CC Minutes - 01/30/08 Work Session

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the authority or a democratically representative voting structure and with the assumption of the metropolitan planning organization's (MPO) responsibility for regional transportation planning, the negative aspects of the voting structure were exacerbated. Ms. Bettman asserted that an Area Commission on Transportation (ACT) was needed. She said creation of a Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) was intended to be the citizen component required for an ACT. She said the CAC had been utterly marginalized to developing ways to increase citizen involvement instead of working with staff on transportation planning activities. She said Eugene had a larger population but any jurisdiction could veto it. She said another topic should be tax giveaways like urban renewal districts and enterprise zones. pro tem Ms. Ortiz thanked City Manager Jones for the list of suggested topics. She said it would be interesting to include race on the list and determine where other jurisdictions were with respect to their diversity plans. She agreed that transportation and homelessness should be on the list. She raised the issue of ambulance service areas (ASA), which were established by the County but served by the City. She said the City was compensated when people had insurance coverage, but if there was no insurance people were still transported to a City hospital for care. She hoped that issue could be discussed. Mr. Pryor said his priorities had to have a practical bearing and a need to be addressed immediately; those included Metro Plan and UGB decisions, ORS 190 agreements and consequences of abolishing the Boundary Commission. He said if there was time, transportation could also be addressed because it was very much a regional issue. Mr. Poling was pleased to see public safety among the topics and suggested that the ASA issue raised by Ms. Ortiz could be incorporated in that discussion. He hoped that jurisdictions could work together to improve public safety. He pointed to the collaboration of Eugene and Springfield fire departments as a good model. He supported including transportation funding, the Metro Plan, and UGB issues on the list. Mr. Zelenka listed the Metro Plan, the UGB, transportation, homelessness, and public safety as his priorities. Ms. Bettman stated that the County's reference to public safety meant reviving service districts. She said the council declined to create service districts for public safety in 2005 because Eugene's population would subsidize services outside of the City and within the County. She said creating a special district would give County commissioners additional taxing authority by making an "end run" around the vote on the income tax. Ms. Bettman stated that the County's reference to preserving farmland in the Jasper Extension/Natron area really meant adding 1,000 acres to the UGB. She said that would be within the City of Springfield's UGB Deleted: and would not affect Eugene meaning Eugene is not a decision maker. She did not see why it was on the list as it did not make any sense. She said the ORS 190 agreements were another item "clothed in mystery" because she could not imagine the County would want to assume responsibility for providing that service due to their financial crisis. She said it was a political issue and if people in that area felt they were disenfranchised they needed to talk to the County commissioners. Mayor Piercy clarified that in the JEO meeting process, each jurisdiction could present its issues from its own perspective. She said when she discussed public safety or planning issues it was from Eugene's point of MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 30, 2008 Page 2 Work Session