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showed that its customer base was regional and not just people in the downtown area. He suggested that a farmers’ market would be a better alternative. Mr. Rabinowitz opined that the site of the former Sears building indicated that City planning was incompe- tent. Doug Black , 4645 West Hillside Drive, said he was part of the group from the Eugene Permaculture Guild that organized the Richard Heinberg event. He related that Professor Heinberg predicted a phenomenally constrained economy of necessary food supply and manufacturing within the decade. He asserted that Whole Foods Grocery’s expensive, contracted interstate-reliant form of product transport would have to be overtaken by local systems of food transport. He referred to a study by Robert Hirsch that suggested that the United States needed 20 years to plan for upcoming impacts of an “energy-constrained economy.” He averred that the country had less than five years to do so. He said his household shopped at Sundance Natural Foods store and Growers Market Food Co-op and had no shortage of “specially ordered supplies.” He alleged that these locally owned stores ordered from locally owned food growers and grocery suppliers as a point of business ethics. He noted that the members of the Permaculture Guild gathered “several hundred signatures” on petitions that asked the City of Eugene to address “peak oil.” He asked where the response was and who was setting the agenda relative to that topic. th Gavin McComas , 1350 East 25 Avenue, acknowledged that the Whole Foods Grocery was more progressive than other “big box chain stores.” He saw the appeal the “corporation” had to the idealism of natural foods customers. He asserted that the store’s good deeds did not erase the damage it did to local businesses. He said if it were Walmart asking for help from the City, the City would not give it. He averred that like Walmart, Whole Foods Grocery took money out of the local economy and put it into the pockets of stockholders. It uses a centralized purchasing, distribution, and management to lower its cost of doing business. He alleged that Whole Foods Grocery would dismantle “local food webs” by buying their produce cheaply from factory farms and only supported local farmers as a last resort. He predicted that Whole Foods would help erode the individual character of Eugene, and would make it less attractive to tourists and potential job-producing businesses. He said like Wal-mart, Whole Foods would only be successful at the expense of local businesses. He did not think Whole Foods needed financial help from the City. Kaz Oveissi , 361 Sunset Drive, advocated for downtown development and had done so for many years. He stated that he owned and operated four businesses in the downtown area. He said for the first time in all of the years he had lived in Eugene he saw great possibilities and opportunities to transform the downtown because of both the East Broadway and West Broadway projects. He averred that the City deserved a livable downtown with dense, high-quality housing, movie theaters, restaurants, and a mix of national and local businesses. He wanted the downtown to be free of drugs, crime and vandalism. He felt the City had done its homework and the opportunity had arrived to produce the necessary results. He urged the council to take “effective action for a downtown that is real and works.” John Rowell , 1 East Broadway, spoke in support of the Whole Foods Grocery project as it was currently proposed. He said it aligned with the City’s plan for the downtown which was a result of an open and exhaustive public process. He felt that saying no to this project would send a message that Eugene was incapable of following its own plan. He thought it would be a terrible message to anyone who was about to invest in downtown Eugene. He asserted that the Whole Foods Grocery had a positive identity that fit the goals of the Mayor’s Sustainable Business Initiative and that the project was an important contribution to the city’s health. He predicted that the grocery anchor would make other development more attractive and would help business and not hurt it. He said downtown dwellers would finally have a supermarket, and the MINUTES—Eugene City Council -- March 13, 2006 Page 14 City Council Meeting