01/12/1981 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e "I'm pleased to report this evening that we've made long strides toward many of these goals: The City successfully negotiated a new downtown hotel and conference center, and we established a new visitors' and convention bureau in conjunction with the City of Springfield and local Chambers of Commerce of Eugene and Springfield and also Lane County as part of our tourism and convention package in developing, we hope, economically thi~ category for our community. The Abbie Lane Housing Project, dedicated in December, was a'superb example of intergovernmental cooperation with the Housing Authority and the Community Services Agency of Lane County as owners and sponsors of the development; the State Housing Division providing permanent financing while the City of Eugene provided equity capital and funds for the street improvements; and HUD supplying rent subsidies for the tenants. Another major advance for Eugene was establishing the City as aCETA prime sponsor which will expand employment and training opportunities for City residents. Prime sponsor status will mean that the City CETA resource will be managed in coordination and cooperation with other City goals such as economic development. e For years we've battled field burning smoke, and last year the council took a firm stand toward local environmental quality by passing a smoking ordinance to regulate tobacco smoke in public places. Citizen support is going to be essential in making that ordinance effective, and I'm hopeful that we'll get the kind of self-enforcement from Eugeneans that we need. "Looking over my Mayor's speeches for the last four years and researching back through ten years, I see that every Mayor's message since 1969 bemoans the fact that we have had no basis for planning more than one year's budget. Last year, the council created the "Eugene Plan" and the voters approved it. Having a new tax base will give us three years to build core budgets based on approved amounts of money. This budget program will facilitate decisions about where and how to spend City tax dollars in these times of growth, inflation, and economic uncertainty. liThe Metropolitan Plan Update was a major stride toward the City's planning goals. That project required hours of time from elected officials, our staff, and citizens alike, but through all the meetings, it was exciting for me to see how many Eugeneans cared enough about their City's future to contribute their time and ideas to make this type of long-range planning an effective tool. This effort gave us an updated blueprint by which we can make decisions that will shape the community's future. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 12, 1981 Page 4