Erin and Val talked urbanism and city bike parking + an update on our reporting about the local Planned Parenthood's anti-union actions.

Relevant reading:

50 new bike racks coming to a spot near you, by Lauren Pangborn at RANGE Media

• Request a location for a bike rack
• Submit an existing bike rack to the community-generated list of racks across the city.

 What we know after three months of reporting on the local Planned Parenthood:

A track record of poor labor conditions, a deep dive into executive compensation, ghosted donors, an upcoming merger and a 20-year-old discrimination case.

Look, I'll be blunt, Val and I didn't

really have much time to prep for

2

this week's episode, so you ended

up with an incredibly weird mashup

3

of topics, bike parking in Spokane,

and an update on unionization

4

efforts at Planned Parenthood.

5

Three months worth of my reporting

distilled down into one article

6

and roughly 25 minutes of audio

plus information that we pulled

7

from our urbanism columnist.

8

Lauren's newest piece.

9

Enjoy.

10

We're live.

11

It's free range.

12

Coming at you on Thursday.

13

This is Free Range, a co-production

of KYRS and Range Media.

14

I'm Valerie Oser and the editor

at Range Media and I'm here with

15

City Hall Reporter Aaron Sellers.

16

We have two stories to chat about today.

17

One from this week and one from a

few weeks ago that we haven't really

18

had a chance to talk about yet.

19

But let's get into the first one,

which is more fun and positive.

20

It's about biking from our

urbanism columnist Lauren Pangborn.

21

Erin, can you tell us about why

your butt hurts today and what that

22

potentially has to do with Lauren story?

23

So I got a bike for Christmas.

24

I love my bike.

25

I love biking.

26

And it's finally warm enough outside that

I've actually been able to use my bike.

27

Yeah.

28

Unfortunately, I've discovered now

that my bike seat is absolutely

29

miserable and I need something

different than the standard issue.

30

Fair.

31

I think that's a cannon event for

any new bike rider is discovering

32

that the seats are horrendous for

everybody, pretty much, but especially

33

for people with who are female.

34

Yeah.

35

The it was rough.

36

I'm sore in places I didn't

know that I could be sore.

37

But you know what?

38

Yesterday was a really beautiful day.

39

Yep.

40

The sun was lovely.

41

Got the vitamin D got the vitamin

DI managed to bike home before

42

it was dark, which was great.

43

Awesome.

44

Because I realized since I got to the

office that I was wearing all black,

45

oh, that's in traditional baby goth

fashion and it would've been wildly

46

unsafe to bike home once the sunset.

47

Yeah.

48

So, so what do bike seats and bikes

have to do with Lauren's story?

49

Well, one of the things, so actually I'm

gonna bring it back to a personal story.

50

I had to go to the dentist Uhhuh to

get some teeth filled and my car was

51

in the shop and I was like, well,

maybe I'll just bike to the dentist.

52

And then I had this sort of

panicked thought of like, oh

53

no, what if there's nowhere the

dentist to like block my bike up?

54

And I Google Street viewed the dentist

and I could not find anywhere that

55

I might be able to put my bike.

56

So I ended up having to catch the bus.

57

I was like running a little bit late.

58

It was a frantic experience.

59

I would've been literally a four

minute bike ride from my house.

60

Oh my gosh.

61

And that's what Lauren was getting at

in her column, is that there are a lot

62

of places in Spokane that are bikeable.

63

There's bike routes,

there's protected lanes.

64

You can get there pretty easily.

65

And yet once you get there,

there's nowhere to park your bike.

66

Which is a deterrence to people who

might choose to bike instead of choose

67

a different form of transportation

with higher environmental impact.

68

And so Lauren put out this column about

Spokane getting 50 new bike racks.

69

That's 55 0.

70

Yes.

71

That's a lot.

72

Five zero bike racks.

73

And also as a study hall reporter, I felt

a little bit under informed here, and I

74

guess it was a resolution that was passed

the year before I started reporting.

75

Okay.

76

But one thing that, that Lauren

pointed out that I didn't know was

77

that now multifamily and commercial

developers that meet certain criteria,

78

she didn't necessarily outline it,

but there's code now that requires

79

developers to provide a bike parking.

80

And one thing I noticed when I

was looking for housing options, I

81

looked at a couple of big apartments.

82

And I was thrilled to discover that

a lot of the newer constructions

83

in Spokane have like a bike room

built into their apartment or, bike

84

lockers on campus, on the campus.

85

And so I really do think that

might be the result of spokane City

86

Council's kind of urbanist mindset.

87

Yeah.

88

But I love seeing new

bike infrastructure go up.

89

Yeah.

90

So that we can bike everywhere in Spokane.

91

Yeah.

92

I feel like Spokane is the most bike

friendly city I've ever lived in, and

93

that's, I feel like that's I'm proud of

that, okay, so what, so the problem with

94

our current bike rack situation is that

not everywhere has a bike rack or even

95

like a pole you can chain your bike to.

96

And then obviously you can't

take your bike in anywhere and

97

you don't want it to get stolen.

98

So, so can you tell me a bit

about how we are getting more?

99

Yeah.

100

So that's a great question.

101

I wanna say it was just

like in the budget.

102

And there is a process.

103

For how to like, get a bike

rack at your preferred location.

104

They've already announced some of them.

105

There's racks tentatively

planned for near Heritage Bar and

106

Kitchen near Brick West Brewing.

107

Ferguson's Diner up on

Garland Bellwether Brewing.

108

Elliot's an urban kitchen.

109

And some of those locations were

selected by the city planning department.

110

Because people submitted them.

111

And they're still taking submissions.

112

It looks like there's about

20 racks that have yet to be

113

given even a tentative location.

114

And even the first 30

announced are just tentative.

115

So there is put this on our KYRS page.

