CC Minutes - 03/12/07 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Stan Taylor , 1285 McLean Boulevard, stated that he taught Political Science at the Lane Community College (LCC). He said he was also working with LCC administration to create a Peace Center at LCC. He related that as a peace educator he had focused on the Middle East and, in particular, Iraq and the propensity of the United States government to utilize war as its primary tool for projecting its interests in the world. He opined that Iraq was just one example. He alleged that there were plans to reshape this part of the world through more war. He averred that it was time to recognize that the killing had to stop and that diplomacy was the means of bringing peace to the world; that it was time for the United States to be part of the world community. He underscored that change began at the local level. th Drix , 307-½ East 14 Avenue, reiterated his belief that the citizens of Eugene could, by pulling together, solve their problems, from the large problems such as the war in Iraq to the smaller problems like the two holes in downtown Eugene. He underscored that the people had the ideas that were needed to resolve issues. He suggested that Eugene, as a first name, could be everyone’s name in the city of Eugene and everyone who lived in the city could be called Eugene. th Madeline Smith , 594 West 11 Avenue, recommended that the people of Eugene work on using the rest of its oil wisely as there would not always be oil. She predicted that Iraq would be divided into three states. She thought Iran would be hard to control because it could bomb any oil tanker going through the Strait of Hormuz. She felt the sooner the United States decided to negotiate with Iran the better off it would be. Bayla Ostrach , 110 Mayfair Lane, member of the Eugene/Springfield Solidarity Network, read a statement she received from a friend who was serving as a marine in Iraq who was afraid to come home because he did not believe he would get the counseling he needed to recover from the war in Iraq. She asked the council to pass the resolution against the war. th Ruth Koenig , 1204 West 28 Avenue, recalled the President’s lies regarding the weapons of mass destruction and his “empty claims of success” in the conflict in Iraq. She averred that the war wrought “huge amounts of destruction.” She felt the community should speak out to its representatives in Congress. She hoped that the resolution would encourage Congress to cut off funding for the war. She felt the money that was being wasted could be better used to provide services. Majeska Seese-Green , PO Box 11692, speaking on behalf of the Whiteaker Community Council (WCC), conveyed the recent unanimous vote by the WCC to oppose the war. She said she had consulted a Web site that indicated how much tax revenue from each city had been allocated to the war in Iraq. From this information she had surmised that the Whiteaker neighborhood had spent $1 million on the war. She asked the council to imagine what “that kind of money” could do for the community. She hoped that the City Council would unanimously support the resolution in opposition to the war. Lisa Warnes , 5020 Nectar Way, supported the resolution calling for an end to the war. However, she primarily wished to register her opposition to a ballot measure crafted by Bill Sizemore that would eliminate the requirement for a building permit for any construction costing $35,000 or less. She averred that the populace often did not realize what they were voting for until after the vote had occurred. She believed in oversight for building standards and hoped the council was following the issue. She stressed that, as a remodeling contractor, she thought it was a bad idea. She saw potentially huge issues such as stormwater facilities being overwhelmed because of development undertaken with no oversight. Mark Rabinowitz , PO Box 51222, noted that the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) selected ‘no build’ as the closeout for the environmental impact statement (EIS) for the West Eugene Parkway (WEP) MINUTES—Eugene City Council March 12, 2007 Page 3 Regular Meeting