CC MInutes - 04/09/01 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Dave Hauser, Eugene Chamber of Commerce, 1401 Willamette Street, spoke in support of the League of Women Voters in developing criteria for redistricting ward boundaries in Eugene. He said that during the last redistricting effort, there had been no such input, and redistricting resulted in unfair representation for some areas of the community. He noted that there were five city councilors living south of the Willamette River and east of Chambers Street; areas of the highest growth were represented by three councilors alone, at odds with the Supreme Court's rulings on redistricting. He noted that further, all Planning Commission members and Eugene Water & Electric Board representatives lived south of the river. He was convinced that the situation was a result of creating ward boundaries that crossed natural features, such as the river. In addition, councilors were interested in drawing wards to protect their incumbencies, which resulted in redistricting that did not result in the principle of "one person, one vote." He encouraged that the league's recommendations be adopted. Micheal Roberts, 1919 Myers Road, a resident of Ward 5, noted that his councilor, Councilor Pap6, represented twice as many people as councilors from wards in the southern areas of the community. He said his ward was underpresented on the council. Councilors living in wards with fewer people had more time to meet with constituents, who were fewer in number. When it came to making committee appointments, councilors appointed those they knew, who lived in areas near them. He had encouraged many people living in his area to apply for appointed positions and they were not appointed. He endorsed the use of State law and the League of Women Voters' recommendations as a basis for redistricting. Bruce Miller, PO Box 50968, Eugene, advocated for the council to consider what to be done to improve conditions on West Broadway following the departure of Symantec. He said that business owners in the area were hanging on to survive, and could be threatened by the development of new commercial areas in the Chiquita area. He said that no incentives should be offered development in that area while conditions for commercial uses in West Broadway continued to be poor. He said he had developed a list of 95 businesses located within five blocks of Broadway and Willamette Street that failed in the last 40 months. He thought that was symptomatic of downtown's problems. Steven Erik Leppanen, 280 Conastoga Way, criticized the mayor for his Arbor Day Proclamation because "hundred year-old maples" had been destroyed because "Symantec needed the parking." He said that if PeaceHealth was to grow downtown it should do so on property it owned between Willamette and Charnelton streets and 13th and 12th avenues. That would help to revitalize the core, a council goal. Mr. Leppanen said the hospital should stay downtown to support that goal and to ensure that traffic congestion in the Ferry Street Bridge corridor did not get worse. David Hinkley, 1350 Lawrence Street, #6, said he was pro-mass transit as the best way of addressing the community's transportation issue. He endorsed the general concept of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) as described on the Federal Transit Administration's Web site as the solution to those issues. He felt, however, that Lane Transit District's BRT proposal was the "death of transit" in Eugene, and its high costs, high visibility, and reduction in service would "play into the hands" of the anti-transit movement in Oregon. He asked the council to vote against Lane Transit District' BRT proposal. John Herberg, 568 Ferster Drive, encouraged the council to keep PeaceHealth downtown, and to ensure the community was not in this position in the future. He said that it currently made sense for the hospital to move outside the core because the market does not appropriately reflect costs. Businesses that moved to the MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 9, 2001 Page 3 Regular Meeting