116

A form that you can go to request a

bike rack at your favorite location.

117

But this is part of the city's move to

make the city more friendly for bikes.

118

It's been a big topic of conversation

just because there's been a lot of fatal

119

car accidents in the last year, and

most, many of those fatal car accidents

120

have been against pedestrians or bikers.

121

So in the last year we've really seen

a kind of intense mobilization from the

122

advocacy group I can think of is Spokane

Reimagined, but there's also a lot of

123

individuals who are passionate about

this coming to city council, pushing

124

for things like protected bike lanes.

125

Bollards.

126

Armadillos is our favorite.

127

They're like little bumps that

sort of make it uncomfortable for

128

a car to drive in a bike line.

129

And my personal vendetta that I'm

still angry about, I bother the

130

city comms person about this nearly

every time we have an interview.

131

But they put in brand new bike

lockers at Spokane City Hall.

132

Yeah.

133

They're beautiful.

134

I would love to be able to bike to a

city council meeting and put my bike in

135

a locker and then get it out afterwards.

136

Well, one thing, unfortunately, despite

announcing to the public that those

137

bike lockers were for everybody, they're

right now just for city employees.

138

And most of the city employees

I've talked to didn't even know

139

they could use the bike lockers.

140

What there is an explanation to it.

141

Erin Hut, the city communications

person, manager, director, I'm so sorry,

142

Erin Hut, I have forgotten your exact

title as I'm now live on the radio, but

143

she's the big boss of communications

at the city told me that it's because

144

they're looking for some kind of.

145

App or something where you can like

check out the bikes, the bike lockers

146

basically a better system than going up

to the security guard inside city hall.

147

And being like.

148

Hey, can I put my bike in this locker?

149

Yeah.

150

Which is not really tenable long term.

151

And they'd like potentially

identified an app that might work.

152

They're in conversations about that,

but it's just a really slow process

153

and it's really sunny and I want

to bike to and from city council.

154

Are there not bike racks at City Hall?

155

There might be racks.

156

I'm not a hundred percent sure.

157

I was really excited about the lockers

because they are the most secure form.

158

Yeah.

159

And my bike is an expensive bike.

160

Yeah.

161

And I really don't want it to get stolen.

162

My favorite bit of city hall reporter

lore is, Daniel Walters, the former

163

city hall reporter at the Inland Yes.

164

He's like Spokane Twitter.

165

Famous for getting his bike

stolen like four times downtown.

166

Oh my gosh.

167

Like once after a city council meeting.

168

And I don't want to fall into

the same tragedy that Daniel

169

Walters has fallen into.

170

Well, I think one way you could do that is

maybe submit a form online very annoyingly

171

and say, I wanna bike around city hall.

172

I wanna bike lockers specifically.

173

Yeah.

174

I want something that's like

the Fort Knox for bikes.

175

But you can also, push it by just riding

your bike to city hall and city council

176

meetings and wheeling it inside with you

and being like, well, you don't have a

177

locker for me, so it's staying with me.

178

That's true.

179

City council member Paul Dillon told

me that he didn't even know that

180

staff slash city employees could use

the bike lockers because he's been

181

bringing his bike up to the seventh

floor of city Hall via the elevator.

182

So I definitely could

just do the same thing.

183

Yeah.

184

And park it right down by the media table.

185

Yeah, just park it and be,

it's a really big bike.

186

Yeah.

187

Park it.

188

Make a point.

189

Yeah.

190

Claim your power, Aaron.

191

Okay.

192

So, do you know how or what's like

paying for the new bike racks?

193

Is it just like it was just in the budget

or is it like some special, pot of money?

194

That is a great question.

195

I.

196

I'm not sure.

197

I wanna say that it was just something

that had been budgeted for this year.

198

Like in the planning department's budgets.

199

If I had to take a stab in

the dark, I would say it

200

might be safe Streets funding.

201

Oh.

202

But Lauren did not identify that

in her piece, so I can't say

203

with a hundred percent certainty.

204

It doesn't seem like this is part

of, like a special initiative.

205

It just seems like this was something

that was getting rolled out.

206

Yeah.

207

Lauren is also separate from her

role as column, the SIT range.

208

She's, I think the chair of

the bicycle advisory board.

209

Yeah.

210

So she's usually the first

person to know when the city does

211

things that are good for bikers.

212

Bicyclists, also known as the bab.

213

The bab.

214

Yeah.

215

So, speaking of cost though, so, one thing

that is important in like the urbanism,

216

overall urbanism conversation of, bike

parking versus car parking and bike riding

217

versus car riding is the space issue.

218

So, Lauren explains in her story that

a single car parking spot typically

219

requires 300 square feet of space,

including the approach while one two bike

220

locker has a 20 square foot footprint.

221

And.

222

In the story she talks about how

much more expensive it is to even

223

just build a flat parking lot.

224

Yeah.

225

The thing I was really struck by in there

was that having a guaranteed parking spot

226

for your like apartment can result in an

extra $200 in rent because of course the

227

developers aren't paying that cost set.

228

They're passing the cost onto

the consumers, to the renters.

229

And that additional cost of, 5,000 to

$20,000 for a parking spot in a surface

230

lot is going to get passed on to renters

in the form of extra costs in your unit.

231

And, I've seen, like in Seattle,

sometimes they will make it clear

232

that they haven't built enough

parking spots for each unit, right?

233

So you will pay a fee on top

to guarantee yourself a spot.

234

And that I think at least makes

it obvious that those costs

235

are getting passed on to you.

236

But in other ways, we might

just assume that rent is what

237

it is and not consider that.

238

Maybe if your apartment building had

built a bike garage instead of a service

239

parking lot, your rent could be cheaper.

240

And something that we

delved into this in, in,

241

Erin, I'm so sorry.

242

This is very funny.

