Election 2024: Eugene City Council candidate Q&A with Randy Groves
This is part of a series of stories on the candidates running in the May 21 primary election, with question-and-answer articles scheduled to be published each day through the rest of April. Ballots must be mailed to voters by May 1.
The elections for Eugene City Council are approaching with ballots due May 21. One candidate has registered to run for Ward 8 on the Eugene City Council — incumbent Randy Groves.
City Council Ward 8 represents the southwest-most portion of Eugene approximately, including the Churchill and West Eugene neighborhoods, as well as Bethel south of Royal Avenue. Groves is running uncontested and will be reelected to the seat barring a sizeable write-in campaign.
The Register-Guard asked each of the candidates a series of questions and asked them for biographical information. With the other three Eugene City Council races this cycle contested, the Register-Guard offered Groves the opportunity to respond to the same questions. These are his answers, word for word.
Biographical Information
I have lived in West Eugene for forty-three years where my wife and I raised two children as working parents. My government experience includes serving on the Eugene City Council and prior to that the Eugene Budget Committee. During my fire service career, I worked as a firefighter up through Fire Chief where I lead the merger between the Eugene and Springfield fire departments. After retirement I worked in emergency services consulting. My education includes graduate studies and a B.S. (Magna Cum Laude) from the University of Oregon. I also completed the National Fire Academy’s four-year Executive Fire Officer Program.
Questions
The Register-Guard began all questions to City Council candidates with, "if (re)elected to city council, what strategies or policies would you support to..."
Increase housing affordability and/or supply in Eugene?
Work with local developers and non-profit organizations to chart a realistic path for housing production. Incentivize compact mixed-use housing in downtown and along our transportation corridors where market conditions alone won’t produce adequate housing. Add an affordability criterion for evaluating lands to be added into Eugene’s Buildable Lands inventory. Evaluate the efficacy of a modest Urban Growth Boundary expansion supporting housing development in recognition that infill alone won’t solve Eugene’s housing shortage. Promote economic development that supports sector growth, job creation, and is compatible in Eugene. The other side of housing affordability is the opportunity to earn a living wage.
Reduce homelessness in Eugene?
Work with our government partners and non-profit organizations to build more mental health and addiction treatment capacity while eliminating barriers to access for the unhoused. Create more transitionary spaces for our unhoused to occupy and promote life skills coaching and job training which will support a successful transition into housing. While extending compassion to those less fortunate than ourselves we must also ensure that accountability and consequences exist for those engaged in dangerous antisocial behavior and criminal activities. We must promote safety and security for our entire community and stop making excuses for poor behavior regardless of housing status.
Improve Eugene's economic development?
Find ways to streamline our permitting and regulatory processes to ensure pathways are clear and unambiguous. Provide help that is readily accessible for those navigating our system. Enhance support for existing businesses/employers while working to attract new business and clean industry that produce living wage jobs. Our community needs more buildable commercial and industrial land for this to succeed. Over the past few years I have worked with another city councilor on economic development in West Eugene where we tried to attract manufacturing. Although manufacturers expressed interest in our community, they are unable to find adequate and available land to develop.
Increase access to mental health resources in Eugene?
Work with our government and non-profit partners to increase service capacity and improve access. I support Lane County’s efforts to establish a crisis stabilization center that would provide another door into the system with access to both mental health and addiction services, stabilization and referral to treatment. Increase the capacity of our alternative response systems that connects trained professionals with people in crisis. Ensure that the training, response and receiving facilities all have adequate services and the capacity to intervene during times of personal crisis. Ensure that the alternative response system is well integrated into our existing emergency services network.
Improve public safety in Eugene?
I support strong public safety services and continued innovation of our delivery systems. Increase emphasis on behavioral problems and property crimes. Develop focused Police teams like the Street Crimes Unit which has been effective in disrupting the local drug trade and removed dangerous weapons from our streets. Continue innovations in Fire/EMS that best aligns resources with demand, push prevention, and complete review of Fire’s shared governance structure seeking further efficiencies. Build on Municipal Court’s successful restorative justice programs that focus on intervention, reduce recidivism, and preserve incarceration space. Promote programs that support at-risk youth. Design infrastructure projects that promote safety.
Alan Torres covers local government for the Register-Guard. He can be reached over email at atorres@registerguard.com or on X @alanfryetorres.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Election: Eugene City Council candidate Randy Groves Q&A
