09/08/1986 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Mi 11 er asked Mr, Peter if the Woonerf issue in the West University Neighborhood had been resolved, Mr. Peter said he did not think that it had, e C, Minority Commission Ms, Dean said that the Minority Commission's most significant act during the previous year had been aiding in the formation of the Asian Council and the Asian Business Directory. She said that the City was the first source of funding for the Asian Council, It was formally organized in November 1985, To fund the di rectory, the council had held an Asian Celebration. The celebration realized $1,000, and businesses had contributed another $1,000 to fund the directory, Ms, Dean said that since she had become a member of the commission she received materials from various groups to pass around to minority constituents. This had illustrated to Ms. Dean the need for a directory. She said she thought that due to the Asian Council's formation, the commission has been able to help out in many ways. The Asian CelebratiDn had gotten the Asian community very excited, and money left over from the first celebration had helped to fund the second celebration. Ms, Dean said that when the Sister City delegation from Kakegawa had come to Eugene, it had been Asian Council members who had helped provide interpreters. An Asian Council member, Tony Lum, had used his council connections to provide both interpreters and host families, Ms. Dean said that when Asian investors come to Eugene, they want to know what it is like in Eugene for minorities, whether Asian businesses do well, and how e they are received in the community, It is important that the Asian community is helped to help itself so more Asian businesses do well in Eugene. The business loan program has provided 36 loans, nine of which benefitted women and one of which benefitted a minority applicant. She said that a member of the minority community had cited to her the length of time the application took as one reason Asians did not apply. Ms. Dean said that the minority community needed to be convinced they would do well to be listed in a business di rectory. This is a first effort on the commission's part, Ms, Dean said that a good way to use the human rights commissions was for the one-to-one contact the commissioners have with their constituencies. Ms. Wooten asked if the commission had any sense of the overall well-being of the Indo-Chinese refugee pDpulation in Eugene. Ms. Dean responded that she had asked Richard Guske for names of Vietnamese business people to include in the directory and he had told her the Vietnamese were gone. There was one Vietnamese restaurant in Eugene, Ms, Wooten asked if there was a way to determine that population's status, Ms, Dean said the commission lacked the funds to do that sort of research. Mr. Miller commented that many of the Vietnamese families had relocated to Portland where they have more of a sense of family, He offered to put Ms, Dean in touch with the people in charge of the relocation efforts if she desired statistical information. e MINUTES--City Council Dinner Meeting September 8, 1986 Page 5