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Mr. Meisner shared his skepticism regarding special districts. He called it short-sighted to create a district with only a property tax base. He felt that ultimately the district would have to seek serial levies. Ms. Bettman reiterated her recommendation to consider an advisory vote. She felt strongly about the split rate as urban residents would not want to feel that they were subsidizing rural residents. She would, however, consider the district as an option should it be very narrowly defined. Commissioner Green said that the County had a strategic plan and had reprioritized its budget so that critical services were allocated money first. He said the County was open to input and welcomed emails and letters from the councilors. Ms. Bettman said two things came to her mind, one of which was the assessment of systems development charges for public safety. The other thing that she wished to bring up was the bridge widening project at Mount Pisgah, which had cost $1.6 million. She opined that this alienated voter support for tax measures. Commissioners Green responded that the County commissioners relied on the councilors to explain to their constituents the restriction of such funds. He said he counted on councilors such as Ms. Bettman to differentiate transportation fund dollars and general fund dollars for the voters, because the general public had only a rudimentary knowledge of funding sources and the restrictions placed upon them. He expressed appreciation for the council's efforts to enlighten voters. Mayor Torrey asked what was in it for 'us.' He thought the biggest question that needed answering was when the rural residents would be satisfied with a fix to the public safety problem. He asserted that, until rural residents were satisfied, no such district would meet voter approval. He wanted the problem fixed because the criminal activity did not observe boundaries such as city limits. He expressed a willingness to have the entire County be under one public safety department. Commissioner Green reiterated his appreciation for the opportunity to speak to the council. He related that a Springfield councilor had suggested that the County was "playing a shell game with the money." He stated that in order to play such a shell game, one had to have the money to hide and the County did not have it. B. WORK SESSION: Draft Ordinance for Motor-Assisted Scooter Regulations Ms. Bettman, seconded by Mr. Poling, moved to direct the City Man- ager to draft an ordinance to ban motorized transportation devices from all City-owned, off-street paths, prohibit the use of such devices in a manner that disturbs the peace and requires Eugene merchants to make certain disclosures related to the sale of motor-assisted scooters. Mr. Meisncr voiced his support for thc motion. He shared his chief concern which was how the ordinance would be enforced. He noted he had witnessed motorized scooters ridden by children without helmets only the previous day. Police Sergeant Derel Schulz said these violations were enforced and would continue to be enforced when witnessed by police officers. Mr. Meisner recommended that Sgt. Schulz make the council aware of what sorts of resource needs thc ordinance would create. MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 15, 2004 Page 5 Work Session