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MINUTES Eugene City Council Council Chamber — Eugene City Hall 777 Pearl Street — Eugene, Oregon May 24, 2010 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Mike Clark, Betty Taylor, Chris Pryor, George Brown, George Poling, Alan Zelenka, Andrea Ortiz, Jennifer Solomon. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. 1. PUBLIC FORUM Mayor Piercy reviewed the rules of the Public Forum. Craig Smith, 2611 Suncrest Street, chair of the School District 4J Board, stated that the board had considered concurrence on the Urban Renewal action and the focus of this consideration was the financial impact on the school district. He related that County Assessor Anette Spickard had analyzed the issue and determined that if the urban renewal district was not renewed, the school district would experience a loss of $174,000 in revenue. In addition, he said the City had proposed an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) that would ensure that the urban renewal district would be cost - neutral to the school district. He conveyed the school board's unanimous concurrence. Joseph Newton, 107 Cross Place, alleged that 25 young homeless people were evicted from the shelter they had been using because it was deemed by the fire marshal to be inadequate for sleeping. He commented that it was not legal to sleep in the streets of Eugene. He said as a strong supporter of urban renewal and community policing, he did not believe they could continue moving a population of people from one place to another hoping that they would just disappear. He declared that the "hundreds of homeless children of Eugene were citizens of the community. He felt that if they were looking at comprehensive solutions for the downtown, they should also look for comprehensive solutions for their needs and bring services to them. He averred that displaced people have come to the downtown core since the city began and this was where the services were needed. He wanted a homeless shelter for youth to be located in the downtown area. Shane MacRhodes, 1920 Garfield Street, stated that he was a third - generation Eugenean and that he lived in Ward 1. He was an avid cyclist and a representative of the Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee and the program manager for the Safe Routes to Schools (SRS) program. He also had chickens. He wanted to encourage the City Council to both open the Ribbon Trail to mountain bikers and to also allow a greater number of backyard chickens in the City of Eugene. He added, regarding the latter, that two was not a sustainable number for families who wanted to raise chickens for food. He noted that his small daughter loved having the chickens. He also wanted his daughter to be able to explore the City both in the City and on the trails. Ron Burley, 1670 Leatherwood Drive, vice chair of the Human Rights Commission (HRC), said he had been excited by the opportunity to promote tolerance and equality in the community that the appointment to the commission had provided him. He shared that his "hope [had] been dimmed a bit." He related that on the previous Tuesday his colleagues on the HRC had voted to dismiss him. He said the alleged infraction was that his "aggressive online discussion" had violated his responsibilities as a member of the HRC. He stated that though this was a "big deal" it had not been placed on the agenda for the meeting and no notice had been provided to him MINUTES — Eugene City Council May 24, 2010 Page 1 Regular Meeting