In the March 31, 2018, issue of the Register-Guard, Eugene resident Cindy Allen writes in a letter:
Our award-winning Eugene City Hall, with parking, was torn down over the vocal objections of many residents. Later, it appeared that the costs of demolition and rebuilding were much higher than estimated.
I was particularly concerned that the City Council was not informed about the cost increases. Before any more Eugene buildings are torn down and rebuilt, such as the courthouse, we need an elected independent auditor. At less than 0.12 percent of the annual operating budget, the cost seems reasonable and much less than companies usually allot for independent auditing.
I listened to Gary Blackmere speak recently. Retired, Blackmere has 30 years of public auditing with the city of Portland and Multnomah County. In other communities, independent auditors have saved many times the cost of audits, on the average five dollars saved for each dollar spent during the early years and in later years with a three-to-one ratio as efficiency improves. With costly projects under long-time consideration, perhaps the savings in Eugene will be even higher than average.