Jim Torrey

Buried in the back pages of The Register-Guard today is the headline-making news that mayoral candidate Jim Torrey opposes an independent police auditor to examine complaints against police.

The paper attributed to Torrey this statement about whether he supports the police auditor:

"Torrey said he, too, supports the auditor, although he believes she should report to the city manager, not to city councilors."

The whole point of the new police auditor was that it was independent of the city manager and under the city council. The 2005 charter amendment creating the function stated:

"Under the Eugene Charter, only the city manager may hire or appoint individuals or boards to investigate or review complaints against city employees. This measure would amend the charter to allow the city council to hire and supervise an independent police auditor and to appoint a civilian review board to investigate or oversee investigations of complaints involving police employees."

Under the old system, a non-independent police auditor reported to the city manager along with the police chief. Under that system, EPD officers sexually abused more than a dozen women despite years of complaints that EPD officers ignored.

The 2005 ballot measure was opposed by the police union which made the same argument as Torrey that the function should be under the city manager. The measure to create the independent auditor passed with 57 percent voting yes.

Now the union is one of Torrey's biggest financial backers and Torrey is running for mayor against the independent police auditor.

The Eugene mayor's race and north county commissioner race appear headed for runoffs in November.

Candidates in the races failed to cross the 50 percent threshold required to win outright in the primary.

With apparently most votes counted by midnight, county elections reported that Jim Torrey had about 49 percent of the vote compared to Piercy's 48 percent. Candidates Nick Urhausen and Jim Ray split the remaining 3 percent.

In the race for North Eugene county commissioner, Rob Handy had 48 percent compared to incumbent Bobby Green's 46 percent. Steve Sherbina had 2 percent of the vote while Nadia Sindi had 4 percent.

A November runoff could favor conservatives Torrey and Green. Without a contested Presidential primary, Republican turnout was comparatively lower in May but could be higher in November. Torrey and Green also may be able to tap deeper developer pockets for an extended campaign. On the other hand, Democrats may also turn out in great numbers in November with the hot Presidential race.

The tight local races for the pivotal mayor and county commission swing vote could serve to galvanize supporters on both sides to fight harder for their candidates.

The Eugene mayor's race is looking razor close, and Rob Handy has a small lead over incumbent County Commissioner Bobby Green.

With a rough estimate of 60 percent of Eugene votes counted at 9 pm, Kitty Piercy trails Jim Torrey by 36 votes. County elections reports Piercy with 47.74 percent of the vote and Torrey with 47.85 percent.

Both candidates need at least 50 percent to avoid a runoff in November. Conservative Nick Urhausen has 2.26 percent. Jim Ray has 1.4 percent.

Handy leads Commissioner Green by about 1.5 percentage points. Handy has 47.38 percent with Green at 45.87 percent. Both need to cross the 50 percent threshold to avoid a runoff.

Eugene City Councilor Andrea Ortiz is handily beating challenger John Crane. Ortiz has 59 percent to Crane's 40 percent. Crane has reported a record breaking $25,500 in donations to his campaign, mostly from development interests.

The EWEB board appears about to take a greener, more progressive turn. Three candidates endorsed by Eugene Weekly—Joann Ernst, Bob Cassidy and Rich Cunningham—enjoy comfortable leads.

I guess big contributions from developers don't buy proof readers.

Then again, given the recent sex scandals, maybe we do need to "improve the moral[s] of our police force."

Kitty Piercy, Jim Torrey, Jim Ray and Nick Urhausen faced off in a taped mayor's debate hosted by Fox TV on May 14.

Questions came from the candidates and a media panel from Eugene Weekly, The Register Guard, KLCC and FOX TV.

Fox plans to broadcast the one-hour debate on Saturday, May 17 from 6-7 pm. KEVU-TV will also air the debate on Saturday from 7-8 pm.

To listen to the debate audio, check our podcast.