FOLLOW UP
Judgment Day
Fame may be fleeting, but political consultant Ruth Bendl learned last week that it's also expensive. In her case, it'll cost about $136,600. Last week Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Robert Redding overturned most of a jury's decision in Bendl's lawsuit against Loren Parks ("Money for Something," WW, May 13, 1998). Redding let stand the jury's judgment that Parks owes Bendl $1,800 in back wages, but said jurors erred in awarding Bendl $135,000 in damages for defamation. That award stemmed from insults Parks aimed at his former initiative campaign manager when he fired her in 1996. The judge ruled that as an employer, Parks was privileged to be rude. He added that both parties are limited public figures (in part because of their appearances in Willamette Week), which means that defamatory statements would have to have malicious intent. Redding also said that both parties are stuck paying their own attorney fees, and he slapped Bendl with Parks' $1,600 court costs. Subtract that from her back wages, and Bendl is left with a net gain of $200. Bendl, who plans to appeal, says she is perplexed by the ruling. "How do you just turn over the award without saying that the 12 people are wrong?" she asks. As for Parks, in an e-mail to Willamette Week, he writes, "The whole matter shows the terrible weakness of the jury system--people easily swayed by emotions, not law." --Patty Wentz
The $64 Million Question
In his boldest move since winning office in 1996, City Commissioner Jim Francesconi this week announced plans to ask voters for $64.85 million to maintain and improve city park facilities. Of that amount, Francesconi has earmarked $17 million to acquire new park land. Though the November ballot measure--with its list of projects sprinkled throughout the city--contains something for almost everyone, Francesconi acknowledges that it won't be an easy sell. Some of the obstacles: * Business leaders don't believe parks are among the city's highest priorities. "The Chamber of Commerce would say their focus is on education and transportation," Francesconi concedes. * Voters might be confused, having already approved two open-spaces measures in the last three years--one for Metro and one for the city. * The park measure will compete on the ballot with pricey requests for the Oregon Convention Center, Portland Community College and state parks. * Francesconi and the Parks Bureau have created foes over flaps in parks in Southwest, Southeast and North Portland. "I can tell you the people of this city love and fiercely protect their parks," Francesconi said in a speech earlier this month. "I have the scars to prove it." * The Parks Bureau is seen as inefficient, if not poorly managed. "Every time my staff comes away from that bureau," says City Auditor Barbara Clark, "we ask, 'Are they crazy or are we?'" Nevertheless, Francesconi remains confident the $64 million question won't be his Waterloo. In part, he says, that's because he commissioned a poll that shows voters are enthusiastic about acquiring new park land. Francesconi won't release the poll, however, saying it's not a public record because he raised private money to pay for it. In addition, he says the poll contains information about other subjects he doesn't want reporters to see. Which leaves us to guess--just how would he fare against Charlie Hales in a mayoral contest? --Bob Young Soft on Microsoft?
When 20 states joined the feds last week in filing antitrust suits against Microsoft, Oregon--which fancies itself a high-tech titan--was noticeably absent. The suit claims that Bill Gates is using his ubiquitous Windows operating system to unfairly gain a monopoly of Internet access through its Web browser, Internet Explorer. The feds and state attorney generals say the Web will be the keystone of commerce in the 21st century, and they worry that Internet Explorer gives Microsoft the ability to control what consumers see when they access the Web. The case is shaping up to be the most high-profile antitrust action since the 1984 break-up of AT&T. So where is Oregon Attorney
General Hardy Myers? Myers took office in 1996 pledging to focus on consumer protection. The Microsoft antitrust suit is arguably the biggest consumer battle of the century, and Oregon is on the sidelines. Myers says the issue boils down to resources. The financial fraud and consumer protection section has only one antitrust specialist, Andrew Aubertine, who has his hands full going after the likes of Toys 'R' Us, U.S. Waste Management and Texaco. Oregon residents won't suffer from the lack of official state involvement in the suit, Myers says. Unlike the big multistate suit against the tobacco industry, he says the case against Microsoft doesn't require states to act now or risk being shut out later. "If the suit goes against Microsoft, residents of states who sue won't be treated any differently than those who don't," Myers says. "The interests of Oregon don't hinge on our presence in the actual litigation." --Josh Feit
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