CC Minutes - 09/12/11 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES Eugene City Council Council Chamber —City Hall 777 Pearl Street—Eugene, Oregon September 12, 2011 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Betty Taylor, George Brown, Andrea Ortiz, George Poling, Mike Clark, Chris Pryor, Alan Zelenka, Pat Farr. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the September 12, 2011, regular meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. 1. PUBLIC FORUM Mayor Piercy reviewed the rules of the Public Forum. Gary Jenkins, 90939 Prairie Road, reminded the council of his previous testimony about an incident involving his son and the Eugene police. He reported he had been informed that the Police Auditor saw a resolution to the problem caused by the incident and was willing to serve as a mediator. He suggested an appropriate resolution would be polygraph tests for all involved in the incident. He sought direction from the council before entering into mediation with Police Chief Pete Kerns as he did not want to enter into mediation and wind up in worse condition than before. George Cole, 2760 West 11 Avenue, said the opponents of EmX were still active because they felt the project was not a wise expenditure of funds and believed the community's transportation needs could be met by restructuring Lane Transit District (LTD) routes. He said that LTD kept changing the criteria and the agency admitted to doing so. He reported that LTD staff had suggested at a meeting earlier in the evening that route restructuring would still be required after EmX was expanded to the west. Mr. Cole recalled the money he expended on legal fees to fight LTD's plans to take a portion of his property for a 100 -space park and ride facility. Instead, LTD built a 46 -space lot at Fred Meyer which earlier in the day contained only five cars. He maintained that LTD wanted to foster congestion to force people to ride the bus and he believed that was an infringement on freedom. Bob Macherione, 1994 Brewer Street, reported he had filed an appeal of his Sign Code violation and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) had subsequently sent the City a letter asking it to stop its current approach to Sign Code enforcement. In spite of that, the City had not stopped its enforcement efforts and he did not understand why. He did not know who was directing the City Manager and City Attorney to proceed. Mr. Macherione provided the council with a copy of the ACLU's letter and reviewed the letter's salient points and asked why the City Council would allow the City to generate so much paperwork for thousands of taxpayer dollars in a case it had no chance of winning. All the City had to do was rewrite the ordinance to meet the letter of the law. He asked the council to direct the City Manager and City Attorney to stop enforcement of the City's Sign Code until the City had an enforceable ordinance. Mr. Macherione suggested the ACLU was more knowledgeable that the City Attorney in matters related to free speech. He said his only crime was to disagree with the mayor and council about MINUTES— Eugene City Council September 12, 2011 Page 1 Regular Meeting