In the May 14, 2018, online edition of the Eugene Weekly, Eugene resident Otis Haschemeyer writes:
“Give ‘em the same but different,” they say in Hollywood. It means you’re going to get the same story. Cosmetically different, it isn’t. Not because there’s a “good story,” and they know it. There are lots of stories. It’s because Hollywood is about making money for Hollywood. That’s what they know about. That’s the story behind the story.
The same is true of Eugene city government. The policy position might seem to change, but the story behind the story is about money: keep “the money-stream.” It’s how they get paid. It’s how their friends get paid.
This same old story will lead us to further environmental disaster, further violence at home and abroad, further economic devastation for billions. And more bad Hollywood movies.
It’s why our bike infrastructure sucks, why we impoverish our community with bonds, giving tax breaks to the one percent, and why all these folks are coming out against an elected auditor who might lay bare that insider money stream.
To offer up the “same, but different” council-appointed “performance” auditor with another toothless review board can seem nothing less than corrupt.
If we want a new story, we must demand it — with our vote, with our local spending, with help for our neighbors, with time and activism. Let’s have an independent elected auditor.
It’s no more than seeing the story behind the story. And, by God, let’s look forward to reading those audits.