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<br />M I N U T E S <br /> <br /> <br />Eugene City Council <br />City Council Meeting <br />Council Chamber—Eugene City Hall <br /> <br /> February 27, 2006 <br /> 7:30 p.m. <br /> <br />COUNCILORS PRESENT: Jennifer Solomon, Andrea Ortiz, David Kelly, Betty Taylor, Gary Papé, <br />George Poling, Chris Pyror. <br /> <br />COUNCILORS ABSENT: Bonny Bettman. <br /> <br /> <br />City Council President Jennifer Solomon called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. She noted <br />that Mayor Kitty Piercy and Councilor Bonny Bettman were in Washington, DC, as part of the United Front <br />lobbying effort. <br /> <br /> <br />1. PUBLIC FORUM <br /> <br />Councilor Solomon reviewed the rules of the Public Forum. <br /> <br />Carol Berg Caldwell <br />, 84474 Parkway, Pleasant Hill, lauded the work of Leadership, Adventure, <br />Education, and Direction (LEAD), a non-profit organization for teenagers. She referred to an article in The <br />Eugene Weekly about a recent fundraiser sponsored by LEAD to help build a downtown teen center. She <br />averred that a community teen center dovetailed with two significant issues that Eugene faced: 1) improved <br />public safety and 2) the revitalization of the downtown mall. Regarding public safety, she related that <br />LEAD members hoped for a well-run, viable teen center so that young people will choose meaningful skill <br />building, art, and community-oriented activities rather than drugs. She also felt that larger stores would <br />look more favorably on a community that backed a responsible productive teen center and would be more <br />likely to open outlets in the downtown area. She thought shoppers feared the young people who hang out <br />downtown. She opined that the system and government often catered to business interests while turning a <br />blind eye to those who “live on the edge.” She asked the council to consider, in its deliberations regarding <br />mall development, securing a space for a teen center. She said it was in the best interest of all of the <br />community. <br /> <br />Tamara Torrence <br />, 1845 Villard Street, asked the council to do whatever it could within its power to <br />address the ruling on the City youth activities levy. She wanted to ensure funding for the young people of <br />the city of Eugene at the same level it had been funded since the levy was first enacted. She underscored <br />that 24,000 young people benefited from the levy, which funded music, physical education, sports, drama, <br />counselors, librarians, and nurses. She said the program and people funded by the levy were “priceless to <br />our children.” She reminded the council that since the passage of Ballot Measure 5, public schools in the <br />state of Oregon had suffered. She related that Oregon has the second highest class sizes in the country and <br />its school year is nearly three weeks shorter than the national average. She said employers demand an <br />educated workforce and used a good public school system as a recruiting tool to attract employees. Her <br />husband had been recruited to work at the University of Oregon in this manner. She felt employers could no <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council -- February 27, 2006 Page 1 <br /> City Council Meeting <br /> <br />