Cascade Policy Institute

1994 Oregon
Better Government Competition
Winning Proposals

Cascade Policy Institute organized the 1994, 1996 and 1998 Oregon Better Government Competitions. All three solicited state and local government ideas. The 2000 Competition focuses on information age solutions.

Winning Executive Summaries in Acrobat pdf format

Private Practice Teachers. Janet Beales, an education policy analyst with the Reason Foundation in Los Angeles, proposes greater use of "private practice teachers". She defines private-practice teachers as professional educators who provide their services on a limited contract basis. Beales points out that these professionals already exist on a modest scale, often in language instruction, or working with developmentally disabled children. Private-practice educators can help school administrators strengthen accountability, cut costs, and take advantage of outside expertise and innovation.

Privatized Oregon Liquor Control Commission. Taxpayers could save almost $100,000,000 annually if the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) were privatized, according to the winning plan advanced by the Oregon Retail Liquor Association. Further, the authors contend, "controlled privatization" of the OLCC would lead to immediate improvements in customer services. According to the authors, legislation based upon their plan is already being drafted for introduction in the upcoming legislative session.

Adoption/foster care reform. Jeanne Etter, Ph.D., of Eugene, states in her adoption/foster care reform proposal that using mediation with abusive parents replaces the current adversarial legal process with cooperative solutions beneficial to children and their families. With mediation, abused children find homes sooner and endure fewer uprootings in the foster care system. Etter's plan expands on the Cooperative Adoption Mediation Project (CAMP), a Children's Services Division pilot program. CAMP successfully mediated thirty cases with high-risk parents, avoiding contested termination of parental rights trials. In addition to reducing the emotional stress of all parties, each foster case that avoids a contested termination of parental rights' trial reduces per case costs by $5,000 to $35,000.

Permitting the "design/build" process to exist. Tim D. Hovet, also from Eugene, says taxpayers could benefit, and public construction projects improved, simply by permitting the "design/build" process to exist as an option to the current restrictive "design/bid/build" public construction process. Hovet makes the case that the "design/build" process would offer decision makers another tool to evaluate construction projects, as well as encourage innovative -- and possible money saving -- design improvements.

Private Toll Roads. Clearing the way for private toll roads is the aim of Competition winners David C. Haugeberg and Richard A. Perez, both of McMinnville. Their plan, already translated into a legislative proposal, reviews the legal and public policy issues surrounding the private construction, and operation, of transportation facilities in Oregon.

State Park Funding. "Perfecting the Best of Oregon," written by Philip R. Montgomery of Portland, advocates improvements in the way Oregon's state parks are funded and maintained, as well as provides a possible way to expand the state park system. Montgomery's plan examines ways to establish a greater link between park users and park funding. He also discusses the development of alternative revenue sources, such as park endowments and merchandising fees. Alternative revenue streams, and broader implementation of user fees, could replace the annual $3.1 million subsidy the park system receives from the State General Fund. Further, the new revenues could be used to acquire and develop new park properties.

An innovative improvement to mass transit systems. Robert W. Behnke, a transportation consultant with Beaverton-based Aegis Transportation Information Systems, proposes an innovative improvement to mass transit systems. Behnke's information system, nicknamed Athena, would encourage the development of new low-cost, door-to-door transportation services. These services could be integrated with conventional buses, trains, taxis, and carpools to create more efficient, cost-effective public transportation systems. Behnke states that "Athena" could be used in urban, suburban and rural areas. If implemented, he maintains, Oregon taxpayers could save billions of dollars in transit subsidies over the next 25 years.

Private Sector Bidding. Government agencies, schools, and universities often contract for services between themselves -- without considering bids from private sector firms capable of providing the desired services. In his winning report, Brownsville consultant David VanDerlip shows that noncompetitive, intergovernmental contracting can lead to spending tax money needlessly. VanDerlip proposes a simple legislative reform: require public entities to consider bids from private organizations. Competitive bidding could save Oregon taxpayers anywhere from 14 to 84%, depending on the service, VanDerlip reports, based upon a national study on contracting out public services.

