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e e e has heard this speech and many others too many times. She served this commu- nity as a hostess, traveling ambassador, staunch defender, and loyal critic. She was neither elected nor appointed, but she accepted the responsibility and delivered for me and 109,000 Eugeneans. Please join me in thanking her. Before I leave this stage, if you will allow, I would like to share with you some thoughts about the future. I urge this community to keep its collective hand firmly on the economic throttle. Already I hear the drums beating, and perhaps you do also. They are saying that our economy has improved and we can now relax or set aside some of the things we have been doing in favor of others. They are suggesting that we have experienced economic recovery and survived, and now we can reduce support for the Eugene/Springfield Metropoli- tan Partnership. They are suggesting we can cut back on the business assis- tance programs and eliminate our lobbying efforts in Salem and Washington. My response is, "Wrong, wrong, wrong. II What a cruel hoax it would be on the people of this community, to once again return to the days when our future was an accident. I plead with this new Mayor and council, do not ignore the recent trend of higher interest rates and reduced raw material/natural resource availability. Storm clouds are indeed gathering. We have seen it many times in this community and our future is fragile. Let us not forget that just four years ago this community was more economically depressed, more emotionally dispirited, and hopelessly demoralized than anytime since Oregonians stood in soup lines. If we are to maintain the security that we know today, create and maintain jobs for our children, and maintain our hope for the future, we must strike a balance between our commitment to the Eugene life style which runs very deep, and our commitment to economic progress which does not. You and I must stand guard, ready to resist the inevitable pressure to apply the brakes to the City's economic engine. As sure as the sun rises tomorrow, those pressures are on the way. We must never sacrifice our quality of life for the benefit of economic growth, but neither can we regress to happenstance for the future. I suggest to you that with one hand on that economic throttle, the other should work on a new and alternate "people agenda" for Eugene. Certainly, we must look to other needs in our community. We cannot stand by as partners in this human race and abandon the homeless, the drug sand alcohol addicted, or the chil- dren who are being thrown away. We cannot allow that to happen. A few weeks ago, Karen and I had the experience of accompanying ten under- privileged children from Eugene to Disneyland to celebrate the 60th birthday of Mickey Mouse. As I watched these young people, and those ten represented perhaps 1,500 in this community (and it was not easy to choose the list), I was both reassured and frightened about his community's future. I was reas- sured because these young citizens were tough, strong, and determined. What was frightening was that these same qualities will serve them extremely well in a life of crime, lawlessness, and violence. That is a life much more available to them than the one you and I know. When I jog from downtown, and I challenge you to try it, you will only have to run a few blocks before you will find a family living in a car. You State of the City Address Brian B. Obie January 9, 1989 Page 3