CC Minutes - 01/25/99 Mtg - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Meisner said that he was inclined to not support the amendment because it could be interpreted to support State-mandated emergency shelters in local areas, or that the State would assume the responsibility for creating and placing shelters after the manner in which new prisons were sited. He said he did not favor either eventuality. Mr. Lee said that he believed the most effective way to address the concern of Ms. Taylor was to have an expert in the field draft legislation regarding homeless shelters. He suggested that a statement in a policy document was unlikely to have significant effect. He recommended that the Intergovernmental Relations Committee discuss and research the issue. Mr. Kelly said that he did not believe homeless shelters were adequately addressed in the proposed legislative policies· He proposed that consideration be given to amending the motion to amend, as follows: ·.. that an addition be made to the housing section of the 1999 Legislative Policies of the City Eugene requesting that '- shelters be initiated the State provide financial support to communities for homeless shelters. Ms. Taylor stated that she approved of the proposal of Mr. Kelly and wished to change her motion in that way because it would make more clear her belief that homeless shelters should be funded by the State. Mayor Torrey determined that there was no objection to Ms. Taylor changing her motion and declared that it had been amended. Ms. Nathanson was sympathetic to the motivation for the motion because it was impossible for an individual city such as Eugene to provide a solution to homelessness for a region. She suggested that the amendment could be implemented by appropriately inserting a phrase indicating support for emergency housing, including homeless shelters. Ms. Nathanson said that the problem with drafting legislative language "on the fly" during public meetings was that unintended consequences could be included. She said the wording of any additions made to the Legislative Policies should be studied thoroughly. Ms. Nathanson said she was concerned that the City's limited resources and current legislative political situation might suggest that efforts to support a particular issue might be better spent elsewhere. The motion to amend the 1999 Legislative Policies to request State financial support for homeless shelters was adopted, 4:3, with Mr. Fart, Ms. Nathanson, and Mr. Rayor voting no. Ms. Taylor noted that the 1999 Legislative Policies stated on page 42 that the 1993 Legislative Session had adopted HB 3661, which revised and weakened the requirements for development on rural lands, and that the City would oppose further revisions. Ms. Taylor moved that the 1999 Legislative Policies be amended to state that the City supported the repeal of HB 3661. MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 25, 1999 Page 6 7:30 p.m.