Clark, Groves question cost of implementing Clean Energy Fund

Presenter: Signature gatherers for the Eugene Clean Energy Fund officially meet the requirements, and their ballot initiative is formally presented to the City Council. In a special meeting Aug. 24, City Recorder Katie LaSala:

Katie LaSala (Eugene, recorder): This is the presentation of Initiative Petition 2026-1. We started this process in February when the petition was filed. The signature gathering began in April. And they had a turn-in deadline of no later than the 27th.

They did turn their signature sheets in before that deadline and after the county reviewed the signatures and validated that they did have enough valid signatures, to meet the requirement, I certified the petition on the fifth of August, and that’s how we are here for this special meeting.

Real quick: No later than 20 days, these options are to be presented to Council. There are four options outlined in your code. The first one is to adopt the ordinance proposed by initiative petition.

The second option is specific to referendum petitions. So wouldn’t be applicable to this scenario. 

The third option is to vote either to urge adoption or defeat of the initiative measure.

The fourth is to order a submission of alternative measures, or measure to be voted on at the same time as the election for the initiative measure.

Based on the timing of the completion date for this initiative petition, Council has the option to either urge adoption or defeat today or to take no action.

Presenter: Councilor Jennifer Yeh: 

Councilor Jennifer Yeh: Personally, I think we don’t need to take any action. I think councilors are free to have an opinion and to express that into the community as they see fit. 

As individuals, but as a Council collectively, I think that we shouldn’t take a position one way or the other. I’m curious to see what other folks think, but that’s where I am at this point.

Presenter: Councilor Matt Keating:

Councilor Matt Keating: Good to see everyone. I am, to be perfectly transparent, I was the second person who signed this initiative, right behind former Mayor Kitty Piercy. I’m super supportive of this initiative. And I strongly feel that this initiative is smart public policy.

It exempts grocery sales. It exempts construction. It’s pro-labor, it’s pro-climate action, and I am excited it’s on the November ballot. 

But like Councilor Yeh articulated, I think this body best serves our constituents by letting the voters decide in November. So rather than debate, and relitigate where we all kind of fall on the spectrum, I would like to see Council tonight take no action.

And that’s my two cents and I just want to thank everyone for taking time out of their summer to get together and have this conversation tonight. Thanks.

Presenter: Councilor Mike Clark:

Councilor Mike Clark: I have more questions than we have time for with this particular measure. But my first is for the city’s attorney. I’m understanding that this is being put forward to the ballot as an ordinance. Is that correct?

Kathryn Brotherton (Eugene, city attorney): Yes. That’s correct.

Councilor Mike Clark: So any amendments, changes, adjustments to this, is something Council can do if it were to pass, for example.

Kathryn Brotherton (Eugene, city attorney): That’s correct—following your standard charter-described ordinance amendment process, yes. Correct.

Councilor Mike Clark: All right. Have we done any kind of analysis of what this will cost the city or how it will be implemented if it passes?

Kathryn Brotherton (Eugene, city attorney): I can answer that. The only thing that we’ve done is write a ballot title for this and then defend the ballot title in a challenge. And then the standard elections process work that Katie has done.

But we haven’t done any work regarding the substance of this, because by the time it was submitted, we wrote the ballot title as, as soon as we wrote that ballot title, it became an election measure. And we will not be doing any work regarding it substantively.

Councilor Mike Clark: And were this to pass, this is written as something that the city would implement. Am I correct in assuming that?

Kathryn Brotherton (Eugene, city attorney): Correct.

Councilor Mike Clark: Whether we have the budget to do it or not. Okay. Thank you.

Presenter: Councilor Randy Groves:

Councilor Randy Groves: I want to say that I agree with Councilors Yeh and Keating that we really shouldn’t take a position on this. Whether we do that as individual councilors, I mean, I think that’s up to each councilor. 

I know I have, like Councilor Clark, a lot of questions about cost and how we’re going to oversee this and manage it.

But that’s really separate from what we’re here to talk about tonight. But at the same time, I don’t think we should be taking a position on it. I don’t think we should be doing anything that disrupts the process either. 

Presenter: The ballot measure to create a Eugene Clean Energy Fund is formally presented to the City Council, the next step in its journey to appearing on your ballot in November.

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