As the current head of Sunrise Eugene, climate change and environmental issues are at the forefront to me. Thus I was ecstatic to hear about Athena Aguiar running for Ward 5 on the Eugene City Council.

As a former field worker removing invasive species and a climate advocate for Environment Oregon and OSPIRG, she has clearly shown she can put in the work to protect our environment. She has also openly discussed her desire to speed up the electrification of city buildings, increase walkability to reduce carbon emissions from cars and reduce the business presence on the Eugene Toxics Board to protect our citizens.

Unlike so many, she wants to take care of problems at their roots and not band-aid our problems.

If you care about our future like I do — and want to make sure we have a more livable, people-first, green Eugene — I hope you too will support Athena Aguiar for City Council in the May 19 election. Our future depends on people at the state and local level, especially when nobody federally will listen. The status quo will not cut it anymore, we need real change for real problems.

Jacob Griffith
Eugene