Public Periscope

Mon., Dec. 25, 2000

Compiled From Staff Reports By O

We should all have brothers like this

It should be a very Merry Christmas at the Eugster household, at least the household of City Councilman Steve Eugster’s brother, Jack.

That’s because Jack, who lives in Minneapolis, pocketed a cool $20 million for doing little more than losing his job.

The former chairman and chief executive officer of Musicland, Jack Eugster received a luxurious golden parachute following the company’s purchase by Best Buy.

As part of the sale, the younger Eugster will receive $16.8 million in cash and $4million in consulting fees. Best Buy also agreed to donate up to $100,000 annually to Eugster’s charities of choice. The terms of the deal were disclosed as part of Best Buy’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

So how does our Eugster feel about his younger brother’s windfall?

“I had no idea that he was making $20million,” Steve Eugster said. “My brothers have no idea what I make, and I have no idea what they make.”

He also said he had no regrets about the divergent careers taken by him and his brother.

“I’m happy to be struggling along as a lawyer here in Spokane, Washington,” Eugster said.

Let’s try this again

Mayor-elect John Powers’ first foray into media relations as an elected official left something to be desired.

On Thursday, his office issued a press release announcing, among other things, the hiring of Randy Withrow as Powers’ chief of staff.

The press release gave information about whom to call with questions. It also said Powers’ transition office would be closed Thursday. Powers, as it turned out, was out of town to celebrate his 25th wedding anniversary.

As a result, the flood of media phone calls that should have been expected ended up going to the cell phone of Powers’ office manager, Susan Brudnicki, who could offer nothing but apologies.

Powers got some criticism when he announced he was hiring a director of communications. It’s starting to sound like a good idea.

Keeping pencil, and tongue, sharp

Spokane County Commissioner Kate McCaslin has very little patience for those who can’t keep their houses in order, especially if those people are spending taxpayer money.

Undersheriff Burel Schulz found out just how little patience during a meeting last week as he was trying to convince commissioners to approve his department’s $66,000 training and travel budget for 2001.

At one point, he noted that the Spokane Police Department spends nearly three times that on training and travel.

Oops.

“Frankly, I don’t care what the city does,” McCaslin said, her voice rising. “They can’t even pay their damn bills. They can’t pay squat. Maybe this is why. Did you know that they also pay for employees’ (continuing) education over there? Can you imagine? No wonder they’re broke.”

Ouch.

By the way, commissioners put off a decision on the sheriff’s training and travel budget until Schulz can provide more information.

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