One finalist for Eugene city manager is “not like the others,” thus clearly failing the “Sesame Street” test.

Two of the candidates each have over 10 years of experience as city managers and in similar leadership positions in multiple cities and organizations. The third has a total of 30 days of experience as an interim city manager, two years as an assistant city manager and five years as director of Eugene Public Works — all here in Eugene.

How did Matt Rodrigues and his thin resume best 48 other candidates to end up a finalist? While Rodrigues, a civil engineer, was a competent leader at Public Works and, in my experience, well-meaning, he has nowhere near the qualifications of the other candidates.

The mostly likely explanation is that he is the insider pick that protects the status quo. Retired city manager Sarah Medary was a handpicked internal hire from Public Works with no outside experience or competition for the job. Rodrigues’ inclusion has the same whiff of self-serving goaltending by Eugene’s old-guard power brokers.

Our current mess is largely a product of an insular, arrogant and out-of-touch managerial culture and its enablers who benefit while the majority suffers. Is the City Council so blind to our systemic problems, past failures and loss of public trust that they would double down on more of the same? Eugene needs a fresh perspective, unencumbered by past alliances, beholden to no one, with the willingness to make hard choices.

Ted Coopman
Eugene