Overview:

Rich Hoey's last day was Oct. 3, and an interim replacement has been working in the role.

The director of Eugene’s Public Works Department has resigned after a little more than a year in the role, the city confirmed Tuesday, Oct. 28.

Rich Hoey became the department’s director in late July 2024, replacing Matt Rodrigues, who is now the assistant city manager.

Public Works Public Affairs Manager Marion Suitor Barnes confirmed to Lookout Eugene-Springfield that Hoey notified staff of his resignation on Sept. 10, 2025. His last day was Oct. 3, she said.

Barnes said the department’s interim director is Lacey Risdal, who has since 2017 served as director of public works administration — one of the six divisions within the department — according to her LinkedIn profile.

“She has been in that role for the past month,” Barnes said in an email, adding that the department anticipates posting the public works director opening “soon.”

Hoey couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. As of Tuesday, the city’s website still lists him as the director of the Public Works Department, which is responsible for building, maintaining and managing the city’s infrastructure and public spaces.

Public works officials handle transportation, stormwater and wastewater management, airport operations, parks, engineering and sustainability.

Per Eugene’s charter, City Manager Sarah Medary is responsible for hiring and managing all city department directors.

After accepting a resignation, appointing or dismissing a department director, the city manager “shall explain to the council the reasons for the action taken,” the charter states.

A city councilor told Lookout Eugene-Springfield that the city manager notified the council of Hoey’s resignation sometime around September, and updated the council about Risdal’s interim leadership a few weeks ago.

Hoey was previously the assistant city manager for Olympia, Washington, for two years, and before that he led its public works department for 11 years.

Working for Olympia, he oversaw the development of new emergency shelters, affordable housing projects and renter protections, and climate and economic development initiatives, according to the city of Eugene.

He is an engineer and received his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts.

Have something to say?

Send us a Letter to the Editor. Read our guidelines for Letters to the Editor here.

Grace Chinowsky graduated from The George Washington University with a degree in journalism. She served as metro editor, senior news editor and 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.