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the fact the University of Oregon was planning for its own property in a way that he did not support. Mr. <br />Vishanoff's remaining connnents regarded his general dissatisfaction with the City's planning processes. <br /> <br />John Van Landingham, 335 North Grand Street, thanked the council for its service to the community. <br />He spoke in his capacity as Chair of the Housing Policy Board (HPB), a body which recommended the <br />City apply the ordinance to the City's affordable housing units but not charge a fee for those units. He <br />said the Corvallis City Council made the same policy choice. He said the HPB believed the text used by <br />the Corvallis ordinance was inadequate, and had recommended alternative text. <br /> <br />Mr. Van Landingham thanked Councilor Pap6 and Councilor Kelly for their service on the HPB. <br /> <br />Speaking as a lawyer for Legal Aid, Mr. Van Landingham said the State law did not provide a safe or <br />affordable option for some tenants to force some landlords to make repairs. He maintained that the <br />ordinance "filled that gap." He indicated he had provided written testimony on that issue. He concluding <br />by saying that he wished the State law was as effective as some maintained. <br /> <br />David Itinkley, 1350 Lawrence Street, #1, co-chair of the Jefferson-Westside Neighbors, said the <br />neighborhood association had voted unanimously to support the ordinance at its last meeting. He noted <br />that 48.2 percent of Eugene residents live in rental housing, and that number was growing. He regretted <br />that a small proportion of landlords had created the need for the ordinance, and suggested that it was just a <br />beginning as he believed there were other laws about landlord-tenant relationships that should be <br />considered. <br /> <br />David Itansen, 2738 Kismet Way, believed the rental association was sending a mixed message when it <br />argued for education but then suggested the Corvallis program was essentially providing education. He <br />asked what those individuals wanted. In regard to calls for slowing the process, Mr. Hansen said the <br />council had taken its time, given that the issue had been under consideration since 1996. He said Corvallis <br />researched the need for such a program for two years before passing the program. He said the coalition <br />wished to avoid a similarly long adoption process. <br /> <br />Kevin Matthews, 120 West Broadway, representing the Friends of Eugene, expressed his organization's <br />support for the ordinance. However, given his organization's interest in adequate public processes, Mr. <br />Matthews was concerned about the lack of public testimony from bad landlords. He pointed out that <br />nobody had offered the council testimony to the effect that they were a bad landlord, and questioned <br />whether the council should await that testimony, or whether it would have to represent their needs. <br /> <br />Norton Cabell, 1456 West 10t~ Avenue, a property owner and manager, endorsed the inclusion of a sunset <br />clause in the ordinance. He asked that the council amend the ordinance to recognize that not all damage to <br />a property that is a code violation was caused by a landlord's action or inaction. Sometimes damage was <br />caused by a tenant's action. He indicated he had submitted written text that allowed inspection staff to <br />determine the source of the damage when deciding whether to penalize a landlord. Mr. Cabell said he was <br />sure the manager would hire staff that would help protect tenants from those unscrupulous, uncaring, <br />irresponsible landlords absent from the hearing, as well as landlords from the unscrupulous, uncaring, <br />irresponsible tenants attempting to take advantage of a new system, who also had failed to offer testimony. <br /> <br />Roxie Cuellar, 2053 Laura Street, a member of the HPB and staff to the Lane County Homebuilders <br />Association, indicated she supported the ordinance as a member of the HPB. The ordinance appeared to <br /> <br />MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 8, 2004 Page 10 <br /> Regular Meeting <br /> <br /> <br />