Twenty-five – that’s Ian Goldfarb’s magic number this month.
If he gathers 25 signatures from registered voters, Goldfarb will enter a contest comparable to David and Goliath, as he will join Eugene’s mayoral race against popular incumbent Mayor Kitty Piercy.
“At first people were telling me I’m crazy, but I have a lot of support now,” Goldfarb said.
The 21-year-old University junior and business school honor student said he wants to represent college students and clean up the city’s budget.
But first he has to file the correct paperwork and collect enough signatures to be eligible for the May 20 primary.
Goldfarb, a marketing major, offered a list of reforms for city government, and said his major concern arose when he looked over the city’s budget. He wondered how local spending “has become so inefficient.”
“I have seven potholes on my street, and somebody’s got to do something about them,” Goldfarb said.
Goldfarb took a giant leap from just complaining about the pothole problem and decided to inject himself into local government. He wants to solve the rough roads problem and other issues he thinks the city faces by stepping up and running for mayor of Eugene.
“He’s what we perceive to be a leader,” University marketing professor Mike Dore said of Goldfarb. “I think it’s good what he is doing … he seemed to have some very clear ideas about what he wanted to do” in city government.
While his friends call him ambitious and Dore refers to him as a leader, Goldfarb isn’t a life-long politician whose career began in elementary school. This is his first dip in the election pool, and Goldfarb said his mayoral experience may not even be something he puts on his resume.
“The short version is that I wanted to learn about the election process,” Goldfarb said. He added that the experience would help him be more informed about city government and how it operates.
Goldfarb hails from Ashland, Ore., where in middle school he played sports, sang in the choir and took part in drama. After damaging his eye, he retired from contact sports and took up tennis in high school.
Academics came easy to Goldfarb in high school, and he didn’t push himself to hard, which he now regrets, he said. Goldfarb learned from slacking in high school and worked hard to get accepted into the University’s honors program, is a member of the student chapter of the American Marketing Association and said he spends more time doing homework than anything else these days.
“I look up to him and compare myself to him. He holds me accountable for my actions, and he’s very dedicated to everything he does,” said University student Chad Smith, who has been friends with Goldfarb for 16 years.
But the campaign trail can be tough, and Goldfarb has taken an unusual approach toward his election – he plans on not spending a single cent.
Goldfarb said he might set up a stand where he can express his opinions. He may get a “Vote for Ian” sign and stand in front of the Coburg Bridge, or enlist friends who will help him knock on doors for his campaign, he said.
“He doesn’t like to be serious in all aspects of his life,” said Goldfarb’s friend Andre Cartee, also a University student. He “knows the boundaries” of when to be serious and when to be funny: “I laughed at him the first time he told me he was running, then I told him to go for it,” she said.
Oregon’s primary election will take place on May 20. Primay elections are nonpartisan, and election rules state that if one candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote, he or she is the only name placed on the November general election ballot. If no candidate wins 50 percent, the top two nominees move forward to November.
Goldfarb only has nine of the required 25 signatures as of Monday night. He said while he doesn’t expect to win the election, “it could a be fun process.”
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