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MINUTES Eugene City Council Work Session McNutt Room--Eugene City Hall December 6, 2004 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Bonny Bettman, Nancy Nathanson, Scott Meisner, David Kelly, Betty Taylor, Gary Papd, Jennifer Solomon. COUNCILORS ABSENT: George Poling. Mayor James D. Torrey called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. A. ITEMS FROM MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL, AND CITY MANAGER Mr. Meisner said that he, Mr. Kelly, and Mayor Torrey attended the Artists and Authors event at the Library on December 3. The event was well-attended. Mr. Meisner thanked staff and the Eugene Library Foundation for doing all they had to make the building and events possible. The foundation became more successful every year. He said it was nice to enter a building such as the library and see everyone smiling. Ms. Nathanson noted the old saying that the wheels of democracy mm slowly, adding that was often to ensure that everyone was included. She said that sometimes progress was so slow the council became impatient with staff and the organization. She said she often looked at the council's work plan and objectives and wondered where the checkmarks were to indicate completion. Ms. Nathanson said she was pleased to have been involved with an organization as fine as the City of Eugene. She was proud of her association with the City. She had recently returned from the National League of Cities (NLC) conference and it was her perception that Eugene was admired for its accomplish- ments. Ms. Nathanson said every week and every month staff worked on projects to accomplish the council's goals in service delivery with little recognition from the council or public. She had seen fantastic examples in of innovation in every department. Ms. Nathanson congratulated the City organization and all departments for all the excellent work she had seen. Ms. Bettman discussed the issue of racial profiling, saying the community needed to be more aware of the problem. Those community leaders participating in a recent press conference believed that profiling was a long-term police practice and there was systematic bias occurring. Ms. Bettman acknowledged that it was very difficult to know the criteria for an individual officer's decision, but over the decades it seemed that the City had demonstrated a pattern and practice of profiling. Ms. Solomon arrived. Ms. Bettman said she had never been concerned when sending her two children to school that they would be stopped by police, but children of color have been stopped repeatedly and their parents constantly worry about the potential for it to happen. Ms. Bettman said that one of the community leaders who spoke at the MINUTES--Eugene City Council December 6, 2004 Page 1 Work Session