In a city of 160,000 people, Mayor Kitty Piercy makes it her business to be an approachable public figure. Yesterday, as part of her monthly “one-on-ones,” Piercy was at Market of Choice on Franklin Boulevard to speak with residents who wanted to have a word with their mayor.
The meeting attracted several concerned citizens who wanted to talk about topics that affect their lives, such as the Lane County transit service cuts and the University’s proposed Oregon Research Institute Riverfront development.
Piercy, in her second term as mayor, said she has conducted the one-on-one meetings with community members since she took office. She said she inherited the practice of meeting with citizens one-on-one from the former Eugene mayor Jim Torrey, but that she added a convenient twist: coming out to meet the community, instead of vice-versa.
“When I first (became) mayor, I’d found out that the mayor before me had one-on-ones, but he held them at city hall, and had relatively small participation, and I thought well, maybe because it’s a little off-putting for people … to come to see their elected official in a formal setting,” Piercy said. “As I thought about where are people already, and where would make it easy, I thought, ‘Hey, 5 o’clock at the grocery store’ — it doesn’t get easier than that.’”
Margaret Harter, the mayor’s assistant, said Piercy doesn’t have fixed locations for the events, but that she likes to set up in places that are convenient for busy residents, such as grocery stores.
“This way, the mayor comes to them instead of them having to come to the mayor,” Harter said. “That’s the main philosophy behind all this.”
A retired University faculty member, who declined to be named because she did not want to be searched online, said she was disappointed in the lack of public outrage over the bus service cuts in Lane County.
“Can you imagine everything being in downtown, and I mean everything,” she said. “Now you can’t find anything downtown.”
She said she hasn’t owned a vehicle in 32 years and that LTD’s service cuts directly affect her ability to get around. The one-on-one gave her an opportunity to share her grievance with an elected official.
Piercy said she learned things about the idiosyncrasies of each ward through her monthly meetings, making them an enjoyable experience that she looks forward to every month. Her meetings often involve a public safety officer who can consult with Eugene residents who have concerns that relate to public safety.
Piercy reiterated that the one-on-ones were all about communication between citizens and elected officials and bolstering public perception of the mayor’s office.
“It’s good for people to see their mayor out in their wards,” she said. “Even if people don’t want to come up and talk to me, it’s nice for them to see me in their neighborhoods — so they know I’m there.”
The one-on-ones occur on the last Tuesday of each month, with Piercy completing a circuit of Eugene’s wards every eight months.
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