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PILOT LITE
I'd like to clarify a comment made by reporter Josh Feit in his story "Switching Off" [Buzz, WW, May 20, 1998]. Your readers may have been misled that the turnout of residential participants in PGE's Consumer Choice electricity pilot is not "as rosy" as the commercial participants. In truth, we at Electric Lite Inc. are very pleased--even amazed--at the strong interest and turnout of residential customers in the pilot. In fact, just five months after starting out as an alternative electricity provider in Oregon's pilot, we already have received 4,595 enrollment cards for customers in the four cities of Hillsboro, Oregon City, Sandy and St. Helens--82 percent of which are residential. Through the pilot program, we've learned our residential customers have their own unique reasons for switching: Some made the move for our enhanced, down-to-earth customer service; some switched because we were the first electricity provider in Oregon to introduce green power; other simply like our low rates. Whatever the reason, residential consumers are showing they like being able to choose. If you would compare Oregon's pilot program to other electricity pilots around the nation, you would find that the number of residents who have switched in this pilot--14 percent so far--makes it one of the most successful in the nation. And remember, alternative electricity providers in the Oregon pilot are asking people to switch from PGE--an incumbent utility with a high approval rating from customers--and in a region where electricity rates already are low. Jan Burreson, General Manager
Electric Lite Inc. TREATING THE SYMPTOMS
Instead of simply chastising Oregonians for not voting, WW could better serve its readers by exploring the root causes of this phenomenon ("Rogue of the Week," WW, May 27, 1998). The United States, which uses "winner-take-all elections," has the lowest voter turnout of any industrialized democracy, while countries which use proportional representation enjoy much higher voter turnout. A number of other factors, such as campaign funding and the growing numbers of independents in the Oregon electorate, could easily influence voting percentages. Interestingly, the very same issue of WW managed to ignore both the founding of the Northwest Democracy Institute and its first Democracy Symposium, which might have offered your absentee reporters some insight into these issues of vital concern. Blair Bobier, executive director
Northwest Democracy Institute
Corvallis IT'S COOL TO BE A CRIMINAL
Regarding last week's article "The Boys Next Door" [May 27, 1998], I was disappointed to find that even the Willamette Week is not above the rest of the media in creating a "cult of celebrity" for young criminals. As with the Springfield shooting, the media is having a feeding frenzy under the guise of sensitivity, but they are also perpetuating these events to a degree by glorifying them. However cynical this may sound, being a criminal is "cool" to a lot of teen-agers, and this sort of coverage only adds fuel to the fire. I am an employee of the recently robbed Rustica restaurant, and although I was not present during the robbery, many of my close friends and co-workers were completely terrorized by hav[ing] a loaded gun pointed in their faces. Many of them couldn't sleep for days. Even if these so-called "good kids" had no intention of hurting anyone, who is to say that Thrower's gun wouldn't have gone off in the restaurant and not, justly so, in his pants? Just because these two young men were "popular" and middle-class does not mean that they should be above punishment that would be meted out to a poorer, "unpopular" kid from a bad neighborhood. R. Schneider
Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard MORE OR LESS
Your editorial comment on "Winners" ["Murmurs," WW, May 27, 1998] citing several Metro candidates who received less than 50 percent of the vote cast in Clackamas County misses a significant point. In almost every case where a candidate stood unopposed (Metro executive, auditor, Portland city auditor, judges, district attorney races), that candidate received less than the majority, with most voters leaving their ballots blank. This was true in Washington and Multnomah counties as well. You also cite that Jack Roberts got more votes than Sizemore. True (94,000 for Roberts to 40,000 for Sizemore, totals in the tri-county area), but so did I (130,000 for all three counties). Why? Both the Metro executive and labor commissioner jobs are nonpartisan. Both parties and nonaffiliated voters got to vote. You seemed to have missed that. What might be unique is that Bill Sizemore, who had opponents, gained a majority in the metropolitan area only in Washington County (55 percent), while in Clackamas County he garnered only 41 percent, and in Multnomah County only 40 percent. But back to those of us who were unopposed. I requested an editorial interview with Willamette Week and was told you "endorse" only in races with opposition. If the undervote is an issue (and I believe it is), then why not interview and "rate" all candidates so the public can get some idea where a candidate stands or what his/her record may be, and then if they still left their ballots blank you could crow. Short of that, any comment after the fact is merely a cheap shot. Mike Burton
Metro Executive Officer |
