CC Minutes - 06/24/98 Work Session

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would be successful and the voters would support a measure, resulting in the flag originally contemplated, which the City would have to pay for. Mr. Farr asked the council to let the people of Eugene choose if they wanted the original proposal. He said that the council had plenty of time to take the action contemplated by Mr. Tollenaar's motion. He believed that people rarely walked up to the butte, and if the flag was only visible to those who drove to the top of the butte, it would require an automobile trip to get to the flag. Mr. Farr suggested that those who did not want to see the measure on the ballot were opposed to the concept of a flag on the butte. Ms. Nathanson believed that the discussion to this point had been useful but suggested that another three or four months of potentially very divisive community discussion, and the possibility of creating another schism in the community, was not a good idea. She said that she would prefer to simply make a council decision, and if the council was unable to reach agreement on the question of a flag and its design and siting, it could refer the measure to the voters. Ms. Nathanson said that the issue of the flag being seen had to do with where the flag pole was located. If it was placed right next to a 30-foot tree or right behind the trees, then it would not be seen. She believed that the flag would be seen by many people, pointing out that the 50-foot cross had been easily seen throughout the community. She suggested that the council leave administrative details such as the height of a "normally" sized flag pole to staff. Ms. Taylor said she did not think the council should be spending its time on the issue. She said that the proposal was not brought up by any council member and it had no relationship to the council's goals. She asked if the council should place all items offered to it on the ballot and, if so, where that process stopped. She pointed out that a citizen suggested placing the United States Constitution on the butte, and asked if the council should put that on the ballot. A number of people have suggested some kind of peace symbol. Should the council place that on a ballot? Ms. Taylor said that if the council decided to erect a flag it should place one beside the existing memorial in Skinner Butte Park. She said the council should table the motion and wait to see if the community demonstrates interest in putting something on the butte. Ms. Taylor said that the City had not asked the petitioners to embark on collecting signatures and should not try to prevent that effort or encourage it. Regarding Mr. Farr's remarks about the costs to the City if the council did not refer the measure to the voters, Ms. Taylor said she assumed the ballot measure would then identify the resulting costs, and the voters could decide if they preferred to pay for a flag or for such services as public safety and parks. Ms. Swanson Gribskov indicated her support for the motion. She also noted her intent to offer a motion to table the motion to a certain date. She wanted to instruct staff to come back to the council with some more images that illustrated some of the different options in terms of height. She acknowledged that the motion referred to a normally sized pole but said she would like to give staff leeway to examine a range of options so the council could make a choice from the range. Ms. Swanson Gribskov said that the people in support of the original proposal would have a sense of where the council was going, and they could still circulate petitions. In response to Ms. Taylor's earlier remarks, Mr. Torrey said that any person in the community could approach any elected official at any time and make a request of that official. If the official made a motion, got a second, and the motion was passed, anything could be placed on the ballot. MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 24, 1998 Page 6 11:30 a.m.