Eugene mayor, mayor-elect reaffirm support for individual rights

by Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis and Eugene Mayor-elect Kaarin Knudson

The 2024 election is settled, and the transition to a new presidential administration has begun. But our country and our community do not feel settled. We are divided between those who are celebrating and those who are anxious and fearful about the coming four years.

Our great strength as a community is the people who live here. Our promise for a better future depends on our capacity to face pressing issues with mutual respect and determination.

We speak today with a shared voice—as your mayor and mayor-elect—to reaffirm our commitment to a city in which everyone feels valued and safe. This commitment is grounded in ordinances and resolutions adopted by City Council in support of individual rights and in opposition to hate.

In 2014, the City Council amended the Human Rights Municipal Code to make it unlawful to discriminate based on gender. In 2017, the City Council adopted Ordinance 20579 Concerning Protections for Individuals that codifies our commitment to serve all people regardless of their documentation status. The ordinance prevents the city from using resources to identify or apprehend people whose only violation of law is their lack of legal immigration documentation.

Over more than a decade, successive city councils have adopted resolutions that include our commitment to protecting refugees, declaring opposition to hate, and supporting the Oregon Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

These commitments are the framework for all of the work we do in this community. We choose to build a community where everyone belongs. We choose to use language that fosters understanding. We choose to build relationships based on sharing our stories, experiences, and perspectives. We continue this unfinished work every day.

We believe that everyone who lives in Eugene wants the best for their families, neighbors, and community. We are all friends, colleagues, and neighbors living together in this city. We thrive when everyone’s voice is heard, and when everyone feels they belong.

We can choose to do this work together and to respect each another’s concerns for our community’s future. We can choose belonging over division, and hope over despair. 

Image Lucy Vinis courtesy city of Eugene, image of Kaarin Knudson courtesy KaarinForMayor.com.