QuickTake:

Concerns about city processes and Eugene's unhoused community emerged as top issues from about two dozen people both within and outside the city, as Eugene works to recruit its next city manager.

The unhoused community, public safety and the city’s budget problems emerged as top concerns of some community members and city staff leaders, as Eugene works to find its next city manager.

The search firm hired by the Eugene City Council to find a replacement for City Manager Sarah Medary, who will retire in December, presented feedback from 14 internal and nine external city stakeholders on their biggest priorities for the city, as well their perceptions of the city government.

Jeff Morey, a recruiter with Bob Murray & Associates, shared the stakeholder feedback at a City Council work session on Monday, Sept. 22.

“If we can find another Sarah with a few minor tweaks, I think everybody would be very happy,” Morey began. “Everyone loves working for your city. You have an amazing city.”

Morey said internal stakeholders, which are city employees like executive team members and department directors, listed the following as core priorities for the next city manager:

  • Eugene’s unhoused community and the availability of housing
  • Public safety, including maintaining relationships with Eugene Police Department, Eugene Springfield Fire, and University of Oregon’s public safety team
  • Downtown safety and revitalization
  • Budget and revenue strategy, including “creative approaches” for revenue and public funding given Oregon’s “tough tax structure”
  • Equity, including service delivery and legacy infrastructure

He said some internal stakeholders perceived that the city of Eugene is risk-averse, starting from a “position of ‘no,’ rather than, ‘how do we get this done?’” Other stakeholders said the city’s process tends to end up becoming the product, which can be “frustrating,” Morey said.

“It’s the bureaucracy that comes with larger organizations, I believe,” Morey later elaborated. “It can be very frustrating for people that don’t understand that the government is built like this by design.”

Morey then turned to the external stakeholders, a group of leaders outside city government, that he described as “fairly diverse.” Central Services Executive Director Mia Cariaga later said the group was primarily CEOs of “other agencies,” including Eugene Water & Electric Board, Lane Transit District, Lane County, and the city of Springfield.

Their priorities for the city include:

  • Handling the city’s budget crisis, including future “unpopular cuts.” This could include potential actions like:
    • Resolving the integration of the Eugene and Springfield fire departments 
    • Considering an annexation of Santa Clara
    • Resolving perceptions of service delivery disruptions in some areas
    • Resolving perceptions that the city is reactive, not proactive, surrounding budget
  • Eugene’s unhoused community, an issue that external stakeholders discussed with a “sense of urgency”
  • Public safety, including perceptions that unhoused people are adding a “stress” on emergency services
  • Downtown revitalization

Morey said external stakeholders had a perception that councilors listen only to the loudest voices, not the majority of the voices.

Councilor Eliza Kashinsky asked for more detail about those stakeholders, adding that it’s unlikely those nine voices represent the diversity of opinions in their community.

“One of the pieces of feedback that they gave was that we have a tendency to listen to the loudest voices, and folks who respond to requests to have half-hour interviews about what they would like the new city manager to be frequently are our loud voices,” she said.

Council member Matt Keating asked if the recruiters consulted labor groups as part of their stakeholder consultation, given that they listed maintaining those relationships as an ideal skill for the next city manager.

Morey said they did not engage union leaders because they didn’t engage stakeholders beyond leaders inside and outside the city organization. 

Groves also expressed concern regarding the “small” group of external stakeholders consulted, adding that union voices should be able to weigh in.

Cariaga said the recruiters will host a drop-in Zoom meeting on Oct. 20 for stakeholder input, and the council will hold a larger forum in council chambers that same evening.

Grace Chinowsky graduated from The George Washington University with a degree in journalism. She served as editor-in-chief of the university’s independent student newspaper, The GW Hatchet, and interned at CNN and MSNBC. Grace covers Eugene’s city government and the University of Oregon.