CC Minutes - 11/14/01 Work Session

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Mr. Fart said that Bethel School District needed to have at least one councilor solely representing it. Ms. ©sborn noted that Bethel School District was in Ward 6 as well as pads of wards 7 and 8 in the scenarios. In response to a question from Ms. Bettman regarding what would happen if a districting option was chosen that placed her out of her ward, City Attorney Glenn Klein said she would be assigned to represent the voters in a vacant ward. He noted that, after redistricting, every councilor would be representing some voters who did not vote for her or him. Mr. Pap~ noted that there would be many disenfranchised voters after the redistricting process was completed. He said that a simple solution to that problem would be to hold elections for all wards every time there was a redistricting process. Mr. Pap~ said it would be good to keep the River Road/Santa Clara areas in one ward or district. He said that if it was not possible to do, then Beltline was the natural divider. He said the Indigo scenarios meet the criteria better than any of the other scenarios. Ms. Taylor expressed her preference for the Violet A scenario. She said this plan would keep the most voters with their councilors. She believed that voters deserved to be represented by the person they elected. Mr. Meisner said he did not favor any of the maps but noted that the Indigo scenarios appeared to meet the criteria best. Mayor Torrey expressed his preference for the Indigo D scenario. He termed the Violet scenario a blatant effort to keep incumbent councilors in their wards and allow them to continue to serve. He suggested narrowing the choice to two maps and soliciting more public involvement before making a choice. Ms. Nathanson believed that the Green scenario was still worth discussion. She noted that it kept the University of Oregon and downtown linked, linked the industrial areas, and ensure three council members represented the South Hills. She raised concern that long-term interests for appropriate districts were being sacrificed for shod-term considerations. Ms. Taylor, seconded by Mr. Kelly, moved to direct staff to prepare a resolution realigning Eugene City ward boundaries with a map using scenario Violet A. Mr. Fart, seconded by Mr. Pap~, moved to amend the motion by narrowing the maps down to two scenarios (Violet A and Indigo D) and letting the public provide more input before making a decision. Mr. Kelly commented that the amendment was just postponing a hard decision yet again. He said he would not support the amendment. Mr. Meisner said he would support the amendment and would support the Indigo D plan in the final decision. MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 14, 2001 Page 4 Work Session