Issues
Build It and They Will Pedal
$580,000 Bike Boondoggle Coming Soon?
A draft study is encouraging public agencies and area businesses to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to boost the number of bike racks and lockers in the Eugene-Springfield area to help support and increase two-wheeled ridership over the next decade and beyond.
The Regional Bike Parking Study, set to be finalized later this month after three years of work, concludes that such facilities are needed in the two cities’ downtowns, at transit stations and at more than a dozen shopping centers, major employers and civic venues…
The government-funded $100,000 study reaches those conclusions even as its data, while limited, showed the existing supply of bike parking exceeding the use in some of the studied areas…
The study estimates it would cost nearly $342,000 for materials and labor to add recommended bike parking spaces to 100 blocks in downtown Eugene and Springfield…
The study estimated it would cost about $238,000 to install 30 new and retrofitted bike lockers at some LTD transit stations, as well as secure cages at the stations in downtown Eugene and the Amazon neighborhood…
The study also examined the bike parking needs at 14 “activity centers,” such as the Hult Center, Oakway Center, Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend and the Royal Caribbean office in Springfield, but didn’t provide cost estimates.
Even though the study recommended adding more bike parking spots at these centers, the data appeared to indicate the supply exceeds demand. The study counted 509 spots at the 14 locations, but recommended nearly doubling that number — even though only 55 spots were being used at the time of the survey…
Maffei (who lead the study) said the inventory was taken on Oct. 16 and 17, and there wasn’t enough money to perform more than a single count in a given study area…
Duncan Rhodes, a member of the Greater Eugene Area Riders Cycling Club, or GEARs, who served on the committee, said quite a few local spots could use more bike parking.
“Until you build something, you will never know if it will be used or not,” he said…
– Christian Hill, The Register Guard
Lane Solutions Responds –
“A $100,000 study recommends spending $580,000 to add thousands of spots” (Register Guard print edition).
Several elements of this study jumped out at us, nearly causing us to bang our helmeted heads on the potted pavement as we toppled off our sustainable, green, locally produced bikes.
First, they figured need for additional bike facilities by counting actual bike rack use just once. Think it might vary by time of day and month?
Then there’s the fallacy of adding hundreds of bike racks at five “activity centers” when “supply exceeds demand.” Failing to estimate costs for this only makes it worse.
Third, at six locations they counted 44 of 355 bike racks being used and concluded that we need 727 additional racks.
It’s a perfect example of government imposing its social engineering fantasies on citizens and wasting buckets of bucks turning them into an unwelcome reality.
Here, local wizards, lashing themselves to the mast of urban density and “green” transportation, decided that even if current racks aren’t being used, what we need is more. So they tossed $100,000 after their obsession and may throw another $580,000 into the same sump hole.
Oh, well, “Until you build something, you will never know if it will be used or not.”
A Grateful State of Oregon Thanks You!
Washington Candidate Wants $15/Hr. Minimum Wage
Those in Oregon who are tired of hearing about how much better Washington’s business climate is have reason to watch the November election results in Seattle.
Several of the candidates are at least talking about the possibility of raising the minimum wage in the city, even though Washington already has the highest rate in the nation. And at least one City Council candidate — Socialist Kshama Sawant, who finished second in the May primary to qualify for the November ballot — is campaigning hard for a $15-an-hour minimum wage.
– The Oregonian Editorial Board, August 25, 2013
Lane Solutions Responds
We say “Go for it! Why not $30/hr? Do we hear $40?”
We applaud our neighbors to the north’s attaempt to give Oregon a more competitive business environment! And if you’re joining us, keep it a secret that labor is, like anything else anyone buys, a commodity subject to a basic economic principle: lower the price – demand increases. Raise it – demand goes down.
Keep it between us that when the minimum wage goes up a McDonalds that could only afford the cheapest, least experienced labor (teenagers) can now afford to fire them and hire experienced workers.
