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MINUTES Eugene City Council Regular Session Council Chamber--City Hall September 27, 2004 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Bonny Bettman, George Poling, Nancy Nathanson, David Kelly, Betty Taylor, Jennifer Solomon, Scott Meisner, Gary Papd (via telephone). Council President Bonny Bettman called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. Mayor James D. Torrey was unable to attend as he was out of the country on a Sister City trip. 1. CEREMONIAL MATTERS - Proclamation for "American Dream Campaign" On behalf of Mayor Torrey, Council President Bonny Bettman read a proclamation for the ~American Dream Campaign" into the record. Councilor Nathanson said, in her role on the Board of Directors of the National League of Cities (NLC), she had participated in reviewing information presented to the NLC for several months and in endorsing this national campaign, which would be officially launched on September 28. She stated that more than 70 cities had signed up to adopt proclamations, create resolutions, and convene special meetings to discuss the topic of achieving the American dream. She related that cities across the country were being asked to do this so that the National League could focus attention on issues of fairness, opportunity, and a chance to succeed. She acknowledged these things were becoming more difficult, improvement was needed, and the cities needed to panner with the federal government to facilitate such improvement. Councilor Nathanson cited compelling statistical information on how much the federal government used to contribute to local municipal and county governments. She stated that what was contributed today was a fraction of what had been contributed in the 1960s and 1970s. While the NLC understood that budget priorities had become more complex at all levels of government, it recognized that at the city level, attention needed to be focused on citizens and what they need to achieve the ~American Dream." She hoped this would renew the attention of Congress and the current and future administrations on what was going on in towns across the nation. While a number of policy issues were debated at the federal level, municipal governments were being left behind. She reported that, when discussions on how much money should be spent on child care, affordable housing, or education and how it was allocated, city councilors across the nation participated as best they could through state and NLC to make sure federal dollars could be maximized in local spending. In closing, Councilor Nathanson thanked the Mayor and the City Manager for placing this item on the agenda so that the City of Eugene could join the other cities across the nation in starting this new national campaign to draw attention to these issues. She wished to particularly highlight Eugene's work in MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 27, 2004 Page 1 Regular Session