In the January 4, 2018, issue of the Eugene Weekly, Eugene resident Richard Guske writes in a letter:
Bonny Bettman McCornack opposed the 2015 library levy tax increase: “The library is like mom and apple pie … difficult to speak against. … but I don’t like being manipulated,” KLCC 8/28/15.
Emily Semple opposed the library levy tax … “when so many people are homeless,” KLCC 8/28/15.
Now McCornack advocates for an elected city auditor, a tax increase of a reported $600,000 per year and a reach up to … well, nobody seems to know where its authority stops.
A tax increase! How else to cover this chunk of money subtracted from a zero-sum city budget with only a hope for payback. Worse than a levy. Semple is not taking a position regarding this imposing tax, this time, even when so many more people are homeless.
The auditor issue may not be “mom and apple pie,” but it’s being marketed as such in what is, I believe, a Eugene “political family feud,” to gain control of city government from this City Council, future councils and the city manager. And, the über-auditor can itself be audited, only by another election. Think about that!
I stand with Bonny Bettman McCornack: “I don’t like being manipulated.”