05/09/1984 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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- e e IV. JOB TRAINING CENTER PROGRAM YEAR 1984 GRANT APPROVAL (memo distributed) City Manager Michea1 Gleason introduced the agenda item. Chris Pryor, Chair of the Eugene Private Industry Council, presented the staff report. He reviewed the April 30, 1984, memorandum from the Eugene Job Training Center staff to the City Council which outlined the proposed use of the $1,234,793 12-month grant. He stressed that the intent was to maintain the high level of program performance even under the reduced funding level. Mr. Obie moved, seconded by Ms. Wooten, to approve the operating plan and Job Training Partnership Act grant for the Eugene Job Training Center as recommended by the Eugene Private Industry Council. Councilor Ball commented that Eugene continued to operate the most cost-effective programs in the country despite the budget cutbacks. Roll call vote; the motion carried unanimously, 7:0. V. LETTER TO SOVIET CITY OF KOMSOMOL'SK-NA-AMURE (memo, letter distributed) City Manager Michea1 Gleason introduced the agenda item. Councilor Wooten presented the report, stating that she had been asked by the Eugene Pairing Project Committee to present a request for the council to sign a letter of greeting to the Soviet city of Komsomol'sk-na-Amure. While no one could have foreseen the withdrawal of the USSR from the 1984 Summer Olympics, Ms. Wooten said the letter as a gesture of peace and friendship was quite poignant in light of that incident. She stated that a description of the Pairing Project and the draft letter had been distributed to the council. Ms. Wooten then introduced Kate Gessert of the Eugene Pairing Project Committee. Ms. Gessert introduced several other members of the committee. She stated that many others were unable to attend the meeting because of school or jobs. She explained that the committee had collected information on Eugene to send to the similarly situated City in Siberia, adding that it was the belief of the committee that anything that lessened tension was helpful in obtaining world peace. Ms. Gessert stated that the committee was motivated by its desire for peace and friendship and its curiosity about the Soviet people. She felt that the committee members had learned much of Eugene during the process. She encouraged the council to join the committee's actions and to sign the letter which would be forwarded with the community portrait of Eugene. Mayor Keller said he felt the project was worthwhile, agreeing that any oppor- tunity to share on a personal level would relieve tensions and that friendships will develop over time as a result of the project. He stressed the importance of the involvement of children in the project. Councilor Wooten said she had distributed the letter to the other councilors. She asked that the councilors sign the letter so that it could be returned to the committee. MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 9, 1984 Page 5