Eugene resident speaks in support of Palestine at Eugene City Council meeting. (Mathias Lehman-Winters/Emerald)
The very first Eugene City Council meeting in the new City Hall, which was formerly the Eugene Water and Electric Board administration building, took place on June 24.
The meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance and reading of the Bill of Rights in honor of the upcoming independence day, as well as a land acknowledgement.
Throughout the course of the meeting, the council heard comments from the public on issues such as library funding, Palestine and electrification. The council also voted to approve a new ordinance.
Library
In 2023, the council voted to cut the Eugene Public Library’s budget by approximately 15%, or $4 million, as the city faces budget shortfalls.
During the public comment section, some residents spoke on the city’s difficult financial position and encouraged the council to restore the library’s budget.
One speaker, Jessica Roshak, a Eugene Public Library Foundation board member, said that while she supports the council “in the difficulty of this entire budget process,” she also looks forward to a time in the next budget when the library funding can be restored.
“Literacy lies at the core of multi generational cycles of poverty,” Roshak said. “EPL [Eugene Public Library] has been a tax supported public resource in Eugene for 120 years, and it might feel like it’s a no-brainer that it will be around for another 120, but we cannot take it for granted.”
Another speaker, resident Sylvia Barry, said that while the EPL only represents 3% of Eugene’s operating budget, it absorbed 16% of the cuts.
Later on during the meeting, the Raging Grannies, an activist organization comprised of elderly women, sang a rendition of “Take me out to the ball game,” substituting traditional lyrics for ones encouraging the council to restore EPL’s funding.
Voting
Four resolutions regarding revenue sharing with the state and adopting a supplemental city budget were approved unanimously by the council.
On the issue of adopting an ordinance amending section 6.406 of the Eugene code 1971, which would expand the definition of “stormwater service” to add the operation of city owned parks and open spaces, Councilor Mike Clark of Ward 5 raised a point of discussion to the council.
Clark said that he had “real concerns” about the adoption of the ordinance becoming a way for the city to increase stormwater rates that residents pay.
According to the City of Eugene, “adoption of the proposed ordinance will not change the stormwater rates; any rate change would occur through a subsequent process in accordance with the Eugene Code.”
Councilor Clark proposed a 5 year sunset clause for the adoption of the ordinance — a motion that was struck down in a 6-1 vote.
The original ordinance was then approved by council in a 5-2 vote.
Palestine
Following the vote and during public comment, Ward 2 resident Danny Huffsmith led several pro-Palestine community members in a song to city councilors, singing “Disclose divest, we will not stop, we will not rest. Stop arming Israel, and the genocide. Stop arming Israel, free Palestine.”
Ward 7 resident Cameron Langley spoke to councilors, celebrating the UO student encampment and encouraging the council to pass resolution 54XX.
The resolution, according to Langley, calls for a “socially responsible” investment committee to add more corporations to a do-not-buy list including Nestle, Chevron and Wells Fargo.
“Please see the historic opportunity you have here, and make the right decision,” Langley said. “A city of peace divests from genocide, it does not remain complicit in it. Free Palestine.”
Electrification
Eugene resident and recent South Eugene High School graduate Milla Vogelezang-Liu encouraged the council to take strides toward electrification — an ordinance aimed at reducing gas installations in new homes. The ordinance was previously adopted and then rescinded last summer due to legal concerns.
“I was incredibly excited when the city passed the first electrification ordinance in Oregon last year. Since then I have been patiently waiting for the council to return to the issue in June 2024, which is right now,” Vogelezang-Liu said. “It is the council’s responsibility to think of the health and safety of present and future Eugenians.”
Vogelezang-Liu said that by stalling climate action, the city is failing its youth, and said that the council should “leave a legacy of climate action, not of climate failure.”
Ward 1 resident Linda Kelley also spoke, encouraging the city to pass an electrification ordinance – further saying it would stand up to legal scrutiny.
“We must step up to the plate, and not be cowed by Northwest Natural’s tactics to delay necessary change,” Kelley said. “Please have the courage we need you to have at this point in time. I ask you to pass an electrification ordinance this year, let’s just get it done.”
A recording of the city council meeting can be found here.
