CC Minutes - 05/19/99 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Kelly suggested the council issue a formal statement that condemned job discrimination in general and reported that the City was gathering information and would act as appropriate. Mr. Pap~ endorsed Mr. Kelly's request regarding River Island Estates. Mr. Pap~ said he attended a "Welcome to Springfield Ceremony" as a property owner in Glenwood. The Springfield council posted its goals on its meeting room walls, which he shared with other councilors. In response to Mr. Fart's question, Mr. Lee said that the HRC was advisory to the council and helped it understand issues of importance to vulnerable communities. He said that discrimination was not acceptable. He suggested that staff first find out the facts and inform the council, and urged the manager to produce information as soon as possible to forward to the commission and council before a decision was made. Mr. Lee thought the information available now was not sufficient to act upon. He believed the HRC was the most appropriate body to advise the council on the subject. He repeated that discrimination was not acceptable, and the community would be concerned if the council failed to take action. Mr. Torrey said that there were conflicting community feelings about the issues involved and he did not want the council or commission to be used to forward anyone else's agenda. He said that the court case was filed in California, and no complaints had been made to the HRC. He urged the council to be predictable and consistent and to remember that it was a government of laws. The City had an anti-discrimination code and if a company was not compliant with local and State laws they should be required to comply and perhaps be penalized. He asked the council not to predict in advance the outcome of the issue. Mr. Torrey said that if the City began a fact-finding process it would be meddling in a judicial process. He said that staff had already begun to work on the issue and the County Assessor had a process in place for a quick response. Mr. Torrey asked if the City Council should hold hearings on the court decision regarding the basis for the toxics fee or the telecommunications ordinance. He believed that Hyundai would be forced to comply with the law if it had violated the law. He did not know why the council needed to jump ahead of those processes. Mr. Kelly expressed the hope that as the commission moved forward with its task, staff and Mr. Fart took into account the comments of all the councilors as well as the mayor. Ms. Taylor said that the council had evidence Hyundai discriminated at the Eugene plant. She asked if the council could do anything, and she thought if it could, it should without waiting for the HRC to act. Mr. Meisner did not want to prejudge an outcome but also did not want the council to be silent on the topic or "stick its head in the sand." He said that the council had evidence of discrimination and if those allegations were upheld on appeal the council should be prepared to take action. Mr. Meisner said that he had previously asked what the council meant by its action priorities related to discrimination in the city. He said that the Hyundai case was a concrete example of discrimination that must be addressed. He hoped Mr. Kelly would offer a motion regarding his suggestion that the council make a statement. MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 19, 1999 Page 3 5:30 p.m.