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<br />Ms. Rich asked for questions or comments from the council. <br /> <br />Ms. Ortiz thanked the HRC commissioners for their presentation. She said that human rights work was <br />very important to her and she was glad to see that the commissioners who had come after her had the same <br />passion and commitment to the work as she did. She said if there was any way to increase staffing to the <br />program, she would love to do it. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly said that it had been an honor and privilege to work with the commissioners. He said the <br />commissioners and the HRC staff were an extraordinary group of people. He echoed Ms. Ortiz's thought <br />about resources. He reminded the council that the HRC staff was down a person from what it was a <br />couple of years ago. He said he thought that the council should look in the next fiscal year's budget to at <br />least restore the previous status quo. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly pointed out that when the council adopted the HRC work plan, it was adopting some responsi- <br />bility for itself. He said that the work program called for joint work sessions between the council and the <br />HRC on the issues of race and homelessness. He said he hoped that the commission would be involved in <br />an early stage of the discussion as well as later on. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly said he had been very disturbed about the issues of library access that had been raised. He said <br />part of what disturbed him was the seemingly "glacial" pace at which they were being addressed. He <br />hoped that the pace would accelerate. Mr. Kelly asked for a status memorandum from the HRC staff to <br />bring the councilors up-to-date on the library issue. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly thanked the commission again for its very hard work and for being the conscience of the <br />community. <br /> <br />Mr. Pape echoed the compliments from other councilors to the HRC. He said he appreciated his service <br />on the commission and thought he gained a lot from it. He said that on the Sister-City trip, he noticed in <br />both Japan and Korea that the sidewalks were built with accessible features for people with sight <br />impairments. <br /> <br />Mr. Poling moved, seconded by Ms. Solomon, to approve the Human Rights Commission <br />Goals and Work Plan for fiscal year 2006. The motion passed unanimously. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy said she was impressed with the work of the commission. She noted that she ran into <br />commissioners everywhere she went. She said the commissioners were very much noticed and appreci- <br />ated. She said she would look forward to working with the commission on racism and homelessness and <br />she encouraged the commissioners to keep in contact with the council on an on-going basis. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy acknowledged how difficult the gender identity work had been. She said she admired the <br />steadfastness of the commission to figure out the way to be successful in this goal. She gave the HRC <br />kudos for that and acknowledged that the HRC took on some of the most difficult issues in the community <br />with great courage. Mayor Piercy thanked the commissioners again and said that their work was greatly <br />valued. <br /> <br />The meeting adjourned at 7:12 p.rn. <br /> <br />Respectfully submitted, <br /> <br />MINUTES-Eugene City Council <br />Work Session <br /> <br />October 24, 2005 <br /> <br />Page 13 <br />