In the January 13, 2018, issue of the Register-Guard, Eugene resident Richard Young writes in a letter:
In the Jan. 11 article “Rival auditor plan advances,” Bonny Bettman was quoted as characterizing the group Citizens for Sensible Oversight as “city government insiders” (clearly a bad thing) who are proposing “that the fox should guard the henhouse.”
Bettman sees the city government, including the councilors and the mayor, as foxes and the city manager as the main fox. Clearly, she wants an “independent” auditor to be a prosecutor of our city government rather than an enabler.
This is an old war against the city manager form of government. It is also clear that she believes that Measure 20-283 will give her and her supporters a new platform to continue that war where the “independent” auditor will become the uber-councilor with the powers and budget to bring the city manager to his knees.
Do we want to pay for this war under the guise “fiscal responsibility?” The concept of an auditor is great, but not when it is used as a political cudgel with us all paying the bill.