On a warm Sunday afternoon on a quiet ranch deep in Eugene’s south hills, two candidates met to debate their way into the title of mayor.
In front of a crowd of about 75, Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy and former Mayor Jim Torrey debated yesterday at the Wayne Morse Ranch in the first debate in a long political race which looks to be a close battle all the way through to the elections in November.
The ranch was was once the home of former Senator Wayne Morse, who started off in the Republican Party, changed to an independent, and later joined the Democratic Party.
Torrey, a former Republican, is now a registered independent. Although he has no intention of switching to the Democratic ticket, he does see opportunity without ties to a political party.
“As an independent candidate, I can make changes without being part of an agenda,” Torrey said.
Monitored by the League of Women Voters, the debate ranged from topics of trust in the police system, plans for road improvements and sustainable business. The candidates spent the two hours criticizing each other’s decisions as mayor and respective campaign strategies.
Piercy compared Torrey’s previous term to her own, claiming to have fixed many of the problems he had left her. Torrey defended against the claims Piercy made and criticized her political campaign as tactless.
Piercy questioned why voters should choose a mayor who left her with so many problems. Torrey rebutted with the positive contributions he had made while in office, such as building the new library, starting the first and second gas taxes, which fund the roads, and establishing new parks such as Spencer’s Butte.
Torrey’s question to Piercy was more technical, asking that she make the West Eugene Collaborative group’s draft plan on transportation in West Eugene available to the public, which Piercy said would happen in time.
Torrey said that Piercy’s campaign has gotten dirtier with her newly hired political consultant, Mark Wiener.
“She’s running a negative campaign while we’re trying to run a positive campaign,” Torrey said. “I stand behind every statement I’ve made. We need to raise this campaign and talk about making a change, not just throw mud.”
Piercy said she was happy with the turnout of the debate. “It’s great to have the opportunity to talk about the issues,” she said.
Molly Bannister, 59, attended the debate to learn about Eugene politics. Living here only two years after moving from Lake Tahoe, Calif., Bannister said this was a great chance to see what Torrey and Piercy had to say.
“I feel more educated,” she said. “This is definitely a (pro-)Kitty group. I still have a lot more research to do.”
Incumbent County Commissioner Bobby Green and his challenger Rob Handy were scheduled to follow the mayoral candidates, but Green had to cancel his appearance due to family circumstances. Green and Handy are in a runoff race for the North Eugene seat of the Lane County Board of Commissioners.