CC Minutes - 02/23/09 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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David Gusset , 1611 Lincoln Street, Ward 1, urged the council to come to the emergency aid of the Tango Center any way possible. He said the eviction notice required the center to be out of its building by February 28. He asked the City to “take this opportunity” to acquire the building from its owners and restore it. He felt that the downtown was the City’s cultural center with venues that provided food and cultural experiences. He believed that architecture was a key element that provided a sense of place in history. He noted that most of the architectural heritage had been demolished or covered over in the 1950s and 1960s. He acknowledged the desire to have more people move into the downtown area but he thought very few people were inspired to “surround themselves with a cultural vacuum.” He averred that the City would be wise to do everything possible to bring back the “architectural and historical richness” of the downtown in order to get more people there. He opined that the Tango Center had made excellent adaptive reuse of the former public market building and had become an important contributor to the social fabric of the community and an important part of the vitality of the downtown area. He supported granting recognition to the building for its architectural significance and its place in local cultural history. Jean Heneghan , 32547 Beymer Road, stated that she was a local realtor and an avid tango dancer. She asked that the council do what it could to keep the Tango Center open. She said if they wanted to get more people downtown there was no better way to get more “bang for the buck.” She considered the center to be a wonderful venue for people of all ages. She declared that tango dancing was good for all people and had been a good influence on young people. Tom Heneghan , 32547 Beymer Road, believed that the Tango Center had improved the atmosphere downtown. He felt there was some danger that things could “turn around and go the other way.” He asked the council to take this opportunity to keep the downtown “moving in the right direction.” Drix , Ward 3, observed that Oregon had just celebrated its sesquicentennial. He commented that there was a lot of pain in the history and it seemed that it had been resolved, as exemplified by the new sculpture of Rosa Parks. He said Rosa Parks had “just decided to sit.” He thought that sitting was something that everyone had in common. He related that Slumdog Millionaire had won a lot of academy awards. He pointed to how much wealth people had here. He remarked that Eugene had a lot of nothing, as exemplified by the two holes in the downtown area. He showed the council his “award,” made out of a stolen Mercedes emblem hung on a Mardi Gras chain he found in one of the holes. He said he would talk next time on “toilets that give back” and how they could help the community. Joe Collins , P.O. Box 24411, commented that the Crest Drive group was the best organized Not in My Backyard (NIMBY) people he had ever seen. He urged the council not to make any decision based on what they said at the present meeting. He noted that he had voted for Mayor Piercy because she supported the police oversight system that answered to the City Council. He thought the former mayor and some councilors would have preferred to have the Police Auditor answer to the City Manager. He felt that it would be easier to intimidate the City Manager than to intimidate five councilors. He opined that the judges, “cops,” and district attorney’s office used injustice and intimidation to “rule the City.” He reminded the council of his Web site, seethelawsuck.com. He expressed disappointment in some of the votes of councilors Ortiz and Clark. He asserted that they had supported giving “tax deferrals to any contractor.” He thought it was time for Councilor Ortiz to ask the other councilors to support a clinic in her ward. He averred that since the death of “Mercy Hospital,” a clinic would be a realistic request for her constituents. He believed that there could be more done for the homeless of the area. Lisa Warnes , 5020 Nectar Way, Ward 2, welcomed Councilor George Brown. She noted that she was Vice President of the Southeast Neighbors. She opposed the aerial spraying of bacillus thuringiensis subspecies Kurstaki (Btk) to control the gypsy moth over 600 acres in southeast Eugene. She said the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) claimed that Btk was safe and organic; she wished to point out that arsenic and uranium were also organic and they were not safe. She asserted that such spraying was not safe for people with asthma and could cause headaches, nosebleeds, respiratory problems, and flu-like symptoms. She believed that because Btk was a type of bacteria, they could “find their way deep into… lungs and into intestines” and there had been no long-term testing of MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 23, 2009 Page 4 Regular Meeting