243

Erin Hutt, the city spokesperson

is calling me and I'm not gonna

244

take it 'cause I'm on the radio.

245

She heard you.

246

She's like, this is my

correct title, girlfriend.

247

Ugh.

248

I'm so sorry, Erin.

249

Okay.

250

So, we didn't dive into it, into the, in

the story and I wish I had asked Lauren

251

for this information 'cause she compared

the price of this like two bike locker

252

in like the locker itself is like 3000.

253

And then estimating $2,000 per bike with

the concrete or so, and then add like

254

another thousand dollars cost for like

labor and building the concrete pad.

255

Right.

256

But like one car parking spot

in a surface lot costs between

257

5,000 and $20,000 to build.

258

And then cost for a structured

garage parking spot can cost $60,000

259

for a single spot in a garage.

260

And I wish I had asked Lauren how much

the, like you, the, the gold standard

261

of bike racks, which is like that u

upside down U shape how much those costs.

262

'cause those are also significantly

cheaper than bike lockers.

263

Right?

264

Right.

265

And that's what we're mostly talking

about when we say that 50 bike

266

racks are coming in to the city.

267

Yes.

268

They're like the little U-shaped.

269

I think one of the, they are gonna

be like, Lauren called them corrals.

270

Yeah.

271

And I don't know, this might be

just me making an assumption.

272

But I spent some time in Minneapolis

visiting college friends.

273

And one thing that they did to make

streets more walkable, or one thing

274

that I noticed there was that basically

if you take a car parking spot and

275

you throw like bars around it with

an entrance spot, basically you're

276

turning a car parking spot for one car

into a corral for bikes with, these

277

sort of two, two metal bar, like pen,

almost like a grocery cart corral.

278

Yes.

279

And then you can just let lock

your bike to the edge of it.

280

So when you think about

it, that might be like.

281

10 to 15.

282

People that could park their

bikes in this one spot that could

283

previously only accommodate a car

that could hold maybe six people.

284

There, that's stretching it.

285

That's a really big car.

286

I've got a RAV4 maybe.

287

I don't think there's

six legal seats in there.

288

There are five Lego seats in my RAV4.

289

Okay.

290

So that is, I think all my

questions about the bike racks.

291

If you, once again, we'll put

this in our KYRS page, but you can

292

request a bike rack and we'll put

a link to the form on our page.

293

Or if you look up the story on range

media that form is linked there as well.

294

So onto our next segment

that has nothing to do with.

295

Bikes that is significantly

more upsetting.

296

Yeah.

297

So we started with a, at a high note.

298

So, about two, three weeks ago.

299

I don't know, time doesn't mean anything.

300

You wrote a follow up story on a big

story that we published towards the

301

end of the last year about, I think

it was the last time you and I were

302

alone on the radio show together too.

303

You interviewed me about that story.

304

Aw, this is a Val Aaron mess

around story type thing.

305

Okay.

306

So, you wrote a story late last

year about Planned Parenthood

307

and some what am I thinking?

308

Efforts to quash unionization there.

309

And that was in November,

or was it in December?

310

That was, I wanna say we published

the first December 18th, I think.

311

Okay.

312

It was like the last thing we

published before we left for Okay.

313

Yeah.

314

I remember winter break.

315

Yeah.

316

And yeah, so I spent about three

months after that story came out.

317

I mean, the second it dropped,

I started getting emails.

318

Text messages, phone calls, or like I

would see photos, somebody would send

319

me photos of like a text they received

from somebody else at Planned Parenthood.

320

Basically employees that really

resonated with the story that hadn't

321

talked to me originally or were maybe

even too nervous to send me their name.

322

But would just send me an anonymous

text message saying that like,

323

this story meant a lot to them.

324

And.

325

They had the same experience of being

overworked and underpaid and seeing

326

management employee union busting.

327

Tactics in the workplace.

328

Yeah.

329

And sorry, just to backtrack a little bit.

330

So the story we're talking about that

published in December was titled The

331

Mission Doesn't Pay the Bills, and

it was about employees at the Spokane

332

Planned Parenthood where considering

unionization over what they characterize

333

as low pay and bad working conditions.

334

And the CEO at the time was paying, is

paying, I think still, I don't know.

335

Yeah.

336

The contract didn't have an end.

337

Okay.

338

It was ongoing.

339

So presumably is still paying.

340

Four.

341

I it's been a while since

I looked at the story.

342

$425 an hour to a union busting firm

which is the equivalent of 17 medical

343

assistants, hourly wages to persuade

their employees to not unionize.

344

And that was a story that Aaron

uncovered while, reading about other

345

union busting efforts across the nation.

346

And so that, that story was really

bringing to the forefront stuff that I had

347

even heard from friends and acquaintances

who either worked at the Planned

348

Parenthood or left to have a better job

at a grocery store, like, like, because

349

they were so stressed out and underpaid.

350

And so that is the story

that we ran back in December.

351

And so this story is three

months later what is happening?

352

Yeah.

353

So there are a couple

of big pieces of news.

354

The first one isn't a thing that is

currently happening, but is a thing

355

that I missed in my original reporting.

356

One thing I heard a lot was like,

oh, there was an excuse that

357

was made for the CEO of the.

358

Roe v.

359

Wade has recently fallen.

360

Conditions are really stressful right now.

361

And the, there are a lot of questions

about stability of funding in the

362

wake of a second Trump presidency

because they make a lot of their

363

money billing against Medicaid.

364

And so it's like, oh, well there's all

this, there's all this stress in the

365

political landscape, so of course they're

like locking down and being frugal.

366

And of course people are stressed

and maybe taking it out on employees.

367

Like there was, I heard some excuses

or like language around that and,

368

but Roe v Wade fell in 2023, right?

369

Yes.

370

I wanna say 2023.

371

And a lot of the.

