Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

Home Browse Search

“It is difficult to understand precisely what the state hopes to achieve by promoting the creation and perpetuation of a sub-class of illiterates… surely adding to the problems being caused by unemployment, welfare and crime.” On behalf of the Commission on Hispanic Affairs, he urged the council adopt the resolution in support of the DREAM Act. th Carol Van Houten , 768 West 10 Avenue, Community Alliance of Lane County (CALC), urged the council to adopt the resolution in support of the DREAM Act. She said CALC favored comprehensive immigration reform and the DREAM Act was a step in this direction. She related that they saw that this was a way for a very talented group of people to come out of the shadows and contribute to their community and their nation. Kimberly Gladen , 361 West Broadway, provided information from Project De Novo, a successful pre-trial diversion program in Minnesota. Her mother worked for the project, which was how the Hennepin County area dealt with property crimes. She said people were required to pay restitution and their records were closed after completion of the program, which addressed first-time offenders by providing counseling and alcohol and drug treatment. She stated that the perpetrators had to take responsibility for their lives through this approach. Her mother thought it would be inexpensive to start such a program as they could do so with a director, a case worker, and two counselors. She thought the latter could be interns from the University. She said if the “movers and shakers” from the City and the University put their heads together she was sure they could work out a program that would aid the City with its property crime problem. She pointed out that such a program would save court money and jail space, while helping people get back on the road to productive lives. She noted the project was a non-profit agency and that it had been so successful that drug and juvenile divisions had been added to the program. Jane Waite , 30415 Le Bleu Road, said hundreds of kids in Lane County would be helped by the DREAM Act. She was the Equity and Diversity Specialist for Lane Educational Service District (Lane ESD) and she ran into many young people in the situation that the act was meant to help. She urged the council to vote in support of those children. She also wished to speak as an indigenous person and asked that they imagine there were no borders. Guadalupe Quinn , 3820 Greenwood Street, wanted to add her voice in support of the DREAM Act. She said she coordinated the Immigrant Rights Advocacy Program for Amigos Multicultural Services Center. She hoped the City of Eugene could join the long list of cities that support the DREAM Act, and then immigrant youth could continue their educations. She asked the council to look out on the room full of people and to understand that in it was the future of the community. She asked the council to think about what it would mean to the community to have young people who were well-prepared to continue running the City. Jairo Castañeda , 1722 Hilyard Street, was present in support of the DREAM Act resolution. He said he was there as a student, a member of Impact, a student body senator, a board member of Oregon Students of Color Coalition, and as a MEChA recruitment and retention director. He had come to the United States as a non-documented individual, at a very young age. He said through many hardships, trials and tribulations, privilege, and hard work he had been able to gain citizenship. He was currently a student studying psychology and ethnic studies. He related that he had been privileged to attend higher education, but over 65,000 young people would not be able to do so. He announced that through MEChA and with the help of a lot of individuals, they were hosting the annual Raza Unida Youth Conference on March 10 at the University of Oregon, which sought to bring over 300 Latino/Latina students from all over the area so they could see what higher education looked like and so they could feel they had the opportunity to pursue it. He urged the council to pass the resolution in support of the DREAM Act. Ronald Burley , 1670 Leatherwood Street, Vice Chair of the Human Rights Commission (HRC), stated that the HRC had voted on February 16 to endorse the proposed City Council resolution on the DREAM Act. He said in supporting the act the City would join other cities. He stated that the DREAM Act proposed to allow undocumented students who had lived in the United States for at least five years and who had graduated from high school or received a graduate equivalency diploma to legalize their immigration status so they could qualify for federal MINUTES—Eugene City Council March 8, 2010 Page 3 Regular Meeting