11/16/1977 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e He reviewed some general recommendations: The suggestion that the general purpose government should maintain as great a control as possible over the policy instruments. Also, from what is known of the tools available, none is likely to have any positive impact on the rate of growth of job opportunities locally. He said there was little, if anything, that could be done locally to increase jOb opportunities over present conditions. He said employment growth could be. slowed down by increasing the inefficiency of local policies. That concluded the thrust of the October 10 memo. In reviewing the November 5 memo from the Planning Department, Mr. Whitelaw continued it was a summary of what has been going on with discussions and projects in economic development. He di rected Counci1's attention to the recommendations listed on page 3, noting they were consistent with the October 10 memo. 1 . Institutional Arrangements: The Council should endorse the concept of a Lane County economic improvement commission with the stipulation that its bylaws provide for 40 percent of the commission's voting members to be appointed by the Eugene City Council and provide a mechanism which allows the City Council to validate actions which directly affect the City of Eugene. He noted this was also consistent with the memo as proposed by the L-COG Board. The next recommendation was the Council should not endorse the concept of a Lane County Port Authority. He said the major purpose of a Port District was to increase job opportuni- e ties, and the evidence suggested Eugene had little or no chance to increase that. He continued even if a Port District did have some influence, it would be very desirable to keep the coordinating component of economic pOlicy within the local government. He noted a Port District is in effect an autonomous taxing and spending local government. Comprehensive Employment and Training Act--He recalled for Council the major unemployment groups in the area. He said to minimize the burdens of the unemployed, Eugene should coordinate with Lane County the unemployment placement programs so as to reduce the length of job search, and also should increase employment training to allow a more competitive posture by locally unemployed in their search for jobs. Mr. Delay questioned Mr. Whitelaw as to the rationale that ended up with the 40 percent representation figure. He felt it necessary for juris- dictions in Lane County to have some kind of review and veto power, but wondered if there might not be some fear from others of dominance. He wondered how necessary it was to get an exact proportional representation. Jim Farah, Planner, said all the work Mr. Whitelaw had done had pointed out the preeminance of the City of Eugene in the context of an economic center. He noted it had to do with the ability t9 affect City policies in this context. More directly, he answered, the 40-percent figure had come from the 1976 population ratio of Eugene to Lane County. e 8J.f1f 11 /16/77 --3