16
16 —
— THE
THE CHRONICLE
CHRONICLE
community
THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 2020
SPRINGFIELD
EYSTER continued from 13
“I’ve attended most City Council
meetings and hear, ‘Glenwood is a
diamond in the rough.’ It’s been a
diamond in the rough for decades.
Where is the urgency to polish the
diamond?”
It’s clear that “urgency” is one
of the foundational elements for
Eyster’s platform, which is prior-
itizing economic vitality, safe
neighborhoods and transparency
in leadership.
Eyster said each area of focus
is intertwined to some degree,
but the improvement in quality of
life for residents is directly tied to
Springfi eld’s economic success. He
cited the development downtown,
but doesn’t want the energy to stop
there.
“What we need to do is fi nd a way
to use that as a spark to expand to
the entire community,” he said.
He said that kind of revitaliza-
tion will create more jobs, which in
turn will raise the median annual
salary of residents in multiple
industries.
When it comes to safety in neigh-
borhoods, Eyster said affordable
and accessible housing is crucial
for the entire community.
“I think in some ways Springfi eld
has had a sense that homeless-
ness is a big problem in Eugene
but not in Springfield,” he said.
“Homelessness doesn’t have a
boundary. We’re increasingly
seeing homeless camps right off
Main Street. I don’t think it’s
because people have decided to
move to Springfi eld. They’re people
who genuinely don’t have a choice
or option.”
He added that the city needs to
be more creative and urgent than
they have been up to this point. The
legislature has approved $3 million
for a pilot project for a manufac-
tured home community; however,
a site hasn’t been located.
“We have $3 million to help a
problem and we don’t have a site
identifi ed, so that’s what I mean
about a sense of urgency,” Eyster
said. “People in businesses who
have someone sleeping in their
doorway feel a sense of urgency
to get that problem solved, but the
person sleeping in that doorway
is also feeling a sense of urgency
because they want to be somewhere
warm and dry.”
Eyster said that a transparent
leadership style is also important
to him, and he described his best
leadership qualities as being collab-
orative and inclusive. He noted that
there are people in Springfield
who don’t feel they are part of the
community, and it’s important to
show them how important they are
to the city.
“If it wasn’t for the Latinx busi-
nesses in our community, we’d be a
much poorer place, both culturally
and economically,” he said.
L eadership, activism and
achievement are not new to
Eyster. He is the Springfield
Utility Board vice chair, Statewide
Transpor tation Improvement
Fund chai r, Better Eugene
Springfi eld Transportation pres-
ident, Springfi eld Area Chamber
of Com merce E conom ic
D evelopment Com m it t e e
chair, Springfield Renaissance
Development Corporation pres-
ident, and Lane Community
College Board of Education Board
chair.
He is also a former City Club
of Springfi eld Board chair, Lane
Transit District Board chair,
Springfield Area Chamber of
Commerce Board chair, Greater
Eugene, Inc. Board president, and
Travel Lane County board member.
He was employed at the
University of Oregon as senior asso-
ciate vice president for Student Life,
director of University Housing and
executive director of the University
Health Center.
He was also named the 2014
“First Citizen” by the Springfi eld-
Area Chamber of Commerce.
“In many ways, (mayoral leader-
ship) is not different from the work
I’ve done for a very long time,” he
said. “It all has to do with public
policy and weighing needs.”
If elected, Eyster said that he’s
not going to take a year to ponder.
During his campaign he will be
listening to groups as a starting
point, but then wants to take action.
“Clearly I need input, but then
we need to act,” he said. “I heard
a lot of ‘can do’; we need to focus
on ‘will do,’” he said, referring to
Mayor Christine Lundberg’s 2020
State of the City address.
Waiting has been one of Eyster’s
biggest concerns for the city. He has
testifi ed about the Patrician Mobile
Home Park development before
and elaborated that the person who
bought the property years ago had
announced his intent to sell and
develop it, but there was no Plan
B in the works for when the park
would be developed.
“It’s the responsibility of the city
to say, ‘What can we do so it’s not
a cliff for the people who are living
here?’” he said. “I’m not sure of the
answer to that, but I am sure I can
pull the right people together and
we’re going to work on that and fi nd
an answer to it.”
Eyster said he is committed and
energized about the opportunities,
and isn’t willing to wait on pushing
Springfi eld forward.
“I’m very excited for this oppor-
tunity to bring my leadership style
and commitment to the commu-
nity,” he said.
LUNDBERG continued from 13
ects, and some of them
are in infancy enough that
having that continuum of
experience and knowledge –
and, I want to say, the trust of
the people I’ve been working
with – to continue those” is
important, she said.
“I also love Springfi eld,”
she added.
Or iginally appointed
mayor by the City Council
in December 2010, when
former mayor Sid Leiken
became a Lane County
commissioner, Lundberg
said that she was also
encouraged to run again.
She stressed that she wants
to complete one more term
to help navigate Springfi eld
through the new growth
initiatives and the transition
to a new city manager.
With two of the top city
positions changing simul-
taneously, she said it was
important for the city to have
a sense of continuity.
If re-elected, Lundberg
said one of her areas of
focus will include the
indoor track-and-fi eld facil-
ity being constructed in
Glenwood. She added that
although historic Downtown
Spr i ngf ield has come
together, the downtown
extends to Glenwood.
“It’s not two different
places, it’s just that a river
runs through it,” she said.
With the economy chang-
ing, there also are a variety
of open jobs in the city, and
Lundberg wants to help area
businesses grow, maintain
and expand. Economic
vitality and affordable
housing are two major
planks of her platform
because she said they go
“hand-in-hand.”
Lundberg also has plans
in the works with the state
agencies and St. Vincent de
Paul to help facilitate afford-
able housing through mobile
home parks.
“It’s evident that we
have mobile home parks in
Springfield and not all of
them are going to remain
mobile homes,” she said.
“The developer gets to
do what they want to do.
Developers buy mobile
home parks as investment
properties and then sell
them when the value is good
enough.”
She said that makes the
people in those homes
vulnerable, and city lead-
ers are seeking ways to help
those affected by applying
for an Oregon Solutions proj-
ect.
The project got multi-
ple organizations involved
to create a toolkit if a park
closes, and Terry McDonald,
executive director of St.
Vincent, will be part of
the solution to build a new
mobile home park that can
stay that way. The project
was passed by the governor
with House Bill 2896, giving
St. Vincent $3 million for a
pilot program.
Affordable housing is a
key concern for Lundberg,
who said the city is working
on changing the development
code to be more accessi-
ble for a variety of housing
development projects. The
growth boundary expansion
in Gateway, north before the
freeway corridor, also has
been approved.
Lundberg is working
with Eugene Mayor Lucy
Vinis on a U.S. Department
of Transportation BUILD
(Better Utilizing Investments
to Leverage Development)
grant that will extend
from Downtown Eugene
to Downtown Springfield
through Franklin Boulevard,
as well as focusing on bike
connections from Eugene to
Springfi eld.
She also wants to cele-
brate the diverse commu-
nity within Springfi eld that
has changed in recent years,
which is why they’re reboot-
ing Springfield Tomorrow
efforts to lead to a better defi -
nition of what the community
is.
“We’re raising another
generation that has a lot of
diversity,” she said. “We
want to continue to create
a warm and welcoming
community.”
Although Springfield
is still facing its chal-
lenges, Lundberg prefers
to look at them as opportu-
nities. Keeping the budget
balanced is always a strug-
gle, but Lundberg said they
manage to do it every year
even though it’s tight.
“I see those as opportu-
nities to do things better,
but there are challenges
of how to address those
th ings,” she sa id. “To
figure out for a community
that likes independence
how to embrace climate
change and principles of
‘What can we do?’ that
work for everyone.”
Having grown up in
Springfi eld, Lundberg said
that she understands the
community and through
her tenure has worked hard
on behalf of Springfield.
Lundberg said she realizes
she has had a tendency of
not acknowledging her own
contributions to city achieve-
ments. It’s a mindset, she
said, of always putting the
city fi rst.
“I have been working very
hard on taking Springfi eld
from where we are right now
to the next level in terms of
growth and development,”
she said.
For her 30 years of service
to the community, Lundberg
said that her experience and
N
E
OP
understanding of where the
city is now and its next steps
are important to consider for
the upcoming election.
“Keeping me as mayor is
important to help push us
forward,” she said. “A change
at this point is probably not
in the best interests of trying
to move us ahead, because
we’re moving really fast.”
NOW IN CRESWELL!
Tues thru Sat
11 am till 7pm
Sunday
11 am till 2pm
OYSTERS ARE IN!
Get yourself some fresh oysters
$13 a dozen!
FRESH Pre-cooked
CRAB
$8.99 lb (around 2lbs each)
Ready-to-go crab
cracked in containers with
a side of melted butter $10 each!
Follow us on facebook
541-410-7398
FIND US ON THE MAIN DRAG BY THE MEADOWLARK RV PARK