02/21/1979 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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v. Eugene Economic Development Comm~ttee--Memo and minutes distributed Manager said staff had prepared information and was presenting for Council's consideration and discussion the concept, function, and composition of an economic development committee. Council's action today would be to adopt the concept. A resolution would be brought back to Council, possibly March 14, which would more specifically define the formation and membership. e- Jim Farah, Planner, reviewed the memorandum for Council. He said for the last two years, the Council has discussed various possible institutional arrangements to effectively deal with Eugene's economic health. Based on those discussions, it was determined by the City Council that the City, being the general purpose government, was the best framework within which to deal with economic development. The committee would be an advisory committee to the City Council, with the Mayor as chairman of the committee. It was suggested the Mayor act in this capacity as he was the one person on the Council elected at-large in Eugene. Thus, he would be acting as a representative of the broad perspective of the City. Mr. Farah said the formation of this committee would simply formalize the structure presently occurring throughout city government. The committee would continue to rely on other agencies and organizations, such as the Eugene Renewal Agency, or the Airport Commission and, thus, it would not depart from what is presently occurring within the city structure. He reviewed the recommendations as follows: 1. The proposed structure should be viewed as experimental in nature. e 2. The Mayor should form and chair the committee. 3. The committee should be comprised of representatives from appro- priate public bodies and the private business community, including the chamber of commerce and labor organizations. 4. The committee should be supplemented and/or staffed by existing City committees or departments, with coordination of staff work being conducted through the office of the City Manager. 5. The committee, as all other similar committees in Eugene, should be advisory to the City Council. 6. Eugene's efforts should be coordinated with similar efforts which might occur in the City of Springfield or as a result of regional economic planning conducted through L-COG or the proposed Lane Economic Improvement Commission. - 2/21/79--8 101