CC Minutes - 08/10/05 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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Ms. Bettman thanked staff for the progress that had been made on opportunity siting and the Safe Parks plan, which increased police bicycle patrols in the City’s park areas, both goals she held for the neighbor- hood initiative. She averred that neighborhoods and downtown businesses were very grateful for the officers. She felt the City had begun to make some progress on what had been her personal intent when she put this goal on the table. Ms. Bettman called the list exhaustive. She asked that everything the organization was already doing be taken off the list. She thought there should be differentiation between neighborhoods and neighborhood associations. When formulating the goal, she had neighborhoods in mind in terms of livability. She believed healthy neighborhoods to be the fundamental building blocks to a healthy city. She recommended beginning with an overarching value that explored how this livability could be preserved and enhanced. She observed that things such as density, infill, commercial development, and transportation projects had the capacity to enhance or degrade a neighborhood. Mr. Pryor appreciated the effort that gone into the plan and agreed with comments suggesting the plan should be more focused. He remarked that when thinking about neighborhoods and the City’s role in them, he thought about the people and the City’s relationship and partnership with them. He felt these areas should be the ones on which to focus the most energy. He liked what was said in the proposed plan regarding public engagement and efforts to try to create greater outreach in the community. He said while the general population of the neighborhoods should help to bring the initiative to fruition, the neighborhood associations had an important role in getting those individuals involved. He wanted to work on strategies to ensure the City was in contact with everyone. He commented that it was a “struggle” to find out what happy people think because usually the council only heard from unhappy people and quality information would include both. He agreed that disagreements were healthy, but averred that the purpose of disagreement was to reach a resolution. He liked the focus on service delivery. Mr. Poling thanked staff for all the time and effort that had gone into the plan. He agreed that the plan was too broad and almost overwhelming. He concurred with Mr. Pryor’s sentiments regarding involvement of neighborhood residents through neighborhood associations in order to get more people in the city involved with what was going on. Mayor Piercy said the density of the information was an interesting way for the council and staff to see all of the relationships between the things that happen in the neighborhoods and all of the things the City did to reach out into the neighborhoods. She supported helping the neighborhood organizations be as “strong as the City could assist them in being” so that they feel empowered to be a significant part of the decision- making process in the community. She hoped the City could provide trainings for neighborhood organiza- tions because it was sometimes difficult to run a meeting so that people with different points of view felt they were participating and being heard. Regarding diversity, Mayor Piercy thought the City should talk with neighborhood associations about strategies to engage more people and what they might do to help bring more people in. She observed that the associations wanted membership to be representative of neighborhood diversity. She opined that some of the neighborhood associations had become too big. Mayor Piercy called for a second round of council questions and comments. Mr. Kelly agreed that neighborhood livability was critical. He averred that if the initiative worked the way it was intended, it would strengthen the neighborhood associations by increasing involvement. MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 10, 2005 Page 4 Work Session