Tag: Register-Guard

Vote against auditor measure was blow against democracy

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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.

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No second chance for Eugene elected auditor measure

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In the July 10, 2018, issue of the Register-Guard, reporter Christian Hill writes:

There will be no second chance for an elected city auditor, at least not this year.

Eugene city councilors declined Monday night to consider referring to the November ballot a revised version of the measure that voters rejected in May. Voters had also turned down a measure to bring aboard a council-appointed auditor during the same election.

The vote was 6-2, with only councilors Betty Taylor and Emily Semple voting for the referral. …

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Eugene councilor wants to resurrect elected auditor ballot measure

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In the July 8, 2018, issue of the Register-Guard, reporter Christian Hill writes:

The debate over a Eugene city auditor isn’t finished.

Less than two months after voters rejected bringing aboard a watchdog, either council-appointed or elected, a Eugene city councilor is resurrecting the idea.

Councilor Betty Taylor said she will ask city councilors Monday to refer to the November ballot a revised version of the elected auditor measure that a local group had qualified for the May ballot as a citizen initiative. …

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Where the votes were in May

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In the June 8, 2018, issue of the Register-Guard, the editorial board writes:

Voters rejected a proposal for an elected Eugene city auditor on May 15, but the initiative’s sponsors can take heart from detailed election returns released by Lane County this week. Measure 20-283 passed in three of eight Eugene City Council wards, and in 12 of 31 voting precincts. Most encouraging to the sponsors was that the elected auditor found support in diverse parts of the city, and lost by a landslide in only a few neighborhoods. …

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Auditor votes showed Eugene’s hunger for change

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In the May 18, 2018, issue of the Register-Guard, Don Kahle writes in a column:

Eugene won’t be getting an auditor, but people still want auditing. I hope our leaders will respect — fear, if they must — the lawn sign consensus that was mounted for an elected city auditor. Nobody knew how the vote would turn out. Once you feel shivers being sent up it, you know where your spine is.

Even though both auditor measures failed at the polls, Eugene is begging its leaders: Don’t do nothing. …

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In wake of election, strive for responsible budgeting

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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. …

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What next for a Eugene auditor?

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In the May 17, 2018, issue of the Register-Guard, the editorial board writes:

Eugene voters defeated both proposals to create a city auditor’s office — an initiative measure for an elected auditor failed by 7 percentage points, and the Eugene City Council’s measure calling for an appointed auditor was rejected by a 3-to-1 ratio. The initiative’s version was too expensive and unaccountable; the council’s proposal was seen as a maneuver to derail the competing measure.

A city auditor, however, is not a bad idea. With some refinements, and in a political atmosphere less polluted by suspicion and acrimony, a proposal for an auditor’s office might fly. In the wake of Tuesday’s doubly negative verdict by the voters, such a proposal can’t come from the City Council any time soon. Only an independent citizens’ group would be able to pick up the pieces, apply what has been learned and give Eugene the cost-saving benefits of performance auditing.

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Election: Voters have until 8 p.m. to decide on several local offices and a contentious Eugene auditor measure

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In the May 15, 2018, issue of the Register-Guard, reporter Elon Glucklich writes:

… Dueling city auditor measures are likely generating the most buzz in Eugene political circles. Ballots ask voters to vote yes or no on two separate proposals: Measure 20-283, a citizen-initiated proposal to establish an elected city auditor, and Measure 20-287, a City Council-referred proposal for a council-appointed auditor, as well as a citizen review board to oversee the auditor’s work.

The measures are first time in Eugene that a citizen-initiated and council-referred proposals covering the same issue has appeared on the same ballot. Proponents of the citizen initiative say an auditor should be completely independent of the City Council and city manager, while supporters of the council-backed measure say an independent auditor would be too costly and lack accountability.

If both auditor measures receive more than 50 percent of the vote, the measure with the higher vote total will take effect. …

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