Eugene’s $11.5-million budget gap and the area’s shortage of housing were major topics when candidates for north Eugene’s Ward 5 spoke at a recent City Club of Eugene forum.
All of the candidates agreed that further cuts would likely affect vital services from first responders to infrastructure and libraries. And the idea of cuts was universally unpopular.
“I want to focus on what absolutely cannot be cut ever, and those are library, cultural and recreation services,” said challenger Athena Aguiar. “I’m going to focus on what I want to defend rather than what to cut because you can’t cut anything anymore. ”
The incumbent, Mike Clark, who has been on the council for nearly 20 years, mentioned other areas as high priorities.
“I think that fire and EMS is more important, and we're going to have to make some decisions that are priority, setting one versus the other in the short run,” said Clark.
The race’s other candidate shared similar views to Clark.
“I do think when it comes to things like with our first responders, that should be a priority, because they are the ones that are saving people's lives and people that are in danger,” said Jasmine Hatmaker.
All agreed that a better option is to grow the city’s income. Clark said the best way to do that is to increase the number of taxpayers rather than taxes and fees.
“Instead of every year at budget, us arguing about one slice versus another slice of an ever diminishing pie, we should have the approach to grow our local economy,” he said.
Both of Clark’s challengers supported the addition of a levy on properties that remain vacant for an extended period.
“[A vacancy tax] has been successful in some areas for generating moderate revenue, but it also works to do other things like encourage development,” said Hatmaker.
Hatmaker also advocated for further economic development by easing licensing for small businesses and through cooperation with economic development groups such as the Eugene Chamber of Commerce and Collaborative Economic Development Oregon.
Aguiar agreed with the idea of a vacancy tax as a means of both bringing in some revenue and reducing vacant properties, but she said that more can be done.
“I also really [would] like to see the idea of a different fee or some kind of non-tax, you know, like, fines,” she said.
She said what would ultimately help the city most is revamping Measures 5 and 50, voter-approved Oregon laws that limit how high property taxes can go and, Aguiar’s main area of interest, how a new property’s value is assessed. Such a change would require a public vote.
On housing, Hatmaker pushed for streamlined permitting as a way to encourage new home construction in the city.
“Because that is costing a lot of money, and people are choosing to build outside of the area,” said Hatmaker.
Aguiar pointed to the fact that she met a number of University of Oregon students while door-knocking at apartment complexes in the northern Eugene district, saying that allowing further development closer to campus could help.
“I would love to up-zone around the university area,” said Aguiar. “Build more apartments around the university area. Those students need more housing”
Clark advocated for horizontal growth of Eugene, pointing to the City Council’s 2015 examination of expanding the urban growth boundary.
“The surveys that we did at the time, land surveys, showed that we needed 1500 acres, and we didn't add them,” he said.
They agreed that stable housing would be a salve for other issues as well.
