In the January 18, 2018, issue of the Eugene Weekly, staff write:
Backers of the city auditor Measure 20-283 always anticipated a fight from the city manager, city attorney and conservatives on the Eugene City Council. The established political structure in Eugene has rarely supported transparency and accountability. They fear independent auditing as a threat to their credibility, even if it saves taxpayers millions. But it turns out that some citizens have come late to this debate, and their push for an alternative, watered-down auditor by Citizens for Sensible Oversight (CSO) is divisive and confusing. This effort may end up killing the most solid and best-researched citizen proposal Eugene has seen in decades. CSO is advocating for a vague, competing measure of undetermined budget. As the RG called it in a recent editorial, it’s “auditor lite.” The competing measure is in the city’s hands now, and you can bet the administration is busy writing the devilish details that will take most of the teeth out of it. The CSO measure will become the city’s measure. The City Council has until Feb. 12 to decide whether to put the administration’s competing measure on the ballot. It’s a bad idea, and we urge the council to reject it.