Da Vinci Days, Reinventing the spirit of creativity

In 2013, Corvallis’ signature summer festival celebrates 25 years of bringing art, science and technology together. A variety of family oriented activities — theater, music, demonstrations, parades, displays and races of outlandish vehicles — have grown to include a film festival, community art shows and presentations by some of the nation’s most intriguing scientific minds.

The organization that plans this unique event is in transition and has begun planning for the next 25 years of the da Vinci Days Festival. Michael Dalton, chair of the 11-member board of directors, has led a team of volunteers in organizing this year’s events. The board has a vision for what da Vinci Days could become as Corvallis and Oregon State University embark on a period of greater collaboration.

At the June 10 Corvallis City Club, Dalton will discuss plans for this year’s 25^th anniversary festival and possibilities for the future.

Dalton was a professor and assistant to the dean for Program and Research Development in the Oregon State University College of Education from 2001 to 2011. He received his Ph.D. in teacher education and a master’s in curriculum and instruction from the University of Oregon. He has specialized in high school education with a focus on innovation and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). 

The meeting will run from 12 noon to 1:15 p.m. in the Banquet Room of the Renaissance Building, 136 SW Washington St. Attendance, as always, is free. Lunch is $8 for members and $10 for non-members. To save a seat, send email to nickhoutman8@aol.com by June 6 with "City Club June 10" in the subject line. Please indicate if you want lunch.

Coordinated Care Organizations: a new health-care model for Oregon

Across Oregon, 15 coordinated care organizations are experimenting with new models of health care for people eligible to participate in the Oregon Health Plan. With support from the federal government, these organizations are combining mental and physical health services in a team-based approach to health care and disease prevention. Governor John Kitzhaber has projected that if they are successful, the state could reduce health-care spending by as much as $3 billion over five years.

Two speakers will discuss progress in the development of CCOs at the May 13 Corvallis City Club meeting. 

Kelley Kaiser

Kelley Kaiser is the Chief Executive Officer of Samaritan Health Plans and InterCommunity Health Network Coordinated Care Organization, serving Linn and Benton Counties. She joined Samaritan Health Services in 1995 and was named CEO and vice-president of health plan operations in 2005. She served as a Governor-appointee to the Oregon Medicaid Advisory Committee (MAC) and was chair from 2002 to 2004. She holds a master’s degree in Health Policy and Management and a bachelor’s degree in Health Care Administration from Oregon State University.

Jeff Luck

Jeff Luck is an associate professor of Health Management and Policy at Oregon State and a member of the Metrics and Scoring Committee of the Oregon Health Authority. His research focuses on performance of health-care delivery systems and public health agencies, population health data for management and policy analysis, measuring and improving the quality of care, and implementation of new management practices and information systems in health-care organizations.

The meeting will run from 12 noon to 1:15 p.m. in the Banquet Room of the Renaissance Building, 136 SW Washington St. Attendance, as always, is free. Lunch is $8 for members and $10 for non-members. To save a seat, email to nickhoutman8@aol.com by May 9 with "City Club May 13" in the subject line. Please indicate if you want lunch.

Corvallis Arts and Culture — Opportunity knocks

We are entering a new era for arts and culture in Corvallis. While the Corvallis Arts and Culture Commission has designated 2013 as the Year of Culture, tightening economic conditions mean that the game has changed. Public/private partnerships continue to be critical to the financial viability of arts and culture organizations, but OSU is an even more significant force. Collaborative and creative opportunities will shape the future of our cultural identity. 

At the April 8 Corvallis City Club meeting, two speakers will discuss challenges and steps forward in the development of the community's arts and culture.

Brenda VanDevelder

Brenda VanDevelder is the Executive Director of the Corvallis Public Schools Foundation and chair of the Corvallis Arts and Culture Commission.The commission exists to advocate for the arts and to advise the city council in all matters pertaining to the arts.  

David Huff

David Huff is the Executive Director, Corvallis Arts Center and a member of the Corvallis Arts and Culture Commission.

They will address questions such as:

• What role should city government play in supporting arts and culture?
• What does the Year of Culture mean for the community?
• How can a vibrant arts and culture scene serve as an economic engine for Corvallis?

