Last week, the Eugene City Council passed an ordinance to fund community safety services with a payroll tax. Now, volunteers are gathering signatures to get the tax referred to voters.
Lonnie Douglas is on the board of the non-profit Eugene Springfield Solidarity Network. He says the group has some issues with the payroll tax but the number one reason for trying to reverse the council’s decision is simple.
“The citizens of Eugene have the right to vote on this and the city council denied us that right,” Douglas says.
Mayor Lucy Vinis signed the payroll tax ordinance on June 11th. Douglas says his group was surprised to find they had 30 days to qualify for a referendum petition.
“We only have until July 11 to get the signatures needed for us to refer this to the ballot.”
Douglas says they seek more volunteers to help collect the needed 7,000 signatures.
There will be a volunteer training at Whirled Pies in downtown Eugene on Sunday. For more information: essn@solidaritynetwork.org 541-600-5754
