Program Date: Sept. 16, 2022
Air Date: Sept. 19, 2022
From the City club of Eugene:
Topic:
The West Lane County Commission district offers a wealth of opportunities for leadership. The district stretches west to the Pacific from Junction City and Veneta, the more densely populated area of the Willamette Valley. West Lane residents are fishers, farmers, and foresters served by small businesses, with a strip of high-traffic tourist destinations and a concentration of health care providers along the coast. Several small school districts and a few rural towns are surrounded by sparsely populated miles of woodlands and family farms. Somehow the West Commissioner has to master the intricacies of the core social and economic needs of these diverse areas and figure out how to collaborate with the other four commissioners to create policies and programs that work for the whole county. This is no small assignment!
Because no candidate won 51% of the vote in the primary, the two with the highest number of votes are campaigning in the fall election: Ryan Ceniga and Dawn Lesley. We invited both to participate in the forum, offering a choice of dates, to help voters better understand their approaches to West Lane to the opportunities and challenges in West Lane, but Mr. Ceniga declined to participate. Ms. Lesley will present her platform and respond to questions from the moderator and the audience, in person and via livestream.
KLCC reporter Brian Bull moderated this forum. Questions can be submitted by the audience and texted to (541) 852-0302 by those watching the livestream available on the City Club of Eugene YouTube channel.
Speaker:
Dawn Lesley is an environmental engineer with 30 years of experience promoting energy efficiency and cleaning up dirty water. She evaluates the cost-effectiveness of wastewater operations and leads Strategic Energy Management trainings that help wastewater plant operators use energy efficiently to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save money. She is Vice- Chair of the Lane County Budget Committee and an executive board member of the Santa Clara Community Organization. She earned an MS in engineering from OSU and is licensed by the State of Oregon. Information about her positions on issues facing West Lane and Lane County in general may be found on www.dawnlesley.org.
Ryan Ceniga was invited to participate in the forum, but declined. He has worked as a farm hand, diesel mechanic, house framer, and an EWEB utility contractor. He is a member of the Junction City School Board and serves on its Long-Range Planning Committee. He is an active member of the Lions Club, and was a volunteer coach for youth teams and a member of the Junction City Athletic Board. He graduated from Junction City High School and earned an Associate Degree from in Diesel Technology from the Arizona Automotive Institute. Information about his positions can be found on his campaign website, www.ryanceniga.com
About the City Club of Eugene:
The mission of the City Club of Eugene is to build community vision through open inquiry. The Club explores a wide range of significant local, state, and national issues and helps to formulate new approaches and solutions to problems. Membership is open to all, and Club members have a direct influence on public policy by discussing issues of concern with elected officials and other policy makers. The City Club’s mailing address is PO Box 12084, Eugene, OR 97440, and its website iscityclubofeugene.org.
Video and Broadcast
This program will be live streamed, and the videotape will be made available on the City Club of Eugene’s Facebook page and You Tube Channel, in addition to our website. It will be broadcast on Monday, Sept. 19 at 7:00 pm, on KLCC 89.7 FM.
Contact: For more information, contact Silver A. Mogart, City Club of Eugene, Executive Director, (541) 485-7433, administrator@cityclubofeugene.org