In 2002, The Oregonian framed the state's cultural issues in a way that rings true today:  Tight government funding is only one of several financial problems that have bedeviled Oregon's cultural scene. Cultural organizations traditionally rely on a combination of government, individual, corporate and foundation gifts in addition to earned income such as memberships and ticket sales. But Oregon has few corporate headquarters. Its foundations are inundated with requests for help with basic needs such as food, housing, health and education. And the tradition of individual giving, long established on the East Coast, is much weaker here. 

The meeting will begin at 12 noon in the Banquet Room of the Renaissance Building, 136 SW Washington. As always, attendance is free. A catered lunch is $8 for members and $10 for non-members. To register, send email by April 4 to nickhoutman8@aol.com with "City Club April 8" in the subject line.

Raising Revenue

Distribution of Oregon property taxes, 2010-11. Source: Oregon Dept. of Revenue

It's no secret that local governments in Oregon are struggling to fund operating expenses for services from police and fire to roads and education. In the 2010-11 fiscal year, the League of Oregon Cities (LOC) estimates that local governments and schools experienced a reduction of $144 million in property tax revenues due to the limit of $15 per thousand dollars of assessed valuation imposed by Measure 5 in 1990.Some cities — Corvallis among them — have passed voter-approved local option levies to fund specific services, but these measures are reduced first under Oregon's property tax system. Likewise, owners of similarly valued property can often have very different taxes because of the way taxable value is determined. 

While some cities are increasingly turning to other sources of revenues such as fees, which in some cases generate citizen opposition, efforts are also underway to try to tweak the property tax system. Moreover, the Corvallis City Council is considering a public safety tax, which, if approved, would be administered as either a fee in utility bills or as an extension of the local option levy due to expire in 2014.

At the March 11, 2013 Corvallis City Club meeting, two speakers will address the state of local government finances. Nancy Brewer has been the Finance Director for the City of Corvallis since 1993. She has a master's degree in Public Administration and a bachelor's degree from Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas. She will discuss the city's current financial outlook and the budget process for the 2014 fiscal year. 

Allegra Willhite, research coordinator at the League of Oregon Cities, will discuss the League's proposal for addressing local government financial health statewide. Willhite has worked extensively on finance and taxation. A native Oregonian, she earned her master's degree in public administration from Portland State University. 

According to the non-partisan Tax Foundation, Oregon taxpayers paid an average of $3,729 per capita in state and local taxes in 2010, 16^th highest in the nation.

As always, attendance is free. Lunch by Valley Catering is $8 for members, $10 for nonmembers. To register, send email by March 7 to nickhoutman8@aol.com with "City Club March 11" in the subject line. Please indicate whether you are having lunch.

Location: Banquet Room of the Renaissance Building, 136 SW Washington St.

Time: 12 noon to 1:15 pm

In Collaboration: OSU and Corvallis

Corvallis City Club, Feb. 11, 2013, 12 noon to 1:15. Location: the Banquet Room in the Renaissance Building, 136 SW Washington St., Corvallis.

The City of Corvallis and Oregon State University are working collaboratively to consider implementation of policies and programs to manage the impact of the university’s growth and enhance quality of life in neighborhoods near the campus. Three topics provide focus to this initiative: neighborhood planning (zoning, development standards), livability (noise, building code enforcement, outreach) and traffic, parking and transit issues. Working groups for each topic include OSU faculty and staff, students, neighborhood residents and city employees. The City hired Eric Adams, an urban planning consultant, to manage the process, and working groups have been meeting monthly since spring 2012. A number of recommendations were forwarded to the City Council and Oregon State in August and November and additional recommendations are due to be considered by the Collaboration Project steering committee in mid-March. 

At the February 11 Corvallis City Club meeting, Steve Clark, vice president of University Relations and Marketing at Oregon State, and Jim Patterson, city manager of Corvallis, will discuss the working groups’ progress, including their goals and accomplishments of the Collaboration Project to date.

Steve Clark is an Oregon State alumnus (Journalism, 1975) and former president and publisher of Oregon Publications Corp. He became vice president of OSU’s University Relations and Marketing division in 2011 and leads the university’s integrated marketing and communications program. He has more than 25 years of civic engagement in statewide and Portland metro issues. He chairs the “Parking and Traffic” working group. 

