What should the city do to create jobs?
EUGENE, Ore. -- An incumbent mayor versus a former mayor: Eugene's November ballot will decide if Kitty Piercy retains her office or if Jim Torrey regains the mayor's seat.
David Walker of KVAL TV asked you to send in your questions for the candidates. Then he sat down and got answers.
David Walker: Sacred Heart Hospital moved to Springfield and took a lot of jobs with it. Hynix shut down its plant; the jobs went with it. What do you think and should the city do to replace those jobs?
Kitty Piercy: Well from the first day I entered this job as mayor, I've been focused on jobs and the economy and bringing in small and larger businesses, all kinds of businesses, and so I believe that we've been on a very strong path.
If you think about downtown we've got the Enterprise down there that brought in 200 jobs into our downtown last year. They intend to bring in 240 more this next year.
We've been growing. I've been particularly focused on jobs that have to do with energy and the new technologies. So if you look in our community, you see invitrogen wanting to expand. You see Golden Temple wanting to expand. You see Glory Bee wanting to expand. We have a lot of business activity happening.
I deeply care about Hynix closing, and we are working hard on bringing a new business in. It looks like the prospects are very good.
Jim Torrey: You know, I want to make sure that people understand I don't blame the fact that Hynix chip prices got to the point where they had to leave the city, I don't blame that on Kitty. What I do blame on the mayor and the council is they weren't preparing for what happens all of the time in the economy. There are ups and downs and you need to be prepared for something as traumatic as losing 1,100 employees.
Now the way I would do it is the way she promised to do it when she ran for office. She said she would do a buildable land study. She decided that that was premature. Fourteen years between land studies is not premature.
She also said that she would look at the building code to see why businesses are having such a hard time building here.
You know we have a great community, but if you can't afford to live here that community doesn't become liveable to you, and jobs are a key element of what needs to happen.
