Eugene Mayor Kaarin Knudson attends a press conference with several Oregon Mayors to speak against President Trump's decision to deploy the National Guard on Monday, Sept. 29, 2025 in Portland, Ore.
Saskia Hatvany / OPB
Last year, when Kaarin Knudson became the mayor of Oregon’s third-largest city, she planned to revitalize downtown Eugene, build more housing and shrink the city’s roughly $10 million budget gap for the 2025-2027 biennium.
The goalposts haven’t shifted much, except now there’s a growing problem: Knudson says many of her constituents are concerned about federal law enforcement in their communities, especially after a surge in Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity across Oregon last fall.
Now, Knudson’s mayorship has turned into a balancing act: tackling housing supply, transportation infrastructure and public safety, all with the city’s eyes on Knudson and her office as they navigate ongoing federal uncertainty.
Mayor Knudson joins us to reflect on her first year in office and share how she’s thinking about the road ahead.
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