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City Employees Not Eager to Return to Office: Even as Portland elected officials try to persuade downtown business owners to bring workers back to downtown office towers, the city may have a hard time luring back its own employees. Heather Hafer, a spokesperson for the city, told WW on May 13 that most of the roughly 50 staff in the Chief Administrator’s Office wanted to work remotely save for one or two essential monthly meetings, according to a survey. Data from two other city bureaus collected from employee surveys, shared with WW, show that most employees want to work remotely but have the option to come in one or two days a week. “Most people want flexibility and to work remotely when possible, with many indicating that they’d like to only come in one to two days a week or as needed,” a spokesperson for the Bureau of Environmental said about a survey it conducted. Laura Oppenheimer, a spokesperson for the Office of Management and Finance, tells WW: “The shift to full access in city buildings will not happen for some time. There is a workgroup looking at what we’ve learned from the pandemic, how we will blend telework and in-person work in the future, and what this means for the city’s building footprint, budget and culture over the long term.”
DOJ Investigated More Claims Against Employment Lawyer: In an odd coda to a harassment claim that rocked the Oregon Department of Justice last year, former senior assistant attorney general Heather Van Meter reported further claims against lawyer Marc Abrams, who leads employment litigation for the state. Van Meter received a $190,000 settlement from the state in January after alleging Abrams harassed her. According to a report completed May 6 by investigator Lori Watson, Van Meter in February provided the agency four names of women who she says had contacted her “about the conduct of Marc Abrams.” Watson contacted all four—two of whom declined to be interviewed, and another who said she dated Abrams but did not describe any misconduct. The fourth woman, a former law clerk at the DOJ, requested her name be kept confidential. The DOJ says it cannot investigate confidential claims, and it has not taken disciplinary action against Abrams stemming from the report. Abrams tells WW, “I am pleased that, yet again, Ms. Van Meter’s allegations have been found to be unsubstantiated.”
Rewire Neuro Wins Angel Oregon Tech: Portland biomedical startup Rewire Neuro gave the winning pitch at Angel Oregon Tech, a program of Oregon Entrepreneurs Network. The pitch contest was the final event of a virtual TechfestNW 2021 on May 21 and the culmination of months of education and networking sponsored by OEN. “This is just a dream for us, to be working on this project and to scale operations and move forward, and this investment is a big part of making that success possible,” says Rewire Neuro founder Josh Harkness, who received a $125,000 investment. The pitch competition was one part of a daylong event presented by WW that included talks by New York Times cybersecurity reporter Nicole Perlroth and Arcimoto founder Mark Frohnmayer. Watch for their remarks at wweek.com.
From the Department of Shameless Self-Promotion: WW received five awards last week from the Society of Professional Journalists in a five-state contest. The Region 10 Excellence in Journalism Contest picks the best work by newspapers in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska. Among the awards WW received: first place for general excellence among small newsrooms, the top prize for overall coverage in 2020. Photographer Alex Wittwer also took home two first place awards, for a feature photo of a woman praying for her son after the death of George Floyd, and for a portfolio of images taken in Oregon during the wildfires and unrest.
MORE at WWEEK.COM: A Portland man named Jeff Stillwell was fired by the Ross clothing store chain after creating a viral TikTok video. Watch the video and see what might have annoyed Ross’ corporate office.
