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MINUTES <br />City Council Work Session <br />McNutt Room, City Hall <br />July 18, 2012 <br />12:00 Noon <br />PRESENT: George Brown, Pat Farr, Betty Taylor, Andrea Ortiz, George Poling, Mike Clark, Chris <br />Pryor, Alan Zelenka <br />Mayor Kitty Piercy opened the meeting and welcomed those present, those watching the webcast and those <br />at home to the City Council Work Session on Opportunity Eugene Task Force Update and Policy <br />Framework. She noted that Council President George Brown had requested a moment to address an issue <br />and turned the floor over to him. <br />Council President George Brown distributed a memorandum for the City Council to read regarding the <br />Capstone Project. <br />A. OPPORTUNITY EUGENE TASK FORCE UPDATE <br />Planning and Development's Community Programs Analyst, Michael Wisth provided a brief <br />PowerPoint presentation and overview of the work done by the City of Eugene and the Opportunity <br />Eugene Task Force to address the issue of homelessness. The overview touched on City Council - <br />allocated money for improved health care services at Whitebird, the Chrysalis Program, Buckley House <br />and additional services at the SVDP Hwy. 99 Lindholm Center, as well as a variety of other service <br />enhancements. <br />Mr. Wisth reviewed the six Task Force recommendations and policy framework. He concluded his <br />presentation by outlining the three proposed council options. <br />The councilor expressed a variety of concerns, preferences and requests, including: <br />• The overall cost of homelessness, even if council did nothing to address the issue <br />• There is an ongoing need to provide safe overnight shelter <br />• The safety and security of all people in the community, both housed and un- housed is paramount <br />• The time it takes to move complex issues and actions through local government is significant <br />• There is concern that winter and cold weather are quickly approaching <br />• There is concern about the six -week Council break related to the October 1" target date for a <br />homeless campsite and any work that could or would be done during that window of time <br />• The level of disappointment to community members will be enormous if the council doesn't <br />provide a way for progress on this issue to begin <br />• City staff should be tasked with researching appropriate sites and locations during the Council <br />break so that when Council reconvenes it can begin to work on site selection without losing that <br />valuable window of time <br />• This is a very complex and important issue and the City Council needs to work diligently and <br />carefully to do it right the first time and avoid hasty actions they may regret later <br />• All constituents' points of view must be considered— some urge swift action to help homeless <br />MINUTES -City Council <br />Work Session July 18, 2012 Page 1 <br />