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<br />DavidUinkJey, 1350 Lawrence Street, if1, averred that the public needed to know from the begmning
<br />what their level of participation would bc He opined that the quickest way t() ruin public participation
<br />would be to give the public greater expectations of their participation level than would actually be granted,
<br />He rccommended inviting the public to comment early and often. He wanted the structure to be designed
<br />ti:!r reasonable growtb, kn' sustainabiJ!ty and to be built economically, He thought the current City Hall
<br />\ovas "possibly one of the ugliest buildings in the City," but nonetheless it \\!<lS one of the fe\v surviving
<br />examples of this architectural style,Hc felt it ,,;hou!d be protected, He wished for the hmlding to be
<br />retained as much as possible, l:k suggested that the nGlib side of the building h~ razed and replaced by a
<br />multi-story building and that the perimeter be maintained. He cited, as an example, a building built in San
<br />Francisco that was an exact replica of a ternporary structure that the public wished to retain, He thought
<br />the City ltall could be copied, In dosing, he felt another option \vould be to sdl the building to the
<br />hospitaL
<br />
<br />William Ivanoff, 1810 Harris Street. #328, asked that the City Hall be kept or rebuilt on the current site.
<br />jJe supported leaving the City HaLl close to the County, State, and federal buildings.H.e said any ncw
<br />construction should be built according to earthquake standards and that while the construction was
<br />underway a partnership shOll Id be tl:nTned with the firm of Conner and W ooJley so that the City could
<br />utilize space in buildings the paJincrship owned that were largely' empty. He recommended that a new
<br />City Hall should include the CMO, Uwt Planning and Development Department (PDD), the Finance
<br />Division, Mu.nicipal Court, the e,ty Council and Mayor, and possibly the EPD.
<br />
<br />Charles Biggs, 540 Antelopc Way, opposed the construction of a new city hall. He observed that the
<br />.police facilitv had been voted dCl\vn three times and the citv was vet unsure ofwhClher the centralizcd
<br />-/ ../ ~.
<br />model or the decentralized rnodel, i.e, precincts, was the most prudent distribution of public safety
<br />services. He asked why the City of Eugene WOUld want to build more otlice space given the abundance of
<br />empty office space in the downto'vvn core. He questioned the sustainability of this, He maintained there
<br />"vere higher priorities such as road repair or the need for more police officers that the $29 mi11ion the
<br />project \vas estimated to cost could be used for. He read his written testimony into the record and
<br />submitted it to the council. He felt it had been diffi.cult to find inli:IlTnation on the master planning
<br />process, He expressed concems that consolidation of City offices into one location would vacate large
<br />portions of the do\'mtown and have a negative impact on the downtown economy,
<br />
<br />Kevin Matthews, PO Box l588, Eugene, 97440, stated that he \vas president of the Friends of Eugene,
<br />president of the Southeast Neighbors, and editor-in-chief of Architecture rVeek Magazine. Additionally,
<br />he declared he had a Masters Degree in architecture from Berkeley and had much disaster review
<br />experience. He agreed 'vvith comments on tlK' cultural sih'11ifi.cance of the building and opined that
<br />comments on the real estate issues were 'vvorthy of consideration. He felt the City ,vas working hard to
<br />improve its public process. He asserted that in order to include the promise that the public could influence
<br />the final decision on the potential City Hall the first two phases of the process should be readjusted. He
<br />thought the first phase, six months for polley input, included "minimal" public input and this phas(~ could
<br />include the deciSIon on whether to retain the current building. He urged the councilors to give up some of
<br />their "t1at legal ability to call the shots," He thought the result 'vvould be a city hall th<lt everynne believed
<br />ill and would vote for.
<br />
<br />Mayor Piercy dosed the public hearing and called f~Jr comments frorn the City Council.
<br />
<br />NlfNUTES-- Eugene City Council
<br />Rei:,'l.dar Session
<br />
<br />September 12, 2005
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<br />Page 9
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