In the April 26, 2018, issue of the Eugene Weekly, staff write:

What if Eugene ends up with two auditors? Proponents of the city-backed “auditor-lite” Measure 20-287 say that couldn’t happen because the city charter gives victory to the measure getting more votes when “two conflicting measures” are both approved at the same election. But where’s the conflict? The two ballot measures to be voted on next month propose completely different auditors, one elected and the other appointed, with different staffs and different budgets. Eugene’s new motto could be “The World’s Most-Audited City of the Arts and Outdoors.”

In the April 26, 2018, issue of the Eugene Weekly, staff write:

The debate over elected vs. appointed auditors continues, and adding to the discussion last week was a nationally recognized expert on city auditors who spoke at Harris Hall. Gary Blackmer, retired director of audits for the state of Oregon and the city of Portland, laid out his strong support for the elected auditor Ballot Measure 20-283. He was critical of the competing city-sponsored measure to create an appointed auditor, saying the “auditor-lite” proposal has little authority to investigate, no secure whistleblower hotline, and is underfunded — not likely to attract the best candidates. “You get what you pay for,” he says. However, the biggest problem with the appointed auditor, Blackmer says, is a lack of independence. An appointed auditor would be under the oversight of a council-appointed citizen committee that has “built-in conflicts of interest.” Such a power structure violates auditing standards and best practices, he says.

In the April 19, 2018, issue of the Eugene Weekly, staff write:

The Friday the 13th auditor forum at the City Club of Eugene was not as civil as most City Club meetings. Bonnie Bettman McCornack spoke for the elected, independent auditor, and Josh Skov advocated for the City Council-appointed auditor before a full house. By the end of the forum, we harked back to an earlier City Club statement by Councilor Mike Clark. He said the council appointed measure, 20-287, is a “cynical measure” to kill the elected auditor, measure 20-283. We’ll see if it succeeds on May 15.

In the April 12, 2018, issue of the Eugene Weekly, staff write:

As the debate over electing or appointing a Eugene city auditor heats up, former government auditor Gary Blackmer will talk and answer questions on “Putting the GRIT in INTEGRITY” from 7 to 8:30 pm Wednesday, April 18, at Harris Hall, 125 E. 8th Avenue. Blackmer, who worked most recently for the Oregon Secretary of State Audits Division, favors the original proposal, Ballot Measure 20-283, which calls for an elected auditor with sufficient budget to monitor City Hall.

In the March 22, 2018, issue of the Eugene Weekly, staff write:

Former City Councilor George Brown tells us he is optimistic about the prospects for an elected independent auditor for Eugene after knocking on doors across the city. Residents understand the difference between the elected auditor Measure 20-283 and “auditor lite,” which says the council should choose the auditor, according to Brown. With the vote in May, 20-283 advocates are lining up supporters such as former council members David Kelly and Shawn Boles, former city manager Vicki Elmer and others who understand how city government works.

In the March 15, 2018, issue of the Eugene Weekly, staff write:

News on the Eugene city auditor front. Bonny McCornack of ElectedAuditor4CityAccountability and a chief petitioner for Measure 20-283 tells us that on Monday, March 12, Circuit Court Judge Rasmussen struck the word “independent” from the title of the city’s competing appointed auditor ballot measure. …

In the February 1, 2018, issue of the Eugene Weekly, staff write:

The Eugene City Council is looking to refer a competing city auditor measure to the May ballot, but it will be drafted by the anti-auditor city manager and city attorney, so expect it to have an inadequate budget at best, and correspondingly little impact. Citizens for Sensible Oversight, who kick-started this effort, complain that Measure 20-283 already on the ballot is too expensive and would cost taxpayers “nearly $700,000 every year,” but Eugene Police Auditor Mark Gissiner notes in a recent Register-Guard op-ed that his budget is $530,000 “or less than 1 cent per capita per day.” The Measure 20-283 auditor and his or her staff would have vastly more responsibility and impact than the police auditor. Eugene is becoming a real city and we need well-funded and substantial independent auditing of all city departments. Police auditors cost money; city auditors with the right resources can save taxpayers millions. City Accountability has a fundraiser, Blues for Ballot Measure 20-283, planned for 7 pm Friday, Feb. 2, at Tsunami Books.

In the January 18, 2018, issue of the Eugene Weekly, staff write:

Backers of the city auditor Measure 20-283 always anticipated a fight from the city manager, city attorney and conservatives on the Eugene City Council. The established political structure in Eugene has rarely supported transparency and accountability. They fear independent auditing as a threat to their credibility, even if it saves taxpayers millions. But it turns out that some citizens have come late to this debate, and their push for an alternative, watered-down auditor by Citizens for Sensible Oversight (CSO) is divisive and confusing. This effort may end up killing the most solid and best-researched citizen proposal Eugene has seen in decades. CSO is advocating for a vague, competing measure of undetermined budget. As the RG called it in a recent editorial, it’s “auditor lite.” The competing measure is in the city’s hands now, and you can bet the administration is busy writing the devilish details that will take most of the teeth out of it. The CSO measure will become the city’s measure. The City Council has until Feb. 12 to decide whether to put the administration’s competing measure on the ballot. It’s a bad idea, and we urge the council to reject it.