CC Minutes - 01/07/08 State of the City

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dedicated to the community’s best interest. She said the council should direct the City Manager to establish such an office by motion. Ms. Bettman advocated for hiring a new city manager with extensive experience and leadership ability who had ideas and the skills to implement them. That individual should find where common ground existed among councilors and develop it for the benefit of all rather than exploiting differences and pitting factions against each other to barely pass initiatives divisive to the community. She called for leadership which confidently embraced reform and innovation and was not afraid of its citizens. Ms. Bettman advocated for abolishment of the existing urban renewal districts in favor of existing mechanisms that assisted in the development of housing. She thought urban renewal districts were a disincentive to sensitive development because property owners hold out in hopes of “cashing in” for huge public subsidies, and in the meantime the urban core was suffering from inattention. She pointed out it only required a council majority to increase the spending limit. Once the districts were ended, the community could still suffer the impacts of urban renewal tax diversion because of the many districts in the state that used urban renewal and diverted money away from Eugene students and State services. She said Eugene still had work to do at the State legislature so that schools and other jurisdictions could “opt out” of other cities and counties’ urban renewal tax diversion programs for funding their “pet projects.” She believed her four initiatives would contribute positively to every issue citizens cared about. Ms. Bettman ended with a quote from Franklin Delano Roosevelt: “The only sure bulwark of continuing liberty is a government strong enough to protect the interests of the people, and a people strong enough and well-enough informed to maintain its sovereign control over its government.” Ms. Taylor, Ward 2, agreed with Ms. Bettman’s remarks about a performance auditor and in-house attorney. She expressed the wish that each councilor could give an award. The first she would give was to the citizens who worked to defeat the increase in the urban renewal debt and protect businesses downtown. She was glad that no downtown business had to move unless they wished to. Ms. Taylor believed it was a good year for citizen activity, citing the Amazon Headwaters supporters’ work to persuade the council to exercise eminent domain for property containing some of the headwaters. She also cited the work of the Crest neighbors in getting context-sensitive design for their streets, the work of the Madison Meadows neighbors who succeeded in saving a green space in their neighborhood as other examples to be commended. Ms. Taylor said she would like to see the Amazon Headwaters protected and in public ownership. She hoped the council hired a competent city manager and passed a living wage ordinance. She suggested the council could allow free parking downtown. In the long-range, Ms. Taylor wished success to the Beam project. She hoped to see work begin on a youth center and called for a philanthropist to support in that effort. Ms. Taylor suggested the City modify its motto and be a “great city for the arts and outdoors.” Ms. Ortiz, Ward 7, observed that the State of the City event gave those without a lot of time to spare a snapshot of how the City was doing. She thanked her family for its support and said her husband Neno and sons Neno, Raoul, and Emilo who were the most important people in her life. Her immediate family kept her humble, laughing, and crying. Ms. Ortiz said her work family at Peace Health was also important. Her job MINUTES—State of the City January 7, 2008 Page 2