CC Minutes - 01/07/08 State of the City

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Iris Ridge. That’s a great accomplishment! It is our wealth of arts and outdoors assets that makes this community so special and this year offers an exceptional opportunity to highlight both. th In September, we celebrated the 25 Anniversary of this beautiful facility and offered 5,443 free admissions to a variety of events. Our beloved library, which has quickly become a cornerstone of our downtown, just th celebrated its 5 birthday. Over 3,000 people participated in a Cultural Policy Review and the council has adopted strategies that will strengthen both our city’s and community’s cultural offerings and our commitment to the arts. Galleries are thriving - and not just on First Fridays – and local musicians and performers provide a diverse range of entertainment in unique local venues. We took pride in the achievements of the University of Oregon and the Ducks as they gained national attention and acclaim for Eugene (even that pugnacious mascot). The University logged permits for more than $43 million in building projects in Eugene this year. And a hard working coalition not only brought the 2008 Olympic Track & Field Trials back to Hayward Field, re-establishing our reputation as Track City USA, but Eugene has also been chosen to host the U.S. national track championships in 2009 and 2011 and the 2012 Olympic Track & Field Trials. The huge community engagement efforts in planning for the Olympic Trials, the events leading up to them, and the strategies to engage our young people were instrumental in ensuring that Eugene is Track City USA –forever. I want to give special thanks to our interim city manager Angel Jones for her key role in this success. I also want to thank all our partners in the coalition who are doing a wonderful job of working together to maximize this opportunity for our commu- nity: the University of Oregon, City of Springfield, CVALCO, Lane County, State of Oregon, and Lane Transit District, as well as numerous businesses and hundreds of volunteers. Thanks to their efforts, this event is shaping up to be one of the biggest, most exciting, and most fun events in Eugene’s recent history. I encourage you all to get involved, support it, or simply enjoy it. On another front, Eugene continues to address the critical need for affordable and low-income housing. The th most recent project is nearing completion in our downtown: WestTown on 8, with its new innovative work/live units. Eugene adopted a stronger manufactured home ordinance to protect owners of this important affordable housing stock. We provided funds for shelter and transportation for the homeless and the Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Committee on Homelessness has been working hard on how we can provide services and reduce the numbers of those who are homeless or face the threat of homelessness. A one-day Project Homeless Connect event in February provided services and connections for over a thousand of the area’s homeless and a second one is scheduled for next month. Staff, social services, governing bodies, and hundreds of volunteers and donations make this event meaningful on every level. In July, our independent police auditor, Cris Beamud, officially opened her doors downtown and the Civilian Review Board is in place, working on complaints. Both have become an important part of ensuring justice in our community. Police staffing needs remain an issue before us and that problem is compounded by the inadequate funding of Lane County’s prevention, intervention and treatment services, jail beds, legal, and judicial processes. While Eugeneans are committed to community policing, the county public safety system itself is broken. We will have to be very strategic in our prioritizations in order to effectively address this critical issue. Loss of federal, state and county road repair dollars also continues to plague us and our pothole backlog grows. At my request, the council worked together to bring very diverse perspectives to the table and MINUTES—State of the City January 7, 2008 Page 6