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<br />e <br /> <br />M I NUT E S <br /> <br />Eugene City Council <br />McNutt Room--Eugene City Hall <br /> <br />April 22, 1992 <br />11:30 a.m. <br /> <br />COUNCILORS PRESENT: Shawn Boles, Bobby Green, Ruth Bascom (1:23 p.m), Debra <br />Ehrman, Randy MacDonald, Paul Nicholson, Kaye Robinette, <br />Roger Rutan. <br /> <br />The special meeting of the Eugene City Council was called to order by Mayor <br />Jeff Miller. <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />Bill Gary, City Attorney's Office, reminded the council of a lawsuit filed by <br />David Sweet regarding the City's mall regulations as they applied to <br />musicians. He reported to the council that Federal Magistrate Coffin <br />dismissed the lawsuit "without leave to reprieve"; in other words, the <br />judgment is final. The opinion of Judge Coffin indicated that Mr. Sweet <br />misinterpreted the regulations: the regulations do not prohibit people from <br />playing music on the mall but rather prohibit musicians from soliciting <br />contributions or attracting audiences greater than 25 people. The magistrate <br />dismissed the lawsuit against the law firm of Harrang, Swanson, and long as <br />Mr. Sweet had no standing to sue the firm for negligence in drafting the <br />ordinance. <br /> <br />Mr. Green asked who was responsible for the City's court costs. Mr. Gary <br />responded that the City would bear its own legal fees. The City could <br />petition for attorney fees on the grounds that the lawsuit was without merit <br />or frivolous. In the case in question, Mr. Gary did not believe that it <br />would be worth the City's effort to attempt to recover its costs as the court <br />would protect the right of Mr. Sweet to bring suit. <br /> <br />Responding to a question from Mr. MacDonald, Mr. Gary said that there is a <br />lawsuit pending in the tax courts brought by the City of Portland seeking a <br />declaration that its methodology of calculating urban renewal taxes was <br />correct. The City of Eugene had originally sought and obtained party status <br />in the case due to staff concern about the effect of the decision on the its <br />calculations. Subsequently, a group of Eugene citizens challenged the City's <br />method of calculating tax assessments. Mr. Gary said that lawsuit had been <br />withdrawn. The City is no longer a party to the Portland case but is <br />monitoring the case and could participate as a friend of the court. <br /> <br />City Manager Mike Gleason proposed that the council schedule a discussion on <br />the issue of employee salaries and benefits for the meeting of April 29, <br />1992. The council agreed to Mr. Gleason's proposal. <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />MINUTES--Eugene City Council <br />11:30 a.m. <br /> <br />April 22, 1992 <br /> <br />Page 1 <br />