Government-owned Surplus Property. Ruth Bendl, Ray Parks, and Vern White investigated the problem of government-owned surplus property in their winning plan. Using Clackamas County as a case study, the report catalogs an astounding list of surplus property, as defined by the authors, being held by numerous public entities. According to Bendl and her colleagues, neither a standard legal definition of "surplus property" nor a formal process for its disposal exists. The report outlines procedures and plans for correcting the problem. Bendl notes, government surplus property is property not on the tax roles, which means higher property taxes for all other property owners. Returning public surplus property to private hands would provide the opportunity for everyone's property taxes to be reduced. Secretary of State Phil Keisling, in a February interview with the authors, estimated that the amount of surplus government property, state-wide, could be in the neighborhood of $1 billion.

Private Prisons. The management and operation of nine of Oregon's thirteen adult correctional facilities could be contracted out, reports Portland resident Darren Board in his winning plan, "Private Prisons in Oregon." A growing body of literature demonstrates that private prisons are feasible and economically efficient, while maintaining or improving the quality of incarceration.

Below is the Cascade Policy Institute Media Release of October 21, 1994
announcing the winners of the 1994 Competition and their ideas.

200 Attend the 1994 Oregon
Better Government Competition Awards Luncheon

More than 200 leading members of the business, media, and political communities attended the 1994 Oregon Better Government Competition Awards Luncheon. The luncheon honored the Competition's ten winners who had worked all summer long developing formal plans to improve state and local government. The winners' plans, if implemented, could reduce Oregon government spending by millions of dollars, and increase efficiencies in various departments and agencies. The luncheon marked the formal conclusion of the Competition, which began last March and was organized by Cascade Policy Institute.

The winning ideas, selected by an independent panel of judges, extol the benefits of private teaching contracts, privatizing the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, broader implementation of park and recreation user fees, the development of mass transit alternatives, and the greater use of mediation in resolving adoption/foster care cases.

Further, the winning ideas advocate more private sector participation in the penal system, promote an alternative to the "design/bid/build" method of public construction projects, encourage the selling of surplus government property, recommend legal changes that would permit the construction of private toll-roads, and urge simple legislative reforms whose effect would be to introduce competitive forces to the delivery of public services.

"It's now up to policy makers to advance these potential tax-saving ideas generated by private citizens," stated Kurt T. Weber, Cascade Policy Institute's Program Director. Weber noted that Oregonians submitted nine of the ten winning ideas.

The winning plans are soon to be published in compendium format. The compendiums will be distributed state-wide to legislators, ranking public servants, state budget writers, key members of the business and media communities, university professors, and community leaders. Weber stated, "We intend to distribute the winning plans widely; they deserve serious review by everyone committed to improving the quality of life in Oregon, who are also interested in reducing or holding the line on government spending."

Incumbent legislators have already expressed interest in several of the winning proposals and have been in contact with their respective authors. Cascade Policy Institute Executive Director Tracie Sharp is enthusiastic about the ideas' potential for saving taxpayers' dollars. However, she cautioned, "The 'tax savings' really should be returned to citizens in the form of lower taxes. If the 'savings' are not returned to Oregon citizens, nothing was really saved."

William B. Conerly, First Interstate Bank Vice President and Economist, gave the luncheon keynote address. Conerly emphasized the important non-monetary benefits of choice and competition. These two factors are crucial to improving our quality of life, maintaining our freedoms, and ensuring the efficient use of resources, both financial and natural.

Dr. Walter E. Williams, a nationally syndicated columnist, author, and the John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University (Virginia), was the luncheon guest speaker. He is widely recognized as a radio guest host for Rush Limbaugh. Dr. Williams' talk focused on the proper role of government in a free society. Government's proper role, said Williams, is to protect individuals from those who seek to "infringe on our inalienable right to life, liberty, and property."

The Competition sought ideas from citizens about how to increase the efficiency of public services, reduce government sending, or create private alternatives to current government services or assets. More than 200 ideas were submitted. Weber enthusiastically noted, "More people took part in the Oregon Competition, on a per capita basis, than in the nine previous competitions held in England, Canada, Massachusetts, California, and Arizona."

Competition sponsors include: M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, The Business Journal, Goldsmith-Greenfield Foundation, LazerQuick, NIKE, Portland General Electric, Willamette Industries, First Interstate Bank, KBNP Business Radio, KPTV-12, Georgia-Pacific Corporation, Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation, Portland Mailing Services, AMR Northwest, Bonavia Family Charitable Trust, Samuel S. Johnson Foundation, Standard Insurance Company, US West Communications, Carolyn S. Chambers Trust, and Hewlett-Packard.

Cascade Policy Institute is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research organization. Its mission is to contribute to Oregon's public policy debate by advancing private, voluntary solutions to the state's economic and social problems.

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