Opposing sides of a movement to recall Eugene City Councilor Claire Syrett, environmental activists and community members against firework ban spoke at Monday’s Sept. 26 Eugene City Council meeting.
City council members thanked Syrett, who faces a recall after she voted in favor of the MovingAhead project that identified an area in her ward for bus-only lanes.
Supporters of the recall said the project would remove two car lanes and increase traffic congestion –– and that bus ridership has decreased since 2012. Petitioners said they were angry Syrett “supports an EmX system not wanted and not responsive to new eco-friendly transportation alternatives.”
The Recall Claire Syrett campaign claimed on their website that Councilor Syrett “regularly dismissed their concerns and even denigrated them in personal terms.” The campaign also claimed that Syrett ignored notes and emails from her constituents regarding the MovingAhead project.
There were over 2,300 votes to remove her compared to 1,600 votes to keep her as of Sept. 27, according to KEZI.
Syrett made a statement contesting the fairness of her recall.
“This kind of anti-democratic strategy to undermine and remove duly elected public officials should raise alarms for all who care about our representative democracy, regardless of your political affiliation or ideological point of view,” Syrett said. “This is just a harbinger of a future in which elections truly won’t matter unless we take action to combat this strategy.”
Natalie Crowder and Richard Locke, president of the Eugene Business Alliance, two of the largest contributors to the Recall Claire Syrett campaign, also attended the public forum. The official cut-off date for officiating the recall vote is Oct. 3.
During the public forum portion of the meeting, two 4J high school students testified on behalf of the climate crisis, urging the City Council to take initiative in retrofitting buildings in Eugene to be less fossil fuel dependent.
Mason Tyler, a junior at North Eugene High School, said he hopes the Council continues to be proactive in supporting concrete policy to decarbonize buildings in Eugene and mandating against the development of new natural-gas infrastructure.
“It’s felt like the efforts of our world leaders haven’t been enough,” Tyler said. “I hope for Oregon to be a leader in the fight for climate justice and the opportunity is here.”
Aya Cockram, coalition coordinator for the Fossil Free Eugene campaign, asked the Council to schedule a work session moving forward on a commercial electrification ordinance –– and that when the electrification ordinance is presented to Council, it is voted on to mandate all new residential buildings be all electric, starting June 1, 2023.
A majority of the community members who spoke during the public forum advocated against the fireworks ban. Statements against the ban included the ban would increase the demand for more dangerous illegal fireworks and would reduce revenue for local nonprofits who have historically depended upon fireworks sales.
The City Council successfully voted to ban the use of all fireworks in the city of Eugene.
