01/04/1988 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e track very often, but he understands what athletics means to this community. And I'd like him to accept this plaque in recognition of his leadership, as well as in recognition of the leadership of our entire delegation. David, thank you. IICouncilor Roger Rutan played no small role--Roger, thank you very much--in that project coming to where it is today. And certainly there is work to be done yet, and we expect that Roger and David and others will continue, along with many people in the community, to get that done. IIIld also like to at this time recognize the Oregon Track Club Masters Division for bringing the World Veteran Games to Eugene. It's an event that we look forward to. Oregon Track Club Masters Division Chair Barbara Kousky and Tom Jordan have already logged nearly two years and thousands of miles on this project. Barbara and Tom, will you stand please? Thank you very much. IIAlong with them, taking that long trip to Australia to get the job done was Linda Weston of the Visitors and Convention Bureau. Linda, would you stand? Thank you. IIDuri ng the next 18 months, the Oregon Track Cl ub wi 11 be calli ng on all of us. They will need our help. For 10 full days in the summer of 189, Eugene will be the host to 10,000 visitors from 50 countries. It will be a festival of fun and excitement. IIAnd it will be a time--an opportunity, if you wi ll--to show off one of the greatest communities in the land. e "There are still other efforts that need our partnership and require commitment. Decisions about downtown are yet to be made. liThe renewed vitality in our central city was one of the most welcome signs of 1987. Empty storefronts disappeared. New shops are opening; offices are filling, and with a little luck, as you heard a few months ago, we may have the opportunity to see a landmark building started downtown. liThe question so often raised, IDoes anybody care about downtown?' was resoundingly answered when 500 people showed up for the public hearing about Willamette Street. It is obvious that people care deeply about Eugene's downtown. We may di ffer over the strategy, but our goal is the same--an attractive, thriving business center, a marketplace, a cultural community, if you will. "Our challenge for 1988 will be to come together around downtown. The easy course is to divide--but a fractured community cannot thrive. I encourage each of you to let the council know your feelings and why you feel that way. But I remind you that, ultimately, we must all pull together to reach our mutual goal. Division will create mediocrity--and others will win the battle. IIAnother cruci a 1 issue the Ci ty Council will work on in 1988 is a plan for financing City services for the next six years. - MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 4, 1988 Page 8