CC Minutes - 02/24/99 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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in the scheduled time. He said that if the Year 2000 issue was a serious issue, the council needed time for discussion. Mr. Meisner said that the City could not rely on the Neighborhood Leaders Council to communicate the City's's information about preparedness given the limitations of the existing Neighborhood Program. He said that if the issue was serious, the City must take responsibility. Mr. Meisner said the City needed to communicate what the City as a government was responsible for, how it could assist individual citizens, where the interface between government and the citizens exist, and where other support services could be found. He said the City also needed to reach beyond those who owned computers or called staff for information to overcome rampant rumors. Mr. Weiler responded that the City would not rely solely on the Neighborhood Program to communicate the information; there was more than a dozen avenues of communication that would be used. He said that Mr. Meisner's points about responsibility were well-taken, and the plan was focused on those things that the City had direct control over. Mr. Meisner emphasized the need for continued clear communication "where people are." Mr. Farr thanked staff for the presentation. He said that the City needed to educate people to make reasonable and prudent plans. He asked if the City could provide a template for meeting and action to smaller, informal neighborhood groups that could be made available at the Lane County Fair or mailed to residents. Mr. Pap8 said the City needed to communicate in a balanced way what it was doing to both avert and prepare for disaster. He encouraged staff to communicate with the residents in conjunction with EWEB given that citizens were probably more concerned about EWEB's ability to deliver power and water than the City's ability to deliver some of its services. Mr. Farr and Mr. Rayor left the meeting at 1:34 p.m. Mr. Pap8 asked about testing schedules for Year 2000. Ms. Nathanson left the meeting at 1:35 p.m. Ms. Taylor said that unlike some, she believed that residents were being "over communicated" on the subject of Year 2000. She did not think there was anyone who was not aware of the problem and possibly more frightened then they needed to be. She believed that residents would be "bombarded" with messages about Year 2000 from a variety of sources and expressed doubt that the proposed funding for City communications was necessary. Ms. Taylor agreed with Mr. Pap8 that the majority of citizens would be more concerned about EWEB than the City. She encouraged staff to pursue a practical and cooperative approach to the Year 2000 situation. Mr. Torrey agreed with Ms. Taylor that residents would be inundated with information. He said that did not mean the City should not be involved in communicating with citizens, but it was not unreasonable to go to the electronic and published media and request that those organizations join the City in a meeting to develop a means of communication with residents. Mr. Torrey said that he would like to see a statement from Lane County as to what it would specifically be responsible for given, that every resident of Eugene was a resident of Lane County. He also wanted to know what the State of Oregon would be responsible for. He wanted to ensure that the National Guard was on alert in case it was needed. Mr. Torrey asked what the federal government was responsible for. He encouraged staff to bring all those parties together. The meeting adjourned at 1:38 p.m. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 24, 1999 Page 10 11:30 a.m.