372

Stories we heard for were from like 2018,

but it was also, in the midst of the

373

first Trump presidency where there was

a lot of, again, panic about Medicaid

374

billing and reproductive care protections.

375

So was the reasoning that like maybe they

were getting some of the bad treatment

376

was because of so much of that stress?

377

I mean, this is like

an excuse that I Okay.

378

Heard made for Eastland.

379

Got it.

380

That like, he's probably

just really stressed.

381

Okay.

382

Managing this Planned Parenthood

amidst these conditions and it's

383

like the financially frugal thing

to do, to pay low in case things.

384

So how.

385

Much does.

386

And we're talking about CEO of Spokane,

planned Parenthood, Carl Eastland.

387

Can you tell me how much he makes a year?

388

I can tell you how much

389

Okay.

390

We're getting this data from

proPublica's nine 90 database.

391

So the last filing we could find was from,

and real quick, nine nineties are, sorry.

392

I just want, you're like, we're now

three layers deep and I'll have to come

393

back to the original thought anyways.

394

Nine nineties are the

tax forms of nonprofits.

395

So in the, sorry, 20 23, 990 I'm

trying to find it in my story.

396

Yeah.

397

He makes $489,906 a year as of 2023.

398

That's pretty frugal.

399

Yeah.

400

It's, we, sorry, I don't wanna go down

another tangent because I wanna come

401

back to the original thing I was talking

about, which was the big thing I uncovered

402

was that it's probably not just this

recent stress because we found, I found

403

a lawsuit against Planned Parenthood and

404

It ended up being an eight year

405

filed the lawsuit won her case.

406

It was a discrimination case.

407

The courts found that

Planned Parenthood fired her.

408

Because of her disability,

despite claiming they fired

409

her for performance issues.

410

There was no record of performance

issues in her file, and she was

411

fired shortly after she told

management she had a disability.

412

I think it was early onset arthritis.

413

I don't have a ton of details about this.

414

Because basically the reason I didn't

find it in my initial reporting was that

415

currently it's called Planned Parenthood

of Greater Washington and North Idaho.

416

Oh.

417

Back in the early two thousands

it had a different name.

418

It was like the planned.

419

Parenthood of, I don't know, it's in

my story, but it had a different name.

420

Yeah.

421

And it was just like a couple

clinics in Yakima Tri-Cities area.

422

Okay.

423

And then there were all of these other

individual clinics that were just

424

run as their own separate affiliates.

425

And those all kind of merged together

into what we now know as PP Quinny.

426

Huh.

427

And so when I'd searched for lawsuits

that hadn't come up, 'cause I'd searched

428

for lawsuits against PP Quinny and I

had searched for lawsuits against Carl

429

Eastland, but I checked in Spokane County.

430

This was a lawsuit that was

filed back from the Tri-Cities.

431

And what was so interesting about it

was that not only was Planned Parenthood

432

held personally liable or held liable.

433

Carl Eastland himself, who wasn't

even the CEO of the Planned

434

Parenthood there before the merger.

435

Oh.

436

He was like the Chief

Operating Officer, I think.

437

Interesting.

438

He was found personally liable and

ordered to pay damages to the woman.

439

I couldn't track her

down to get more common.

440

I ended up finding a couple court

records and a couple of really old news

441

articles from like the Herald, I think.

442

Out near the Tri-Cities.

443

And I spent a good afternoon calling

numbers that might be associated

444

with people who might be that woman.

445

Never reached her.

446

I tried to call a couple numbers

associated with her lawyer, but

447

I think that he has retired now.

448

So that was no dice either.

449

So what I learned, I had to pull from

court docs in old news articles, but I

450

did find it interesting that East Lynn's

record of maybe employee mistreatment

451

goes all the way back to 2004, which, 20

years before my original story came out.

452

Things were stressful back then too.

453

Things are always stressful.

454

Yeah.

455

So that was the first

big piece of information.

456

Yeah.

457

The second was that

there's another merger.

458

So it's like a big full circle moment.

459

The Planned Parenthood Peepee, Winnie

as they call it, is merging with Planned

460

Parenthood Mount Baker, which is up in

Bellingham and has, I wanna say like

461

three clinics, three to five clinics.

462

Okay.

463

So it's much smaller.

464

Their last nine 90 said they

had employees in the 50 range.

465

Where Pp Guie had employees in

466

And so they're merging the CEO of

Mount Baker is retiring and Carl

467

Eastland is now going to be the

CEO of this new bigger PP Quinny.

468

Interesting.

469

And, so in, in writing about the, do you

know when this merger is going to happen?

470

It has technically already happened.

471

Okay.

472

It was a little murky.

473

So they sent out like an email being

like, oh, the merger is happening.

474

On April 1st, I think was the

date they gave, but then employees

475

internally were laid off before

that as a result of the merger.

476

And the Mount Baker planned parent, CEO,

like retired a little bit before April.

477

So, like, the timeline's

a little bit murky.

478

But I think it's like

official as of April 1st.

479

Okay.

480

And, how are the employees of both, I mean

now they're one entity, but both entities

481

feeling about this merger and how is it

affecting their unionization efforts?

482

Yeah, that is interesting.

483

So I talked anonymously to a

couple of Mount Baker Planned

484

Parenthood employees, and they had

mixed feelings about the merger.

485

I first interviewed, I'm

specifically thinking of one

486

person who I first interviewed

before the layoffs were announced.

487

And she was tentatively optimistic in

that she was like, we're pretty small.

488

We don't have like.

489

As much strategic development and

long-term planning as I'd like to see,

490

the Spokane Planned Parenthood is very

financially healthy, like in the long run.

491

This might be a good

financial decision for us.

492

However, she also said that Mount Baker

had a lot of the same labor conditions

493

that I'd heard about from PP GU

employees, and in some cases it was worse.

