Eugene Mayor Jim Torrey remains optimistic about the upcoming year and the changes he hopes to see even though his goals for the city last year did not come to fruition.
Torrey delivered the annual State of the City Address on Wednesday to a crowd of more than 300 people, saying his main goals for the year are to improve roads and bridges, develop a concrete strategy for economic development and plan a new downtown administration center.
Quoting Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill in his speech at the Eugene Hilton and Conference Center, Torrey said his three goals rely on working in partnerships to take advantage of fleeting opportunities, such as the chance to create a new home for some of the city’s most important administrative offices.
“I want you to think, and I want you to dream and I want you to talk about what might be,” Torrey said.
Torrey also expressed regret that little progress was made on the goals he set in the previous year’s address. He had hoped to improve road maintenance in Eugene and Lane County, relieve the understaffed police department and provide free access to city libraries for children living outside city limits, whose households currently pay $80 per year for access.
Torrey ran quickly through his review of the past year — emphasizing the inadequate funding for education in Oregon — before moving on to his broad vision for the new year.
Though he said money for transportation improvements in the state are at a minimum, Torrey asked that the best bridge possible be built to replace the one on Interstate 5 that crosses the Willamette River. The new bridge, he said, should have off-ramps to Franklin Boulevard and into Springfield.
“There is an opportunity to revitalize and connect our two cities in a positive way,” he said to applause. “We need to work together to make it happen.”
Torrey’s second goal was for the city to update the economic development strategy that was last revised in 1984.
“Downtown Eugene is not alive,” he said. “It’s a long way from being alive.”
In conjunction with the Eugene and Lane County communities, the city needs to examine its economic opportunities and its strengths and weaknesses, he said.
Finally, Torrey proposed a vision for a Eugene Civic Center. He asked the city to create a committee to “think outside the box” and explore opportunities for relocating the Eugene Police Department, City Hall offices, the municipal courts or other local bureaucracies.
He shared his idea of tearing down the existing City Hall on Pearl Street, building a police department in the nearby parking lot and constructing a combined city, county and 4J School District administrative building.
“None of this may happen, but I don’t want to see the opportunity escape us,” he said. The mayor did not say how much this project might cost.
Eugene City Councilors will eventually be in charge of approving and developing any of the mayor’s plans into policy.
“Those are his broadly stated mayoral goals,” Ward 7 Councilor Scott Meisner said. “The Council has yet to come up with its own set of goals.”
Meisner added that the speech raised no “alarm bells” in his mind and said for the most part, the mayor talked about ideas that are shared by most of the council.
Ward 3 Councilor David Kelly, who represents the University area, said he was “very pleased” with Torrey’s emphasis on the need for partnerships, though Kelly was cautious about endorsing any ideas without details, facts or input from the City Council.
“Every issue he raised is certainly worth further work,” Kelly said.
“The question, as always, is if there is enough money. Will the voters be willing to pay?”