Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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supported the AFSCME local for the City. He had dedicated his life to the labor movement and when it came “home to roost” he was ready to make sure that a deal was settled. He stressed that the City’s AFSCME local represented over 1,400 workers and 94 percent of the membership voted. He said they were very good at getting people to turn out to vote. He related that the City Manager had said that City employees were a great asset to the City. He declared it was time to show this by the City’s actions. He averred that they were not “asking for the moon,” they were asking to keep up with the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Zachary Vishanoff , somewhere on Patterson Street, remarked that he had been involved “a lot” with the University of Oregon arena. He opined that the “best Oregonian reporter” was now writing of the inadequacy of Mac Court. He felt the reporter was “spinning for the U of O marketing department.” He averred that Neanderthal politics had taken over the town as he believed the alley vacations in that area had been “rushed through.” He felt that people did not comprehend how important it was to “tame the dragon” of the proposal at an early stage so that “sustainable eminent domain” was not used along Franklin Boulevard. He was concerned that the new PC Market of Choice could be torn down. He asserted that a “Fortune 500 Company” was able to “launder public policy” through the University of Oregon Foundation and “quietly dictate which business owners…stay and which…go.” He opined that the foundation included Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) “operatives” that sought to “redo Franklin with more EmX.” He thought it was a tragedy that the media would “not do its job.” He implored the council to announce the date and time for the public hearing on the arena. Joe Collins , PO Box 24417, recalled that the last time he had testified he had said the problem with problems was that no one would accept responsibility for them. He commented that everyone would agree that the infant mortality rate in the area was shameful. He noted that after he had made his presentation Mayor Piercy had “said it was a Lane County problem.” He asserted that the Mayor and City Council’s purpose was to give tax breaks to the developers and redevelopers and to make sure the “wealthy in Eugene grow wealthier.” He observed that there were disenfranchised young people hanging around on the downtown mall. He agreed that Ms. Snowden should not have to suffer mistreatment but he thought some of the young people were there because they could not go home. He suggested that one of the City’s properties in the downtown area could be refurbished to make a place for some of the teenagers to go for help or showers or other services. He opined that not enough was being done about the city’s drug problem. He opined that the City needed a new mayor and city council. Drix , West 14th Avenue, declared that everyone in the area was Eugene and this was something to build from. He related that he had attended the Burning Man Project and had been impressed by the community there. He said it had been a harsh place for everyone and he had brought back some suggestions for solutions to local issues. He opined that the downtown was a “bubbling bowl of life.” He observed that the young people downtown were all different people leaving home and trying to find what life was like. He remembered that when he was young, people used to “cruise the gut” on Friday nights. He called it a piece of life, but felt it was out of balance. He felt there were some solutions without money. He suggested that the City “get some vets” into the downtown area and connect them with young people. He wanted to inspire and connect people. David Sonnichsen , 2435 Skyline Boulevard, related that he had served on the Community Advisory Group for the Interstate 5 Willamette Bridge Project. He was concerned that ODOT was now indicating it would be a $150 million undertaking, when it had previously considered it a $180 million project. He said the estimate for the “two arch, through arch” bridge would be $164 million or $1 million less than what ODOT had originally estimated to be budgeted on its fact sheet for construction. He remarked that even if one accepted the new cost estimate, the $164 million “through arch” bridge project would come in at 10 percent MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 22, 2008 Page 2 Regular Meeting