494

Like one person I talked to,

never got a single raise in.

495

I think they worked there

for two, maybe three years.

496

Wow.

497

They didn't even get a

cost of living raise.

498

So they were making $18 an hour for

the entirety of their time there.

499

And if you know anything about

Bellingham, it's also expensive to live.

500

And so there was already some talks of

potential unionization happening about

501

Baker Planned Parenthood which means

that, they might not be union resistant.

502

They'll probably have a

little bit of knowledge.

503

The tricky thing here, and this is already

what people were running up against

504

in my first story, is that because PP

Quinney was 11 clinics before the merger.

505

They're 14 now.

506

And those 11 clinics ranged from

Spokane, Pullman, Yakima what's

507

that little town on the wave from?

508

Spoken to Seattle.

509

Oh, that's starts with a WI don't know.

510

They're like, yeah, they stretch

basically all the way Walla.

511

There is one in Walla, but that's

not the one I was thinking of.

512

They stretch all the way up to Seattle.

513

And people felt really isolated

from one clinic to another.

514

But because they're all part of the same

entity, employees across all 11 clinics

515

would've had to agree to unionize.

516

I see.

517

So organizing was really tricky because

it's like, how do you get in touch

518

with somebody from the Walla Clinic.

519

If you're from, or the Tri-Cities Clinic,

if you're from Spokane and you don't wanna

520

use, your company Slack or your company

email, because that might be monitored.

521

You don't even know if this person

is friendly or potentially open to

522

talking about unionization or if

they're gonna turn around and tell

523

their manager that you brought it up.

524

There's all of these little fragments

that are made harder because.

525

The clinics are so geographically

far from each other.

526

Interesting.

527

Now there's three up near Bellingham.

528

Right.

529

Which is even further away than

the like three hour drive to Yeah.

530

And so I think there's some nervousness

about coordinating, about reaching people.

531

That far across the state, but like

now we're all one entity and Yeah.

532

Maybe conditions over there were

bad, but maybe actually conditions

533

under pp Gwynnie are better.

534

And so people who were previously

considering unionization might be like.

535

Well, I'm actually really lucky that

things are a little bit better here now.

536

And I don't wanna risk that there's

like all of these competing dynamics.

537

Yeah.

538

And again, I only hear things

from like two or three people.

539

I hear it anonymously.

540

I hear it in a text message sometimes.

541

So it can be hard to figure out

exactly what those attitudes

542

are around unionization.

543

And I have to imagine it's even harder

for the people who are worried they might

544

lose their jobs if they get outed as a

union organizer or a union sympathizer.

545

Has anybody from, this is going a little

bit off a tangent, but still related.

546

Since reporting this second story,

has anybody reached out to you

547

trying to connect with a union

friendly person at another location?

548

No, and I think it's because.

549

The people I was able to

interview from Mount Baker were

550

no longer with Mount Baker.

551

I see.

552

And I think I did specify that in my

story, that they were former employees.

553

And so, and I don't even know

ethically as a journalist, if I

554

could do that, I would consider it.

555

But I, I don't know that, like,

especially because people are talking

556

to me anonymously, I dunno that I

could give one person's Oh yeah.

557

Phone number to another.

558

Mostly, I mean, like if like a

union organizer in Spokane was

559

like, Hey, can you give my number to

whoever's the union from, and that

560

I might be open to or more open to.

561

But no I haven't, yeah.

562

I have heard from folks who were union

organizing, like employees of PP Quinny

563

who were organizing that there may be.

564

Maybe not that stressed about the merger.

565

There, there may be some

positive conversations happening.

566

It's hard to say anything more

than that because I don't want to

567

overstep any bounds of things that

have been said to me off the record.

568

But yeah it's been an interesting

story to report on, and I think this

569

is one that's been really tricky for

me because everybody's dealing with

570

these really complicated emotions.

571

I know in the first story,

like the headline is, the

572

mission doesn't pay the bills.

573

And that was a really central

idea for a lot of these employees

574

that they loved the work.

575

They loved helping patients.

576

They really believed in what

they were doing, and also

577

they felt taken advantage of.

578

They felt like they were being

overworked and underpaid and that

579

management could get away with it.

580

Because they.

581

Loved helping people.

582

And so I think when you leave

that environment, there's a lot

583

of feelings to grapple with.

584

One person I interviewed who did

go on the record joy Peltier,

585

she was in upper management.

586

Actually, she was being trained up to

be Eastlands successor when he retired.

587

And she teared up on the phone

with me, got really emotional

588

and she was saying like, I knew,

like I was meant to work there.

589

Like, I still think of, we, when

I think about Planned Parenthood,

590

like that was my dream job.

591

I was so fulfilled there.

592

And then things got

really bad really quickly.

593

And she felt like she was getting

pushed out or she was gonna get fired.

594

Conditions were pretty toxic for her.

595

Like she described, she got a pay

raise and then it really was a

596

classic example of golden handcuffs

of being like yelled at a lot.

597

And just expected to take things

or take stressful situations or

598

like being asked to do tasks.

599

And then when she's like, well,

I need your signature on this,

600

or I need information from you.

601

And then just not getting that and

then being told that it's her fault.

602

Like a lot of these really kind

of mercurial relationships.

603

And one of the things that I found really

interesting about her story is that she's

604

one of the only people I've talked to

who ever got an apology from Eastland.

605

She said a couple, I don't know if

it was a little bit after she left,

606

it might have been a year or so.

607

Eastland took her out for coffee and she

says he told her he was sorry for how

608

things went down and how he treated her.

609

And so she feels like

she got a little bit of.

610

Closure for what happened.

611

But most of the employees that I

talked to never got that closure.

612

And I think, there's still, they're

still in it, if that makes sense.

613

Like they see the Facebook posts and they

see what Piconi aspires to be, and maybe

614

like the public face they're putting on.

