Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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project. He opined that the media had failed in regard to the arena. He wished to confirm the date of the public hearing on the arena and asked if it was scheduled for October 7 in the Council Chamber. He asked if the City could do a press release to the public. He thought it would be good to “pin down” when that hearing would be. He noted that the information was available on line and urged the council to include the email address in a press release. He called the project “very significant.” He opined that KLCC had given the “least pathetic” media coverage of the arena and KEZI was the “biggest cheerleader.” He asked staff to pass out his packet of photocopied articles in front of him because it helped his “feeling like the council actually wants the information.” Joe Collins , P.O. Box 24411, related that he had gone to the library to talk to the research librarian about how to research individuals in public life. He said the librarian did not have this information. He commented that he was having a difficult time finding out things about the councilors. He asked Councilor Clark if he was related to a woman featured in the paper who was a loan officer at a local bank. Councilor Clark indicated that she was no relation to him. Continuing, Mr. Collins said he was “pleased” to see that Police Chief Bob Lehner was considering leaving the City. He hoped that he would take “half the District Attorney’s office with him and a couple of the more obnoxious judges.” He also had noticed that the area had the highest number of infant mortality deaths in the nation. He thought this should be addressed by the council. He remarked that the problem with problems was that no one stepped forward and took responsibility for the problems and then worked to solve them. He felt the area had an awful drug problem but the justice system did not seem to know anything about it. He asked the council to go to Douglas County for information because they seemed to know about drug problems and how to interdict them. He closed by expressing disappointment in the City Council. Mayor Piercy closed the public forum and called for councilor comments. Councilor Clark expressed appreciation for Ms. Berg-Caldwell’s comments. He said it was a free country and it was a “beautiful thing” that citizens had the ability to speak out. He said it was okay to attack him; it came with the territory. He stated that prior to the comments quoted in the paper he had related to the press that he had received input from people who lived in North Eugene that indicated they were unhappy that he had not spoken up about the treatment the Chief of Police had received. He stressed that many, many people he represented in North Eugene were very angry about how unfairly the Chief had been portrayed. He said they were also very angry that there seemed to be only one side to the conversation. He averred that some of the comments that had been made and some of the letters to the editor that had been written had been extreme and irresponsible. He believed that it was irresponsible for people to suggest that someone had broken the law based upon information they might not be fully aware of and then suggest there should be a specific remedy before being fully apprised of the details. He stated that he had not spoken out earlier because he wished to wait until “calmer heads” could prevail so that this could be dealt with in a thorough way at a time when all of the information could be heard without having anyone’s safety placed in jeopardy. He reiterated his appreciation for her remarks and stressed that he disagreed with them. th Councilor Solomon related that she had been at a coffee shop at the corner of 29 Avenue and Willamette Street and the shop had a laptop set up with a link to a city Web site that allowed a person to enter their favorite pothole. She thought it had been very easy to use. She encouraged members of the public to go to the site and register their favorite potholes. She believed this would be a useful tool for the City. Mayor Piercy thanked Councilor Solomon for bringing that up. MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 8, 2008 Page 2 Public Hearing