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<br />e <br /> <br />STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS <br /> <br />January 9, 1989 <br />Mayor Brian B. Obie <br /> <br />It is appropriate, as we build this community, to think historically of the <br />empire-builders who have gone before us and have tried to build a community <br />that all of us would enjoy, respect, and appreciate. <br /> <br />I would ask you not to anticipate a short speech from me tonight. When I am <br />finished, I will also be finished in this office. Being mayor has been a <br />special time for me and only grudgingly do I give up the job. As you know by <br />now, the only way I give up anything is grudgingly. <br /> <br />Tonight, as I reflect back somewhere between 16 and 20 years that I have been <br />involved in City Hall, it is an evening of nostalgia for me--one that is very <br />important and one that I have some warm feelings about. It is a time to <br />express my appreciation, without question, and I hope an evening that I might <br />share with you a collection of thoughts I have both about the present and the <br />past, as well as the future. And it is my duty by charter to memorialize <br />some of the things we have accomplished together, but I want to assure you <br />that I do not intend to run through a litany of the issues and projects we <br />have been challenged with. <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />I feel, as Abraham Lincoln said, "that I have done my best, the best that I <br />know how. And if the end brings me out all right, what is said against me <br />won1t amount to anything. And if the end brings me out wrong, then ten <br />angels swearing I was right would make no difference anyway. II <br /> <br />You already know that what four years ago I called the Eugene Agenda is well <br />underway: an expanded airport is under construction; motorists are traveling <br />on widened streets; the Riverfront Research Park is moving toward its promise <br />of world-class research and a new class of jobs; our economy, along with our <br />population, is at an all-time high. This is once again an exciting and vital <br />place to live. <br /> <br />These accomplishments are not mine. They belong to all of us in this commu- <br />nity. They are the sum of our collective efforts. <br /> <br />Four years ago I asked the citizens of this community for a renaissance of <br />community spirit, for a renewal of economic progress, and for a new commit- <br />ment to take charge of our future. At that time, we had 11,000 unemployed <br />people. More people were moving out of Eugene than were moving in. We had <br />daily business failures, some of them family-owned businesses that had been <br />here for years. I asked this council at that time, not to be timid. I asked <br />them to take bold action and be willing to move this community forward. They <br />did, and you responded with more determination and more commitment than this <br />community has ever seen. All of a sudden, our future was no longer to be an <br />accident, but instead was going to be a result of our efforts. <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />There were a lot of nay sayers, but what do they say now? We have new <br />streets and new highways. We have private and public development, population <br />and more jobs than we've ever had. And indeed, what do they say now? Those <br />