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minds at that point; an aided approach would be to list a number of issues and ask to have them prioritized. <br />He said there was a difference between interest and commitment and with respect to priorities people should <br />be asked what they would be willing to spend money on. <br /> <br />Ms. Solomon asked in what context random stratified sampling would be used. Ms. Monroe said that would <br />be used for focus groups and the methodology was to invite participation from a random sample of the <br />population at-large or of target populations. She said that would assure a focus group was more likely to <br />represent the average opinions of that population and was more scientifically rigorous than allowing <br />participants to self-select. <br /> <br />Ms. Solomon asked that random stratification include ward representation to assure a balance across the <br />community. <br /> <br />Mr. Clark commended the budget process for its creative strategies to address the revenue shortfall, but felt <br />similar situations would be faced in future budget processes and it would be a challenge to create a better <br />sense of community vision and real tools to use in the next budget cycles to make well-informed choices. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor felt it would not be necessary make trade offs. People could be asked what they wanted and then <br />how they suggested obtaining the funds, perhaps sharing with them how other communities funded their <br />services. Mr. Ruiz said those would be some of the questions he posed to the community challenge group he <br />was establishing. <br /> <br />Ms. Piercy agreed it was important to ask people what they felt were the essential services for a good <br />community, then discuss what could be paid for with existing resources and where additional resources <br />could be obtained. She did not want to begin the conversation by asking people to make choices. <br /> <br />Ms. Solomon asked if there would be an outreach strategy that was tangible like a survey to which people <br />could respond if they were unable to participate via computer or in person. Ms. Monroe said there would be <br />strategies to reach people without computer access or the ability to attend a meeting. She said the intent was <br />to make the process as accessible as possible. <br /> <br />Ms. Piercy said groups like the Bethel Boosters or student organizations could be enlisted to help with <br />outreach. Mr. Ruiz encouraged councilors to let staff know if they had suggestions about ways to reach <br />people in their wards. <br /> <br />Ms. Piercy said it appeared the outcomes needed more refinement and should also reflect those things the <br />City was already trying to accomplish. Mr. Ruiz agreed that the list represented a sampling at this point and <br />would be expanded and refined during the process. <br /> <br />Mr. Pryor said people did not necessarily make the distinction between different levels of government such <br />as city, county, state and school districts. He said education was likely to be high on the public’s list of <br />priorities, but technically that was not a service delivered by the City. It was important to provide a <br />framework for people to discuss their interests whether or not these were directly served by the City because <br />the City worked in partnership with other jurisdictions and it would be helpful to understand how the City <br />might support those priorities. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 26, 2009 Page 5 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />