CC Minutes - 05/18/11 Work Session

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 The City can model human rights and be a community leader for human rights. The City has legal obligations to protect human rights. Its service delivery and budget priorities reflect the City’s human rights priorities. (Osborn)  It is important to keep up with emerging issues affecting the diverse groups that live in Eugene so the City organization can make necessary adjustments and changes. The City must provide equal protection and accessible services to all citizens. The HRC serves as a sounding board for residents to share their human rights concerns. (Poling)  The commission could help the City track the social equity element of the Triple Bottom Line (TBL). The HRC could help the council define social equity, help ensure that social equity occurs, and monitor the City’s progress in achieving it. (Farr)  The HRC has a legacy of leadership. Other communities look to Eugene for its expertise in piloting new programs, its support for diverse voices, and its leadership in community education. The City’s work on the Human Rights Framework would put it on the cutting edge and give it an opportunity to demonstrate continued leadership. The Human Rights Center and HRC play a role in the work of the Police Auditor and Sustainability Commission. The HRC helps to lift community voices that are otherwise unheard. (LeMasurier)  It is important that the City support the work of the HRC to maintain social justice for all citizens. (Andrade)  It is important that the City protect the political, social, and economic rights of citizens. The City needs to evolve as the culture evolves. (Gyatso)  The City’s visions and values are in part based on the pillar of human rights because of its fundamental importance to the community. The HRC embodies the importance of that value. (Pryor)  It is important that elected officials and City employees, as representative of the entire community, demonstrate value for human rights or they cannot expect other community members to. The City should use its powers and tax dollars wisely to ensure they reflect the value of equity in all its applications—social, economic, and environmental. (Ortiz)  Eugene should be involved in human rights because people of color encounter overt racism in the community all the time. Eugene needs more community education about human rights so that when people witness acts of racism they know how to react. (Boslough)  While the community has made progress, it is clear there is more work to be done as evidenced by signs of hate around us. It is important to continue the work. The TBL is a real effort to create equitability in every decision the City makes. The City also has an important role to play in community education and in teaching people to stand up and speak out against injustice so that all feel welcome in Eugene. The City’s budget is also related to human rights because of the services that give people the means to live and work safely. (Piercy)  It is important to integrate human rights into everything we do. The City must set the example. One of the City’s visions is to value all people, and it is important that all voices be heard. The HRC is a forum for those voices. The HRC also serves to help protect human rights and expand them where appropriate. The HRC could help the City to make progress on the social equity element of the TBL. (Zelenka)  The City has a role in human rights as well as a calling and duty to protect the weak and disadvantaged. Eugene has a long way to go and there is much work to be done. (Brown)  The City has the duty to embrace all the different voices in the community and determine how the community could benefit from all their different contributions. The Human Rights Center is a welcoming place for those quiet voices that often do not feel safe coming forward, but who could express their concerns to the HRC with confidence they would be heard and they would receive a response. (Mortensen) MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 18, 2011 Page 2 Work Session