Dog of a RACE
How dull was the first "debate" of the '98 governor's race between GOP nominee Bill Sizemore and incumbent John Kitzhaber?

Well, at times the candidates' kids (and Sizemore's two golden lab puppies, Chloe and Jake) attracted more attention from the small crowd at the annual Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association convention than the combatants themselves.

It's no wonder why. Following a devastating series of stories in The Oregonian about Sizemore's business problems, it seemed that the newspaper bosses, who gathered Saturday in Welches, had already relegated the GOP hopeful to the dustbin of Oregon politics.

Indeed, several publishers told WW that they couldn't recall a less competitive governor's race in Oregon.

"Sizemore is seen as damaged goods. That's one reason why people seem less interested in the race," says Mark Garber, publisher of the East Oregonian daily newspaper in Pendleton. "A lot of people in our area who would be likely to support him just don't see a chance for him."

"The outcome appears a foregone conclusion like never before," adds Pauline Braymen, publishing editor of the weekly Burns Times-Herald.

The seemingly foregone conclusion to the race poses challenges for publishers. "We'll just continue to focus on the issues," says Garber. "The problem isn't presenting the debate fairly in the newspapers; it's that so many people have got their minds made up already."

While publishers such as Braymen and Garber lamented the absence of an exciting race, neither faulted The Oregonian for going after Sizemore--whose candidacy was already struggling--so early. Garber said he thought the stories were "very fair."

Moreover, both publishers agreed that The Oregonian's early aggressive political reporting this year may be motivated by memories of the 1992 campaign season, when the Portland daily failed to print stories about Bob Packwood's philandering until The Washington Post broke the news after the election.

"I think their decision not to print stuff about Packwood before his last election influenced their decision this time," said Braymen. --Bob Young

There Goes the Neighborhood
He's back. And this time in style.

Former Oregon Sen. Bob Packwood is buying a house just outside Portland city limits in the Dunthorpe neighborhood. Sources tell WW that Packwood has not yet closed the deal but has agreed to purchase a 4,300-square-foot house on Southwest Riverwood Road. The home is currently owned by George "Bo" Newman, a Portland insurance underwriter who was once married to local television news anchor Kathy Smith. According to county records, the house and property have an assessed value of $826,400. The house was listed at $769,850 and was on the market for 293 days.

"I'm not saying yea or nay," Newman replied when WW asked if Packwood was the buyer of his house, which now has a "sold" sign in front of it. "Whatever he does, it's best to come from him, not me."

Packwood did not return WW's call.

Since he resigned from the Senate in 1995, Packwood has been a Washington, D.C., lobbyist, working for clients such as Northwest Airlines, Freightliner and Marriott International. Packwood reported earning $300,000 in lobbying fees last year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit research group.

In April, Packwood told The New York Times that he was considering making a political comeback, perhaps by running for the Oregon Legislature. Many GOP insiders think the former senator was only teasing, however. The Dunthorpe neighborhood is represented by state Sen. Ginny Burdick and state Rep. Chris Beck, both Democrats.

The Southwest Portland abode represents quite a step up for Packwood. In the early 1990s, while serving in the Senate, he listed his official Oregon residence as a mobile home in Aloha registered to his late uncle, Dwain F. Taft.

Packwood's new neighbors include influential Republicans such as restaurateur Bill McCormick and Democrats like Dick and Molly Kohnstamm, who run the Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood.

How do they feel about their new neighbor? "I have really mixed feelings," says Molly Kohnstamm. "Before his problems, which I don't underestimate at all, Bob was a good senator. He was good to us, good to my husband. We voted for him although we are Democrats. I hope he can have a nice life in the neighborhood."

Kohnstamm stopped short of saying she'd vote for Packwood to represent her in Salem. "Well, I am a Democrat," she says. "I'd really have to think about that."
--Bob Young

Pass out the Kleenex
It's curtains for an estimated 80 employees at ACT III Theaters' corporate offices. The sad scene at the Portland-based movie chain was set last summer when the New York investment firm Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts bought Act III for $700 million. Two weeks ago, the 900-screen chain was swallowed by the 2,400-screen Regal Theaters, also owned by KKR. Regal, based in Knoxville, Tenn., is expected to shut down Act III's corporate headquarters as early as next month, eliminating the local management posts.
--Josh Feit

POWER Failure
According to PGE power-plant workers, negotiations between the company and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 125 blacked out last week during the first day of a planned three-day negotiating session. As a result of the standoff, the 1,000 IBEW workers will vote for strike authorization Aug. 4.

IBEW headquarters did not return WW's calls, but Don Slupsky, a shop steward and union rep at PGE's Boardman coal plant, says the talks broke down over the union's demand to include "successor language" in the contract. Such language--a common demand in the era of merger mania--guarantees that union contracts remain in place even if a company is bought out or sells off some of its plants.

This is a key issue at PGE because its parent company, Enron, is planning to sell the utility's power plants and transform PGE's role from generating energy into simply delivering it via poles and wires.

When Enron bought PGE last year for $3.2 billion, the union amended the existing contract to include the successor language. That contract, however, expired in March.

PGE's representative in the contract negotiations, Richard Alli, a lawyer with Bullard Korshoj Smith & Jernstedt, disagreed with Slupsky's characterization that talks broke down. He says the company has sent a request to IBEW asking to restart negotiations this week. Alli says successor language isn't a sticking point, and he assumes it will be in the contract. "We haven't even gotten to the heart-of-the-matter issues yet," he says.

PGE has 12 power plants around the state that employ 3,000 workers, one-third of whom are represented by the IBEW. --Josh Feit

 

originally published July 29, 1998