Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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suggested to her that the five-year bond would have more support and she was willing to support that. She hoped it had unanimous council support. Councilor Bettman expressed appreciation to the staff for its answers to her questions. She said she supported the motion and would vote for the bond as well as campaign for it. She thought that would be a key piece in passing a measure. Councilor Bettman pointed out the council had few options to choose from in solving the problem. However, she believed that the council had the momentum to get the measure passed and discerned majority support on the council, if not a super majority, for the resolution. She observed that the task force that recommended the proposal to the council included those who might have otherwise been against the measure. Ms. Cutsogeorge noted some changes made to Section 4 of Attachment D reflecting the findings and stating that bond would not be used for new capacity and would be audited by an outside auditor. Councilor Pryor made a friendly amendment, seconded by Councilor Bettman, to change Section F of Attachment D by changing the word “ten” to “five.” Responding to a question from Mayor Piercy, City Manager Ruiz noted the task force’s unanimous support for the five-year measure and the outside auditor. He indicated his own support for the five-year measure as a means to start down the road of addressing the larger problem. He thought the Public Works Department could make a significant impact on the maintenance backlog over five years and could demonstrate it could steward and manage those dollars before the council asked the community to support a longer-term solution. He believed the council’s unanimous support would send a strong and positive message to the community. At the request of Mayor Piercy, City Manager Ruiz reviewed the list of task force members, which included citizens Dave Hauser, Ron Tyree, Janet Calvert, Kurt Corey, Rich Gaston, John Kirk, Bob Kline, Marvin Revoal, Greg Rikhoff, Romange Sogage, and Rob Zako. He believed the task force represented a wide variety of viewpoints in the community and reiterated that its recommendation had been unanimous and was represented in the resolution before the council. Councilor Pryor said he was facing the issue of what he supported and what he could live with. He recalled the council transportation funding subcommittee process, where the members had to compromise and sought a middle ground. He said the council needed to reestablish the community’s faith and trust in it, and if the council could use the five years appropriately, aggressively, and effectively, he thought that could occur. He wanted to see something happen right away and hoped the council could support the resolution and do what it said it would do. He said five years was not his first choice but he thought it was the choice that would work. Councilor Ortiz commended City Manager Ruiz for securing the consultant he had for the community survey because of the understandable information that he presented. She hoped the council could support the resolution and thought the five-year approach was fiscally conservative. Councilor Zelenka thought the council needed to be pragmatic. He said the problem facing the council was huge and there were no perfect solutions. He said supporting the bond levy was a compromise for him because of the lack of nexus between households and street use. He also commended the manager for the earlier presentation. He said the problem was not new and it was a result of inaction on the council’s part. He said if the council could pass a five- year bond it should go for it. He liked the idea of the external auditor and thought the distribution of street improvement projects gave everyone in the community something. He noted a letter to the editor regarding the current gas tax and asked the manager to confirm the entire gas tax was used to maintain the road system, which City Manager Ruiz did. Councilor Zelenka did not think there was value in waiting. MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 16, 2008 Page 4 Meeting