Editing Eugene, Oregon (section)

== Government ==
In 1944, Eugene adopted a [[Council–manager government|council–manager]] form of government, replacing the day-to-day management of city affairs by the part-time mayor and volunteer [[city council]] with a full-time professional [[city manager]]. The subsequent history of Eugene city government has largely been one of the dynamics—often contentious—between the city manager, the mayor and city council.

According to statute, all Eugene and Lane County elections are officially non-partisan, with a primary containing all candidates in May. If a candidate gets more than 50% of the vote in the primary, they win the election outright, otherwise the top two candidates face off in a November runoff. This allows candidates to win seats during the lower-turnout primary election.

The mayor of Eugene is Kaarin Knudson, who took office in January 2025. [[List of mayors of Eugene, Oregon|Recent mayors]] include Edwin Cone (1958–69), Les Anderson (1969–77) Gus Keller (1977–84), Brian Obie (1985–88), Jeff Miller (1989–92), [[Ruth Bascom]] (1993–96), [[Jim Torrey]] (1997–2004), [[Kitty Piercy]] (2005–2017), and [[Lucy Vinis]] (2017-25).

===Eugene City Council===
Mayor: Kaarin Knudson
*Ward 1 – Eliza Kashinsky
*Ward 2 – Matt Keating
*Ward 3 – Alan Zelenka
*Ward 4 – Jennifer Yeh
*Ward 5 – Mike Clark
*Ward 6 – Greg Evans
*Ward 7 – Lyndsie Leech
*Ward 8 – Randy Groves<ref>{{cite web |title=Mayor and City Council |url=http://www.eugene-or.gov/index.aspx?NID=537 |access-date=February 22, 2021 |website=Eugene, OR Website |publisher=City of Eugene, Oregon |archive-date=December 28, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151228073709/http://www.eugene-or.gov/index.aspx?NID=537 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Public safety===
The Eugene Police Department is the city's law enforcement and public safety agency.<ref>{{cite web |title=Eugene Police Department |url=http://www.eugene-or.gov/index.aspx?nid=162 |access-date=December 31, 2012 |archive-date=December 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121218005100/http://www.eugene-or.gov/index.aspx?NID=162 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Lane County Sheriff's Office (Oregon)|Lane County Sheriff's Office]] also has its headquarters in Eugene.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lane County Sheriff. |url=http://www.lanecounty.org/Departments/Sheriff/Pages/default.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100414072256/http://www.lanecounty.org/Departments/Sheriff/Pages/default.aspx |archive-date=April 14, 2010 |access-date=April 26, 2010}}</ref>

The University of Oregon is served by the [[University of Oregon Police Department]],<ref>{{cite web |title=U of O Campus PD |url=http://police.uoregon.edu/ |access-date=December 31, 2012 |archive-date=December 27, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121227103835/http://police.uoregon.edu/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=about UODPS |url=http://police.uoregon.edu/node/85 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303211633/http://police.uoregon.edu/node/85 |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |access-date=December 31, 2012}}</ref> and Eugene Police Department also has a police station in the West University District near campus. Lane Community College is served by the Lane Community College Public Safety Department.<ref>{{cite web |title=LCCPSD |url=http://www2.lanecc.edu/psd/public-safety-services |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121226060216/http://www2.lanecc.edu/psd/public-safety-services |archive-date=December 26, 2012 |access-date=December 31, 2012}}</ref> The [[Oregon State Police]] have a presence in the rural areas and highways around the Eugene metro area.<ref>{{cite web |title=Oregon state police |url=http://www.oregon.gov/osp/Pages/index.aspx |access-date=December 31, 2012 |archive-date=January 1, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130101012553/http://www.oregon.gov/osp/Pages/index.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Lane Transit District|LTD]] downtown station, and the [[Emerald Express (EmX)|EmX]] lines are patrolled by [[Lane Transit District|LTD]] [[Transit police|Transit Officers]]. Since 1989 the mental health crisis intervention non-governmental agency [[CAHOOTS (crisis response)|CAHOOTS]] has responded to Eugene's mental health 911 calls.<ref name=":02">{{cite web |last=Villafranca |first=Omar |date=October 23, 2019 |title=An alternative to police: Mental health team responds to emergencies in Oregon |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mental-health-team-responds-to-emergencies-oregon-alternative-to-police-2019-10-23/ |access-date=June 9, 2020 |website=CBS News |language=en |archive-date=June 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200617131459/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mental-health-team-responds-to-emergencies-oregon-alternative-to-police-2019-10-23/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":12">{{Cite news |last=Elinson |first=Zusha |date=November 24, 2018 |title=When Mental-Health Experts, Not Police, Are the First Responders |language=en-US |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/when-mental-health-experts-not-police-are-the-first-responders-1543071600 |access-date=June 9, 2020 |issn=0099-9660 |archive-date=June 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200609162605/https://www.wsj.com/articles/when-mental-health-experts-not-police-are-the-first-responders-1543071600 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Eugene-Springfield Fire Department is the agency responsible for emergency medical services, fire suppression, HAZMAT operations and water/Confined spaces rescues in the combined Eugene-Springfield metropolitan area.<ref>{{cite web |title=City of Eugene Fire and Emergency Medical Services |url=https://eugene-or.gov/120/Fire-and-Emergency-Medical-Services |access-date=May 2, 2021 |archive-date=May 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502181920/https://eugene-or.gov/120/Fire-and-Emergency-Medical-Services |url-status=live }}</ref>

Eugene used to have an ordinance which prohibited car horn usage for non-driving purposes. After several residents were cited for this offense during the anti-Gulf War demonstrations in January 1991, the city was taken to court and in 1992 the [[Oregon Court of Appeals]] overturned the ordinance, finding it unconstitutionally vague.<ref>{{cite web |date=November 4, 1992 |title=City of Eugene v. Powlowski |url=https://law.justia.com/cases/oregon/court-of-appeals/1992/116-or-app-186.html |access-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718185231/https://law.justia.com/cases/oregon/court-of-appeals/1992/116-or-app-186.html |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Eugene City Hall]] was abandoned in 2012 for reasons of structural integrity, energy efficiency, and obsolete size. Various offices of city government became tenants in eight other buildings.

===Politics===

Being the largest city by far in Lane County, Eugene's voters almost always decide the county's partisan tilt. While Eugene has historically been a counter-culture-heavy and left-leaning college town, the county's partisan leanings have intensified in recent decades, mirroring the general polarization of Oregon voters along urban (pro-Democratic) and rural (pro-Republican) lines.<ref>{{cite web |date=February 12, 2019 |title=The urban-rural divide in Oregon has become more pronounced |url=https://www.registerguard.com/news/20190212/urban-rural-divide-in-oregon-has-become-more-pronounced |access-date=August 1, 2020 |archive-date=July 31, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731032051/https://www.registerguard.com/news/20190212/urban-rural-divide-in-oregon-has-become-more-pronounced |url-status=live }}</ref>

Lane County voted for [[Bernie Sanders]] over eventual 2016 nominee [[Hillary Clinton]] by 60.6-38.1%, and Eugene offered Sanders an even larger share of its vote.<ref>{{cite web |date=May 17, 2016 |title=Lane County, Oregon Primary Election May 17, 2016 OFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS |url=http://apps.lanecounty.org/Elections/Document.ashx?id=680 |access-date=August 1, 2020 |archive-date=September 14, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230914200426/https://apps.lanecounty.org/Elections/Document.ashx?id=680 |url-status=live }}</ref>