CC Minutes - 12/11/06 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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M I N U T E S Eugene City Council Regular Meeting Council Chamber—Eugene City Hall December 11, 2006 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Jennifer Solomon, Andrea Ortiz, David Kelly, Betty Taylor, Gary Papé, Bonny Bettman, Chris Pryor, George Poling Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the regular meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. She conveyed holiday greetings on behalf of the council to everyone present. 1. CEREMONIAL MATTERS - Presentation by Oregon Culture Delegation Mayor Piercy said representatives Henry Luvert and Peter Leung of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) led a delegation to China. She averred that China was important to the City of Eugene at present because of the upcoming Olympic track and field trials. She stated that Mr. Luvert brought greetings from Oregon to the cities they visited and brought back a gift from “our friends in China” to the City. Mr. Luvert and Mr. Leung presented a slide presentation of their visit to China. Mr. Luvert also presented a gift from Shangqui, a statue of a chicken that represented long life in the Chinese culture. 2. PUBLIC FORUM Mayor Piercy reviewed the rules of the public forum. Henry Luvert , no address given, presented an official letter inviting the Mayor and City Council to come to China. He related that the delegation found a desire among people in the Hunan Province to have a relationship with Oregon, specifically with Eugene and Corvallis. He said the Chinese people he met wanted to better understand the culture of the area, noting that Eugene was a place with which they were familiar. He added that, coincidentally the daughter of the vice president of a university they visited in China was currently a student at the University of Oregon. He stated that the government there was only 50 years old and it was evolving. The people wanted to do educational exchanges, exchanges with government, and with departments of the City. He was struck by the hunger the Chinese people demonstrated for anything the delegation and the area could share. He said the delegation found the Chinese culture fascinating. He related that people there treated the delegation graciously and with great honor and respect and, in some places, the members of the delegation were the first non-Chinese people many of the locals had ever seen. Dr. Marlan Carlson , Chair of the Music Department of Oregon State University, thanked the council for taking the time to hear from the members of the delegation to China. He said that the Oregon Cultural MINUTES—Eugene City Council December 11, 2006 Page 1 Regular Meeting