615

And it might be at the

expense of employees.

616

And I think that kind of dovetails

into like my next question of something

617

that, you found in your reporting

and then that kind of hit me coming

618

from my former life as as a Christian

with more conservative viewpoints.

619

But oh, I know what this is about

to be so, these like issues and

620

the issues of people getting

underpaid at Planned Parenthood.

621

But the CEO making, what is it?

622

300 to 400,000?

623

Four 80,000.

624

480,000 year, this is total compensation.

625

Yes.

626

So salary plus plus benefits X, they

call it like additional compensation.

627

It's not always clear what that is.

628

But yeah, 489,000.

629

So you know that number and that

figure is actually being used.

630

And these conditions are being used

by anti-abortion advocacy groups.

631

So, one group American Life League Stop

632

Weaponizing the discrepancy in

pay between Planned Parenthoods.

633

Oh wait, no, this one was

between the male and female CEOs.

634

So as part of their campaign

against pre reproductive rights and.

635

That, that goes back to you.

636

And when I clicked on the link while I was

editing the story of the report that Erin

637

linked to, it's to this website called

Live Action, and that is a anti-abortion.

638

Anti-abortion propaganda thing,

like, I don't want to call it a news

639

site 'cause it's not a news site.

640

It's specifically to work against

abortion and reproductive rights.

641

And I was like, oh my gosh.

642

Like I know this website.

643

I used to, read it as a, person

who is deep into that lifestyle

644

and that sinful lifestyle.

645

That's what it sound like.

646

And seeing it from the other side

of like, okay, this is like when the

647

conservatives are pointing out that your

CEO is making too much and that there's

648

a gender pay gap disparity that's bad.

649

And it's harmful to the mission of what

Planned Parenthood is trying to do,

650

which is to provide healthcare to people.

651

So on the total compensation so that

this what is the discrepancy between

652

the highest paid male, CEO and the

highest paid female CEO of different

653

planned Parenthood affiliates?

654

Okay.

655

Yes.

656

So I, specifically all of the Planned

Parenthood affiliates file nine nineties.

657

And I'm about to get a little wonky

about data here, but in order to decide

658

which Planned Parenthoods to compare

Carl against, we felt like the fairest.

659

The fairest comparison was to look

at a range of annual revenue that

660

the Planned Parenthoods bring in.

661

So we looked at any Planned Parenthood

affiliate that brought in between 28 and

662

$32 million of annual revenue a year.

663

Okay.

664

I think the Spokane Planned

Parenthood was around 30.

665

So we went basically like 2

million below and 2 million above.

666

Okay.

667

In the affiliates that fit into that

box, which was seven seven affiliates.

668

When you look at the gender

pay discrepancy, sorry, I'm

669

flipping through my slides.

670

Carl was in the top three.

671

There was the CEO of Planned

Parenthood of Greater Texas.

672

Ken Lambrecht is the highest

earner, and he's actually the

673

one that was specifically pointed

out by the is it live action?

674

Oh, it's actually the

American Life League.

675

Yeah.

676

That did the report.

677

But yes, so he's the one that

was specifically pointed to in

678

the, like gender pay discrepancy.

679

Then the second highest earner is the

CEO of Planned Parenthood of Pasadena.

680

And some other the name is really long,

it's like three other California cities.

681

And she is a woman.

682

And then it is Carl Eastland of Spokane.

683

When you break their salaries down

and adjust them by cost of living.

684

The Pasadena CEO drops

down to the third highest.

685

So the two men, when you adjust for

cost of living, and Luke would have

686

to tell you exactly how he did this,

because I'm so bad at math, but

687

there is a cost of living calculator.

688

That's like pretty widely

accepted as being good.

689

And I think we set Spokane at like one.

690

Essentially like the cost of living

in Spokane versus the salary and then

691

adjusted everything else against, I see.

692

I think is what Luke did, but Luke did it.

693

So, explaining data is like torture to me.

694

Luke is our other editor

and publisher at Range.

695

He likes numbers a lot more than I do.

696

Yes.

697

And Me too.

698

Yeah.

699

The other interesting thing I noticed when

we plotted out all of these compensations

700

was that the three CEOs that sit at

the top so, Lambrecht from Texas, I

701

think it's Sherry Bonner from Pasadena,

and Carl Eastland from Spokane, those

702

were also the only three non-unionized

Planned Parenthood affiliates that fell

703

within that spectrum of annual revenue.

704

And so it's pretty obvious that if your

Planned Parenthood is not unionized,

705

your CEO is gonna make a lot more money.

706

But in unionized Planned Parenthoods,

the pay disparity is lower.

707

The CEO makes less and, do you know,

like how that ends up working out?

708

Like is that just from the

union's negotiating better

709

contracts or better pay?

710

Or is there like, I mean,

I really don't know.

711

All I had to work with was

raw data from nine nineties.

712

I did call the National

Planned Parenthood.

713

With a request for comment about like

their, how they determine or whether

714

or not they get any advisory say.

715

Because I do know that each local

affiliate board is individually deciding

716

CEO e salaries, but I wanted to know

if the national affiliate had any

717

kind ofs advisory standards around

how much you should make as A CEO.

718

And I also wanted to know if they

had any nationwide standards when it

719

came to anti unionization efforts.

720

Because when I was doing research

for this, it wasn't just.

721

The Spokane Planned Parenthood.

722

That's filed contracts with Union

Busters, Ken Lambrecht of Texas, actually

723

successfully union busted in Texas.

724

So there were unionization efforts

down there that failed as of

725

2023 when I pulled the data from.

726

That's so interesting.

727

Thinking about the National

Planned Parenthood not having a

728

say in like the local affiliates,

I think that's pretty silly.

