Improving the accountability & transparency of city government
In the September 14, 2017, issue of the Register-Guard, Eugene resident Dennis Casady writes in a letter:
As a life-long Eugene resident, I’ve watched a long parade of bad decisions made by city government, but my big disappointment is the money wasted in planning a new City Hall. …
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. …
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 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. …
In the August 3, 2017, issue of the Register-Guard, Pleasant Hill resident Denis Hijmans writes in a letter:
I invite those who would like to see a performance auditor function established in the city of Eugene to look at how Lane County established this function two years ago, and how well it is working there. …
In the July 28, 2017, issue of the Register-Guard, Eugene resident Cynthia Kokis writes in a letter:
Our family arrived in Eugene in 1973. One daughter attended Lincoln School and the other Roosevelt. We got bikes, explored jogging, and swam at Jefferson Pool. I was active in the formation of the Friendly Area Neighbors. …
In the July 27, 2017, issue of the Eugene Weekly, Eugene resident Robin Bloomgarden writes in a letter:
In 2005, the question on the Eugene ballot was: Should the City Council hire an appointed external police auditor? Certain people raged against the idea, assuring everyone that doing this would forever change our council/city manager form of government, and should be avoided at all costs. …
In the July 27, 2017, issue of the Register-Guard, Eugene resident Robin Bloomgarden writes in a letter:
In 2005, the question on the Eugene ballot was: Should the council hire an appointed external police auditor? Certain people raged against the idea, assuring everyone that doing this would forever change our council/manager form of government; it should be avoided at all costs. It passed, and government wasn’t ruined, it’s better. …