Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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financial aid and so students would be considered to be state residents in order to get in-state tuition. He felt the adoption of the proposal was a way to think globally and act locally. Annie Nelson , 1750 Alder Street, Apt. 13, stated that she was a senior at the University and the Co-Director of the University of Oregon Multicultural Center. On behalf of the center she asked the council to support the DREAM Act. She declared that the DREAM Act would make higher education more accessible and this was fundamental to equal opportunity and would foster social equity. nd Roscoe Caron , 840 West 22 Avenue, stated that he was a teacher at Shasta Middle School who worked with a population that was 20 percent Latino. He had been associated with Ganas, a program that linked middle school students with mentors. He remarked that there was a “schizophrenic aspect” to the program, which presented to students the dream of going to college. He said currently the collective grade point average of Ganas students was 3.2 and not one of them lived in a home where English was the primary language spoken. He could not estimate how many of them would never be able to go to college. He related that he had been able to go to college because he qualified for Pell Grants, Student Direct Loans, and the work study program. He said a number of the students he worked with would never be able to do this under the current laws and he considered this to be a great travesty and a great hurt to individuals, the community, and the nation. He considered the resolution an opportunity to right this wrong. Carmen X. Urbina , 788 Blackfoot Avenue, asked the council to please support the DREAM Act. She had been a student whose parents had been undocumented immigrants. She stood before the council because she was fortunate to have a family that was supportive and allowed her to come back and get an education. She said in the spirit of thinking globally and acting locally, she was there on behalf of the Community Coalition for the Advancement of Human Rights. She stated that historically, in 2006, after the City put a goal on race relations and the Human Rights Commission (HRC) had brought to the City the vision and the opportunity for the City of Eugene to become a Human Rights City, the City had charged the HRC and a group of community members to go and educate the community and to engage community stakeholders in creating the vision of becoming a Human Rights City. She said the HRC had held mental health forums, immigration forums, and the International Day of Human Rights. She declared that the DREAM Act was for human rights. She stated that the coalition was comprised of 34 organizations that were coming together to create a Human Rights Community Summit called “Bringing Human Rights Home.” She asked the council to support funding for the summit. Ken Neubeck , 4915 West Hillside Drive, stated that he was a strong supporter of the DREAM Act. He was also a member of the HRC. He had been involved in the evolution of Eugene to become a Human Rights City. He also asked that the council approve $3,500 to help sponsor the Human Rights Summit. He underscored that they had hundreds of volunteer hours and they had received other financial support; funding from the City could be used to leverage more funding for the summit. He thanked the council for its consideration. th Samantha Chirillo , 3930 East 17 Avenue, said she was the new Economic Justice Organizer for the Oregon Fair Trade campaign, which had convened a “new and growing alliance” of approximately a dozen Eugene-based groups. She said the group had unanimously endorsed the DREAM Act and they urged the council to pass the resolution in support of it. She averred that the youth that would benefit from the act were an integral component of the community just as advocacy for immigrant rights was a critical component of trade reform. She also wanted to urge the council to support the resolution for marine reserves as she was someone who appreciated Cape Perpetua and as the Co-Director of Eco-System Advocates. She said the group believed the marine reserves were a win-win situation for everyone involved. Paula Walker , P.O. Box 406, Brightwood, member of Our Oregon Oceans Coalition and the Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition wished to applaud the City of Eugene for the resolution in support of the marine reserves. She averred that all Oregon residents had a vested interest in thriving coastal communities and a thriving ocean. She MINUTES—Eugene City Council March 8, 2010 Page 4 Regular Meeting