729

Like when you have, I don't know, this

is gonna be a bad example, but like when

730

you have the national McDonald's has

standards for all of their franchises.

731

And I feel like and there

might be, I don't know.

732

Yeah.

733

They didn't respond to my

request for comment, but I do

734

know that the board ultimately

decides what the CEO's salary is.

735

So, that's really, and that, it's

funny 'cause I just read a book it

736

was called Rebel Cinderella, and it

is about a a labor activist in New

737

York in like the early 19 hundreds.

738

And she was a poor, like

super poor Russian immigrant

739

working in a cigar factory.

740

All this stuff.

741

And then she like happened to marry

this really rich guy basically.

742

And and then the really rich guy, she

and him actually ended up becoming

743

like labor leaders, but she like

took more on that, more of that role,

744

but he like helped fund it until

he got uninterested in it later on.

745

Spoiler alert.

746

And but in the book it mentions

Margaret Sanger, who is the

747

founder of Planned Parenthood.

748

And she was a big labor organizer

too, so, or she was big in the

749

labor organizing of that time.

750

And so to think that like.

751

Planned Parenthood, and I know

that Margaret Sanger is like not,

752

the most amazing person ever.

753

But she still had a big

influence during this time.

754

And so I think that the National Planned

Parenthood doesn't have, any like

755

anti-labor, like, like mechanisms to

enforce things nationally is wild to me.

756

It is.

757

And I found, I'm sure

there's more out there.

758

When you search Planned Parenthood

on Google News, there's a lot

759

of things that come up that

are not what I was looking for.

760

What I was able to find was

union busting efforts in Texas

761

in Minneapolis and in Spokane.

762

I'm sure there's more than that.

763

But those were the three that I was able

to find Mo the most extensive coverage.

764

On, and it is interesting, there's

definitely a national context to this.

765

Right after my first piece came out,

but before my second piece came out,

766

New York Times published two pieces

that were an expose on poor labor

767

conditions and poor clinic health

standards in affiliates across the nation.

768

And there was like a wink nod, like

one line reference to like anti

769

unionization with like not really

much detail there from the reporter.

770

So I dunno if they also had a

hard time getting people to go

771

on the rec to talk about that.

772

But I did find it interesting that, what

people in Spokane are going through falls

773

into this national conversation of what

is the future of Planned Parenthoods.

774

And if you're not prioritizing,

cleanliness of clinics and patient safety

775

and employee standard of, living wages,

then like what are you prioritizing?

776

Well, and it's even shown in their, the

budgeting for Spokane, like Carl Eastland,

777

the CEO makes more than the head doctor.

778

For the plan for PP Winnie, like that

is, which didn't use to be the case.

779

Right.

780

It used to be that the chief medical

officer is essentially like overseeing

781

all of these, as the one that's like

to blame if something goes wrong.

782

Right.

783

Used to make the most money at PP Winnie.

784

And I think that changed

Makes a lot sense.

785

Changed in like, it was like 20

17, 20 18 is when that switched.

786

I'd love to hear from her about

like how she feels about that.

787

And because in my opinion, a

doctor, like a real life doctor

788

who saves people's lives should

probably make more than a CEO.

789

Yeah.

790

And it was a mistake I

made in my reporting.

791

I just titled the graphs.

792

So we also compared Carl Eastlands

salary against the salaries of CEOs of

793

comparable nonprofits or foundations,

health foundations in Spokane.

794

And, there was a small

mistake I made in the data.

795

I was looking at the, I was

the CEO of Excelsior Wellness.

796

And I marked that the CEO was a woman.

797

The CEO of Excelsior is actually a

man oopsies, but the highest paid

798

employee at Excelsior is a woman.

799

And she was a doctor at the time.

800

I wanna say she might have also

been the Chief Medical officer.

801

And so I hadn't checked the job title.

802

I just pulled the the highest paid

employee is which Excelsior is this?

803

Is this one?

804

The wellness one?

805

Yeah.

806

Okay.

807

So it's a mental health.

808

Trauma-informed clinic in that case.

809

And at.

810

Chaz, I think.

811

And the Chaz one I did catch.

812

The chief medical officer also

813

So it's not the case that for all

of these, like health foundations or

814

nonprofits, the CEO makes more actually

in at least two of them, the highest

815

paid employee was somebody with a

medical background as opposed to a CEO.

816

That's really interesting.

817

And throughout your reporting,

has there ever been a reasoning

818

given behind Carl's pay?

819

There is one.

820

I can't say.

821

Oh, there is also one that

was given on the record.

822

So one of the people I interviewed

for this story was Carne Nielsen.

823

Who was a former major

donor, planned Parenthood.

824

She was one of the big

donors for the building.

825

She also served on the board.

826

And Carn was the board president

during one of Eastlands big raises.

827

And she talked to me a little bit.

828

She said at the time they were really

worried that Eastland was going to leave.

829

And like he'd maybe expressed

some interest in going elsewhere.

830

And Planned Parenthood was at the,

this cusp of, becoming bigger.

831

There was.

832

Like the merger was on the horizon, maybe?

833

Well, yeah.

834

I mean, I guess there has been

talks about the merger, but I think

835

at this point it was mostly like,

we just got a brand new building.

836

I see.

837

Like we're, things are going

well, we wanna keep this guy.

838

And also like the political

conditions are scary.

839

So like seeking a new CEO right now.

840

'cause I think this was

841

And so she said she like

green lit that first.

842

Big raise that year.

843

That was the year I think

that his salary almost doubled

844

because they wanted to keep him.

845

She left the board the year after,

so she can't really speak to why he

846

kept getting big raises after that.

847

Well, and I this is probably like

some naive naivete for me, but what

848

is the huge loss in losing a CEO?

849

Yeah.

850

Is it like, is he fundraising?

851

Is he what does he do

or what does a CEO do?

852

I think this is the big

question of labor in general.

