Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis announced a campaign platform for her second term on Tuesday, highlighting successes from her first term and mapping out her priorities for the next. The 2020 primary election will be held on May 19.
Homelessness
Homelessness is the issue at the “front and center” for Vinis, according to her platform. As mayor, she said she “led the City Council to dedicate $1 million” to fund a permanent homeless shelter and, with the help of Lane County, brought in Technical Assistant Collaborative to generate reports about local homelessness with recommended strategies for improvement. She also “promoted investment in community safety to expand services to at-risk youth and unhoused adults,” her platform stated.
In her second term, Vinis plans on developing a permanent and low-barrier homeless shelter, offering “a full range of remedies” for those seeking long-term housing, hiring a Strategic Initiatives Manager and collaborating with the State and County to boost funding for addiction and mental health services.
Housing and Population Growth
Vinis’s platform stated that “Eugene is facing a housing crisis” and outlined solutions she developed in her first term. Vinis has implemented the Construction Excise Tax, which drew “an estimated half-million dollars annually” for a Housing Trust Fund, along with “missing middle” housing, which includes duplexes, fourplexes and bungalow courts. She also “remov[ed] red tape for builders of affordable housing” and helped establish the Housing Tools & Strategies Task Force.
Vinis’s plan is to put an emphasis on tenant rights, help develop a “landlord engagement process” to make rental housing more available for people that were previously homeless and communicate with neighborhoods about “opportunities and obstacles for diverse housing types, while retaining quality of life.”
Climate Change and Transportation
Vinis was the chair of the Climate Action Plan’s Ad Hoc Committee during her first term, according to her platform.
It stated that if re-elected, she will ensure that the goals she previously set for the Climate Action Plan are met and that local energy providers fulfill their requirements. Vinis plans to “support a Clean Energy Jobs policy at the state level” and to join the Climate Mayors, US Conference of Mayors, and State Congressman Peter DeFazio in making “sustainable investments in transportation at the federal level.”
“She’s proud to stand with Youth Climate Action leaders and our local students who are championing the Juliana v. U.S. landmark lawsuit, standing up to fight climate change,” a press release stated.
Economic Development
According to Vinis’s platform, she has supported the city’s investment in high-speed fiber internet, local business development and job training programs, the renewal of a five-year, $51.2 bond for street repairs, “green jobs and products and promoting local food and agriculture production.” Also on the list of investments was the Willamette riverfront neighborhood, which allowed for 500 new housing units, new small businesses, new living-wage construction and permanent jobs and a bump in tax revenue.
In the future, she aims to support local programs that help expand the workforce and to “advocate for community benefits to be incorporated into economic development investments.”
Government Transparency
Throughout her first term, Vinis said she worked to “improve communication” and keep the public informed on policies that were being considered, her platform stated. She has written weekly Mayoral Blogs, made all audits from the city government accessible online and published “regular guest viewpoints in The Register-Guard.”
Now, her platform added, she plans on establishing a Youth Advisory Board that would “advise the City Council and empower youth leaders” and on hosting “Walks with the Mayor,” which would allow for personal conversations about issues that different neighborhoods face.
Fighting for Progressive Values
In her time as Mayor, Vinis passed Eugene’s Sanctuary City Ordinance and a resolution that condemned abortion bans and “committ[ed] the city to support reproductive rights moving forward,” her platform stated. She also started the Spreading Kindness Campaign and encouraged “fair labor agreements” for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and Graduate Teaching Fellows at the University of Oregon.
According to her platform, Vinis wishes to “recognize and celebrate 20 cultures by 2021,” advocate for representation within the Equity Panel to be expanded, give more of a voice to people experiencing homelessness in discussions of how to improve it and support “‘growing our own’ economic development” to accommodate local businesses and entrepreneurs.
