In the November 29, 2017, issue of the Register-Guard, Eugene resident Joy Marshall writes in a letter:
I appreciated Christian Hill’s article about the proposed initiative for a Eugene city auditor (“Auditor question heads to council,” Nov. 19). The article is an alert to all voters to carefully read the wording of the measure.
I certainly am all for transparency and accountability in government, but the details of this initiative are concerning. When I first heard that it would cost almost $700,000 per year, I thought that was so expensive, it must be wrong. I then read the actual wording, and saw that there is pretty much no accountability for that money, nor for how the auditor spends his or her time.
The auditor would be the only person determining how to spend those funds and could literally take his or her $153,000 annual salary, and hire other accountants to do the work. That is not how Lane County, or Portland or other cities with auditors work. There needs to be accountability. Voters should examine the measure’s wording because it will be in the city charter, amendable only by another public vote.