Eugene City Council Ward 2 candidates Matt Keating, Lisa Warnes field questions at forum

Both candidates running to represent south Eugene's City Council Ward 2 fielded questions Friday from KLCC reporter Rachael McDonald at a City Club-hosted forum, addressing topics such ashousing costs and homelessness, the city's budget, and the proposed Eugene Emeralds' stadium.

City Council Ward 2 approximately includes the Amazon, Southeast and Southwest Hills neighborhoods. Matt Keating has represented the ward in the City Council since 2021 and is running for a second term while being challenged by Lisa Warnes. Tuesday, April 30, is the last day to register to vote, and the Lane County elections office is expected to mail ballots starting around Thursday, May 2. Ballots are due Tuesday, May 21.

Eugene city councilor is a nonpartisan office, meaning the primary will appear on the ballots of all voters in the ward regardless of party. Since there are only two candidates in the race, one of them will most likely win a majority and appear uncontested on the ballot in November.

Opening, closing statements from Eugene City Council candidates

In their opening statements, Keating highlighted his experience and relationships from his time on the City Council and before it, while Warnes accused Keating of being overly focused on his political career and said she would be closer to voters.

Keating is Chief of Staff for state Sen. James Manning Jr., D-Eugene, and highlighted his experiences doing work for Manning and local governments including the Eugene City Council and some of its advisory groups and the Lane Community College Board. He said as councilor he's worked to combat fossil fuel emissions in Eugene and protect fire service and that he would continue this work in a second term.

"I may be the fossil fuel industry's least favorite city councilor," Keating said. "We have to decarbonize we have to advance electrification for the future of our planet. We have to invest in housing at all income levels: affordable, missing middle housing, co-op housing. We have to solve the homeless crisis at all levels. I have the energy commitment, experience, and relationships."

Warnes criticized Keating, saying he was overly focused on seeking a higher political office and that she would be more attentive locally. She said she's blocked the development of forested areas in south Eugene and that as councilor she would give less incentives to market-rate housing and more to affordable housing.

"A common statement I've been hearing from the residents of Ward 2 is 'that their current councilor is not responding to their emails or their phone calls, also he appears to be a very ambitious man with his eyes on a higher elected office.'" Warnes said. "He's made a lot of people very upset in his current term as councilor and they are ready for a change, and I will be that kind of councilor."

Senior and disability needs in Eugene

In response to the AARP-sponsored question of the forum on how candidates will address "the needs of older adults and people with disabilities, while also engaging older adults," Keating said he would serve seniors by pushing more to increase denser housing production while Warnes said she would work to reduce property taxes.

Keating said encouraging denser housing would keep homes affordable for seniors. "Housing that will allow for seniors to scale down and stay in our community," he said, citing his support for accessory dwelling units and for renter protections as initiatives to help with housing affordability. He also said this housing should be built along transit lines, which would serve seniors and people with disabilities who lose the ability to drive.

Warnes also said she would serve seniors by reducing the cost of living but instead said she would reduce property taxes and look for other forms of city financial assistance. She also said she wanted hire an assistant city manager to focus on homelessness for the seniors who do lose their housing. "I'm probably not going to be able to stay in my home given the rate of property taxes (and) given the social security I'll be looking at in retirement," she said.

Eugene city budget

When asked how they would address the city's budget gap, Keating implied he would use community engagement to determine what to maintain, while Warnes said she would vote against future property tax exemptions.

Keating implied he would make budget decisions based on what constituents tell him is important and publicly shared his phone number. "Yeah there are tough choices ahead, but having that open dialogue, having that open-door policy is paramount," he said. "I want to hear from you at 541-515-3819."

Warnes said she would shrink the city's budget gaps by combatting the property tax exemptions the City Council currently awards to encourage development. "There are a lot of tax exemptions that are given out to development for an inordinate amount of time in my opinion," she said. "That's one big way to stop some of the money." She also said she would look at the city's committees some of which she said are redundant.

Eugene Emeralds Stadium, multi-use Lane County fairgrounds facility

When asked for their opinions on the proposed Emeralds Stadium and multi-use Lane County fairgrounds facility, Keating expressed support for the project and Warnes voiced opposition, but both said they agreed with city council's decision to send the bond measure to voters.

"I support sending the ballot measure to the voters so Eugene residents can decide on May 21," Keating said while also outlining what he saw as the benefits of the project. "Emergency respite, emergency disaster training and a whole host of community events, possibly concerts. … I find it the responsible thing to do — because it is a new revenue stream — to allow for Eugene voters to up-or-down say 'yes' or 'no.'"

Warnes said she dislikes the project because she thinks there are more important issues the city could be taxing for, but that she agreed with putting it on the ballot. "I feel like we need to be more responsible with our tax dollars," she said, but that she's "very happy it went to the voters."

Community input

When asked about their approach to getting community input for decision making, Warnes said she would bring back lost community involvement opportunities the city used to offer, while Keating said he would "show up. Listen. Learn."

Warnes accused the city of removing opportunities for community input over the last few decades and said that she would change that. "One of the things I really do think we need to bring back is a lot more citizen involvement. That's been gone for 20 years," she said.

Keating said his approach to getting community input is to "show up. Listen. Learn," and described Eugene's regulations outlining where people can't camp as an example of that. "It was my engagement with our neighborhood associations, the library staff, with law enforcement that led me to a pragmatic, swift action to advance an ordinance," he said.

Housing costs in Eugene

Keating said he would address housing costs by encouraging denser development and that as councilor he's been doing that by supporting ADU reform, the planned riverfront neighborhood and the 1059 Willamette mixed-income housing project. "This may be the most pro-housing City Council in the history of the city of Eugene," he said but added that he wants to preserve the current urban growth boundary. "We need to build up responsibly," he said.

Warnes said the city should give less tax incentives to projects like the riverfront, and instead focus more on affordable housing. "We need to implement affordable housing. We need to look for the developers that are doing these types of projects and focus on that," Warnes said. "There are developers out there that are doing projects (without tax incentives) and I intend to find them and bring them to Eugene."

Homelessness

When asked about their approach to homelessness, Keating outlined a path to expand the city's shelter options while Warnes reiterated her desire for more affordable housing.

Keating praised the city's Safe Sleep sites (which began during his term) and Rest Stops and said he wants more. Keating said the barrier to this is the state and federal definition of emergency shelter, which limits the sites' ability to receive state and federal funding, but pointed to endorsements including Congresswoman Val Hoyle and both Eugene state senators as evidence that he had the connections to change that.

Warnes said "There isn't one solution" but that a part of the solution was developing more affordable housing. "A lot of the newer people on the streets these days are people that cannot afford to live in their homes and are out on the street now. So affordable housing is definitely one of the answers here."

To listen to the full forum featuring the Ward 1 and Ward 2 Eugene City Council candidates, visit https://www.klcc.org/show/city-club-of-eugene/2024-04-01/city-club-of-eugene.

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 2024: South Eugene City Council candidates field questions