CC Minutes - 07/21/08 Public Hearing

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in moving to a mall. He wanted to be part of that mix but thought the City needed to rediscover a balance. He recommended it bring more positive activities and communicate a better message to those who go downtown and do not feel welcome. He knew of parents who had to ship their children out of town when they found them in the downtown scene. Misha Seymour , 1313 Lincoln Street, #307, opposed the ordinance. He criticized the ordinance as mean-spirited and criticized the City for restricting public speech and free assembly at the Eugene Library and Kesey Square. He thought the City could do better and should treat everyone with respect. He believed the ordinance was illegal. He called for a cessation of tax breaks and a society for the people. Bob Cassidy recommended that the council consider adding a sunset clause to the ordinance. Henry Luvert spoke in support of the ordinance because he had viewed video tapes from a business downtown that showed youth defecating and urinating on the business front, which was owned by a minority business person. He had spoken about the topic to the Chief of Police, who indicated budget constraints prevented anything from being done. Mr. Luvert thought urination in public places was against the law. He said the City did not have the resources to enforce the laws already on the books and he questioned how the City would enforce the ordinance being proposed. He considered it appeasement and called for something that worked. He said that events had escalated because people had now started breaking windows. He said that someone would get hurt if that was allowed to happen. He noted the pit across from the library and suggested that the council consider a community center downtown to give youth something to do other than urinating on people’s property. Betty Snowden , 125 West Broadway, noted some of the terrible things that she had been called, and said there was nothing courteous about being stalked and it had been happening for 17 years. She did not think it was courteous to be threatened. She said she had more than 50 video surveillance tapes and had to view people’s private parts and have her windows broken out. Her customers were threatened and cursed while the City talked about its downtown core. She said that such behavior was a daily thing and it was time for it to stop and for the city to be a city that loved all people. She said the City needed enough police to protect all its citizens. She gave the council an F for its actions downtown and said the ordinance was needed. She described the abuse she experienced daily in her business downtown. She said if the council did not do something, someone would get hurt. Cassandra Snowden , 125 West Broadway, said she was tired of finding vomit in her doorway and racial slurs on her doors. Her family’s rights were being violated on a daily basis and then they were told “we’re working on it.” She said that the behavior was very hurtful and constant. She thought an ordinance for repeat offenders would help because if those committing the offenses knew nothing would be done to them, they would continue to harass people. Arthur McCombs opposed the ordinance. He lived downtown and thought something needed to be done about crime downtown. He had been homeless due to his illness but was sympathetic to the business community and crime victims. He had benefited from his ability to live at First Christian Church because of the City’s programming and cleaned the parking lot and did graffiti removal. He also donated to the church and considered himself part of the solution and not part of the problem. He was concerned about the fact he both smoked marijuana and dumpster- dived and, if he was caught, he would not be allowed to do his banking, shopping, seek drug treatment at urgent care, or do anything else downtown. Kaz Ovessi , a downtown business owner, said no one distinguished between crime, poverty, and homelessness. They could not be mixed together or no problems would be solved. He felt that healthy retail depended on synergy. He did not think that the Centre Court building would realize good retail possibilities. There was not a healthy scene around his business, and that was frustrating. He owned his own building or otherwise would have moved. He saw the problems day in and day out and it affected his psyche. In regard to Kesey Square, he asked that the council address MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 21, 2008 Page 3 Public Hearing