CC Minutes - 01/10/05 Mtg - Laserfiche WebLink

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forward with an upland habitat study that would seek to conduct "fact-based natural resource analysis." He said this process had been suspended. Mr. Matthews presented a transcript of the Citizens State of the City address to the Mayor and City Council, a document written collaboratively by half a dozen different local non-profit entities. Jean A. Stacey, 5150 Nectar Way, said she and her partner had traveled for four years looking for a new place to live prior to moving to Eugene. She related that they enjoyed living here very much. She commented, however, that upon moving here they had observed a lack of African-American people living here. Ms. Stacey stated that she wished to testify in support of preserving the wooded property that abutted Nectar Way. She and her dog walked there every day and appreciated its natural beauty. She felt the City had erred when it had not purchased the property. She opined the property was an integral part of "who we are." Nadia Sindi, 3950 Good Pasture Loop #J-111, wished to speak on behalf of the Muslim and Arab community. She said the brutality toward Muslims and Arabs was not a new thing in the city of Eugene. She shared an incident from her past in which she was assaulted by a police officer. She was saddened that the judge who presided over the recent police case involving two Arab men had called police actions "appropriate." She felt that under most categories Arab and Muslim people were considered to be white, but they were the first to be singled out for abuse, even prior to the events of September 11,2001. She asked for more vigilance in monitoring police abuse. She related that she had been followed and harassed numerous times. Gordie Albi, 1669 Adkins Street, thanked the elected officials for serving. She commented that her mother used to say "beautiful is as beautiful does." While she felt everything should be done to save the beauty of the City, the beauty of the people who lived there should also be honored. She stated that racial profiling was little more than another brand of racial prejudice. She attended all of the meetings regarding the police review. She said she had much experience, both as a professional auditor and working with ethnic communities in Seattle, Washington, and Denver, Colorado. She related that she had witnessed prejudicial handling by the police of an African-American person and also had witnessed this behavior toward Latino people numerous times when she volunteered at Centro LatinoAmericano. She felt such treatment arose from ignorance. She said she had materials to share and that she was happy to share what she had learned with City staff. Mayor Piercy closed the Public Forum and called on the council for responses and comments. Councilor Kelly thanked everyone who spoke at the Public Forum. He wished to particularly thank the people who spoke out about racial profiling. He reiterated his support for a police external review board. He thought it would take a charter change to form such a board. He commented that the Human Rights Commission (HRC) had launched a campaign called '~We're All in This Together" in December that sought to increase education and outreach and awareness around racial and ethnic issues. He had yet to hear anything from other elected officials on how to move this forward. While he recognized the needs of the City Manager and the Police Chief to carefully parse the words spoken in order to represent a wide variety of people, he declared the time to be delicate on this issue had passed. He felt the time had come to make MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 10, 2005 Page 7 Regular Session