CC Minutes - 01/04/07 State of the City

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Both City of Eugene staff and elected officials are leading by example. We have been building a green fleet and have already reduced our carbon emissions by 500,000 pounds. We are currently purchasing 25% wind power, recycling, and using green products and building practices. We are promoting the use of alternative transportation and offer our staff bus passes. We are partnering on after-school programs, housing projects and support services for the homeless. We continue to invest in bike paths. Just this last year, we partnered on four local green building projects and on five business assessments of sustainable practices that can improve the bottom line. Eugene joined the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI)to help us measure carbon emission reductions. I partnered with 100 other mayors in signing on to the Kyoto protocol and have been working with them nationally on this effort. We are doing a lot but there is much, much, more to be done to respond to economic and social need and to slow down global warming and reduce our consumption of finite resources. To meet these challenges and to take advantage of the unique opportunities they present, I launched the Sustainable Business Initiative. Two years ago, Eugene already had undertaken many excellent green practices, creating a foundation that I believed positioned us for a quantum leap forward. With our university, our expertise, our entrepreneurial spirit and our deep concern, Eugene is uniquely positioned to lead, to provide some answers to world problems and to develop our economy through new job creation. We can respond to climate change, finite resources and the need for good jobs. I charged a task force to identify ways Eugene could support the growth of businesses that produce sustainable products and services, including alternative fuels, alternative energy, green investing, green building, alternative transportation, and natural foods, among others. Additional charges were to recom- mend how Eugene could support all businesses in adopting more sustainable practices, and educate the public about sustainability and the triple bottom line. The Sustainable Business Initiative task force engaged over 800 of our citizens and made 22 recommenda- tions, which were officially endorsed by council resolution on November 13, 2006. The first of these are the establishment of a city Sustainability Office and Sustainability Commission. These two bodies will be key to implementing the remaining SBI recommendations. (You can find the recommendations on the City’s web site.) The vision is for Eugene to become a center of sustainable businesses and practices, enabling us to respond to the challenges of a changing world and the needs of our citizens for high quality jobs and services that allow them to raise their families. This is a great vision and a doable one; an exciting opportunity for our future. Eugene works hard to fulfill promises. In the past year we have also focused on other key arenas of livability: ? We hired an independent police auditor. ? After public input, the council selected the “rockin’ butterfly” site (the butterfly parking lot next to the county building as well as the Rock n’ Rodeo building) as its preference for a new City Hall lo- cation. Downtown development advanced with the opening of the Federal Building and Tate condo- MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 4, 2007 Page 5 State of the City