Agenda Packet 9-9-19 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES – Eugene City Council Work Session July 22, 2019 Page 2 repugnant and have no place in our community, but the resolution talks about what people believe and he does not want to officially condemn people for their beliefs. MOTION TO AMEND: Councilor Clark, seconded by Councilor Taylor, moved to removereference to people’s beliefs in this resolution. o Council Discussion: o Councilor Clark – clarified that he would like to remove anything that talks about agroup or individual’s beliefs and the City Council condemning them for those beliefs;addressed factual mistakes in the resolution. o Councilor Zelenka – thanked the Human Rights Commission for writing the resolution;addressed Section H, which highlights Oregon’s ugly history on race and the importanceof including that in the resolution; talked about the reason for this conversation and thecurrent climate in our country where people are openly presenting themselves as whitenationalists and the City Council needs to stand against this hatred, bigotry, anddiscrimination. o Councilor Syrett – talked about the important distinction that the resolution language isnot condemning the people who hold these beliefs, but taking a stand against thesebeliefs that claim that white people are better than other people; said she wants to makea statement affirming that all people in the community deserve to be safe and welcomewithout fearing violent or harassing action against them. o Councilor Yeh – said that Section C seems to be a definition of white nationalism and shewouldn’t be in favor of removing it; shared appreciation for those who wrote theresolution and included next steps and reference to Oregon’s history. o Councilor Semple – said she understood some of Councilor Clark’s concerns because shewouldn’t want to say someone couldn’t believe or think something; discussed what thedefinition of condemn means and said a person can believe whatever they want butcan’t do bad things because of it. o Councilor Pryor – said it was an interesting point to think about where belief ends andaction begins and this resolution is intended to show City Council’s belief and policy isaround this issue. o Councilor Taylor – said she didn’t see the need for the resolution because there arealready laws that prevent people from doing bad things. o Mayor Vinis – talked about the Civil Rights movement and how this resolution doesn’tbreak any new ground by making a statement about the kinds of behavior that areconsidered unacceptable as a community. o Councilor Clark – said that the resolution isn’t saying that someone’s beliefs are illegal,but that City Council is condemning those beliefs; said the problem with condemningpeople with certain beliefs is that there may be a future City Council made up of peoplewith different beliefs; expressed discomfort with naming the official belief of the City ofEugene. o Councilor Syrett – talked about how protectors of free speech say that the best way tocombat speech is with more speech; said they should both defend people’s right toexpress their views and, in the right circumstance, condemn views they find dangerousand unacceptable. o Councilor Semple – asked for Councilor Clark to restate the motion to make it clear. o Councilor Clark – restated the motion to remove all references to any person or group’sbelief; said he would support a motion if the references to beliefs were changed toactions. o Councilor Zelenka – asked Councilor Taylor if she would support the resolution if thechanges referenced in the motion were made. September 9, 2019, Meeting – Item 2A