If you keep these secrets, our buddies up north will keep their big, dark secret about why they really like minimum wage hikes. No, it’s not love of the “Little Guy.” It’s because a lot of union wage contracts are hitched to minimum wages. Raise them and union workers get automatic salary bumps.
Here’s what Socialist Sawant will never, ever tell you: When Washington, D.C. passed a minimum wage law in 1938, hotels immediately fired dozens of (probably black) maids and other low skilled laborers.
Now that we think about the consequences for the real “Little Guys,” your humble editors will be governed by their better angels, face north and scream “Stop! Do you really know what you’re doing?”
When Compassion and Moral Hazard Collide
What Happens When You Try to Help and Just Make the Problem Worse?
People defecating on the public Park Blocks in downtown Eugene, the site of the popular Saturday Market, has led the city to indefinitely cordon off two areas.
During the past week, several piles of human feces were found on a lawn and a landscaped area on the east Park Block, at Eighth Avenue and Oak Street, said Jeff Perry, the city’s facilities director.
People also had urinated there, creating potential health hazards, he said.
The Register Guard, August 24, 2013
Compassion’s an admirable human emotion – it tells us to respond to suffering and help when we can.
But compassion is still an emotion, like anger or sorrow. Left unchecked it runs away with us, making us do things that actually bring on harm.
Moral hazard occurs when our attempts to do good create incentives that encourage people to engage in destructive behavior.
Could we be witnessing moral hazard as a result of knee jerk compassion as we try to give transients a place to sleep in Eugene? Are we encouraging destructive behavior? We think it’s worth considering.
By designating a “safe” camping ground downtown we’ve made it easy for transients to (you guessed it) camp downtown. This will result in more campers because it’s convenient and safe. Making it easier to leave home and camp will inevitably draw in those who sort of wanted to camp but didn’t know where.
The result? More people who have to use a bathroom, resulting in a health hazard to Saturday Market vendors and customers.
We’re not taking sides here. But we are asking Eugene and Lane County officials to consider the probable results of what they see as compassion.
We’re Shocked! Shocked!
Accounting Error Causes 16.2 Million Shortfall to Implement Oregon Healthcare Exchange…Before it Even Starts—Expect Millions More in Shortfall Before it is Done
State officials organizing a new health insurance exchange are planning to ask for more federal grant funding to plug a projected $16.2 million shortfall.
The shortfall stemmed from an accounting error that caused state budget and fiscal analysts to misproject when the state would use up funding from a grant to partially launch a computer system for the exchange.
Oregon’s exchange, called Cover Oregon, is an online marketplace where individuals and small business owners can comparison shop for health insurance and apply for financial assistance.
qwong@StatesmanJournal .com
Lane Solutions Responds…
We’re shocked! We just don’t believe it…a government program short $16 Million because of an “accounting error”? Has this ever happened before? Surely not for the Affordable Care Act (AKA “Obamacare”), of which Cover Oregon is a part!
What’s that, Dear Readers? You say that it has? That the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan for “uninsurables” – people with serious illnesses like cancer – has nearly run through a cool $5 Billion and needs big bucks from the states?
That Obamacare itself, originally set to cost $898 Billion over 10 years, is now projected to ring up $1.85 Trillion in costs?
But there’s no need to worry…because the government can always reach into your wallet to make up for its shortfalls, cost overruns or just plain ol’ “accounting errors.”
Golden Fleece Award – Issue #44
This week Lane Solutions’ coveted Golden Fleece Award, presented to a government entity that wastes humongous amounts of your money, goes to Obamacare, which is blowing $20 Million to create and run TV ads educating Oregonians on the wonders of Cover Oregon, the online shopping mart for health insurance, money to pay for it and free pizza and ice cream (just kidding on that last).
To the sounds of mellow folk singers and strumming guitars Oregonians will be introduced to Obamacare, which commands all Americans to buy health insurance by next January 1 or pay a fine.
Soon our dewey Salem based folkers will yield to the Portland hip-hop duo “Lifesaves,” who’ll tout the wonders of Cover Oregon to the younger set.
