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M I N U T E S <br /> <br /> <br />Eugene City Council <br />McNutt Room—City Hall—777 Pearl Street <br />Eugene, Oregon <br /> <br /> January 12, 2009 <br /> 5:30 p.m. <br /> <br />COUNCILORS PRESENT: Chris Pryor, Betty Taylor, Andrea Ortiz, Jennifer Solomon, Mike Clark, Alan <br />Zelenka, George Poling, George Brown <br /> <br />Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the work session of the Eugene City Council to order. <br /> <br />A. Committee Reports and Items of Interest from Mayor, City Council, and City Manager <br /> <br /> <br />Ms. Piercy welcomed Mr. Brown to the council. She noted that the City had received a grant for $100,000 for its <br />comprehensive land study. She thanked Acting Chief Pete Kerns, the Eugene Police Department and the City <br />Manager’s Office for their quick action in response to recent bomb threats to local schools. She thanked staff and <br />others who helped make the State of the City address a successful event. She would be attending the Conference of <br />U.S. Mayors in Washington D.C. next week. She called attention to the Martin Luther King event at the Hult Center <br />on January 19, as well as dedication of the Rosa Parks statue at the downtown bus station. <br /> <br />Mr. Pryor commended the Springfield State of the City address. <br /> <br />Mr. Poling welcomed Mr. Brown to the council. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor welcomed Mr. Brown. She listed goals and hopes for her next four-year term: protection of the <br />environment, support for the arts, acquisition of the rest of the Amazon headwaters, a downtown park, empowerment <br />and protection of neighborhoods, a living wage ordinance, regulation of “big box” stores, assistance to local <br />businesses, change in the street assessment policy, elimination of all tax exemptions for developers except in the <br />downtown core, new sources of revenue, a performance auditor and guidance of the entire government—staff and <br />council—by a commitment to justice for everyone. She hoped the Sustainability Commission would be successful <br />and was pleased with the time allocated to public forums by Ms. Piercy. <br /> <br />Mr. Clark welcomed Mr. Brown. He agreed with Mr. Pryor that the Springfield State of the City event was very <br />good and thanked Ms. Piercy for her courtesy to him during the Eugene State of the City address. He spoke to a <br />number of businesses at a Downtown Eugene, Inc. meeting about the downtown parking issue. He noted there would <br />be a Martin Luther King march on January 19 at 10 a.m., beginning at Eugene Water & Electric Board and going <br />into the downtown area. <br /> <br />Ms. Ortiz commended the efforts of Public Works staff during the recent snow. She expressed her appreciation to <br />former County Commissioner Bobby Green for his many years of service to the community. She thanked EPD <br />officers for speaking to residents in the Trainsong neighborhood about Neighborhood Watch. She announced that the <br />match for the council’s $25,000 grant to Food for Lane County had been reached and distributed a letter of <br />appreciation for EPD from Reuben Garcia. She encouraged everyone to participate in Martin Luther King Day <br />events on January 19. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 12, 2009 Page 1 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />