Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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Councilor Clark, seconded by Councilor Taylor, moved to approve the resolution in At- tachment B. Mayor Piercy noted the public comment the council received was about 2:1 in favor of purchasing the property and 2:1 in favor of the renaming proposal. Councilor Taylor said she did not find the reasons cited in support of renaming the park to be sufficient to support the proposal. Other citizens had also made community contributions. She supported an open naming process through which citizens could make suggestions for names. She pointed out the City Council had just adopted a naming policy and she believed it should be adhered to. Councilor Brown said he did not know Ms. Arlie but it appeared from the e-mails the council received that she was a fine person. However, there were many fine people in the community who volunteered their time and money. He felt the proposal was inappropriate. He supported the purchase but not if the seller demanded that the park be named after Ms. Arlie. He wanted to postpone the naming process until after the sale. He found the naming requirement to be offensive and willing to walk away from the purchase. He thought it was bad policy to accept the proposal. Councilor Clark suggested that over time the naming controversy would be forgotten and people would only remember that the council purchased it at a very good price. He found the purchase opportunity to be a once in a lifetime opportunity. He said the parks and open space bond was intended to purchase such properties in the area in question. Mr. Clark thought that the purchase was a wise long-term investment. He supported the motion. Councilor Poling believed the council had followed its naming guidelines, which allowed it to name something for someone living who had made extraordinary community contributions. The appropriate application process was followed. He agreed with those who said Suzanne Arlie was an extraordinary person. Councilor Poling supported the purchase and renaming proposal. Councilor Zelenka reported he had polled those in attendance at neighborhood organization meetings about the topic, and the Amazon and Laurel Hill Valley associations supported the purchase overwhelming. He believed the criteria in the policy were difficult to address because it was hard to say if someone was extraordinary or if their gift was of an extraordinary nature. He suggested the language should be deleted or made more explicit as it was difficult to apply. He supported the motion. Councilor Taylor wanted to buy the land. She thought others deserved the honor of having a park named after them more. She believed that if the City did not buy the land it would remain on the market and could be acquired in the future. Councilor Pryor did not object to revisiting the policy. The issue boiled down to a matter of preference for him, and he respected all the councilors who had a preference. He was happy not to have to make the decision alone. He noted his own association with the nonprofit community and commended Ms. Arlie’s extraordinary contributions. She had done things people would never know about. He thought that the park name was okay because Ms. Arlie was a great person. Councilor Solomon agreed that Ms. Arlie was a remarkable person and she was pleased to be able to vote for the motion. MINUTES—Eugene City Council December 13, 2010 Page 12 Regular Meeting