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candidate for the office of Police Auditor. Mayor Piercy closed the Public Forum. Councilor Clark thanked everyone for attending the forum. He had been impressed by the number of people who spoke on a variety of issues. With regard to the road improvement projects, he wanted to reiterate his belief that it would be “just wrong” for anyone to lose their house in order to improve the road in front of it. He said the council and the residents being called upon to pay the assessments needed a better answer than the current one for assessments. He also wished to note that the people in his ward, Ward 5, had a particular park they really wanted to see developed in the north side of town. While he was sensitive to the need to get that park done, he understood the need for the skate park and that it had been in planning longer. He added that his son greatly admired Tony Hawk and loved skateboarding and when he said he understood how important skateboarding was to some people, he really did understand it. Councilor Zelenka thanked everyone who spoke in the public forum. He remarked that he had initially been reluctant to support HB 2690, the “Idaho stop” law, because of a concern for safety. He averred that stop signs were situated in places that were dangerous. He was also skeptical that the law would increase ridership. Nonetheless, after hearing testimony, he felt more inclined to support the law. Regarding the skate park, he said he appreciated the need for a covered park in this area. He believed a world-class sheltered skate park would be an asset to the community. Councilor Ortiz related that Mayor’s committee on the neighborhood issues related to the railroad had been meeting monthly and had been interacting with the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the Lane Regional Air Protection Agency (LRAPA). She thought the spraying by the railroad company should be “bumped up” in priority. She said the railroad did not provide specific information about when it planned to conduct its spraying. She also wished to stress that the council did not oversee the Police Department; the Police Auditor was based on the quality-assurance model. She stated that the reason the auditor received the attention of the council was because the auditor was the employee of the council. She said the council’s other employees were the City Manager and the Municipal Court judge. Councilor Taylor thanked everyone who spoke. She reiterated that the street assessment policy had bothered her for years and that her feeling was that it was “absolutely wrong.” She said if the council changed the policy, it would not take effect for six months. She also did not see how more people would bicycle if they did not have to stop at stop signs. She did not believe Eugene’s support of the law would make a difference at the Legislature. She added that when she first heard about the proposed legislation, she had been chiefly concerned that children would run the stop signs without paying adequate attention to traffic. Councilor Pryor expressed appreciation for everyone who came out for the meeting, adding that if they were going to spend this much time hearing testimony, it was good to hear quality testimony. He believed the fact that the stop law had been in effect for a number of years in another state without major problems was a powerful argument. He was interested in revisiting the issue. He also thought the skate park was a “fabulous idea.” He recalled having been involved in the development of a skate park in Springfield some years back and having invited Tony Hawk to town. He noted that they had been able to garner a $25,000 contribution from Mr. Hawk for the park and suggested that Mr. Hawk might be willing to contribute again. He said he would be happy to be involved in a skate park in Eugene. He considered the assessment conversation to be difficult. He wished to clarify that the homeowners were not bearing the majority of the burden for paying the assessments for the road in front of their houses. He pointed out that almost two- thirds of the money to be spent on Elmira Road was coming from the City of Eugene, which meant that the people of Eugene were paying that amount. He acknowledged that the other one-third was not an easy burden to bear. He agreed that a system that had worked well 50 years earlier might not be a great system MINUTES—Eugene City Council April 13, 2009 Page 9 Regular Meeting