Yes, readers, it takes a cool $20 million to ”… create a positive vibe associating the (Cover Oregon) brand with Oregon’s cultural identity.” No doubt the crooners and hip-hoppers will be sporting Birkenstocks, crunching vegan granola, and flashing their Oregon Trail cards.
Wow! It’s Free Money! Really?
A new state program to prevent home foreclosures will launch Wednesday in Lane and 32 other Oregon counties. The Home Rescue Program will provide a year’s worth of mortgage payments, up to a total of $20,000, and up to $10,000 in back payments to bring mortgages current, according to Benjamin Pray, spokesman for Oregon Housing and Community Services, Oregon’s housing finance agency.
The program, which aims to provide assistance to about 2,500 homeowners across the state, will begin accepting applications online at noon Wednesday, Pray said. To qualify, applicants must be able to show that their income is at least 10 percent lower than it was in 2011 or 2012, and meet other eligibility requirements.
They do not have to be behind on their mortgage payments to qualify for the program, which is intended to give struggling homeowners some breathing space and allow them to stabilize their finances, he said. – The Eugene Register Guard
Lane Solutions Responds…
It sounds so good – help (to the tune of $20,000) for up to 2,500 Oregonians having trouble paying their mortgages. And it’s Free Money From the Government! What’s not to like?
Plenty. First, there’s the issue of “Moral Hazard.” Some call it “Perverse Incentives.” That means doing something that encourages people to engage in damaging behavior. In this case, taking on mortgages they can’t afford and not setting aside “rainy day” money. Rewarding people who do this simply encourages others to take the same risks.
Then there’s the issue of the “free money.” No, it’s not free – somebody has to pay it. And since the government’s overwhelming source of funds is taxes, that somebody, dear reader, is you.
If you’re like us you’re more than willing to help that neighbor who’s sick, whose house burned down or who fell off his roof. But you’re probably thinking what we’re thinking – “I didn’t buy a house I couldn’t afford or assume a mortgage I couldn’t pay and now I’m having money taken from me to give $20,000 to somebody who’s not even behind on his mortgage?”
Compassion is admirable. And each of us should show it. But we believe in showing it with our own money, not money taken from one person and given to another.
Just like there’s no such thing as a free lunch, there’s no such thing as free money – especially from the government.
Gov. Kitzhaber’s Guide to Cost Cutting
SALEM, Ore. — Gov. John Kitzhaber has signed a bill he hopes will curb the state’s prison population. Kitzhaber signed the measure during a ceremony in his office Thursday, flanked by district attorneys and sheriffs. Among other things, the measure reduces sentences for certain drug and property crimes and driving with a suspended license. It’s projected to keep the prison population flat for about five years. Kitzhaber sought to limit prison growth for a decade, but he made concessions to win support from the law-enforcement community.- Associated Press
Lane Solutions Responds…
Congrats to Guv Kitzhaber for finding the golden key to cutting costs. Want to save money on prisons? Presto – Cut the punishment for crimes. Maybe we can save money on the Oregon Highway Patrol by raising the speed limit to 95 MPH. Save hospital costs by treating all strokes and heart attacks as outpatient cases?
Here’s what we won’t do to save money on prisons: Ask why, of the 14 states with populations of 2 to 5 million, 10 spend less per inmate than Oregon and 9 of those are right-to-work states. 3 of the 4 that spend more are, like Oregon, forced-union states.
Nor will we ask why Oregon entry level correctional officials pocket 24% more annual take home pay than nearby states’ officials.
Heaven forbid that we ask why, in the Oregon Legislative Fiscal Office study of Oregon and 11 surrounding states, Oregon was the only state in the sample which paid the entire employee contributions to the retirement plan and health insurance premiums.
We conclude that it’s just easier to turn criminals loose on Oregonians than rein in unions.
Golden Fleece Award – Issue #43
$175 Million – And Nothing to Show For It!
This issue’s Golden Fleece Award, surrounded by solid gold brocade (we’ll do the same for anyone who wastes $175 Million of your bucks), goes to the Columbia River Crossings Managers.
