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Councilors voted Wednesday to place two charter amendments on the May 19 ballot, one that would eliminate gendered pronouns from the charter and another that would end the requirement that department heads live with the city limits.
Two proposed amendments to the city charter will go before voters in May.
Eugene city councilors voted on Wednesday, Nov. 19, to place two charter revisions on the city’s primary election ballot: one that would remove the residency requirement for city department heads, and another that would eliminate gendered pronouns from the charter.
The charter functions as Eugene’s constitution, setting the rules for city government. Any amendments require voter approval, either by council referral to the ballot or by citizen-led petition. The election is May 19.
If the revisions are approved by voters, the city would remove the charter rule requiring city department heads to live in Eugene during the tenure of their position, and would replace gendered pronouns like “his” and “her” in the charter with neutral terms like “they” or “their” when referring to elected officials or appointees.
The council last discussed the proposals in September, when some said the residency requirement can complicate promotions, cause costly relocations and hinder recruitment.
The charters of Salem, Gresham, Hillsboro, Bend, Beaverton and Medford do not have such requirements. The cities of Hillsboro and Beaverton have already updated the use of pronouns in their charters.
Councilors Matt Keating, Jennifer Yeh and Lyndsie Leech will sit on the voters’ pamphlet proponent committee for the measure removing gender-specific pronouns. The committee is tasked with writing a statement for voters’ pamphlets about why voters should adopt the amendment.
Councilors Eliza Kashinsky and Randy Groves will sit on the committee for the measure removing the department heads’ residency requirement.
Councilors also briefly revisited a past conversation about their own compensation. Councilors voted in September to direct staff to gather more data on how other cities pay elected officials.
Mayor Kaarin Knudson suggested that in the future, councilors “decouple” conversations about their own compensation with discussions about access to affordable health insurance benefits, as the stipend that councilors receive is only just enough to cover the city’s health care costs.
“Accessibility and affordability of health care has changed significantly in our community, and I think that this, looking out into our future, is an unfortunate barrier to public service for people,” Knudson said.
The city covering the council’s health care costs would require a charter vote, the city attorney said.
