Improving the accountability & transparency of city government
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 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 1, 2018, issue of the Register-Guard, Eugene resident Ruth Duemler writes in a letter:
Thank you, Scott Bartlett, for discovering the $1.3 million annual cost of renting City Hall but that leaves out the cost of the move and remodeling plus transit and inconvenience of separate city facilities (“Gravel pit points to yes on 20-283”, April 27). We could also add the 10-year rental agreement locking in no city hall.
We need an honest and dedicated observer and that is exactly what 20-283 gives us.
In the April 12, 2018, issue of the Eugene Weekly, Eugene resident Ruth Duemler writes in a letter:
Trade wars, stock market drops and more cost changes demand an independent elected auditor who understands city finances. We have experienced continuing financial losses with no City Hall and recognize the escalating cost of new construction.
This growing community needs an independent auditor elected to serve our part-time city counselors and make it the beautiful city we all want.
In the April 1, 2018, issue of the Register-Guard, Eugene resident Ruth Duemler writes in a letter:
I appreciate Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis’s concerns for our city and the May election. We must remember our expensive loss of our City Hall that has robbed us of dollars for schools, public housing and services. …
In the March 8, 2018, issue of the Register-Guard, Eugene resident Ruth Duemler writes in a letter:
I don’t understand. How could we believe that our Eugene City Council should select its own auditor? …
In the January 17, 2018, issue of the Register-Guard, Eugene resident Ruth Duemler McCornack writes in a letter:
So some Eugene City Council members want to choose their city auditor.
Don’t they understand that what is urgently needed is a city auditor with no ties to city administration or the council? …