Improving the accountability & transparency of city government
In the July 26, 2018, issue of the Eugene Weekly, Eugene resident Richard Guske writes:
Regarding the July 12 “Slant” column: What? Let’s get to our “greatest challenge,” the election of effective candidates, “only four months away,” without the help of the “mayor, manager and staff and City Council.”
And, sob, we don’t even have a “truly effective auditor like so many other cities have.” Let the adults stand up please.
In the July 26, 2018, issue of the Eugene Weekly, Yachats resident Jerome Garger writes:
Another damaging blow to our fragile and precarious democracy has been struck, this time in “liberal” Eugene.
Eugene’s mayor and six city councilors voted against Betty Taylor’s recent admirable motion to allow a public vote on a modified citizen-initiated measure to create the position of an official auditor, one with real power to examine and report on their misuse of taxpayers’ money and their other highly questionable shenanigans.
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In the July 17, 2018, issue of the Register-Guard, Yachats resident Jerome Garger writes in a letter:
Another damaging blow to our fragile and precarious democracy has been struck, this time in “liberal” Eugene.
Six city councilors voted against Councilor Betty Taylor’s recent admirable motion to allow a public vote on a modified citizen-initiated measure that would create the position of an official auditor with real power to examine and report on their highly questionable shenanigans. The council’s trumped-up, meaningless competing measure on the May ballot muddied the waters when the swamp needed draining. Their Republican-type tactic worked for them.
Shameful.
In the June 7, 2018, issue of the Eugene Weekly, Eugene resident Branden Johnson writes:
On vacation while auditing votes were counted, I have been bemused by post-election comments. One side says Eugene avoided an autocratic, over-priced elected auditor promoted by a narrow neighborhood cabal; the other side says the people’s preference was defeated by a late insincere option aimed at vote-splitting, resulting in continued double-dealing by local government.
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In the May 24, 2018, issue of the Eugene Weekly, Eugene resident James Stauffer writes:
Analyzing the voting data for the dueling city auditor ballot measures shows that the majority of voters did want an auditor, but vote-splitting resulted in no auditor being selected. …
In the May 21, 2018, issue of the Register-Guard, Eugene resident Ruth Duemler writes:
My thanks to Bonny Bettman McCormack and all those who worked so hard gathering signatures for Measure 20-283, a citizen campaign to have expert advice on city spending.
After the city of Eugene stabbed this effort, I doubt we will ever have another citizen initiative in Eugene.
What was the city afraid of? Where will the next gravel pit appear?
In the May 18, 2018, issue of the Register-Guard, Eugene Budget Committee member Joshua Skov writes in a letter:
I would like to thank the proponents of measures 20-283 and 20-287 for their campaigns in support of a Eugene city auditor. Although both measures lost, they showed a significant appetite for accountability and transparency. …
In the May 14, 2018, online edition of the Eugene Weekly, Eugene resident Ruth Duemler writes:
City Hall costs are adding up to more and more dollars down the drain! The $1.3 million annual rent for the many city hall facilities fails to include the cost of move, the cost of remodeling and the cost of traveling from one city hall rental to another. We also discover that rental contracts are for 10 years. …
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. …
In the May 14, 2018, online edition of the Eugene Weekly, Eugene resident Rebecca La Mothe writes:
While I do believe that we need a Eugene performance auditor, I will vote for the appointed city auditor Measure 20-287. Had the 2002 Charter Review Committee, Performance Auditor Proposal (also calling for an appointed auditor) been referred to the ballot for a public vote and passed, quite possibly some of the problems and “mistakes” in recent years could have been prevented.
Communication problems between the city manager and the City Council might have been more efficiently negotiated with outcomes more successful. It’s a cooperative relationship-affirming proposal that may have worked very well for the past 15 years, much like Measure 20-287 could be a positive move forward today. …