As part of the City of Eugene’s attempts to close their deep budget shortfall, neighborhood associations have been warned that they would likely lose some or all funding from the City. These proposed cuts were in addition to proposed cuts in areas such as library, fire, homeless and animal services.
While not claiming that neighborhood association services are more important than other services, the River Road Community Organization (RRCO) wanted to make clear to the City how valuable RRCO is to both the City and to the River Road community. Below is a letter that RRCO Co-chairs Beth Gerot and Clare Strawn submitted on May 19 to the Budget Committee.
Letter from River Road Community Organization to the City of Eugene Budget Committee
May 19, 2025
City of Eugene Budget Committee
RE: CUTS TO NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS AND THE OFFICE OF EQUITY & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Dear Committee Members:
We at the River Road Community Organization understand that the City has a significant budget shortfall, and appreciate your doing the hard work of prioritizing where we all go from here. It’s not a job that any of us envy. At the same time, we must speak out about the harsh consequences of cuts to Neighborhood Associations that are being proposed, both to the City and to ourselves.
As a Neighborhood Association, we are your vehicle to communicate important information to residents. Our monthly meetings and newsletters summarize issues in plain English, and when necessary, we host City staff at our meetings to explain policies and answer questions that arise in the community. Conversely, we gather input from community members to assist in City planning and give on-the-ground feedback to City staff. In the long run, we believe that this builds bridges to dismantle the common community resistance and the historical distrust of the City that has existed in River Road for too long.
The timing of these potential cuts couldn’t be more ironic. Volunteers in both River Road and Santa Clara, together with City Staff, invested hundreds of hours over 7 years in researching local issues and developing a River Road-Santa Clara Neighborhood Plan. Staff from relevant departments worked together with both the River Road & Santa Clara Community Organization volunteers to write the Action Plan. This Action Plan will assist with prioritization then implementation of the Neighborhood Plan. We are now working to develop a process of implementation for this Action Plan: gathering volunteers into each topic area, and tasking them with prioritizing actions and developing their top 10 recommendations for each of the 5 areas: Transportation, Land Use, Parks & Natural Resources, Economic Development and Community. Both River Road and Santa Clara Community Organizations will then synthesize their priorities and submit them to the City, followed by discussions with staff to understand their priorities and develop consensus regarding what will occur on the ground, the roles of staff and volunteers, and rough estimates of a timeline.
We will not be able to take this next step without the funding from the City (and County), staff support of the Office of Equity & Community Engagement, and time with the departments in charge of implementation.
The consequences of halting this process are severe. Obviously, it will make the investment of 7 years and thousands of hours of volunteer and staff time will have been wasted; a travesty during these times of scarcity. But perhaps more importantly, the City will lose the support of the neighborhood as they try to implement repairs and improvements in River Road, reversing the benefits of collaborative planning. It will undercut any future planning efforts, and the long-term distrust of the City will intensify.
In addition to the community contribution to planning, RRCO is central to the goal of “Belonging.” Hundreds of neighbors get their news and events through the RRCO newsletter, meet and collaborate with each other at monthly meetings and celebrate at special events. All this occurs with minimal expense to the city and through volunteer labor.
While these are, perhaps, intangible benefits compared to library, fire and homeless services, we hope the City will devise a sustainable revenue plan that allows Eugene to be a city we are proud of.
We hope you will consider the low-cost, high-value investment in neighborhood associations. Please don’t hesitate to call or write to either of us with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Beth Gerot, Co-chair Clare Strawn, Co-chair
UPDATE: It looks like the City has since found a way forward by raising stormwater fees. It’s not clear yet whether that will stave off all cuts to neighborhood association funding – stay tuned!