CC Minutes - 09/12/05 Mtg - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Connolly expressed the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce's support for adoption of the slogan "World's Greatest City for the Arts & Outdoors." He felt there were many themes from which a city like Eugene could choose, but this had been set forth with so much enthusiasm and with the wisdom of linking the theme to the socio-economic benefits to the community. It had taken no time at all for the leadership of the chamber to endorse the theme. Randy Prince, PO Box 927, recapped his previous testimonies regarding the Eugene area's emergency preparedness. He averred that fear interfered with the ability to do what was necessary. He did not believe the community was fully informed on the ramifications of a potential disaster, such as the possibility of a flash flood caused by a dam giving way after an earthquake. He asserted that the Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) refused to study the specifics on whether area dams would stand up should an earthquake occur or whether seismic retrofitting was needed. He submitted an article from The New York Times regarding the extensive American Indian legend documenting the last major earthquake in this cycle. He suggested that January 25 should be set aside to think about the earthquake and how it affected the area. David Hinkley, 1350 Lawrence Street, #1, said the existing neighborhood program was the most successful citizen involvement movement in the city. He commented that too often there was an "us versus them" relationship between the neighborhood associations and City of Eugene staff. He called the council's Neighborhood Initiative another "top-down process." He urged the council to scuttle the initial process and start anew with a group that consisted of an equal number of neighborhood leaders and City staff. Kathie Brown, 2224 Lillian Street, supported the adoption of the "World's Greatest City of the Arts & Outdoors" as the slogan for Eugene. She noted the slogan was now being used by the Convention & Visitors Association of Lane County, Oregon (CV ALCO) in its visitor guides and Downtown Eugene, Inc. (DEI) on its banners, and had been referred to by Mayor Piercy in her State of the City address. She stated that the Hult Center for the Performing Arts was home to the Eugene Ballet Company, Eugene Concert Choir, Eugene Opera, Oregon Bach Festival, Eugene Symphony, Oregon Mozart Players, Oregon Festival of American Music, and Willamette Repertory Theater. She asked where else one could go and ski all day and then attend a world class arts event in the evening. She noted that Eugene was the birthplace ofNike and every year it hosted the Prefontaine Classic. She asserted that the downtown "pulsated" with arts activities and she listed some of the smaller venues for performing and visual arts. She related that the Rolling Stone Magazine called the city of Eugene one of the best live music college towns in America. She pointed out that Eugene had 105 parks and 250 miles of bicycle paths and one could drive in any direction to go fly-fishing or snowboarding among many other activities. Tom Jordan, 2110 Fairmount Boulevard, introduced himself as the Meet Director for the Prefontaine Classic track and field event. While he believed that Eugene was the track capitol of America, he declared that the city was more than a sports oriented town. He supported the adoption of the slogan "Eugene - World's Greatest City of the Arts & Outdoors." He urged the City Council to adopt this as Eugene's official slogan. He read the names of 29 community members into the record as being in support of official adoption of the slogan and asked them to stand as he recited their names. Greg Lerigo, 2224 Lillan Street, remarked that one voice could easily be lost in the "melees of the body politic." He indicated that he spoke on behalf of the community members whose names were listed by Mr. Jordan, adding that the group selected him in order to not have all 29 come and speak at the Public Forum. He related that he had found on the Web that the City of Eugene had approximately 105 venues for performing and visual arts. However when he had looked on the City Web site only one, the Hult Center for MINUTES-Eugene City Council Regular Session September 12, 2005 Page 3