The Whatever-Happened-To Edition

[October 1st, 2008]

Pizzicato has agreed to act as a cheese-covered guinea pig for Multnomah County’s plan to put calorie counts on menus of chains with local outlets (see “Food Fight,” WW, July 16, 2008). The idea behind Pizzicato owners Tracy and Mark Frankel marking calories in some of their 19 locations? To test the effect on customer choices compared to stores that don’t display calorie counts. Led by Commissioner Jeff Cogen, the county board of commissioners voted 4-1 in July to require chain restaurants with 15 or more locations nationwide to show calorie counts. That rule is expected to take effect early next year.

Wondering what became of Kyle Burris, who got about 400 votes in the mayoral primary after his arreston charges of leaving a bomb-threat note in IKEA (see “Murmurs,” WW, April 16, 2008)? Wonder no more. KBOO sent Burris, 22, to cover a press conference Tuesday with Czech President Václav Klaus at the Portland Hilton. The U.S. Secret Service apparently had no trouble with Burris and his alleged threat, for which prosecutors declined to press charges. For even more oddities about Klaus’ appearance in Portland, go to WWire.

Falling-up alert: Rob Milesnick, a failed candidate for Multnomah County commissioner, has been hired as executive director of the Portland Citizens Crime Commission. That job heading the public safety nonprofit was in the news a lot back in 2005, when Jim Jeddeloh had it (see “Crusader Failure,” WW, July 13, 2005). Jeddeloh sought a concealed-handgun permit from then-Sheriff Bernie Giusto despite Jeddeloh’s prior drunken-driving conviction. Giusto first approved the permit, then reversed himself, then took off for a weekend in Seattle with Jeddeloh’s wife in a county SUV. We’ll assume Milesnick can’t do any worse.

Last week’s failure of Seattle-based Washington Mutual hit the Texas Pacific Group — the leveraged buyout firm that came to Oregon in 2003 and hired ex-Gov. Neil Goldschmidt to orchestrate its unsuccessful bid to buy Portland General Electric. TPG invested earlier this year in WaMu, and WaMu’s failure ended up costing the firm $1.35 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal. Oregon retirees also lost because the Oregon Investment Council, which invests public pension money, is among TPG’s largest investors, giving the firm $2.1 billion since 1994. “We have a long relationship with TPG that has been highly beneficial…in the aggregate,” says Chief Investment Officer Ron Schmitz, “even though sometimes individual investments don’t work out.” As for WaMu, it’s now part of JPMorgan Chase.

The gubernatorial appointment of state Rep. Greg Macpherson (D-Lake Oswego) to the Land Use Conservation and Development Commission is hitting a delay. At Macpherson’s confirmation hearing last week, Senate Republicans blasted him when he admitted the group of legislators he led to craft Measure 49 (which strengthened land-use planning) was constituted “in order to be able to have those meetings out of the public eye and the intense involvement of the public.” In other words, to skirt public meetings laws. (See video below.) The vote on his appointment was delayed until December.

Salem will need bigger hearings rooms for the energy debates that promise to be the hot item of the 2009 Legislature. The latest entrant claiming a spot at the mic: Energy Action Northwest, a group led by Ed Finklea, lead counsel for Northwest Industrial Gas Users, a consumer group. Energy Action, which has already sent a mailer to households and businesses, will advocate for new energy-related infrastructure. Unusually for an advocacy group, EAN will represent both industrial utilities, and labor unions that want to build new projects.