Item 3: Ratification of Intergovernmental Relations Committee Actions

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Ms. Bettman suggested that the CCIGR address the issue at this time. Ms. Wilson reported that Rep. Holvey had introduced the bill on the request of smaller communities who felt they did not have a “place at the table.” She said he also apologized for not conducting a survey prior to introducing that bill. She related that he had been visited by Lane County Commissioner Bobby Green, who was not happy about the bill. She said Commissioner Green had the bill pulled and Rep. Holvey now wanted information on what the City of Eugene’s ideas would be on the makeup of the ACT should he try to push this bill forward. Ms. Bettman expressed surprise that Commissioner Green had been able to have the bill pulled. Ms. Wilson explained that Commissioner Green had requested that the legislators pull it off the schedule in order to gather additional information. She noted that having bills pulled for the purpose of gaining more informa- tion was a common occurrence. Ms. Bettman asked what Rep. Holvey was hoping to gain from the council. Ms. Wilson replied that he was asking for a formal letter indicating the council’s ideas for the makeup of an ACT. She noted that Rep. Holvey had indicated that he had spoken with representatives of the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and they were interested in the formation of an ACT in this region. Ms. Bettman thought ODOT had its own criteria for creating an ACT. She felt the will of the council would be consistent with the criteria. Mayor Piercy commented that there was a “considerable flap” over this and a “considerable flap about Eugene not playing well in the sandbox.” She said it was having repercussions in other places with other legislators. She related that Commissioner Bill Dwyer had discussed the issue with her and had made it clear how unhappy he was with the council taking any position on an ACT. She said he considered it counter to the council philosophy underlying the position it took in support of having an elected body for the Lane Transit District (LTD) board of directors to then want to get rid of an elected body being in charge of transportation funding, e.g. the Metropolitan Policy Committee (MPC). She stressed that Commissioner Dwyer was not alone in this thinking. She felt there was an underlying current at the legislature that said “if you want to play hardball then we will play hardball with you.” She underscored that a lot of the things that the City did both at the legislative level and the local level had to be in the spirit of cooperation. She averred that if one was going to do something that could be perceived as “sticking your finger in the eye” of government partners, one ought to give them the courtesy of talking to them ahead of taking a position. She said there were conversations “all over the place” in Salem and in Eugene about the intergovernmental relationships and it was affecting some of the bills Eugene would want to see passed. She stressed that how Eugene conducted its relationships with its governmental partners had repercussions. Ms. Bettman said the CCIGR had a bill before it and took a position. For her, it was not exactly which elected officials felt angered by the City’s position, it was what was in the best interest of the community. She believed that statewide what was in the best interest of the community in making “judicious transporta- tion prioritization decisions” would be to have an ACT, instead of having that decision-making authority vested in a small segment of the population. In response to a question from Ms. Bettman, Mr. Jones explained that the County would have a seat on the ACT according to the bill that had been drafted and the MPC, Springfield, and Eugene would appoint representatives to the ACT. He related that all of the other positions on the ACT would be in effect approved by the Board of County Commissioners. Mayor Piercy asked what the advantage was of switching from the current system to an ACT. MINUTES—Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations April 5, 2007 Page 2