On Tuesday, Eugene voters will decide whether to support a $5.33 million “safety and service” focused Parks and Recreation levy.
The levy, which is more expensive from the 2018 parks levy by about $18 per homeowner annually, aims to increase police officer and parks employee response to illegal activity and homeless camps in parks. But unhoused advocates say that the increased response to camps would result in more sweeps.
In a statement against the levy, local unhoused advocacy group Stop the Sweeps Eugene said the levy will escalate the criminalization if homelessness.
“‘Illicit and illegal activity’ and ‘parks rule violations’ are code for being unhoused in a public space. The City is equating being houseless with being a criminal,” Stop the Sweeps Eugene said in an Instagram post urging people to vote against the levy.
Park rules ban sleeping bags and tents in parks. Parks and Open Space staff will hand out notices for people to move their camps in parks if they find someone is violating the rule. If the camp is not removed, items deemed valuable are removed and the remaining items are cleaned up.”
Funds for trails, natural areas and camp clean up services would increase by 64% if the levy is passed. City staff did not break down this item into its component parts at the Feb. 8 work session where City Council discussed the levy, but Parks and Open Spaces Director Craig Carnagey said it would include “additional resources for camp cleanup, graffiti and vandalism.”
Two more full-time positions called park ambassadors — city staff who monitor parks and help mitigate illegal campsites in parks — would be added through a $260,000 increase.
It is accompanied by a new category allocating $130,000 to “security services.” According to
Eugene Parks and Open Space Division Community Manager Kelly Shadwick, this goes toward the park’s and natural area’s security camera system and nighttime security.
“We have a nighttime security presence right now at the Riverfront park. There might be some other parks that need some nighttime security. So things like that,” Shadwick said.
The previous levy covered 2,060 campsites that were cleaned in 2022, according to the Eugene Parks and Open Space Report.
At the Feb. 8 work session where City councilors placed the levy on the ballot, they justified the levy outline using survey results. According to the 2022 Parks and Open Spaces Survey, “less camping” was the most requested improvement, requested by 59% of respondents, and respondents said they felt safer in parks when they saw fewer campers.
The levy would also provide funding for regular park maintenance and improvements. It includes a $368,000 increase to staff the recently expanded Echo Hall Pool, Sheldon Pool and Campbell Community Center. The increase would continue funding operations like restroom maintenance, tree trimming, trash service and weed management in light of Parks and Open Spaces getting less from the general fund of the budget.
“Park user survey responses show parks have become cleaner since 2018. Respondents want homeless camping in our parks reduced. This levy is the way those goals are accomplished,” a statement in favor of the levy signed by leaders of the Eugene Parks Foundation, League of Women Voters of Lane County, Eugene Family YMCA and Kidsports said.
