Having served on the Eugene City Council, I understand that cities need adequate resources to provide the services residents expect. I also understand how important it is to be clear with voters when asking them to approve a new tax.

That is why I have concerns about Measure 20-388, the Eugene Clean Energy Fund.

The measure could raise $15 million to $40 million every year, yet it gives future city councils significant authority to change how those dollars are allocated with a simple majority vote.

That matters. When voters are being asked to approve a tax of this size, they should know what they are voting for and have confidence that the money will be spent for the purposes they were promised.

Under Measure 20-388, voters may approve the tax believing the money will go toward specific clean-energy priorities, only to have a future council change those priorities without returning to voters.

Having sat on the council, I know priorities change. Budgets change. Councils change. That is exactly why safeguards matter.

This is not about questioning the intentions of the people serving today. It is about creating responsible public policy that will remain in place long after any current elected official has left office.

If Eugene is going to collect tens of millions of additional dollars each year, voters deserve clear limits, meaningful oversight and confidence that the commitments made during the campaign cannot simply be rewritten later. The Eugene Clean Energy Fund does not provide enough of those protections.

For that reason, I urge Eugene voters to vote no on Measure 20-388.

George Poling
Former Ward 4 Eugene City Councilor
Eugene