County sets vaccine requirement for employees, City seeks to ban unhoused resident from parks

County announces vaccine requirement for employees, volunteers

Lane County announced Thursday that they would be mandating their employees and volunteers would be required to be vaccinated by November 30, with certain exceptions. Due to barriers in state law, parole officers and law enforcement officials will be exempt. Additionally for those the directive does cover, there will be medical and religious exemptions. However they have left out a philosophical exemption.

With this announcement, 9 out of 10 of Eugene’s largest employers have plans for a vaccine requirement in place. The one employer that does not have plans for a vaccine requirement: the City of Eugene. Event though the City Council hasn’t had discussions of requiring their employees to be vaccinated, Councilor Keating and Councilor Zelenka did feel the necessity to discuss the possibility of requiring residents of its Safe Sleep sites to be vaccinated at a recent work session.

City of Eugene seeks to ban unhoused person from parks

Last month the Eugene Police Department issued a ban from all city parks to an unhoused individual. Their trial was originally set for the end of last month, has now been rescheduled for this Friday, September 24, at 1 PM. Additionally the judge has moved the trial online, but is not letting the public attend virtually.

Stop the Sweeps Eugene, who has been following this individuals case and organized a solidarity sign wave outside the courthouse when it was last scheduled for, says this unhoused community member has been targeted and harassed by the Parks Department multiple times.

The general public can only view the trial by going to the courthouse at the time of the hearing where the city will have a screen in a room there. Advocates for the unhoused say this option is not a safe option as their is not enough room to social distance. Stop the Sweeps is encouraging people to call or email the municipal court to tell them to make the hear accessible to the public virtually.

Local links

  • Cascadia Forest Defenders launched a tree sit in Willamette National Forest to prevent Flat Country Timber sale.

  • The Lane Community College Education Association and the Lane Community College Employee Federation has landed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the college relating to COVID protections for Fall 2021 through Summer 2022. Among the items included: employees will not be required to attend in-person meetings, and opportunities to request flexible workspace or remote work.

  • Eugene City Council Loosens Restrictions On Accessory Dwelling Units

  • US Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded Lane County $3.3M to take on youth homelessness

  • “Currently, Springfield doesn’t comply with the DOJ’s public records and public meetings policies. As of date, 20 videos recorded over the last year are not available to the public for viewing on their YouTube channel.”

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