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Ms. Bettman did not think that Eugene, as the largest community in the county, would necessarily benefit <br />from increased tourism. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman expressed concern about the possibility a special district could be used as a funding <br />mechanism. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman said that she supported the expansion of convention facilities. However, she did not think <br />the City was being consistent in its approach. She heard people argue for privatization as being more cost- <br />effective, but in this case the City was considering a public subsidy to private business. If it did so, it <br />would be competing with existing private businesses. That did not make sense to her. <br /> <br />Mr. Pap6 wanted to move forward with the interim working group. He agreed with Mr. Pryor about the <br />need to do something bold, but he did not want to "jump on a bandwagon" to compete with other <br />communities building convention facilities. He hoped the working group could be more strategic and <br />focus on niches such as the arts and outdoors. <br /> <br />Mr. Pryor said the discussion had been a good one, and he thought the council could take a first step <br />without taking out its checkbook. He wanted to demonstrate the City's support for the initiative, and <br />suggested the staff-prepared motions were the first step toward demonstrating that support. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor commended Mr. Papa's remarks, saying that Eugene did not have to be like other communi- <br />ties. She said that Eugene should be the best it could be at what it was good at. She agreed with Mr. <br />Kelly that the community should maintain and enhance what it had. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy said the motion merely called for the formation of a group to assess a structure; it did not <br />commit the City to any project or plan. She believed it would be good to have a conversation about the <br />issue in an organized way that resulted in a recommendation that addressed the public interest and fit <br />Eugene. <br /> <br /> Ms. Solomon, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to adopt a regional tourism goal to be ac- <br /> complished through multi-jurisdictional cooperation: "The City of Eugene will work with <br /> Lane County and the City of Springfield to retain its collective position as the largest re- <br /> gional hub of tourism and convention activity in Oregon outside the Portland metro area." <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor indicated her second was a formality in her role as the most senior council member. <br /> <br /> The motion passed, 5:3; Ms. Bettman, Ms. Taylor, and Ms. Ortiz voting no. <br /> <br /> Ms. Solomon, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to form an interim group to assess a struc- <br /> ture for a permanent interjurisdictional entity to establish and maintain tourism facilities <br /> and infrastructure in Lane County. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor indicated her opposition to the motion, saying it was "worse than the other one." <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman agreed with Ms. Taylor. She said that the motion formalized the commitment mentioned in <br />the first motion. She believed the proposal would result in a structure similar to that of the Metropolitan <br /> <br />MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 28, 2005 Page 11 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br /> <br />