Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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Ms. Bettman expressed appreciation for the work the CCR had undertaken. She believed that the City had made targeted and focused progress on this goal. She wanted the racism study circles to be available for councilors. She was happy to see the item related to the legislative agenda because she thought the staff and the council had done a good job of taking strong positions on legislative issues having to do with race and, in particular, the immigration issue. Ms. Bettman believed that any contractors with whom the City did business should be required to uphold the standards the City upholds. Ms. Bettman supported educating youth about race awareness. She thought the City could help defray the costs of such an effort. Ms. Taylor asked if there were plans to do anything in the schools. She also asked for an example of the media perpetuating stereotypes. Mr. Rikhoff cited several examples, including a series on drug use in the local community that featured almost exclusively photos of Latino men as the purveyors of drugs. Ms. Ortiz stated that the CCR did not talk specifically about schools. She underscored that the council only had jurisdiction over Eugene but the City should take leadership and emulate the behavior that it would expect from the surrounding jurisdictions. She hoped that any youth who were being harassed would go to their respective principals to get the support needed to address the situation. Ms. Ortiz asked what was meant by “key high profile race related incidents and issues from the past” in the second item on the list of Uncompleted Items from Original Action Plan. Mr. Chouinard replied that he could not remember which councilor had brought that item up. He recalled that this was from the original work plan. He assumed that one or two of the councilors had brought it up and wanted to see a discussion of a high profile incident such as the one that happened several years earlier in which an African-American man was stopped and searched. City Manager Taylor stated that this matter was still in litigation over a tort claim action based on it. Ms. Ortiz thanked Mr. Chouinard, the other staff members, and the people who gave their time to the CCR. MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 14, 2007 Page 5 Work Session