After attending probably half of the Eugene City Council meetings and a third of Springfield’s over this last year, I have to express my pure frustration and denunciation of the cowardly silence, inaction and negligence displayed by our elected officials.

The dysfunctional nature of our local city governments’ responses to the urgent needs of our community has been made evident throughout 2025. The political conditions under the new Trump administration have exacerbated nearly all of our local crises, and as the working people of Eugene fight back against Trump’s racist billionaire agenda, our so-called city “leaders” can barely muster up more than a platitudinous word salad to virtue signal their supposed progressiveness while shying away from any of the necessary concrete actions they have the power to take.

Take the Dec. 1 Springfield City Council meeting. Public comment was packed by people asking for very specific actions from the City Council in the face of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s increased activity locally. The actions requested included declaring a state of emergency, creating an emergency family protection fund for impacted families, enforcing the same laws for ICE as everyone else, canceling the city’s contract with Flock Safety, etc.

People cried for the city to take action, scared to death for their family members and neighbors. Young children testified about their fears and demanded concrete action. Mayor Sean VanGordon gave a completely vague answer that ignored all demands, and implied we were asking the city to violate federal law — which we were not. Councilor Kori Rodley ignored these demands as well, and stated that she “cannot promise that I can keep every one of you safe or protect everyone from what is happening” and said “elections have consequences,” then went on a long spiel about how we, the audience, have the power, not her!

What did they have the power to do after public comment however? Give the city manager a raise. Our local elected officials are failing us while they pocket our tax money and climb political ladders. The people of Eugene and Springfield deserve so much better.

Kamryn Stringfield
Eugene