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Additionally, Mayor Piercy voiced her support for a Eugene focus. She stressed, however, that Eugene was a part of a region and the region had an interest in this and was already engaged. She said it would not be in the City's best interest not to take advantage of this. She commented that there were plenty of opportunities and it was up to the City to "run fast enough" to take advantage of them. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. B. Work Session: City Council Priority Issue - Develop a Strategy to Help the Homeless in Eugene City Manager Taylor introduced Director of the Library, Recreation, and Cultural Services Department (LRCS) Angel Jones and asked her to present the item Ms. Jones stated that homelessness was not unique to the city of Eugene. She related that staff had taken a three-prong approach in the 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 the 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 utilized to collaborate and have a sustainable impact in trying to help the 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 Magee, chair of the committee that worked on the action plan, to walk the council through the plan. Mr. Magee, Administrative Manager for LRCS, explained that he had been charged with the responsibility of leading the 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 the community. He had been energized by the level of knowledge and first-hand experience group members shared. Mr. Magee reviewed the 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 Piercy called on the council for questions and comments. Referring to page 19 of the agenda item summary (AIS), Ms. Taylor asked what had been meant by 'updating zoning.' Ms. Jones replied that the 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 homelessness 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 the City of Eugene do a good job of taking care of the homeless, it could attract additional homeless people to the area MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 13, 2005 Page 5 Work Session