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th Paul Conte , 1461 West 10 Avenue, co-chair of the JWN, said the problems caused by the redesignation of 15 blocks of the Jefferson Neighborhood affect only a small area, but to the families that live there it was the part of Eugene that mattered most. He postulated that the councilors and Mayor held attachments to their neighborhoods’ health and vitality. He averred that in neighborhoods in which incompatible infill had degraded livability and jeopardized stability, one also found a strong desire among neighbors to stop this “senseless kind of development.” He reported that this desire was the foundation of two motions adopted by the Neighborhood Leadership Council (NLC) urging prioritization of funding for rapid development of infill compatibility standards. He conferred with neighborhood leaders from all areas of town and it seemed the councilors did “get it.” He believed one of the key principles the majority of the council now supported was that numerical density targets should not be used as a justification to destabilize neighborhoods while preventing sprawl. He asserted that allowing speculators to “tear apart the fabric” of neighborhoods behind a façade of anti-sprawl rhetoric was both unfair to residents and proved ineffective as families with a choice abandoned declining neighborhoods. He called the Jefferson redesignation a “small but important icon” of what was wrong with the City of Eugene’s past infill practices. Peg Kehrer , 1510 Lincoln Street, related that when she moved into the Jefferson-Westside neighborhood there were families all around her house. Now she had a duplex next to her and a storage shed on her property line; the amount of sunshine to her yard was reduced and people smoked on the patios that faced her backyard. She lived on a corner lot and had three landlords for neighbors. She thought increasing population around the downtown area, as a goal, was a euphemism for the placement of landlords all around the existing single-family homes. She said if she had a lot of money she probably would have moved by now. She asked the council to seriously consider a moratorium on development. She expressed concern that houses abutting the Catholic grade school that were for sale would be purchased and developed. She recalled that when the duplex next door to her was built, her children were able to watch pornography on a tenant’s television from a second-story bathroom window. Jim Greig , 145 Ruby Street, thanked the council for its support for the Hinchey Rohrabacher Medical Marijuana Amendment vote in the United States Congress. He reported that the amendment had not passed, but as patients, Oregonians, and Americans, he and other medical marijuana users would continue to seek their right to life with dignity. He commented that he was one of the healthier medical marijuana patients, but he suffered with arthritis, glaucoma, muscle spasms, chronic pain, as well as sleep and eating issues. He expressed appreciation to the councilors for hearing his testimony at the previous meeting even if they had not signed the letter to Congress. He said medical marijuana users had been on the receiving end of “70-plus years of bad press on cannabis.” He averred they would have to conduct a broader educational effort on “this important ancient agricultural product.” He commented that for him it was an effective natural medicine. He stated that the council would be hearing more from medical marijuana users on issues related to the subject. He noted that while Oregon voted for the use of medical marijuana in 1988, patients still did not have access to it. He opined that the sickest “one half of one percent” should be allowed to live their final days with dignity and not as criminals. He invited the councilors to attend the Hempfest in Washington Park on July 15 and 16. Allan Erickson , 29559 Clear Lake Road, thanked the council for listening. He stated that there had been an absence of studies on medical marijuana use in the United States, but there had been studies in other countries that had shown that cannabis reduced the need for opiates for post-operative pain and it helped people with appetite loss and weight loss in cancer and chemotherapy, among others. David Sonnichsen , 2435 Skyline Boulevard, stated that he had worked with the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) on a local project and he had seen ODOT respond with sensitivity to environ- MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 10, 2006 Page 4 Regular Meeting