Improving the accountability & transparency of city government
On August 27, 2017, on “Train of Thought,” Rob Tobias interviewed Bonnie Bettman McCornack about the effort to bring transparency and accountability to the City of Eugene government. The group City Accountability is working towards getting a measure on the ballot in the spring of 2018. Listen now…
In the August 19, 2017, issue of the Register-Guard, Eugene resident Judith Schoap writes in a letter:
Ruth Atcherson (“City auditor a waste of money,” Aug. 15) seems stunningly ill-informed about the ballot measure seeking to provide Eugene with much-needed oversight and accountability via an elected independent auditor. …
On August 18, 2017, Jessica Waite of KMTR reported:
Some of Eugene’s residents are trying to create a new position that would serve as the City of Eugene’ Independent Auditor.
A group of volunteers in Eugene, called “City Accountability” is aiming to collect 10,000 signatures and put the new position on the May 2018 ballot. …
On August 18, 2017, KVAL reported:
Some of Eugene’s residents are trying to create a new position that would serve as the city’s independent auditor.
The group, called “City Accountability,” is aiming to collect 10,000 signatures and put the new position on the May, 2018 ballot. …
In the August 15, 2017, issue of the Register-Guard, Eugene resident Ruth M. Atcherson writes in a letter:
So we are to elect an “independent” city auditor who potentially knows zero about auditing because this will increase efficiency? And this has all arisen from the ruminations of a few people who believe they represent the rest of us and that the city of Eugene is incapable of honesty and integrity in its departments? Well, nationally, we have seen exactly how efficient someone with no expertise in government can be, so why not try it locally? …
In the August 11, 2017, issue of the Register-Guard, Eugene resident Paul Thompson writes in a letter:
I agree with having a Eugene city auditor as described at: http://bit.ly/2vSxfNh. I agree that the position should be elected rather than appointed.
I don’t agree that the city auditor should be installed using a conventional election: …
In the August 10, 2017, issue of the Eugene Weekly, staff write:
Mayor Lucy Vinis convened her first Auditor Study Committee meeting Aug. 2 at the Eugene Public Library. Norma Greer and Marty Wilde were elected co-chairs, and the group will look at various cities that have independent city auditors to see what might work best for Eugene and wrap up its research with a report in two months or so. The problem is that an initiative petition to create an independent elected performance auditor is already in circulation with a measure expected to go on the ballot next spring. …
In the August 9, 2017, issue of the Register-Guard, Eugene resident Brian Weaver writes in a letter:
Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis appointed all the members of her performance auditor review committee, and declared she did so as a private citizen, apparently to avoid needing to provide full transparency regarding the committee. Yet she also claimed to support an independent city auditor, as well, in her Aug. 2 guest viewpoint (“Eugene’s health, safety motivate city councilors”). …
In the August 8, 2017, issue of the Register-Guard, Eugene resident David Monk writes in a letter:
I appreciate The Register-Guard giving such detailed coverage to the initiative effort to establish an independent elected city auditor for Eugene. As the headline of Saturday’s paper indicates, the “Initiative effort gains momentum.” We’re receiving support from voters all across the political spectrum because this is truly a non-partisan effort to improve how our city delivers services and save taxpayer dollars at the same time. …
On August 4, 2017, Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis blogs:
I began the month of August with two efforts to listen and learn on a pair of long-running city issues. … On Wednesday, I convened the first meeting of the Eugene Performance Auditor study group. This is not an official City of Eugene committee; City staff are not involved, and I reserved a library meeting room just as any other citizen group would, in order to assure the public that research is independent and impartial. In my position as a citizen who is also mayor, I have called people together to help us understand the framework of decisions in implementing a performance auditor role. Their task is to build a framework. They will not recommend a specific auditor role or scope, nor will they advocate for or oppose the initiative currently gathering signatures. This is part of my commitment for transparent decision making. The meetings are open to the public; information and materials are available on a new website: EugenePerformanceAuditor.org …