CC Minutes - 07/28/08 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Councilor Poling supported the delay mentioned by Councilor Clark and also supported a ten-year package rather than five-year package because a five-year package did not address the need. In addition, he did not think the council could build the trust that would allow a five-year package to be renewed within the next five years, as evidenced by the fate of past proposals. Councilor Solomon noted a typographical error in Section F of the revised resolution reflected in Attachment D, which referred to a ten-year, rather than five-year, measure. Financial Analysis Manager Sue Cutso- george agreed that was an error. Councilor Solomon agreed with Councilor Poling about the extent of the problem and said that a ten-year bond did not get the City where it wanted to be. However, since the council’s last discussion she had heard information that 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 MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 28, 2008 Page 4 Meeting