CC Minutes - 11/14/11 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Eugene were fighting for the same thing. He supported the resolution offered by We the People of Eugene. Chris Calef, 865 East 32n Avenue, Occupy Eugene, took issue with Councilor Farr's opposition to Occupy Eugene and the remarks Councilor Farr posted on his blog, Lane Forum, about the Occupy encampment. He thought any concerns about the impact of the encampment on the Willamette Greenway paled in comparison to the critical issues he believed that the Occupy movement brought to the public's view. He questioned the City's accounting of the costs attributed to Occupy Eugene. He objected that Councilor Farr had mentioned the needs of the homeless and hungry in his blog while he denied them the right to call Washington- Jefferson Park their own, which he considered hypocritical. He maintained that Occupy Eugene was providing services to the homeless that the City refused to provide. Anya Dobrowolski, 2244 Alder Street, a member of the City's Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC), encouraged the council to accept the Bicycle - Pedestrian Master Plan (BPMP) and incorporate it into the Transportation System Plan (TSP). She emphasized the relationship between good infrastructure for alternative modes and a sustainable community. She believed a better transportation system was directly related to the goals of the City's Climate and Energy Action Plan and the Envision Eugene planning effort. Judy Horstmann, 1835 East 28` Avenue, expressed support for the BPMP. The plan would increase walking and bicycling through the creation of a safe, connected, convenient bicycle - pedestrian network. It was important to promote walking and bicycling so citizens could chose a lifestyle of active transportation. The proposed bicycle boulevards would attract families to cycling and the sidewalk projects and access ways would make it easier for pedestrians and transit users to get where they needed to go. Ms. Horstmann acknowledged the challenge of funding sidewalk construction and maintenance and encouraged the council to modify current funding sources or establish new funding sources to pay for BPMP projects. David Gizara, 3550 West Amazon Drive, Apartment 7, a member of the BPAC, believed that bicycle and walking were legitimate transportation modes that needed to be treated as equal elements in the City's transportation funding mix. He spoke of the many benefits of increased bicycling and walking and suggested the BPMP would help the community weather future economic and ecological changes. Zachary Vishanoff, Ward 3, believed the City should publicize and explain the proposed Moss Street vacation. He questioned the City's planning for bicycles and criticized the use of bike cycle tracks. He believed the BPAC should have held a hearing on the projects it had endorsed and whether they were successful. He advocated for toxic waste mitigation and historic preservation on the riverfront property owned by Eugene Water & Electric Board rather than planning for bicycle paths. He called for public hearings about whether the public wanted green condominiums for rich people on that site. He asked the council to end "bike pork" and investigate the impact of recent bicycle improvements he considered dangerous, such as the improvements on Alder Street. Alley Valkyrie, Ward 1, believed that finding solutions to the problems of the homeless and disenfranchised should be a top priority of City government but the council had expressed concern while making no changes to the status quo. She said that was because councilors had never been homeless. She denied that homelessness was ever a choice that one made. She did not think councilors could justify opposition to the Occupy Eugene encampment by pointing to the availability of the car camping program because most homeless do no own cars. She wanted the council to educate itself about homelessness and challenged councilors to spend a night at the Eugene Mission so they could understand what it was like to "be stripped of your dignity, treated with a disrespect like you have never known, and to experience the MINUTES— Eugene City Council November 14, 2011 Page 2 Regular Meeting