Tuesday, October 3, 2000

A tiny Aloha company gets to do something some citizens only dream of: 

It gets to tell the presidential candidates when it's time to shut up. 

Alzatex, whose speech timers have been used by city councils and school boards since 1993, is providing the devices for the presidential and vice-presidential debates, which begin today. 

"There's no favoritism," Doug Wilcox, an Alzatex salesman, said of the custom-built Timekeeper Count Up/Down Timer systems shipped Friday to Boston and Danville, Ky., sites of the first two debates. "When the red light comes on, you've got to be done." 

Today in Boston, moderator and television newsman Jim Lehrer is scheduled to toss out the opening question in the 

three-debate series between Democrat Al Gore and Republican George W. Bush. A vice presidential debate between Republican Dick Cheney and Democrat Joseph Lieberman is Thursday. The other presidential debates are Oct. 11 and 17. 

Each candidate will have two minutes to respond to each question. 

The Alzatex Timekeeper, which looks like a traffic signal, will flash a yellow light when a speaker has 30 seconds left to wrap up. The red light comes on with 10 seconds to go. 

A less elaborate version of the timer system has become popular with city councils, school boards and government panels that take testimony from residents during public meetings. 

Alzatex owner Terry Lang built his first system in 1993 for Lake Oswego. Since then, Lang's systems have kept speeches short and sweet for public bodies in such cities as West Linn; Malibu, Calif.; and Vail, Colo., as well as cities in Australia, China and Japan. Toastmasters have named Alzatex an authorized provider of timers for its speech clubs. And high school debate teams have begun using Alzatex's handheld timers. 

Alzatex's big debate break came in July. That's when one of the presidential debates' audio engineers, Peter Erskine, spotted the timers at Alzatex's booth at a July trade show of the National Association of Broadcasters. 

Last month, after the presidential candidates ended weeks of haggling over debate details, Erskine's company, Best Audio of Woodland Hills, Calif., gave Alzatex's five-person staff the green light to build the timers. The system, which normally costs between $200 and $10,000, cost the Commission on Presidential Debates nearly $10,000 because of the short turnaround time. 

"Had they gotten to us quicker, we would have cut the price," Wilcox noted. 

Will Alzatex's red light be enough to bridle the political oratory of two loquacious verbal warriors? 

Probably. 

"When we went to a time limit on testimony, it caused people to be more organized with their thoughts," said Mayor Jill Thorn, who presides with an Alzatex timer at West Linn City Council meetings. "Most people are polite and stop." 

But what if the presidential candidates run the red light, mayor? 

"Be very diplomatic," she advised.