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180 process which provided a 20-year life. He related that he spoke with a City of Eugene engineer and the engineer indicated he did not know why the T-99 process was being employed. He opposed "throwing money" into building streets for the shorter term. He suggested the City use concrete, which provided streets with a 50-year life. He admonished the City to fix the streets properly. Murphy McHugh, 1848 Russet Drive, explained that he was a gasoline station owner. He related that the last gas tax caused him to lose 10 to 15 percent of his business, which resulted in loss of employment and reductions in hours for his employees. He pointed out that many people from rural communities came to the City of Eugene to shop and would fill their gas tanks up prior to leaving. He predicted the increase in gas tax would force those people to purchase gasoline in Springfield and other communities. He suggested charging. 1 percent to all of the businesses in Eugene, rather than singling out the gas stations. He projected that another increase in the gas tax would force him to let another employee go. Jozef Zdzienicki, 1025 Taylor Street, submitted a letter of testimony from his "mate." He provided three examples of alleged misuse of public money for council consideration, as follows: 1) In July 2002, four Public Works employees poured 100 square feet of concrete for four hours for the owner of the Chambers house. He shared that he and his boss had poured 600 square feet of slab with two sets of stairs in it on that same day. 2) In September, 2002, while relandscaping a yard at 23rd Avenue and Agate Street, two employees of the Division of Parks and Open Space would visit for 45-minutes and then would utilize leaf blowers for 10 minutes at the park across the street. He witnessed this twice a week for the three and a half weeks he worked on the landscaping project. 3) In February 2004, nine Public Works employees with seven vehicles poured 60 feet of sidewalk near East Amazon Street and were present for an entire morning. He asked the council to "set its house in order" prior to taxing the public more. Aaron Johnson, 2672 Canterbury Street, opined that a government that stopped working for its people was no longer a government for the people but a government that "enslaved its people" for its own benefit and growth. He felt the City continued to ask for money though people keep saying no to taxes. He said, as a manager, he was bound by a budget and the City should be, too. Mr. Johnson stated that only three independent gas stations were left. He related that he employed 22 people in 2003, but had to lay off three in 2004. Should the ordinance be approved, he predicted he would be forced to lay off more employees. He opined that excessive fees were killing the small station operators. He felt the City provided tax breaks to developers for a "failed downtown" and managed to find $28 million to be spent on a police station. He said the current taxes took $300 per day from his business. He felt this drove 10 percent of his business away. He agreed the fee had a "noble cause" attached to it, but opined it would be a burden that would result in the death of unskilled j obs. Steve O'Toole, 7070 Southwest Fir Loop, Suite 150, Tigard, executive director of the Petroleum Association of Oregon, primarily representing small, independent Oregon businesses involved in commercial and retail petroleum sales, conveyed the organization's opposition to the gas taxes. He stated that the association would support an equitable system on the State level that would provide continuous jurisdiction between local entities. He underscored that local competitive factors affected the purchasing habits of the motoring public. He predicted that Eugene drivers would go elsewhere to purchase gasoline should the ordinance be passed and would hurt not only the local gasoline proprietors, but the city and its residents. He thought the ordinance was not a solution and would only set up a perpetual vicious cycle of ever-increasing tax needs. MINUTES--Eugene City Council December 6, 2004 Page 10 Regular Session