CC MInutes - 07/19/00 Work Session

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Mr. Fart thought it was logical the City have a Mexican sister city. He thought the City would benefit from such relationships when Eugene had a large contingent of residents from that country. Responding to a question from Mr. Fart, Ms. Walston said that approximately half the City's contribution to the foundation was used to support the cost of the program coordinator, and the remainder was divided among the four sister city committees. Mr. Kelly said he would love to see such a relationship because of proximity and the large local population of residents from Mexico, but he did not think it was appropriate to move forward until the four sister cities were on solid financial ground or one dropped off the program in the future. He was dubious about the concept of a friendship city as there was no common understanding of what the term meant. Ms. Nathanson agreed with the comments of previous speakers. She said that if the City had the energy or resources it should do a sister city relationship rather than a friendship city, and she did not think the City had the resources to have a new sister city. She noted that activity among the committees ebbed and flowed. She said that not many cities supported as many as four sister cities. She would want to know how cities with more than four such relationships funded their programs. She suggested that the City consider the ties established by the University and LCC with other cities where activities occur throughout the year. She urged the City not to "reinvent the wheel." Ms. Taylor said that she requested the discussion because she had received many inquiries and suggestions about the issue, as well as questions from the foundation. She had wanted to gauge council reaction to the concept before much more time was spent on it. She said the foundation was having a difficult time supporting the existing sister cities. Ms. Taylor believed that there were possibly too many sister cities for a city of Eugene's size. She noted many models for supporting sister city programs existed in the United States. She did not think the City was in the position to establish a new sister city but suggested it might be in a position to have a friendship city. Mayor Torrey said he proposed a new sister city because the Hispanic community represented the largest growing segment of the city's population, particularly children in school. He had wanted to find a way to give Hispanic children a way to celebrate their heritage through such a relationship. He did not did not disagree with the remarks made by the council. He suggested that another organization had the money and resources to take on the issue. Mr. Meisner agreed that four cities were probably too many. He said it was not clear whether all the cities involved recognized the relationships. He said that Hispanic or Latino did not mean Mexican, and the council needed to be careful about its terminology. He did not think the City could create a sister city relationship for every ethnic group in Eugene. He concurred that another organization could take on the issue. He reiterated his requests for the amount of City staff resources devoted to the sister cities. He also wanted to know what the committees intended to do with the City funds they received. Ms. Nathanson continued to be concerned about the resources that would be required and said she wished the City could maintain the relationships it had. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 19, 2000 Page 8 Work Session