CC Minutes - 06/22/98 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Ms. Taylor concurred with Mr. Tollenaar's remarks. She said that while the council allocated funding for such requests, it had cut many important programs relevant to the community's quality of life that have not been restored. She said that the council "keeps doing little bits of things" that should be part of the budget process. Through that process, the council can weigh the needs. She was disturbed by the urgency of the request and preferred to postpone action on it. Responding to Ms. Nathanson's question, Mr. Johnson said that the council could process the proposal as a contingency request. Mr. Meisner appreciated Ms. Nathanson's remarks regarding the City's interjurisdictional approach to social service funding. He was also concerned about acting outside that process. He asked if the program was currently funded through the Human Services Fund. Mr. Laue said yes. Mr. Meisner wanted to know how the proposal fit comprehensively into the City's other efforts directed toward homelessness, the committee's recommendation to repeal the camping ban, and other related issues. Mr. Meisner said that given he could not answer those questions and had no information, he would not support the amendment. He added that his vote did not reflect a lack of support for the program. Mr. Laue said that at approximately the same time the last year, the council took action to extend the program through the school year. The council was contemplating taking the same same action now. He said that throughout the years, the council has contributed toward special social services projects it supported, such as the Eugene Service Station and Centennial Car Camp. He said that the council was merely keeping its commitment to a program that had been in operation for more than one year. He apologized to the council for not allowing the proposal to be addressed through the budget process. Ms. Swanson Gribskov said that it appeared to her councilors were supportive of the program but were grasping at the facts. She was frustrated by uncertainty about where the proposal fit into the system and why it was not addressed through the Human Services Committee process. Ms. Swanson Gribskov asked about the impact of postponing action to give staff the opportunity to come back to the council with more information about the program and its relationship to the operating budget and the other issues cited by Mr. Meisner. In response, Mr. Johnson said he did not think it would be a problem to postpone action because the program largely started in September. He pointed out, however, that part of the funding would support the church parking lot coordination and was needed immediately. He believed that action on July 8 would be timely. Ms. Swanson Gribskov proposed that the council table the amendment to July 8 and complete its deliberations at that time. Mr. Torrey said that he understand the concerns expressed by the council, but if the council was eventually going to support the proposal, he did not think there was a need to postpone action. City Attorney Glenn Klein informed the council that the amendment could not be tabled because of its impact on the underlying main motion and the fact the budget must be adopted by July 1. Mr. Lee said that the funding proposal was integral to the church parking lot program. He agreed with Mr. Laue that the proposal only continued a program to which the City was already committed. MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 22, 1998 Page 8 7:30 p.m.