Charter amendments on residency rules, pronouns could go to Eugene voters in 2026

Eugene city councilors advanced two proposed amendments to the city charter Wednesday, Sept. 24, that could go before voters in May 2026.

Councilors unanimously voted to pursue removing the residency requirement for city department heads and eliminating gendered pronouns from the city charter. They will continue deliberating the proposals this fall. Should they opt to move forward with them, they will need to make a formal resolution in January and refer it to the ballot before the Feb. 18 deadline.

The council voted to table other proposals — changes to compensation for elected officials and revising vacancy rules — for more research.

The charter functions as Eugene’s constitution, setting the rules for city government. Amendments require voter approval, either by council referral to the ballot, as was discussed on Wednesday, or citizen initiative, in which voters petition to add amendments to the ballot. The election is May 19, 2026.

Removing residency requirement

The current charter requires city department heads to live in Eugene during the tenure of their position. The rule complicates promotions, forces costly relocations and hampers recruitment, especially for those who need more affordable housing. For roles that serve two cities, like the Eugene Springfield Fire chief, the rule doesn’t work.

The charters of six Oregon peer cities — Salem, Gresham, Hillsboro, Bend, Beaverton and Medford — do not have such requirements.

All eight councilors supported repealing the rule, also voting to consider a future ordinance that defines areas where department heads must reside.

“We have real life examples of execs on our team that have had to sell and uproot their families to move into the city at great cost to themselves,” City Manager Sarah Medary said. 

Removing binary pronouns

Councilors also backed replacing gendered pronouns like “his” and “her” with neutral terms like “they” or “their.” The charter currently uses “his or her” in several places, such as in the section on appointing the city manager.

Hillsboro and Beaverton have already updated the use of pronouns in their charters, per the presentation.

“The antiquated language seems pretty straightforward, and we’re going through all of the work of putting something on the ballot anyway — might as well kind of do some of that cleanup at the same time,” Councilor Eliza Kashinsky said. 

Tabling proposal on compensation

Councilors and the mayor, who work part-time, receive monthly stipends annually adjusted to Portland-area inflation — $21,565 per year for councilors and $32,306 annually for the mayor. Those figures fall short of peer city averages of $23,901 and $55,467, respectively.

Past council discussions have centered on how stipends equate to less than minimum wage, given the hours councilors work. Some councilors have floated tying compensation to Eugene’s area median income — 50% of that rate for councilors and 100% for the mayor.

But Wednesday, Kashinsky and Councilors Randy Groves, Mike Clark and Greg Evans quickly opposed advancing such a measure, arguing a pay raise would alienate voters as the city navigates a budget shortfall.

The public would respond to a ballot measure asking to increase councilors’ pay with, “Oh, heck no,” Clark said, adding that such a request would “endanger” other May ballot measures.

Councilor Matt Keating countered that councilors’ pay is “woefully inadequate” and “embarrassingly low.” Eugene’s progressive voters would back fair compensation, he said.

The council voted 7-1 to direct staff to gather more data on how other cities pay elected officials, with Groves opposed. Evans said any long-term discussions should come from a citizen oversight committee.

Tabling proposal on appointments

Under current charter rules, if the mayor’s office is vacant or a City Council seat opens up, the council must appoint a temporary replacement within 90 days. If the vacancy happens more than 100 days before a May election, voters will fill the seat in that year’s election; less than 100 days before, the election waits until the next year.

That timing can force multiple elections for the same seat in one year. For example, a council seat could appear twice on the May ballot — once to fill out the remainder of the current term, once for the next full term — and then again in November if the full-term race goes to a runoff.

Councilors said the current process wastes resources but agreed they lacked time to revise the rules before the 2026 ballot. Staff will study alternatives.

“I don’t think it’s in the public interest to do three elections in the same year,” Councilor Alan Zelenka said. 

Eugene Springfield Fire governance update

Medary delivered a brief presentation on the status of governance in Eugene Springfield Fire. The three-phase merger of the city of Eugene Fire & EMS and Springfield Fire & Life Safety departments launched in 2010 and has continued for 15 years. 

She ran through results of an outside consultant’s 2024 feasibility study on different governance models, which recommended the fire department forms an intergovernmental entity.

Medary said the study’s recommendations can “only go so far” in terms of predicting the implications of a new governance model. She and the Springfield city manager must explore the proposals’ “unintended consequences” so councilors can make a decision before the end of the year, she said.

“No matter what model is chosen going forward, I think it’s important to recognize we need to be making investments into Eugene Springfield Fire,” she said, adding: “It’s not a kind of service that you need to be reactively funding. It needs to be very proactive.”

The firefighters’ union has strongly advocated to form a new fire district, not an intergovernmental entity. Medary acknowledged that “a lot” of folks are pushing for the city to explore that option.

“I don’t know how any of us will be able to move forward without studying that a little bit further,” she said. “We have a number of employees that are asking us to do it, and even just based on morale and confidence in leadership, I think it’s going to be important that we look at that.”

She said the city has scheduled a 90-minute work session on Oct. 22 for more discussion.

“If we don’t fully vet [the fire district], like we have the other options, I think we lose credibility there, as well as maybe walking away from a viable solution,” said Groves, a former Eugene Springfield Fire chief.