CC Minutes - 01/26/09 Regular Meeting

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Drix said his purpose was to trigger thought. He averred that the City needed to figure out what it wanted and it seemed to him that they needed to figure out the City’s identity. He suggested that they come up with a “Eugene accent” that would identify people as being from Eugene. He noted that the British sometimes left out the word ‘the,’ such as going “to studio” or “to hospital” and he thought Eugene could adopt this. He said his gift was “the present.” He felt that when he came before the council he made moments “odd and exciting” and this was a present of sorts. He shared some new words, including “canopy thinking,” i.e. rising above the canopy of trees to see the bigger picture. He suggested that they could shorten the word citizen to “cit” and then they could say “cit Drix.” nd Don Dickman , 190 East 32 Avenue, noted that he was a local attorney in private practice locally. He stated that he was a board member of Save Civic Stadium. He felt that everyone involved in saving the stadium had their own personal reason to do so. He explained that he was not a baseball fan per se, but he enjoyed going to the stadium because it was a wholesome experience. He averred that the stadium was very unique and should be saved; the benefits to children, youth programs, and the community were “almost immeasurable.” He shared the board’s belief that a plan was being put together that would provide jobs and economic benefit. He said they wanted to look for the highest and best use of the facility and they were hoping the City would consider assisting in some areas of planning and possibly connecting the group to grant opportunities. At this point, he noted, they were projecting that the cost to the City would be far outweighed by the potential benefits. Jerry Smith , 5041 Saxon Way, averred that most homeless people in this area were people with disabilities. He felt they had been dumped into the City’s neighborhoods by Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). He related that when he had processed applications for the programs in his former work as a social worker, it had taken six months to process; now it took up to five years with everyone being initially denied. He noted that he had been a community organizer in the past. He stated that the State Food Stamp program figures showed that one year earlier there were 12,500 people on food stamps who listed zero income, 3,793 listed monthly income of $350 or less and 3,776 listed no known shelter. He urged the council to review the statistics. He felt that if one looked into the homeless around the City, there were some people from out of town who had not found a place to hide yet. He stressed that there was no legal place to park a vehicle nor was there a legal place to lie down in Eugene. th Jonathan Brandt , 57 West 20 Avenue, was pleased to see that the council was in support of keeping Civic Stadium. He said it was time to think about a vision for the stadium. He underscored that the stadium was too big an asset to the community to have it languish. He invited everyone to “come to the table and see what we can put together.” Tom Halferty , 4510 Manzanita Street, spoke in support of Civic Stadium. He appreciated the council’s input on the item during its earlier work session. He knew that Dave Hauser of the Eugene Chamber of Commerce was interested in hosting a stakeholder meeting. He noted that the chamber had been important in 1938 when the original money had been raised. He believed they would save the stadium. st Scott Landfield , 29 West 31 Avenue, spoke regarding Civic Stadium. He noted that the council had said that the process was in its second inning. He related that Terry McDonald, director of St. Vincent DePaul, had said the clock would begin ticking the day the Eugene Emeralds left the stadium because a building not in use “wore out quickly.” He supported maximizing School District 4J’s return on the stadium, but he felt there were other ways to see a return. He said when discussing it with Superintendent George Russell, the idea of selling a portion of the property and the school district continuing to use the stadium for sporting events, had been raised. He pointed out that the school district’s generosity could translate into easier passage of school bond measures. Dean Papé , 2088 Bedford Way, acknowledged that it was not easy to be a city councilor, noting that former-Councilor Gary Papé sent his best to the council. He was speaking as a concerned citizen about Civic Stadium. He thought they could be placing the cart before the horse given that the City did not currently own the property. He related that he had practiced in Civic Stadium and had attended many games, both minor league baseball and high school. He averred that because of the condition of the school system and the funds the district needed to improve the stadium, he hoped the MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 26, 2009 Page 2 Regular Meeting