Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

Home Browse Search

provided in the meeting packet. Mr. Fleenor maintained that “the global tide has gone out.” There were 3,106 counties in the United States and many thousands of cities vying for new jobs. In regard to the six strategies, Mr. Fleenor suggested that the elected officials of any city or county could hear virtually the same presentation. He asked what the region could do that was so unique that it would drive people to live in Lane County. In response, City Manager Ruiz acknowledged that basic infrastructure creation was common to all communities but extended the scope of what was considered infrastructure to include land, a trained workforce, and entrepreneurial infrastructures such as that created by the University of Oregon. He said that once the infrastructure was in place, the question was what happened next. City Manager Ruiz recalled that several subcommittee members discussed the identity of the region and how to build on the infrastructure in that context. Ms. Lundberg agreed about the importance of infrastructure as broadly defined by City Manager Ruiz. She said when she considered government’s role she thought about both physical infrastructure as well as other needs, such as the provision of a trained work force, and matching businesses with that work force. She said that frequently, businesses were “on their own” when it came to finding qualified applicants, and she suggested that local governments could form a consortium that served as a clearing house to assist employers in finding qualified workers. Ms. Lundberg liked what she saw in the report and called for more mention of the trades, as the trades provided more skilled and highly paid jobs. Mayor Piercy believed the community had many of the pieces of infrastructure already in place to build on. She thought the one-stop service center mentioned in the staff report was a great idea and wanted to make sure it was publicized. Speaking to the mention of targeted industries, Mayor Piercy asked for more detail about what was being contemplated. Mayor Piercy questioned what direction the elected officials would give the Metro Partnership about what they wanted it to emphasize and what it might want the partnership to do more of and less of. Ms. Ortiz expressed appreciation for the staff work. However, she did not think the report included sufficient mention of the University of Oregon and all the businesses it had generated. Ms. Ortiz expressed appreciation for Ms. Lundberg’s comments about the trades and suggested that more focus be placed on such jobs. She pointed out not all residents attended college, and those jobs were generally family-wage jobs. Mr. Clark expressed appreciation for the work of staff. He appreciated that the focus industry sectors discussed manufacturing, because he thought it critical that the area produced something that brought in capital and added to local economic independence. He expressed surprise about the lack of mention of agriculturally-based products. He thought that was an area where the community could strengthen its economic independence and establish a community identity. Mayor Piercy agreed. Mr. Zelenka thought the plan was okay but did not find it forward-looking. It did not seem to have much emphasis on positioning the community in the “future economy,” which he believed would be focused on “green technologies” and a green focus. He suggested that staff consider the business sectors identified in the Mayor’s Sustainable Business Initiative and shift more focus to those areas. MINUTES—Joint Elected Officials—Lane County & Eugene June 17, 2010 Page 8