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that there was a common need for information regardless of whether one relied on policy or market forces <br />to build a strong, healthy society. Openly shared information was written explicitly into the assumptions <br />of capitalist theory in nearly every text on the subject beginning with Adam Smith's The Wealth of <br />Nations. He said business communities had traditionally been anti-capitalist in this regard, using the <br />rhetoric of market forces to dress up tactics that took information and power away from consumers, and <br />therefore away from market forces. He said measuring and revealing hazardous substance usage came <br />before any debate about toxics problems. <br /> <br />Win Denham, 1995 West Seventh Avenue, was a small employer with a business in Eugene that had <br />gotten smaller. He said one of the reasons small businesses got smaller was due to expense that they <br />could not control. He expressed disgust that government regulation committees such as the Toxics Board <br />had to be funded. He explained that he could not develop his business's budget in the same manner as <br />public agencies because he did not use the money of others. He said he and his contemporaries were <br />being forced to use their money to support a program that they could not control, asserting the ordinance <br />was all about the money. His business had one half of the family-wage jobs it had five years ago, and <br />programs such as the Toxics Right-to-Know Program were designed to move his customers to other <br />locations. He said burdening small businesses with the cost of the program was not the way to go. <br /> <br />Kathy Ging, 2878 Harris, said she was a major contributor to the Toxics Right-to-Know movement, and <br />supported the changes in the Toxics Right-to-Know law, saying that painters and dry cleaners needed to <br />be added. She found comfort in knowing that businesses must disclose their discharges, surmising this <br />prevented the most toxic emitters from choosing to locate in Eugene, which was a good thing. She stated <br />that the program in Eugene was the best in the United States. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy closed the public hearing and thanked those who testified. She expressed appreciation on <br />behalf of the City Council for the comments that were made. <br /> <br />The meeting adjoumed at 10:14 p.m. <br /> <br />Respectfully submitted, <br /> <br />Dennis M. Taylor <br />City Manager <br /> <br />(Recorded by Linda Henry) <br />m:12OO51central services departmentlcity manager's officelcity councillccOSO214m2.doc <br /> <br />MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 14, 2005 Page 18 <br /> Regular Session <br /> <br /> <br />