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Mayor announces privately funded downtown guides pilot; hires from Everyone Village
Summary
The mayor and staff announced a three-month privately funded pilot to expand downtown guide services, adding 10 FTE (including red-hat guides, ambassadors and beautifiers) largely hired from Everyone Village to increase outreach and navigation services downtown.
At the July 1 IGR meeting, city leadership announced a privately funded three-month pilot to expand downtown guide services. The pilot is funded by Darren Sparks and managed through Downtown Eugene Inc.
Mayor Vinny said the pilot adds 10 full-time equivalent positions, expanding the downtown guides ("red hats") from about 2.5 FTE to 4.5 FTE, and creating ambassador and beautifier roles to provide navigation, support and basic clean-up services. The mayor said most positions will be filled by residents from Everyone Village, a local supportive-housing partner.
"It shows it can be done when there's adequate funding and the will to make a change," the mayor said, praising the rapid setup and community partners who helped stand up the pilot.
Council members heard that two additional red-hat positions will be integrated into the existing guide program and that other roles will act as navigators to help connect people to services and as on-the-ground beautification teams. The pilot will run through the high-demand summer months and city and partner organizations will evaluate whether it can be sustained long term.
Staff said they will monitor outcomes and report back to council; no formal city funding decision was made during the meeting.
