It’s not quite the Super Bowl, but almost as fun — especially if you love civic engagement and Lane County candidates as much as we do. 

Our first forum is for Lane County commissioner candidates and starts at 2 p.m. today (Monday, April 13) at Wildish Theater, 630 Main St., Springfield. Remember, it’s a forum to discuss policies and stances, not a debate. Each of the three district races on the Lane County Board of Commissioners will have a separate event. 

Moderators will be yours truly. Lookout correspondents Ben Botkin and Grace Chinowsky, as well as Opinion Editor Elon Glucklich, will lead the forums. Contributing editor Mike McInally will be our timekeeper. 

Here’s the schedule: 

District 2

  • Time: 2-3 p.m.
  • Candidates: David Loveall, Sean VanGordon, William Monsoor

District 1

  • Time: 3:15 – 4:15 p.m.
  • Candidates: Ryan Ceniga, Thomas Hiura

District 5

  • Time: 4:30 – 5:30 p.m.
  • Candidates: Heather Buch, Jake Pelroy, Bob Zybach

Tickets:  Seating is limited, but free. Click here to reserve your seat at the Lane County Board of County Commissioners Election Forum.

The fun continues Wednesday, April 15, with our forum for the Eugene City Council at the WOW Hall in downtown Eugene.

The schedule: 

4:30–5:30 p.m. — Wards 4 and 6

  • Ward 4: Jennifer Yeh, Tom Stedman
  • Ward 6: Tai Pruce-Zimmerman, Greg Evans

5:45–6:45 p.m. — Wards 3 and 5

  • Ward 3: John Barofsky, Jennifer Smith
  • Ward 5: Mike Clark, Athena Aguiar, Jasmine Hatmaker

Go here to reserve a free seat at the event. 

If Facebook is more your thing, we’re livestreaming both forums on our page.

As the voters, you are essentially the referees who decide the score on Election Day – hopefully after researching candidates and their positions on issues.  

To help with that herculean task, we’ll roll out a variety of stories in the weeks ahead about candidates, issues and who is funding their campaigns. 

Trieger stands up for women, PeaceHealth executive on leave 

Trieger speaks up: Lane County Commissioner Laurie Trieger had an answer when a critic complained she rebuffed his move to touch her shoulder. Her response stunned those gathered at the Lane County commissioners’ meeting. As Trieger told it, the speaker, Ruben Garcia, sexually harassed her when she worked for his commercial cleaning company about 30 years ago. Here’s our recap of how it went down. 

PeaceHealth exec on leave: Correspondent Ashli Blow dropped a scoop about PeaceHealth placing Jim McGovern, chief hospital executive at Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend, on administrative leave following allegations he worked outside of his administrative scope and tried to influence the emergency care of patients.

Oregon State Hospital cited: In other hospital-related news, Oregon State Hospital was fined $3,177 for workplace safety violations after an OSHA inspection.

Recycling project update: Lane County lost an appeal in court to put a recycling facility in Goshen. 

Library levy: And if you’re looking for your election news fix, we’ve got this: A look at the proposed Fern Ridge Library District levy renewal. 

— Ben Botkin

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Inside Eugene City hall with Grace chinowsky

New city manager’s first day: Eugene’s new city manager, Jenny Haruyama, will begin work Wednesday, April 15. She’ll deliver an update to the council at its noon work session that day. Here’s what you need to know about her.  

More economic development staff: The city of Eugene plans to more than double the size of its economic development team to spur business and job growth, at a total annual cost of $800,000. 

Funding for the positions would come from Eugene’s general fund, but the city hasn’t identified what tradeoffs might be needed to allocate those dollars — and the city projects a $2 million annual general fund gap in its 2027-2029 budget cycle. 

Crisis response contract award: Monday, Eugene selected Ideal Option to run a pilot program meant to fill gaps left by the city’s loss of CAHOOTS. 

Leaders with Willamette Valley Crisis Care, a nonprofit staffed by former CAHOOTS workers that was competing for the contract, told Lookout they are “disappointed but not surprised” by the city’s decision. The group is now “regrouping and preparing to vision a new role in the community safety ecosystem,” Berkley Carnine wrote.

Housing co-op moves forward: Construction to build Rosa Village, Lane County’s fifth affordable housing cooperative, continues after its developer, SquareOne Villages, closed on trailblazing state funding.

And finally…an update on city council campaign fundraising, an installment we’re calling War Chest Watch. 

According to campaign finance filings with the state, here’s where we’re at as of Friday, April 10, more than a month from the election: 

Ward 3 

John Barofsky has raised $30,792.00 — nearly double the $17,267.50 raised by his opponent Jennifer Smith, and the most raised by any council candidate so far this cycle. 

Ward 4

Councilor Jennifer Yeh has raised $3,514.26. Tom Stedman, who has pledged not to focus on fundraising as part of his campaign, has brought in $0.

Ward 5

Councilor Mike Clark leads fundraising in this three-person race, with $22,502.90. Challengers Jasmine Hatmaker and Athena Aguiar are neck-and-neck, with $12,135.00 and $12,625.54 raised, respectively. 

Ward 6

Councilor Greg Evans has brought in $17,775, more than double the $6,382 raised by opponent Tai Pruce-Zimmerman.

Checking in on Springfield With lillian Schrock-Clevenger

Payroll tax advances: A three-year payroll tax in Springfield is moving forward, amid emerging community concern about possible reductions in library staffing to balance the city’s budget. 

beyond lane county

Oregon immigration bills: Gov. Tina Kotek signed a batch of bills to protect immigrants as they face higher federal scrutiny, the Oregon Capital Chronicle reported.

Higher wildfire risk: Oregon is prepping for a potentially difficult wildfire season amid little snowpack, the Capital Chronicle reported.

Forest protections meetings: The federal government isn’t holding any public hearings on its push to terminate the 2001 Roadless Rule, the Capital Chronicle reported. So conservationists are offering meetings instead.

High gas prices: Planning a summer road trip to skip some government meetings? Here’s an Oregon Journalism Project analysis of high gas prices and what they look like throughout the state.

Public Meetings this week

Monday

  • The Eugene City Council will interview applicants for city boards and commissions at a 5:30 p.m. work session.
  • The council will reconvene at 7:30 p.m. for its regular meeting. Three proposed land annexations are on the agenda. 

Tuesday 

  • Lane County commissioners will meet at 9 a.m. and discuss amendments to county zoning codes in areas like “clear and objective” standards for housing, natural resources, and beaches and dunes. They’ll also meet in executive session for 90 minutes, and in a separate 30-minute session, to discuss records exempt from public disclosure and pending litigation.

Wednesday

  • The Eugene City Council will meet at noon for a work session, where city manager Jenny Haruyama will deliver her first update and councilors will discuss the progress of Eugene’s Vision Zero initiative.

Do you have story ideas or tips? Send them our way — ben@lookoutlocal.com | grace@lookoutlocal.com | lilliansc@lookoutlocal.com

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Ben Botkin covers politics and policy in Lane County. He has worked as a journalist since 2003, most recently at the Oregon Capital Chronicle, where he covered justice, health and human services and documented regional efforts to combat fentanyl addiction. Botkin has worked in statehouses in Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma and, of course, Oregon. When he's not working, you'll find him road tripping across the West, hiking or surfing along the Oregon Coast.

Grace Chinowsky graduated from The George Washington University with a degree in journalism. She served as 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.