CC Minutes - 05/13/02 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Councilor Kelly's frequent contacts with the University or Oregon and said "give him a chance." He suggested that councilors with business experience work with downtown. Kris Millegan, 39830 McKenzie Highway, discussed an incident that preceded the marijuana match on Saturday, May 10, when an event organizer was seized and jailed on a warrant; another person also wanted was ignored. He believed that the arrest was done out of sheer spite, and said that should not be allowed to occur. He said that many people believed the war on drugs was unconstitutional, and he anticipated laws that would preclude people from exercising their civil rights. He said that those with marijuana cards had to deal with the black market, and there were people in the community attempting to help them. He said that something needed to be done in a humane manner outside a police response. Claude Matteson, 1811 Highway 99 North, Embers Restaurant, discussed his experience with enforcement of the City's tobacco ordinance. He believed that he had been visited by individuals specifically in search of a violation of the tobacco ordinance. He said that when asked, one individual confirmed she was a member of a nonsmoking alliance. He asked how that individual could be a member of that alliance, also work for Lane County, and participate in an enforcement action. The individual also appeared as a witness on work time; he questioned whether that was good investment of tax money. Mr. Madison said that if the ordinance continued to be in force, he would not have many employees left. Cheryl McCabe, 3355 East Amazon Street, Old Pad Tavern, indicated that her business lost $30,000 since December 31, 2001. She noted that before the smoking ban was instituted, five cities had smoking bans. St. Helens was reconsidering its law, and Tillamook County has reversed its law. She submitted information from Paul Handlen, chair of the Tillamook County Commission. Anthony Biglan, Oregon Research Institute, researcher on smoking prevention, thanked the council for passing the tobacco-related ordinances. He thanked Mayor Torrey for working to pass laws related to reading instruction at the State level. He noted the continuing deaths from tobacco use and discussed the tobacco companies' work to market their product to young people. The companies want to increase the degree to which they market in bars. He hoped that if forced to reconsider the issue, the council would also consider the role of the tobacco companies, noting that there had been eight Marlboro promotions in the last six months. Kevin Wells, 1555 Coburg Road, #18, Harlow Neighbors Association, urged the council to delay the assessment for the sound wall project until ODOT made an actual improvement. He said that ODOT could not document sound levels prior to the sound wall construction. John Brown, 1250 Charnelton Street, spoke to the issue of the lease versus build approach to the police forensic and property storage facilities. He said that the cost of leasing was far higher than building, and he urged the council to build new facilities rather than build and spend money on infill improvements. Dave Dingman, PO Box 11252, Eugene, a business broker, said that since the smoking ban took effect he had been called by various Eugene bar owners who wished to sell their bars; however, no one wished to buy a bar in Eugene because of the smoking ban. The value of such an establishment was based on its net income, which had dropped dramatically since the ordinance took effect. The owners were trapped, were making no money, and could not sell their MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 13, 2002 Page 2 Regular Meeting