Council refers two charter amendments — gender-neutral pronouns and department-head residency — to May 19, 2026 ballot

The Eugene City Council on Nov. 19 voted to refer two proposed charter amendments to the May 19, 2026 ballot: a measure removing gender-specific pronouns from the Eugene charter and a separate measure amending the charter’s subsection on department-head residency.

Jason Dedrick, a policy analyst in the city manager’s office, told council that staff had reviewed proposed edits for antiquated or gendered language and that the draft changes remove 12 instances of gender-specific pronouns in favor of more neutral phrasing. Dedrick also summarized the proposal to remove the residency requirement for department heads while retaining an existing residency provision for the city manager.

Council Vice President (unnamed) moved to refer the gender-pronoun amendment; the motion passed 7–0. The council also moved to refer the residency amendment, which passed 6–1. The two measures will appear on the May 19, 2026 ballot if the secretary of state and election timelines proceed as outlined.

Councilors then formed proponent committees for the voters’ pamphlet. Councilors Keating, Yeh and Leach volunteered to serve as proponents for the gender-pronoun measure; Councilors Kaczynski and Groves volunteered for the residency measure. The city attorney clarified that proponent committees draft the proponent statement and that staff do not participate in advocacy language because such activity would constitute election advocacy by staff.

If approved by voters, the gender-language changes would modernize pronoun usage in the charter language; the residency amendment would remove the requirement that department heads live in Eugene while preserving the city manager’s residency requirement. Staff noted that citizen-initiated charter amendments remain possible by petition, and that any referred amendments will be accompanied by standard voters’ pamphlet materials prepared under council direction.