Jim Patterson worked for the City of Sherwood for 8 years, 3 years as city manager, and became Corvallis city manager in September 2011. He oversees an enterprise with a budget of $121 million and about 440 employees. He is a member of the collaboration project “Livability” working group and, with Clark, a member of the steering committee.

As always, attendance is free. Lunch catered by Valley Catering is $8 for members, $10 for nonmembers. To register, send email by February 7 to nickhoutman8@aol.com with "City Club Feb. 11" in the subject line. Please indicate whether you are having lunch.

 

Tale of Two Cities — Albany and Corvallis

Downtown embodies the heart and soul of a community. Stores, parks, hotels, restaurants, riverfronts and other elements link us to local history and reflect community vitality. On January 14, the Corvallis City Club will focus attention on two neighboring communities — Corvallis and Albany — and what they have in common, what distinguishes them and how they are poised for the future. To begin the conversation, Joan Wessell of the Downtown Corvallis Association (DCA) and Oscar Hult of the Albany Downtown Association (ADA)will share their observations about the character and vitality of their respective communities.

Downtown Corvallis features a mix of locally owned restaurants.

Joan Wessell is the executive director of the DCA and has been with the organization for 20 years. She works to: strengthen relationships between the city, Oregon State University and the business community; organize memorable events to bring the Corvallis community downtown; and recruit businesses that complement the existing mix of retailers. Strengths of downtown Corvallis, she says, include the river park with art along the walkway, the diverse mix of locally owned restaurants and other businesses; and the Ally Art walk along Madison Ave.

Downtown Albany features outdoor dining among historic buildings.

Oscar Hult is the executive director of the ADA, a post he has held for four years. He develops partnerships between public and private stakeholders; encourages investment by developing and retaining new businesses and tourism; and capitalizes on the momentum of downtown enhancement to showcase Albany's unique architectural heritage.  Among downtown Albany’s strengths, he says, are its First Avenue shopping district, including the Albany Carousel, the nationally known Sybaris Restaurant and one of the oldest continuing live theater venues in Oregon.  Albany features more than 700 architecturally significant buildings in three historic districts. 

The City Club meets in the Banquet Room of the Renaissance Building, 136 SW Washington, from 12 noon to 1:15 p.m. Attendance is free. Lunch is $8 for members and $10 for non-members. To register, send email to Nick Houtman, nickhoutman8@aol.com by January 10 with "City Club January 14" in the subject line.

News That's Fit to Print

The news media landscape is changing fast. In mid-October, Newsweek magazine announced that it would become an online-only publication in 2014. Prior to that, one of the country’s venerable dailies, The Times-Picayune in New Orleans, cut its print edition to three days a week. According to the Newspaper Association of America, 2011 advertising revenues for print are about half what they were in 2003. 

As online readership grows, what’s the future for the printed page? And while national and regional media adjust to online delivery, how will local media respond? Where will people go for their local news?

Hasso Hering

Genevieve Weber

Two people with a stake in local journalism will discuss these and other questions at the Corvallis City Club meeting on Nov. 12. Hasso Hering was editor of the Albany Democrat-Herald for 34 years before he retired this fall. During his typewriter-to-computer career, he covered the news and penned more than 15,000 columns and editorials. Genevieve Weber is the editor of The Corvallis Advocate, a weekly paper that offers articles on a range of local topics from recreation to research.

The meeting will begin at 12 noon in the Banquet Room of the Renaissance Building, 136 SW Washington St. Attendance is free, and lunch is $8 for members, $10 for non-members. To register, send email to Roger Lizut, wwrwl45@gmail.com, with City Club Nov. 12 in the subject line by Nov. 8.

Move to Amend

At the October 8 Corvallis City Club meeting, Rachel Ozretich and Bob Ozretich, co-founders of Corvallis Area Move to Amend, will briefly summarize the history and some of the consequences of the U.S. Supreme Court's classification of:

a) artificial entities (e.g., corporations, unions, and non-profits) as "persons" with constitutional rights; and

b) money as speech protected by the First Amendment.

