In the April 17, 2018, issue of the Register-Guard, Eugene resident Laura Stasack writes in a letter:
There’s an old quote about two types of people: Those who do the work, and those happy to let them. Anyone who’s ever done a group project knows the dynamic.
Former Eugene City Councilor George Brown is the person you want in your group. He did extensive research on the city auditor position in Measure 20-283. The City Council hastily crafted a counter-measure to sabotage the measure, having cited no research.
Need substantiation of sabotage? Councilors know the ethical route was to let the vote proceed without interference. Why? Because they can propose amendments after measures pass. If they felt the measure was too expensive or the auditor should be appointed, they could do research, support their position, and put those amendments to a vote in the next election.
And — huge advantage — they don’t need to gather signatures. Reasonable amendments are easy to pass, as was done with the police auditor.
Now, if confusion caused by the council’s competing measure results in 20-283 failing, its supporters would have to again gather thousands of signatures for another attempt. Would the council sabotage that, too?
What do the councilors fear? Independent auditing? Why? Nationwide, independent auditors save $4 to $5 per dollar they cost.