I take very seriously making an endorsement for an elected official.

I have lived in Eugene Wards 4 and 5 for more than 75 years, and I believe I have a good read of the type of person who will best represent their respective wards. We need the highest level of institutional knowledge as we can get as we are facing difficult budget decisions.

Greg Evans is in my opinion the best qualified to represent the residents of Ward 6. He has demonstrated leadership experience, and he has represented Ward 6 well over the past few years.

In Ward 3 John Barofsky is the most qualified candidate for a City Council position I have ever seen in my life. His experience with the Eugene Budget Committee, Planning Commission and Eugene Water & Electric Board as well as so many other city and state positions he has held makes him the strongest candidate for Ward 3.

Lastly, we have a clear choice for Ward 5. Mike Clark has stood his ground in positions that he believed didn’t represent the best decisions coming out of city hall. He held fast on wanting the former EWEB building to be city hall, pressing for more than 10 years, and after all the money was spent on plans for a new city hall, his position was finally acknowledged, and we saved at least $30 million. Now we have three times the space, on the river and adjacent to the emerging Riverfront District.

Clark’s opponents are young, inexperienced and progressive. I don’t want someone representing me that has no experience in governance dealing with hundreds of employees and hundreds of millions in tax revenues. We need proven leadership with institutional knowledge, and for those and other reasons I highly recommend considering Mike Clark for City Council Ward 5.

John H. Brown
Eugene