Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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Ms. Bettman wanted to ensure that the voter’s pamphlet was scheduled to arrive before the ballots were mailed. Ms. Feldman said that staff did its best to ensure that occurred. She said the last day ballots could be mailed was October 23, and the pamphlet was scheduled to be mailed on October 19. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. Ms. Ortiz, seconded by Mr. Pryor, moved to authorize the expenditure of funds from the General Fund contingency account that are required to produce a voters pamphlet for the November 7, 2007, special election, estimated at $25,000. The motion passed unani- mously, 8:0. Ms. Ortiz, seconded by Mr. Pryor, moved to appoint Mr. Zelenka, Ms. Solomon, and Ms. Bettman to the voter’s pamphlet proponent committee for the ballot measure. Ms. Ortiz and Mr. Zelenka voiced hope the entire council could support the outcome of the process. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. D. ACTION: ORDINANCE REFERRAL City Manager pro tem Jones called attention to some background information provided to the council regarding the filing of a referendum petition on the ordinance related to urban renewal adopted by the council on August 13. She recommended that the council consider referring the ordinance to the public on the November 2007 ballot. Mr. Klein indicated that otherwise, if referred, a ballot measure regarding the ordinance would appear on the March 2008 ballot. Ms. Bettman asked what new information the council had regarding the referral. Mayor Piercy said the new information was that the referral had been filed. Ms. Bettman said that the council was informed during the Public Forum preceding its action of the referral and asked why it was not brought up that evening. City Manager pro tem Jones indicated that she was now responding to an actual referral rather than the threat of one. Responding to a follow-up question from Ms. Bettman, Mr. Klein said the council would amend the ordinance to indicate it would take effect only if approved by the voters at the November 2007 election, and the council would then call an election on the matter. He confirmed that the spending limit for the urban renewal district would not change at this time. Responding to a question from Mr. Zelenka, Ms. Feldman indicated the cost of a special election was about $200,000. The deadline to refer an issue to the March 2008 election was December 7, 2007. The deadline for a May election was February 18, and there would be no cost to the City for that election outside the costs of voter’s pamphlet. City candidates could participate in the State voter’s pamphlet. Mr. Clark supported allowing the measure to be referred to allow the public to have its say on the matter and to save the City costs. Mayor Piercy suggested it made more sense to refer the matter to the November 2007 ballot because the City could convey to the public what the developers were contemplating and give the developers a sense of whether the public supported the project as soon as possible. City Manager pro tem Jones pointed out the City was operating on a timeline, and a November election kept the City within the timelines established in MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 15, 2007 Page 6 Work Session