. The utility’s criticism of our governor is disappointing. | Letter to the editor

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