03/01/1989 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

e Mr. Gary said he felt it to meet its objectives. staff develop a racially inadequate participation is possible that the City could recast the program He said the City Attorney's Office recommends that neutral program that addresses identified causes of by certain categories of contractors. Mr. Gary noted that the City Attorney's Office had contacted the US Depart- ment of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) which now claims that HUD regula- tions do not permit set-aside programs for HUD funds, due to the presence of a non-discrimination provision in the department's regulations. Mr. Miller said that he recommended that this proposal be returned to the Community Development Committee (eOC) for reconsideration and revision. Mr. Gleason voiced his concern that if the proposal returns to the COC, findings need to be very carefully written to avoid possible lawsuits. Referring to CCED minutes, Mr. Rutan pointed out that this program has re- ceived mixed reviews and deserves a chance to succeed. Given this, he said he wanted to be sure that the City does not spend $100,000 to maintain a $50,000-$100,000 program. He said he wanted to ensure a measured response to this problem. e Mr. Boles said he expected that the City Council must have written its loan agreement to include a hold harmless clause, in which case there would be no risk of lawsuits. Second, he asked if there was a quick way to develop findings. He noted that the original reason for development of the Targeted Business Assistance program had been because the loan pattern from available funds indicated that targeted groups were not competing successfully. He felt that this should provide a quick and narrow base for findings. He expressed his preference that the council not be significantly involved in legal aspects of this issue. He felt it should be possible to meet the community's expectations for the COBG program at $150,000 without having to go through a lengthy legal process. He added that he feels women should be included in the pool of targeted groups as well. Ms. Bascom commented that she is concerned with the City's involvement in development of findings and with potentially huge legal bills. Mr. Gary responded that he did not feel this to be a complicated legal prob- lem. He did not anticipate that his office would be involved substantially in development of findings. He recommended that the City develop a program which does not require that staff make the findings. He felt this might be possible as long as the council is not locked into classifications based upon race or ethnic origin or some other protected class. He said the City could attain its objective by directing staff to proceed in the least expensive, most efficient way without having to develop findings at all. Mr. Bennett said he agreed with Mr. Boles and wanted to be able to support a targeted business assistance program. He said he hopes it can be done legal- ly in such a way, even if findings are required, that it can be completed in a reasonable period of time. He said that his approach is to treat this e MINUTES--Eugene City Council March 1, 1989 Page 10