04/24/1991 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e e e Mr. Rutan said the City had spent money in the past defending itself from frivolous lawsuits filed by Mr. Porter. He said Mr. Porter had the right to bring actions against Eugene, but the council should make it clear to the community that there are costs which must be paid by public tax money to defend against these lawsuits. He suggested that a record of this meeting, with specific reference to the comments of the City Attorney, be delivered to Mr. Porter for his consideration. Mr. Gleason said he felt the City Attorney's advice was very clear. He said the councilors had taken an oath of office to defend the charter, just as he took an oath of office to defend the law. He said that until the provisions of the charter were changed, he felt a moral and legal obligation to defend the charter. He said the council had the prerogative and the authority to amend the charter by initiative referendum. H. Public Information for Downtown Redesign (The following discussion actually took place later in the meeting, after Ms. Ehrman had arrived.) Mr. Nicholson said the City should take a non-partisan stand on public infor- mation on the downtown redesign plan. He said the council should resolve to publish either a minimal amount on the subject, or nothing at all. Mr. Gleason said public information for newspaper publication was nearly ready, unless the council decided it did not want to provide any additional public information on this issue. Mr. Gary said the City did not have to publish anything in relation to the downtown redesign plan, but that the City Council would have to make this judgment. Mr. Nicholson moved, seconded by Mr. MacDonald, that the City not publish anything as public information for the downtown redesign. Ms. Ehrman said she would not be comfortable publishing nothing. She said neither side in this issue had elucidated some of the issues she would like to see discussed, so more public information was needed. Mr. MacDonald said he agreed with Ms. Ehrman. He said it was unfortunate that the City had not prepared a Voter's Pamphlet for this election. He said the pamphlet would have provided a good forum for this information. He said staff, not the council, approved the public information to be published, although the community perceives the council as the originators of this kind of information. Mr. Gleason referred to a two-page newspaper layout on the downtown redesign just shown to the council by Mr. Nicholson. He said this material had not been public information because it was created by a citizen's committee in an effort to engage community debate. He said that he, as the City Manager, was obligated to be unbiased about issues facing a public vote. MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 24, 1991 Page 5