05/17/1989 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e Mr. Rutan agreed with Ms. Schue on the importance of briefing all councilors on annexation issues and reviewing the City's current annexation policies. He did not feel the council could hold effective discussions of this nature, however, while the State Legislature is in session. Mr. Holmer suggested that the council's discussions on annexation involve participants from outside the City so that the council can explore a variety of perspectives on annexation. He mentioned Mr. Cornacchia as one example. C. Role of the Downtown Commission Mr. Holmer said that at a recent meeting of the Downtown Commission, members expressed concern about their role in City government. In particular, the commission was concerned about the way the City engages in development projects. When the council became the urban renewal agency for the city, the role of the Downtown Commission was created. Mr. Holmer said the commission feels it is removed from the decision-making process, in which they have a large investment. One illustration of this is that the proposed St. Laurent and Pankow projects would utilize a substantial portion of funds, not all of which are tax increment funds. The Downtown Commission feels this depletes the resources available to address issues in the downtown area. e Ms. Bascom said the Cultural Affairs Commission has requested a joint meeting with the council and asked if councilors had any objections. Ms. Schue and Mr. Holmer both felt the council should discuss the role of the Cultural Affairs Commission as well' as that of the Downtown Commission. D. Trends in Local Job Creation Mr. Bennett said that in the past, the council has had significant discussions about the types of new jobs being created and what kind of industry the council should be trying to facilitate. With this in mind, he read the following statement for the record (from the May/June 1989 issue of NETMA newsletter, produced by the City's Business Assistance Team): "Most of the new jobs created in Oregon since 1982 have been higher-paying jobs in professional/technical occupations. New jobs have actually helped raised earned income levels in the state. The notion that most new jobs are being created in low-paying service work is a "myth." All kinds of occupations are found in service industries including a considerable number of professional/technical occupations like computer programmers and accountants. While there has been some loss of earning power when comparing 1979 earnings to 1987 inflation-adjusted earnings, new jobs are not to blame. In fact, they have helped raise earned income levels. It is the quality of the "work force," not the quality of "new jobs," that present obstacles to the Oregon comeback. As employers find a need to cut labor costs and at the same time increase productivity, more skilled workers are needed. The skill shift towards professional/technical occupations is dramatic. From 1979 to 1986, over 57,000 new professional and technical jobs were created. Sales jobs have also exploded, but most of this increase is in higher-skill positions requiring marketing know-how and offering higher wages and commissions. - MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 17, 1989 Page 2