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M I N U T E S Eugene City Council Regular Meeting Council Chamber—Eugene City Hall 777 Pearl Street—Eugene, Oregon October 12, 2009 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Chris Pryor, George Brown, Andrea Ortiz, George Poling, Mike Clark, Betty Taylor, Jennifer Solomon, Alan Zelenka. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. 1. PUBLIC FORUM Mayor Piercy reviewed the rules of the Public Forum. John Duerscheidt , 1295 Arthur Street, said he wanted to find out information regarding the potential Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) EmX route. He was concerned about the route option along the Amazon Creek. He asked if Lane Transit District (LTD) intended to use eminent domain to take land for a new route. Cindy Clarke , 1621 Calistoga Street, stated that she lived in Ward 6, Councilor Solomon’s ward. She declared that she stood before the council as a taxpayer, a community member, a voter, and a City employee disturbed by recent decisions made by City leadership. She noted that a coworker had come before council previously to share frustrations over the recent mandatory reduction of hours. She averred that words could not express her disappoint- ment in the City’s lack of leadership in willingness to work toward long-term sustainable solutions. She underscored that they did not feel that all of the City’s employees were “in this together” as the “current mantra would lead you to believe.” She stated that after ten months of negotiations utilizing Interest Based Bargaining, a cooperative approach focused on joint interests rather than divisions, the City’s American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) local, representing approximately 680 employees, had entered into a binding employment contract. She underscored that this contract had been made with full knowledge of the budget shortfall and the imminent closure of Hynix Semiconductor, Inc. She said the City had contacted AFSCME and the other unions in March to ask them to give up their negotiated Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs). AFSCME had voluntarily met with the City to discuss sustainable options to stabilize the budget without taking away from the employees that kept the City working and functioning. She noted that she had sat at the table. She related that AFSCME offered to work with the City by using the competitive services assessment tool identified in the contract as a successful tool, and one that the City had a substantial financial investment in. She said the local also offered to take six days of unpaid furlough back to its membership for a vote of approval, but the local had been denied. She stated that the local had received notice of the intent to implement an across-the-board hour’s reduction, in violation of the contract. She added that the media had received notice before the local had received it. She explained that the only option was to issue a demand to bargain, which provided 90 days to negotiate with the City, but it had taken the City more than 50 days to meet with the local. Again the local offered to use the tools that were identified in the contract for service delivery and had offered ideas for cost savings. She related that while the suggestions were appreciated, they would not be applied to “AFSCME’s piece of the pie.” She said the local had offered alternative proposals, using the financial information provided by the City that would result in immediate and long-term savings. She noted that the City’s attorney had referred to the implementation as a “crap shoot” at the final meeting because a decision could go either way in arbitration. She remarked that she was not a gambling person and, as a taxpayer, she expressed outrage that the City’s money was being spent on something an attorney would describe in that way and something MINUTES—Eugene City Council October 12, 2009 Page 1 Regular Meeting