The Eugene City Council will reconsider its recent decision to add three new economic development positions, a move that would increase annual costs by $800,000, according to an April 14 announcement. The council plans to revisit the proposal during a financial planning work session on June 8.
The issue is significant because it involves more than doubling the size of City Hall’s economic workforce team and could affect how other budget priorities are addressed. The initial vote took place on April 8 and resulted in a 3-3 tie, with two councilors absent. Mayor Lucy Vinis cast the tiebreaking vote in favor of adding the positions after about half an hour of discussion at the end of a work session. No detailed discussion occurred regarding what tradeoffs might be required elsewhere in the city budget.
At the following meeting on April 13, Councilor Lyndsie Leech directed city management to schedule another review and provide more information before making a final decision. “Adding such an amount to our budget needs to be decided by more than three members of this council,” Leech said. “We can come back to this topic and discuss it further, get a little bit more information and put it next to other things that we are considering to place into our budget.”
Leech was joined by Councilor Eliza Kashinsky—who seconded her motion—in voting against adding staff during last week’s split vote. The motion for reconsideration passed with a 5-3 majority; councilors Mike Clark, Greg Evans, and Randy Groves voted against revisiting the matter.
Councilor Mike Clark voiced his opposition during Monday’s meeting: “It seems a little too close to reconsideration, when, in my opinion, what we did in our last action was critically important to the long-term future of our city,” Clark said.
Interim City Manager Matt Rodrigues said that regardless of how votes fall going forward, mention of these positions will be included throughout ongoing long-range financial planning discussions.
