Coffee with Earl Blumenauer: Building Community in Uncertain Times

On Thursday, May 29, join former Congressman Earl Blumenauer for an informal discussion with public officials, transportation activists, and university scholars about transportation funding challenges and opportunities and what we can do together locally.

Thursday, May 29, 2025
9:30 – 10:00 am
Light refreshments provided by the University of Oregon
10:00 – 11:15 am
Informal, in-person discussion moderated by BEST executive director Rob Zako
Please RSVP to reserve your space and to learn the location in downtown Eugene
Please RSVP to submit your top issue — even if you can’t attend

Transportation agencies in Oregon and beyond face severe funding challenges, without enough money to maintain or improve infrastructure and services. There are many solutions for raising funds, particularly with new technologies enabling a range of pricing strategies. How can we move forward and adopt new sustainable transportation finance systems? How might new solutions improve everyday travel? Drawing from his 50 years of experience at all levels of government, join former Congressman Earl Blumenauer for an informal discussion with public officials, transportation activists, and university scholars about transportation funding challenges and opportunities and what we can do together locally.

Earl Blumenauer

For more than 50 years, Earl Blumenauer has dedicated his career to building livable communities: places where people are safe, healthy, and economically secure. In 1996, Earl was elected to the US House of Representatives. During his 28 years in Congress, he developed a reputation for approaching controversial issues in a way that breaks through gridlock and brings people together around common-sense solutions.

Earl chose not to run for reelection for another term in Congress in 2024, but instead to concentrate his efforts directly at home in Portland on so many of the issues he cares passionately about. One of the ways that he will be engaged is as a Senior Fellow and Special Advisor to the Portland State University President and as a Presidential Fellow of the Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies.

A lifelong Oregonian, Earl was raised in SE Portland and attended Centennial High School. While a student at Lewis and Clark College, he led the fight to lower the voting age in Oregon. His advocacy helped fuel the passage of the 26^th amendment to the Constitution. In 1972, Earl was elected to the Oregon House as one of the youngest legislators in the state’s history during a groundbreaking legislative session for school funding, ethics reform, and Oregon’s land use laws. In 1978, he left the legislature to serve his hometown more directly, first as a County Commissioner, then on the Portland City Council as Commissioner of Public Works. There, his advocacy for public transportation, land use planning and environmental protection earned him an international reputation as a leader for livability.In 1996, Earl was elected to the US House of Representatives. During his 28 years in Congress, he developed a reputation for approaching controversial issues in a way that breaks through gridlock and brings people together around common-sense solutions.

Hosts

Further reading

• PPPM Awards Set for May 29, 2025 (University of Oregon, 2/4/25)
• A Retiring Congressman’s Advice to New Members of the House (Atlantic, 1/2/25)
• Earl Blumenauer talks about a long career – and what’s next (OPB, 12/31/24)
• Oregon’s Earl Blumenauer calls it quits after 50 years in politics (Oregon Capital Chronicle, 12/20/24)
• US Rep. Earl Blumenauer to join Portland State University after congressional term ends (Oregon Capital Chronicle, 9/11/24)
• Earl Blumenauer Takes His Talents to Portland State University (Willamette Week, 9/10/24)
• Retiring U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer will take job in Portland after leaving Congress. See where he’s headed (Oregonian, 9/9/24)
• Bicycles used to be made in the U.S.A.—a new bill aims to bring them back (Fast Company, 7/8/24)
• Oregon Democratic US Rep. Earl Blumenauer reflects on 27 years in Congress and what comes next (Associated Press, 11/3/23)
• Meet the Biggest Bike Dork in Congress (Slate, 6/2/23)
• Congressman Earl Blumenauer and Commissioner Chloe Eudaly break ground on the new Blumenauer Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge over I-84 (Portland Bureau of Transportation, 11/7/19)
• Congressmen Blumenauer and Buchanan introduce $30 million ‘vision zero’ grant programs (BikePortland, 3/10/15)