The general manager of the Eugene Water & Electric Board will discuss the challenges and future opportunities for the utility when the City Club of Eugene meets Friday, Oct. 23.

The meeting begins at noon at the WOW Hall, 291 W. Eighth Ave. City Club meetings are open to the public and free to attend.

John Hairston took the reins as the utility’s general manager in May after spending 35 years at the Bonneville Power Administration, the federal agency that supplies most of EWEB’s hydropower. He holds a law degree from Lewis & Clark College, a master’s in urban studies from Portland State University, and a bachelor’s in economics from Southern University in Baton Rouge.

EWEB was founded in 1911 in the years after a typhoid epidemic ravaged Eugene and surrounding communities — an epidemic that was traced to the privately owned water company. 

This program will be livestreamed, and the video will be made available on the City Club of Eugene’s YouTube channel, in addition to the club’s website. The program will be rebroadcast at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 26, on KLCC, 89.7 FM. 

The City Club of Eugene explores significant local, state and national issues and helps shape new approaches to problems.Â