In the April 14, 2018, issue of the Register-Guard, Eugene resident (and former City Councilor) Paul Nicholson writes in a letter:
The Eugene City Council placed a competing city auditor ballot measure, hoping to split the vote so that both measures fail. In that event the council would appoint a lapdog auditor as an additional barrier to any real accountability for Eugene city government. But that would not be the worst consequence.
Worse still, if the council’s measure succeeds, citizens will no longer have recourse to ballot initiatives that challenge corruption, waste and nepotism because every important citizen initiative will face a council-sponsored counterfeit measure.
The City Council needs to merely raise five hands to place a decoy measure on the ballot. Who will undertake a citizen initiative knowing that the council will sabotage the election? Gathering 12,000-plus valid signatures and financing a campaign is no mean matter.
Eugene would be a worse place but for past heroes who undertook the difficult tasks of running successful initiatives. Without them, Eugene would now be burdened with a taxpayer subsidized nuclear plant, and our street trees would have been cut down.
Please vote for Measure 20-283 for an elected, independent city auditor.