CC Minutes - 11/28/11 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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earning enough for housing. He shared the concerns expressed by area residents about school crowding but suggested the problem could be attributed to inadequate funding, rather than new housing. He believed that the neighbors were opposed to the project because it was an affordable housing project and suggested their concerns could be addressed in a way that demonstrated solidarity for the low- income. Carla Newbre, 544 West 16 Avenue, Occupy Eugene, spoke of her dedication to the Occupy movement and the education she received when she spent time with other Occupiers. She encouraged the councilors to visit the site and sit in on committee meetings and general assembly meetings. She asked the council to extend the exemption to the camping ban. Mark Callahan, 3621 Mahlon Avenue, discussed his perception of the hypocrisy of the Occupy movement. Occupy participants criticized corporations while organizing on the Facebook corporate site with devices made by corporations while sleeping in tents and sleeping bags made by corporations sipping coffee made by Starbucks and using portable Bucks toilets. Media celebrities such as Michael Moore supported the movement while acknowledging he was one of the one percent. He noted that one Occupy movement had opened an account at a Wells Fargo Bank, one of the banks the movement railed against. He suggested that Bank Transfer Day actually assisted large banks by reducing the cost of their FDIC insurance. Doug Cooley, 1710 Salem Industry Drive NE, Salem, an employee of Comcast, discussed Internet Essentials, a program for households with children who qualify for the National School Lunch Program to provide internet services for $9.95 monthly. He shared brochures about the program. Kevin Reed, 3117 RiverBend Avenue, thanked the council for listening to all sides regarding the Bascom Village question. Lotus, Occupy Eugene, was present on behalf of her daughter because she did not want her to grow up as she had. She asked the council to lift the camping ban permanently because those she had met at the camp cared about her regardless of what she could do for them. Occupy Eugene was building a community of people who supported each other. She wanted to stay at the camp because the relationships that were building there were paramount to the world she wanted her daughter to live in. She left everything she had to join the encampment because her presence was her protest about corporate greed. She had seen lives changed by Occupy Eugene. She urged the council and the audience to join Occupy Eugene. Alley Valkyrie, 1716 Olive Street, a participant in Occupy Eugene, discussed how the homeless were now community- building at Occupy Eugene and were no longer hanging out and creating problems downtown. She averred that the police and downtown property owners agreed with her. The answer was in the park. Amazing humans were participating. She asked that the encampment be allowed to continue. Bridget Baird, Occupy Eugene, said she was recovering from a meth addiction with the assistance of the Occupy Eugene. She would not have been able to get clean without community support. Occupy Eugene was important to her and many others. She asked the council to allow the encampment to remain through the holidays. The movement was creating a change in a safe place. She asked the council to allow Occupy Eugene to rebuild somewhere else so participants could stay together as a family. Scotty Perry, 715 West 23` Avenue, Occupy Eugene, thanked the council for the exemption from the camping ban. He appealed to the council for consensus on allowing the encampment to stay. Speaking to earlier criticism suggesting that the movement was hypocritical, Mr. Perry said his group was not anti - capitalism, just anti - corruption. It wanted the playing field to be fair. He was employed and he loved his MINUTES— Eugene City Council November 28, 2011 Page 2 Regular Meeting