06/13/1983 Meeting (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

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Harold M. Andersen, 2024 Roosevelt Boulevard, said that in view of time constraints, he would defer to other speakers. e Kate Graham, 1327 Lawrence Street, said that she was unemployed. She supported the allocation to shelter funds and said she believed high unemployment was driving people to seek shelter housing. Those speaking against the staff recommendation: Richard Guske, 278 North Grand Street, said he was a member of the Whiteaker Community Council and of the Vagrancy Task Force. He urged support of the shelter fund allocation. He was concerned how area unemployed would view use of Federal Jobs Bi 11 funds, intended to rel i eve unemployment, for a proj ect such as improving Roosevelt Boulevard. He suggested that funds coul d be used instead to make capital improvements in non-profit service agencies. He fel t the council should carefully consider all expenditures of the Jobs Bill funds. Gary Kutcher, 38535 J asper-Lowell Road, spoke for the Lane Unemployment Project proposal. He said that the $600,000 proposed for Roosevelt Boulevard improve- ments would only generate four person-years of work. He said thi s amoun t coul d be used to generate ten times as many jobs. He felt that to date planning for City use of the funds had not taken into consideration the needs of the unemployed. He urged the council not to support the Roosevelt Boulevard project. Pete Mandrapa, 4120 West Amazon, said that in view of time constraints, he would defer his time to Glen Gibbons. e Glen Gibbons, 50 Cedar Street, distributed written testimony. He said he was speaking for the Lane Unemployment Project, a group which was working to address the rights and problems of the unemployed. He asked supporters of the proj ect to stand [approximately 18 people stood]. He discussed the legislative intent of the Jobs Bill, which he fel t was to assi st the unemployed as rapi dly as possibl e. He sai d that the C; ty' s proposal fail ed to do thi s. He ci ted the exampl e of the Ci ty of Portl and, which had put one-third to one-hal f of its funds into social and human services. He noted that at the rate of $5 per hour over 60 full-time positions could be funded. He said that the multiplier effect of funds invested in salaries and then reinvested in the community was 1.5 for capital projects as opposed to 2.2 to 2.5 if the funds went directly into the pockets of residents. He said there was no guarantee that the Roosevel t Boul evard project would provide future jobs. Mr. Gibbons said that there had been 1 i ttl e effort to involve the publ ic in the decision on how to use these funds. He contrasted the $45,000 proposed for administration in Eugene with the $2,000 Springfield had earmarked for administration of its Jobs Bill funds. He said that the Lane Umemployment Project had distributed a proposal for use of Eugene Jobs Bi 11 funds to create a center to serve di spl aced workers. Peter Elliot-Wotton, 875 East 32nd Avenue, said that he had worked in advertising, public service, and broadcasting. He supported use of Jobs Bill funds for shel ter support but opposed using funds for Roosevelt Boulevard. He supported the proposal of the Crossroads Neighborhood Development Plan and said he believed the needs of seniors woul d be well met by the project. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 13, 1983 Page 5