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th David Watson , 2131 West 16 Way, said he was also a Westmoreland Student Family Housing resident. He assumed the council already had the facts so he wished to share the personal consequences the loss of Westmoreland would bring about. He felt fortunate that he would graduate by the time the sale went through. Had Westmoreland been sold the previous year, however, he would not have been able to graduate from school. He related that he and his wife did not have a low enough income to qualify for low-income housing. He said the two of them “took a gamble” and sacrificed day-to-day amenities six years earlier in order to get educated and take a “larger piece of the pie.” He shared their struggle through college, taking small jobs such as delivering pizza to get by. He felt that, should Westmoreland become low-income housing, it would be populated with residents who lack direction and the resources to better their lives. Joe Collins , 2333 Hawkins Lane, was pleased to see that the charter amendment passed and a police oversight body would be formed. He opined that the EPD needed such oversight. He related his strong suspicions that his neighbor was a drug dealer and his experience with trying to document it and raise police awareness about it. He said the police were not responsive enough. He suggested that the District Attorney’s office and judges also needed oversight. He thought District Attorney Harcleroad and Police Chief Lehner should be fired. He said more information was available on his Web site: www.seethelawsuck.com. th Tim Whitley , 280 West 30 Avenue, spoke in support of the land transfer to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for the purpose of establishing the West Eugene Wetlands Education Center. He declared the benefits of supporting the land transfer were many. He noted the land proposed to be transferred would remain in the public trust and would remain accessible to the public. He underscored that the City was working in partnership with the BLM, an agency that shared community goals, and the transfer would bring BLM management into play on the property. He said the primary purpose of the education center was as a community asset to help educate the youth and all of the community about the excellent environment that all experienced in the area. He encouraged the council to support the land transfer to help in the six-year effort to construct the West Eugene Wetlands Environmental Education Center. Teresa Damron , 605 Howard Avenue, wished to convey a River Avenue Stakeholders Group minority report. She said she had struggled to find where the win-win solution would be. She asserted that many group members wanted the work to be postponed until the plans that the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) had for the River Avenue connection to Beltline Highway were known. She related that she read in an email that all of the minority report requests could be incorporated into the project. She asked the council to put language in its vote on the matter that would guarantee the requests listed in the minority report would be incorporated into the River Avenue project. She averred that if the council would do so it would have her full support. Kevin Matthews , Box 1588, Eugene, president of the Friends of Eugene, declared he had “process concerns.” He averred that the Parks Recreation and Open Space Comprehensive Plan raised significant questions. He asked the status of the plan and how it would replace the existing plan. He asked how land inventories were treated for different lands, such as wetlands. He felt these questions warranted input, but thought it would be better to answer the questions before the public hearing. Regarding the proposed land transfer for the environmental education center, he asked that the motion include language that indicated that the letter of intent would not preclude a large amount of “necessary additional research” and moving to MINUTES—Eugene City Council November 28, 2005 Page 2 Regular Session