Yup – $175 Million of your dollars dumped straight into the Columbia River. Most of it shoveled to consultants who weren’t bright enough to figure out that a bridge with only 95 feet of clearance is too low to allow passage of many (most?) cargo ships up and down the river!
Be glad this turkey is gone. If it weren’t we’d be paying more in mitigation costs for upriver manufacturers. How much more? These geniuses wouldn’t tell us.
But don’t be too hard on these dedicated public servants. In our minds it takes one heck of a lot of talent to totally blow $175 Mil.
Govt. Bureaucracies – The Eternal Growth Industry
The “Fighting Irish” grandstand is being demolished in preparation for the restoration of the old Waldport High School campus to open space use. This project is funded by a $3-million Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). FEMA has purchased all the structures and development rights at the site to prevent future development in a tsunami inundation zone. In turn, the Lincoln County School District will demolish and remove the school buildings, portable classrooms, and grandstands; restore the site into open space; and maintain the property in perpetuity with no future development other than that related to the open-space use.
Newport (OR) News, July 9, 2013
Lane Solutions Responds:
Huh? “Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant”? In case there’s a tsunami in Waldport? The last one was 49 years ago. How many hurricanes, tornadoes and floods have occurred since then in highly predictable places? What has FEMA done to “mitigate” these?
FEMA is the poster child for government bureaucracies. Created to relieve hardship caused by Milwaukee, WI floods, FEMA has metastasized into an ever-expanding governmental blob that looks for new “maybe-they’ll- happen” disasters to conquer.
FEMA’s website reveals that the idea for this national bureau “Began on a fall day in Washington DC while eating crepes.” Says it all, doesn’t it?
The website proudly proclaims FEMA’s mission as “Progressively mov(ing) innovation to the forefront of our thinking in emergency management.” Said mission is larded up with palaver about “stakeholders,” “think tanks,” transparent dialogue” and the like.
Are these the geniuses who mistakenly doled out $385 Million to Katrina victims? Whose “innovation” included leaving tons of bottled water and meals in Georgia when Hurricane Sandy hit New Jersey?
Bureaucracies like FEMA are conceived in missions that expand to justify more employees, and grow like kudzu on steroids – eternally nourished by ever expanding government.
Hatched in Milwaukee, FEMA lives on in Waldport to tear down a football grandstand. It’s the poster child for government bureaucracies gone berserk.
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Ed. Note: Do you need a federally approved disaster plan for your pet bunny? You might. Find out why in a coming issue of Lane Solutions.
Generous OR Legislature State Aids Poor Ol’ Hyatt Resorts & Hotels
SALEM — In a last-minute flurry of money bills, Oregon lawmakers approved more than $1 billion for construction projects, salary increases and university tuition reductions Monday before shutting down the 2013 Legislature.
Legislation approved on the final day included money for — among dozens of other projects — a new or refurbished Multnomah County Courthouse, sidewalks in east Portland, a convention center hotel in Portland, a ton of construction on college campuses and even a raise for the governor.
Henry Esteve, The Oregonian
Lane Solutions Responds:
Now Hyatt Corp., owner of 492 luxury hotels, spas and resorts from Scottsdale to Dubai to Honolulu and back can breathe easy – because the ever generous Oregon Legislature has agreed to toss them $10 million to help build hotel #493 (and a Grand Hyatt at that!) at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland.
Tina Kotek, House Speaker and Patron Saint of Largesse, assures us that this $10 million, as well as the rest of her $1 billion of giveaways means “(There) are going to be immediate jobs around the state.”
OK, now we get it: If Tina hadn’t tossed this cool billion after Hyatt, etc. it would have just been buried in some rich guys’ back yards. Right? None of it would have been invested in starting or expanding businesses and creating jobs. Not one cent.
Here Ms. Kotek reveals the basic belief of a statist: That the government is a more efficient allocator of resources than are private citizens and markets. Hey, it’s the thinking that turned Cuba, Venezuela, Romania, etc. into economic powerhouses! Can it do the same for Oregon?
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