CC Minutes - 09/25/06 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

annexations. Additionally, she thought the reason for the annexations was that if the City annexed the streets on its own, it would have to pay the fee, but by tacking it on to an existing annexation request this was not so. Claire Syrett , 363 Adams Street, stated that she was a member of the Sustainable Business Initiative (SBI) Task Force and a representative of workers’ interests. She hoped the council would support the recom- mendations of the SBI Task Force and would understand that they were the first steps in moving the local economy towards true sustainability. She related that initially the task force had no idea what a daunting task they were undertaking. The process, approach, and goals, she felt, were uncharted territory for Eugene, as bringing business, environmental, government, and worker interests together to seek ways to promote sustainable business practices had never been done before. She hoped the council and community would build upon this work to continue to move the initiative toward success. She averred that success must include equal footing for the consideration of workers in the local economy. She noted that the press had focused on the environmental recommendations. She underscored that without the deliberate inclusion of the needs of workers and the greater community the initiative would fail. She said how workers were encouraged to do the work of the sustainable business would be critical to the success of the initiative. The Eugene/Springfield Solidarity Network (ESSN) and the Labor Education and Research Center researched local workers’ views on sustainable business and found great support for the concept and those businesses seen as sustainable. She related that workers also expressed skepticism that business would give the workers and their needs co-equal status with the needs of protecting the environment. She asserted that workers wanted real standards by which they could judge whether or not a business was sustainable and that included worker treatment and positive interaction with the community. She noted that there was struggle within the task force about how to set measurements for sustainability with regard to workers’ concerns, while environmental measurements were seen as acceptable. She felt this should be of concern to those who wanted the initiative to succeed. She also felt it offered an opportunity for leadership on the part of the City Council to work through the “sticking points.” th Kartar Khalsa , 795 East 37 Avenue, member of the SBI Task Force, thanked the Mayor for the vision and courage that it took to put the SBI group together. He highly encouraged the City Council to support the recommendations of the SBI. He said the most important part would be to set up a system that would live beyond this current administration and be self-sustaining for the length of time it would take to achieve the goals that had been set. He urged the council to establish a system to set an office or commission of sustainability to ensure the efforts were continued. He felt this was an opportunity for the City to take a leadership role and to partner with business and the Chamber of Commerce, in order to develop sustainable business and to bring new sustainable business to the community. He asked the council to look at the SBI recommendations carefully and to make the investment now for the future, because the future would be different. He averred that the resources available in the future would be different. He stated that he wanted a sustainable future for the children. Kathy Johnson , 465 Covey Lane, echoed the points made by her Quail Run neighbors. For he, it boiled down to an issue of safety, which should be the first priority. She believed EWEB was putting dollars and cents above the safety of the community. She urged the council to help bring EWEB to the table to come up with a viable solution that would be safe for all of the community. Randy Stender , 2898 Powderhorn Street, recommended the Council Chamber be converted into a Cultural Center. He reminded the council that DIVA submitted a statement of interest, signed by many of the cultural organizations in town, requesting the opportunity to do so. He noted that the signers included David Turner, director of the Jordan Schnitzer Museum, and Bob Hart, of the Lane County Historical MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 25, 2006 Page 3 Regular Meeting