Item 2A: Approval of Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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B. Work Session: City Council Priority Issue - Develop a Strategy to Help the Homeless in Eugene City Manager Taylor introduced Director of thc Library, Recreation, and Cultural Services Department (LRCS) Angel Jones and asked her to present thc item Ms. Jones stated that homclessncss was not unique to thc city of Eugene. She related that staff had taken a three-prong approach in thc proposed plan by looking at the government's role in the process of setting ordinances or creating policy, looking at the internal processes and determining what could be done differently to remove barriers to be able to assist thc homeless population, and to look at the external environment including stakeholders, current resources available, gaps in services, and best practices in other areas and how they could be ntilizcd to collaborate and have a sustainable impact in trying to help thc homeless. Ms. Jones said a number of key stakeholders had been contacted to discuss the "plan to plan," recognizing that there had not been time to truly engage them. She reiterated that this issue was not germane to the city of Eugene alone. She asked Mike Magcc, chair of thc committee that worked on the action plan, to walk the council through the plan. Mr. Magce, Administrative Manager for LRCS, explained that he had been charged with thc responsibility of leading thc group who were assembled to develop the action plan. He underscored that it had been a broad-based group, many of whom had worked and interacted with homeless members of thc community. He had been energized by the level of knowledge and first-hand experience group members shared. Mr. Magcc reviewed thc six strategic areas on which the council should focus, as outlined in Attachment A: ~Strategic Priority Issue - Develop a Strategy to Help the Homeless in Eugene Action Plan. He stressed that it was still, at this point, a "plan to plan." He pointed out that Eugene had a history of trying to help homeless people. Mayor Picrcy called on thc council for questions and comments. Referring to page 19 of thc agenda item summary (AIS), Ms. Taylor asked what had been meant by 'updating zoning.' Ms. Jones replied that thc list of items Ms. Taylor was referring to were examples of practices in other cities and that particular one was in regard to zoning to either include or exclude certain types of behaviors. She mentioned loitering and camping as examples. Ms. Taylor agreed that homelcssncss was not just a local problem. She hoped that the Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations (CCIGR) would discuss this issue because the problem of finding shelter should be a State concern. She opined that should thc City of Eugene do a good j ob of taking care of the homeless, it could attract additional homeless people to thc area Ms. Taylor supported homelcssness prevention. She said one could not tackle thc problem while fostering policies that made other people homeless. She felt helping people with their utility bills was a good activity. She asserted that those who do not pay the utility bill would have their electricity cut off and before they could be reconnected they had to pay a "huge deposit" they could ill-afford. Ms. Taylor asked if people "graduated" from subsidized housing. She averred that people who moved out of subsidized housing made room for others in need of shelter. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 13, 2005 Page 5 Work Session