Rachel Ozretich

Bob Ozretich

The role of corporations in the political and economic life of the nation has grown over the past 200 years. While states have retained the right to grant charters to corporate entities, federal courts, including the United States Supreme Court, have gradually granted to those entities the rights originally recognized in the Constitution as inherent to natural persons. In 2010, the Court held that government cannot restrict corporations, nonprofits and unions from spending unlimited money to speak on issues in political campaigns, as long as they do not coordinate with a particular campaign. The ruling did not affect the existing ban on direct corporate contributions to candidate campaigns or political parties.

This talk will be relevant to the advisory question on the Corvallis City ballot, Measure 02-81, which reads as follows:

Title

U.S. Constitutional Amendment Addressing Artificial Entities’ Personhood and Campaign Contributions

Question

Shall the City urge elected representatives to support a Constitutional Amendment denying artificial entities’ personhood and rejecting money as speech?

Summary

This non-binding advisory question regards legal decisions that affect campaign financing of elections at all levels (city, county, state, and nation), based on the Supreme Court interpretation of the U. S. Constitution. This question asks whether the City should inform elected officials that the voters in Corvallis believe the United States Constitution should be amended to limit constitutional rights to natural persons only, and to specify that campaign contributions and money spent in election campaigns is not speech protected by the First Amendment. Decisions by the U. S. Supreme Court currently afford inalienable constitutional rights to artificial entities, such as corporations, limited liability companies, and unions. The Court also currently extends the free speech provision of the First Amendment to the expenditure of money by both natural persons and artificial entities in election campaigns. The proposed amendment would guarantee the ability of governments at all levels to limit the privileges of artificial entities. The amendment would guarantee the ability of governments to regulate, limit, or prohibit contributions and expenditures for election campaigns.

Register by October 4

As always, there is no charge for attending Corvallis City Club meetings. However, since space is limited, please register by October 4 by sending email to Roger Lizut, wwrwl45@gmail.com, with City Club Oct. 8 in the subject line. Please indicate if you are having lunch ($8 for members, $10 for nonmembers). Meetings are held from 12 noon to 1:15 p.m. in the Banquet Room of the Renaissance Building, 136 SW Washington.

WHERE THERE'S SMOKE . . .

Corvallis City Club, Sept. 10, 2012, 12 noon to 1:15. The Banquet Room in the Renaissance Building, 136 SW Washington St., Corvallis.

Oregon voters will weigh in this November on Measure 80, the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act. If passed, the proposal would create a cannabis commission to license people to cultivate and process marijuana and to sell it at stores managed by the commission. It would empower the commission to promote Oregon cannabis products to legal national and international markets. It does not set limits on the amount of cannabis an adult may grow or possess. It does ban marijuana sales to minors.

Two speakers knowledgeable about the production of cannabis, or hemp, will address the implications of the legislation at the Sept. 10 Corvallis City Club meeting.

Todd Dalotto is Chair of the Oregon Health Authority’s Advisory Committee on Medical Marijuana (ACMM).  He’s been pioneering cannabis industries since 1994 when he founded the nation’s first hemp food business, Hungry Bear Hemp Foods.  He has since authored the first hemp cookbook The Hemp Cookbook: From Seed to Shining Seed, and founded The Compassion Center, Oregon’s first medical, support and education center for cannabis patients. 

He earned an Honors degree in Horticultural Research from Oregon State University and is currently President of CAN! Research, Education & Consulting in downtown Corvallis, which specializes in horticultural research of cannabis.

Todd approaches the topic of legalizing cannabis in Oregon from a scientific and public policy perspective.  He’ll be discussing the effects cannabis prohibition has on scientific research, as well as debunking myth and rhetoric with science and common sense.

Sandee Burbank is the founder and Executive Director for Mothers Against Misuse and Abuse (www.mamas.org).   

MAMA believes that we can reduce many of the harms that are associated with drug use and substance abuse by giving people the knowledge they need to make an informed decision.  Their approach to these troubling issues comes from a belief in personal responsibility, informed decision making and respect for self and others.

As always, attendance at Corvallis City Club meetings is free. Lunch is $8 for members and $10 for nonmembers. To register, send email to Roger Lizut, wwrwl45@gmail.com, with City Club Sept. 10 in the subject line. Please note if you will have lunch.