853

I guess that is a good question.

854

To give Eastland credit where credit is

due, one of the positive things about him

855

that I've heard from multiple employees is

that he has a very strong sense of vision.

856

And long-term planning and has this

sort of sense of ambition for, where

857

PPE Gny started, where it's going.

858

And they've had a kind

of landmark few years.

859

They ended up under East Lynn's

watch, they ended up getting this

860

like multimillion dollar grant from

Mackenzie Bezos Mackenzie Scott, sorry.

861

But formerly Mackenzie Bezos,

and she's a philanthropist.

862

Yes.

863

And a star in her own right.

864

We are not gonna do the girl

ification of McKenzie Scott.

865

Anyways, they got this big donation.

866

We will do the girl ification of McKinzie.

867

Scott wants to give us money.

868

I'm kidding.

869

Sorry.

870

We won't.

871

They got the new building.

872

Right.

873

And also on the flip side of

that, Eastland is in some ways the

874

face of the organization, right?

875

Like his is one of the only employee

names that is easily available on the

876

website because of security concerns.

877

And we have had security

concerns and the pp like Yeah.

878

Under Eastlands watch the Pullman ppe.

879

Guity was Firebombed.

880

Yeah.

881

And so he is accepting a certain level

of risk by being the public face.

882

He is, I guess the one that gives

media quotes, although not to me.

883

Sorry.

884

I think he just.

885

We're back to the general

question of what does A CEO do?

886

And I think that's just

making the hard calls.

887

Yeah.

888

I think a pretty easy call

if you want my opinion.

889

What's your opinion, Val?

890

My opinion is that a

pretty easy call slash you?

891

It could be seen as a hard call

to some and he could be a hero.

892

Is if he took a pay cut and gave

pay raises to his whole staff?

893

Yes.

894

That could be, some

would say an easy call.

895

Others would say a great cost saving

measure is not hiring a union busting

896

firm at the rate of $425 an hour.

897

I could get paid 425,000 or

no, sorry, $425 an hour to

898

tell them that they want yeah.

899

So.

900

It's a pretty complicated.

901

I'm trying to think if there's any other

details in there that I didn't hit on.

902

Oh, donors are pretty unhappy.

903

Oh yeah.

904

That was why I called Car Nielsen.

905

To begin with was that she was one of

two donors that we spoke with and one

906

of five donors that we are aware of.

907

That had calls into Planned

Parenthood basically after my

908

first story came out there.

909

I mean, they have a lot of ostensibly

progressive donors who were frustrated

910

that they were potentially, I

mean the contract is out there,

911

the contract is public record.

912

They did hire a union busting

firm, so that's not like a

913

he said she said situation.

914

Right.

915

And donors were pretty upset about that,

including Shannon Smith and Car Nielsen.

916

Sharon Smith.

917

Sharon Smith, yes.

918

Sorry, I was talking too fast.

919

Sharon Smith Car Nielsen were

the two folks that I talked to.

920

Well actually Luke talked to Sharon Smith.

921

He contributed reporting on this piece.

922

Sorry, I'm a little all over the place.

923

But.

924

They talked about how like

they called like employees.

925

They still knew on staff.

926

They called Carl Eastland, they

called the board president.

927

Nielsen actually wrote Planned

Parenthood out of her will after

928

she didn't get a response from 'em.

929

This is a person who's donated

like more than $200,000.

930

Wow.

931

I wanna say it was closer to 300.

932

Yeah.

933

Which is not to say that donating money

entitles you to anything, but I do think

934

that when you donate a large chunk of

money to an organization based off of

935

their professed public values and are

continuing to donate, and then they're

936

privately doing things behind the scenes

that are maybe out of alignment with those

937

values, it is a valid question to ask of,

is my money going to pay a union busting

938

firm instead of employees or patient care?

939

And it did the funniest moment.

940

In reporting this story, there's

not a lot of funny moments.

941

It was very heavy reporting.

942

Sharon Smith described getting the board

presidents Alberto Salana on the phone.

943

And she was talking to him and then

as soon as she mentioned that she

944

wanted to talk about the union busting.

945

He said that he'd have to call her

back, and then he did not call her back.

946

And then he did not take any of

her calls when she called him.

947

And she did not, he did not

answer any of her emails.

948

Wow.

949

I found a phone number for Sya.

950

I was in the newsroom for this.

951

It was great.

952

And I was like, well, this is old, so it

might not work, but I'll give it a try.

953

I just gotta give him a chance to comment.

954

And I got him on the phone.

955

And he said, hello?

956

And I said, hello?

957

And I said, my name is Aaron.

958

I'm a reporter here in Spokane.

959

And he said, what are you calling about?

960

And I told him I was calling about I

had some questions about union busting

961

at Planned Parenthood, and I started

to lay out the accusations that I was

962

going to give him a chance to respond to.

963

And he goes hello?

964

And I'm like, hello?

965

Hello?

966

Eventually he just keeps saying Hello.

967

So I hang up in case, good faith,

maybe the call really did drop.

968

I immediately call him back.

969

He does not answer.

970

I leave a message.

971

I call him back two more times

over the course of the afternoon.

972

He never picks up, he never calls me back.

973

It was very much like that Simpson meme

of just like floating back into the grass.

974

That is I'm picturing the parent trap

scene where Lindsay Lohan is in the

975

closet pretending that the phone is

breaking up and she's putting like a

976

little candy wrapper against the phone.

977

So, well that is, yes,

that's a good note to end on.

978

That's less depressing.

979

Think about Lindsay Lohan.

980

Pretending to break up schedule?

981

Yeah, so this is KYRS Medical Lake

Spokane Free Range is a weekly news

982

and public affairs program presented

by Range Media Produ, and produced by

983

Range Media and KYRS community RA radio.

984

Hello.