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QuickTake:
Lane County Commissioner Ryan Ceniga faces a challenge from Thomas Hiura in his bid to win a second term on the county board. Both candidates also serve on school boards.
Lane County voters will decide a two-way race in the May 19 election for a commissioner to represent a district that stretches to the Oregon Coast.
Commissioner Ryan Ceniga is running for a second four-year term as the representative of District 1 and faces a challenge from Thomas Hiura, a small business owner and elected member of the Lane Education Service District board. The district covers western Lane County, including Florence, Veneta and Junction City.
County commissioners participate in policy work on a variety of fronts, including waste management, economic development, housing and health and human services. They do not set city ordinances and policies, yet also work on broad regional issues that affect residents who live in cities and unincorporated Lane County.
They also interact with federal and state lawmakers who set policies and allocate funding that flows into the county’s budget for a variety of needs and services, including public health, housing and transportation.
Commissioners set the county’s budget, currently about $128 million in the general fund, and make decisions about how to spend available funding. As a result, they also must decide where to expand or cut services, including health care clinics, county law enforcement and county roads and parks projects.
With no other candidates in the race, the May election will determine who takes office. In races of three or more candidates, the election is decided in May if one candidate gets at least one vote more than 50% of all ballots cast. If no clear winner emerges, the two top vote getters square off in the November election.
County commissioners are nonpartisan elected officials. They are paid an annual salary of $114,026.
Lookout Eugene-Springfield interviewed both candidates about the race and what they would bring to the role.
Here’s what they had to say:
Thomas Hiura
Hiura said the central focus of his campaign is accountability, transparency and looking for ways to make county services more accessible throughout the district, including in coastal and rural communities.
To that end, he wants the county to have an office in the coast, likely Florence, to help residents access information about services such as health care, housing and public safety.
“That way more of our beloved neighbors can afford to live, thrive and invest in West Lane instead of having to go elsewhere to get their needs met,” he said.
Hiura said the county is required to provide those services.
“If people have to drive all the way to downtown Eugene, it’s very prohibitive for a lot of people who don’t live close to that right area,” Hiura said, adding this priority comes from conversations he’s had with voters along the coast.
At 32, Hiura is the youngest candidate running for commissioner. Despite his age, he offers a resume filled with diverse experiences, both professionally and in volunteer public service as preparation, he said. Born in Japan, he moved to the Eugene area with his parents when he was 2 years old.
In 2025, Hiura won nearly 80% of the vote in a two-way race for his seat representing Lane Education Service District’s Zone 1, which extends north of Eugene to the county border. Education service districts work with area school districts on a regional basis, helping coordinate shared services like technology, special education and administrative support.
“It’s usually things that are beyond their capacity to provide themselves, such as technological support, administrative support and special needs programs, substitute teaching and testing,” he said. “These are all things that have a regional component to them.”
Hiura said that experience of helping support school districts in urban and rural areas is good preparation for the regional aspect of work as a county commissioner.
His volunteer work includes service as a human rights commissioner for Eugene, an appointed position. He also was a board member and president of the City Club of Eugene, a role he stepped away from during the campaign in keeping with the organization’s bylaws that prevent candidates from sitting on the board.
Professionally, he runs a small business working as a multimedia producer and works a couple of shifts a week at Toshi’s Raman.
Shortly after finishing high school, Hiura worked as a legislative intern for different groups, including the Oregon League of Conservation Voters and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon.
“While I have a solidly progressive background, I never judge whether I can work with someone based on their political affiliation,” he said. “I just judge based on whether they are sincere and care about the community.”
Ryan Ceniga
Ceniga said the county needs to preserve public safety as much as possible. The county’s wrestling with public safety funding and that discussion will extend into 2027 — possibly with a proposal to voters that seeks additional funding, such as a payroll tax increase or levy.
At this point, it’s unclear how that may look and Ceniga said he’s worried about asking taxpayers to shoulder a heavier burden.
“People’s appetite for more taxes is about full,” he said. “So we’re going to have to get creative. We can’t just keep putting this on the backs of taxpayers.”
Ceniga said he views himself as a problem-solver, with the goal of diagnosing problems collaboratively and helping push for solutions.
For example, Ceniga said he’s a strong supporter of the county’s land banking program. The new program, when it’s fully set up, will allow the county to purchase parcels of land and get through zoning hurdles so developers can more quickly start building affordable housing.
Ceniga said the program will help “troubled parcels” of land become more attractive for developers. That’s because the county would resolve land issue issues on the front end before selling them. Those could include anything from drainage to access issues.
“The developer can know, ‘Hey, it’s already gone through these hoops,’” Ceniga said, adding that the land becomes attractive because it saves the developers months of regulatory work.
“It’s us working through our own barriers,” he said.
Ceniga said the pace of government can be frustrating at times.
“It’s government,” he said. “You can always work faster. I’d love to see things done quicker.”
Ceniga has a new role this year: He’s serving as chair of the five-member board. He said he gets along well with people and always has the goal of staying neutral while officiating meetings and letting people have their say about board business.
Cengia draws from a variety of experiences. Before becoming a full-time commissioner, he worked for the Eugene Water & Electric Board in water distribution, visiting project sites and making sure the work was done in a way that protected the utility’s water system.
Before that, he worked for Junction City Public Works and for an erosion control company. After graduating from Junction City High School, he also trained in diesel mechanics. With a background in construction-related work, Ceniga said he understands land-use issues and how strict the rules are.
He said one theme runs through his career — problem-solving.
“When I look back at everything I’ve done, it’s always been problem-solving,” he said. “Different problems, but it’s always been problem-solving. I really look at this the same way, and I take a lot of what I’ve learned throughout the years and apply it to the problems we see here.”
Like his opponent, Ceniga also sits on a school board. Ceniga is a member of the Junction City School Board. He’s served in that role since 2021.
When Ceniga ran for commissioner in May 2022, he received nearly 43% of the vote in a five-way race for the open seat. He advanced to a two-way runoff election in November 2022, garnering 55% of the vote.
Name: Thomas Hiura
Age: 32
Residence: Unincorporated Eugene, Santa Clara neighborhood.
Education: 2012 graduate of North Eugene High School; graduated in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in American studies, Carleton College in rural Northfield, Minnesota.
Occupation: Multimedia engineer and small business owner.
Prior elected experience: Elected in 2025 to the board of the Lane Education Service District,
Family status: Lives with his life partner, Hailey, and their pit bull, Bella.
Name: Ryan Ceniga
Age: 47
Residence: Rural Junction City
Education: 1997 graduate, Junction City High School, associate degree in diesel technology from Arizona Automotive Institute.
Occupation: County commissioner, former water distribution management employee at Eugene Water & Electric Board.
Prior elected experience: Junction City School Board member since 2021; current Lane County commissioner since 2022.
Family status: Married, two daughters
