CC Minutes - 10/04/07 Workshop - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Poling expressed his gratitude for the collaborative, which came together after 20 years of the community fighting over a traffic solution. He applauded people in the community who were willing to step forward and try to help the City solve those problems. He felt it would be asinine to withhold support for the WEC. Ms. Piercy reminded the council that when it eliminated the West Eugene Parkway as a solution, it asked for a collaborative process to work on the issue. She urged support for the WEC, which was in line with the council’s direction. In response to a question from Ms. Taylor, Mr. Zako explained that the WEC formally organized in April 2007; three meetings of the full collaborative had occurred since then, along with many subcommittee meetings. He said having a facilitator had made the process much more efficient and effective. Ms. O’Brien added that another important aspect of the facilitation was to assure that all members fully participated and had their points of view considered and that there was consensus, particularly on issues related to land use and transportation. Ms. Piercy summarized that the council was interested a WEC work plan and working agreements and possibly a memorandum of understanding. Ms. Bettman asked that the motion allocating funds articulate the status of the committee and that advisory recommendations were based on complete consensus. Mr. Pryor commented that the motion could incorporate aspirations for outcomes, but he would resist including a decision-making model as it was still being defined by the members of the collaborative. He wanted to avoid a situation where one person could “drop a poison pill.” He said that was not consensus. Ms. Bettman stated that unless there was a consensus model and a rail advocate she would not support the WEC effort. Mr. Clark encouraged the collaborative to involve a state-level elected official. MINUTES—Eugene City Council October 4, 2007 Page 8 Work Session