CC Minutes - 10/27/08 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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pointed out the clinic served to reduce the number of unwanted animals and urged the council to keep the clinic open. th Katherine Ford , 75 West 35 Place, Eugene, representing the Willamette Animal Guild (WAG), opposed the closure of the clinic. She maintained that the clinic formerly showed a profit and asked how it could now be in deficit. She demanded “some real figures” as she saw no rental, utility, or janitorial expenses reflected in the budget. She demanded to know where the money was going. th Joan Walter , 220 East 36 Avenue, Eugene, submitted and reviewed written testimony opposing the closure of the Spay and Neuter Clinic. th Jill Winans , 75 West 35 Place, Eugene, representing the Willamette Animal Guild Spay and Neuter Project, said the recently opened WAG spay and neuter clinic was not intended to supplant the City’s Spay and Neuter Clinic but rather to augment it to make inroads into the problem of excessive pet populations. She spoke of the high number of stray cats in the community and said the spread of stray cats could only be stopped by spaying and neutering. She had issues with the costs cited in the memorandum authored by staff. She submitted prices she had secured from private clinics that demonstrated no one offered lower prices than the City clinic except WAG, which was running on a deficit. The contemplated vouchers would not go far. She asked the council to take action to keep the clinic open. Dr. Sally Cogenie , 27333 Old River Road, Lowell, a clinic employee, said the employees were being lost in the discussion. She commended the quality and work of the employees. She said that the clinic served residents on their schedule and those served were grateful for it. She said closing the clinic would be a disservice to the community, and she asked the council to reconsider the decision. st Scott Bartlett , 1445 East 21 Avenue, Eugene, spoke of the initial formation of LCARA. He believed more animals would die if the Spay and Neuter Clinic was closed and more animals would sicken and die in the streets. He found it “unbelievable” a budget staff person could have proposed the closure, and demanded a public hearing where residents could offer their opinions. Joe Collins , PO Box 24411, Eugene, said not one more dollar for street repairs should be spent. He praised the involvement of the Crest area neighbors in the road project in their neighborhood. Mr. Collins questioned why there were no road repairs over the past summer, particularly on the roads he regularly traveled. However, Roosevelt Boulevard, which he had used only twice in his 15 years of residence, was being repaired. He suggested that repair was attributable to the fact that wealthy people were thinking of building there with the assistance of tax breaks granted by the City Council. He suggested the council had directed staff to avoid repairs to “main thoroughfares” as a means to retaliate against citizens who opposed the last road repair measure and to blackmail citizens into voting for the bond measure. Mr. Collins went on to assert that the City Council regularly gave tax breaks to wealthy developers and downtown developers and expected the rest of the citizens to pay their taxes and the taxes of those individuals as well. Speaking to the proposed closure of the Spay and Neuter Clinic, Mr. Collins said he watched Animal Planet and knew how dedicated the people who supported the animals were. Nancy Sautell , 40177 Little Fall Creek Road, Fall Creek, praised the staff at the Spay and Neuter Clinic for their support in the past year because of the number of people who dropped cats and dogs off near her family’s property. It had been an enormous financial and emotional burden for her family. She could never have afforded to spay and neuter 30 feral cats without the assistance of the clinic. The clinic was essential MINUTES—Eugene City Council October 27, 2008 Page 3 Regular Meeting