CC Minutes - 06/18/03 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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council's action, which was a concern she shared. She was also concerned by rumors she was hearing about people's refusal to participate in another community process. Her decision to offer the motion to reconsider was based on the reasons she had stated at the time, that of what was in the best interest of the community. Ms. Nathanson said that while she would have preferred to select an appropriate tribute for Dr. King through a community process that brought more people to consensus, it became clear to her that the community was not going to be able to come together through such a process, and she decided to return to her stated position and support the street renaming. Speaking to Mr. PapS's remarks about Mayor Torrey's conversation with Mr. Mylenek, Ms. Nathanson said that she did not know what the mayor discussed with Mr. Mylenek, and had no idea about such a discussion until Mr. Pap8 had shared his suspicions with her the previous day. She had no political or business relationship with Mr. Mylenek, either directly or indirectly through third parties. With regard to a mayoral campaign, she said it was no secret that she and the mayor had discussed such a possibility a few years ago when the mayor was considering his own future. She recalled that the mayor was fairly certain he would not run again and she expressed interest, but the mayor subsequently changed his mind. They had occasion conversations about their futures, as elected officials often do. She had conversations with other councilors about other potential offices as well. Ms. Nathanson expressed unhappiness about what she termed potential "guilt by innuendo." She said that the issue for her continued to be what was in the best interest of the community. She expressed sorrow that councilors would be "dragged into a swamp" over something not worthy of discussion. Ms. Bettman remarked that she had been on the "edge of her seat to hear what the big secret was." Now she concluded that there were "no smoking guns" here, merely individual councilors who needed to be accountable for their own decisions instead of looking for places to lay blame. Speaking to Mr. Poling's remarks about the process and lack of property owner involvement prior to the council's action to initiate the street renaming, Ms. Bettman pointed out that notice was given once the process was initiated, and then they had the opportunity to let their opinions be placed on the record, which the council used to make its decision. Speaking to Mr. PapS's remarks about the conversation between Ms. Nathanson and Mayor Torrey, Ms. Bettman said "So what?" She pointed out that such conversations happened all the time and there was nothing improper in what had occurred. Ms. Nathanson's action had been consistent with her previously stated position. Ms. Bettman termed the situation "politics as usual." She saw no difference in the politics of this process compared to the politics of other issues that came before the council, outside the fact that Mr. Pap8 and Mr. Poling did not prevail in this instance. Ms. Bettman believed that a good decision had been made and the council should move forward. She thought ultimately, the renaming of Centennial Boulevard would reunify the community. Mr. Kelly believed that Mr. PapS's remarks were very unfair to both Ms. Nathanson and Mayor Torrey. He thought it unfortunate given that Mr. Pap8 had, as Council President, met with each councilor individually to discuss how the council could work better together. He thought that Mr. PapS's unfairness made the task much more difficult for the future. MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 18, 2003 Page 3 Work Session