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Ms. Taylor said Civic Stadium was a rare historic structure that was part of the community's history and <br />important to a lot of people. She supported preservation of the stadium. She commended the work done <br />by Mr. Zelenka and Mr. Brown and believed the materials provided to the council demonstrated the <br />proposal's viability. Ms. Taylor supported the use of CDBG funds to underwrite the proposal, pointing <br />out they were intended to help under - privileged residents and a redeveloped stadium would serve many <br />children now and into the future. The example set by the stadium's preservation would help teach them <br />respect for history. <br />Mayor Piercy believed the council's concerns about the status of social service funding were well -taken <br />but she suggested councilors also consider the issue of how the proposal would help build capital into the <br />community to create a better economy for residents. <br />Mr. Zelenka cared deeply about social service funding and believed existing funding was woefully <br />inadequate. However, he considered the proposal a human services program in that part of it was focused <br />on programming for youth. He said that $100,000 per year was a modest amount. <br />Mr. Zelenka noted the letter of support the City received from resident John Jacqua in support of the <br />proposal. <br />Mr. Zelenka reported he and Mr. Brown traveled to Portland to see the Portland Timbers play and he <br />commended Jen -Weld Field, the team's home field, saying it was an amazing, well -done facility. There <br />were 20,000 fans present to see the game, which he characterized as a European style soccer event. He <br />said the team had captured the imagination of the Portland community. <br />Mr. Clark suggested the proposal was a "want versus need" situation. He recalled a communication the <br />council received from residents living along Skyline Boulevard complaining about the condition of that <br />road and asking what the City planned to do. He did not want to tell those residents the council would <br />rather support the SCS proposal than fix their road. Mr. Clark said the council had to balance the <br />community's wants and needs against available funding, and he did not find the proposal the wisest <br />choice for the money. <br />While Mr. Brown acknowledged the final decision about the stadium would be made by the school <br />district and there was no guarantee the SCS proposal would be selected, he thought the City's <br />involvement gave the proposal a better chance of succeeding. He emphasized that once the stadium was <br />gone, it would be gone forever. The community had a chance now to save a piece of its history. The <br />stadium was unique, centrally located, and would be a fabulous recreation resource. He thought it would <br />be sad not to save it. <br />Mr. Brown agreed with Mr. Zelenka's description of the Portland Timbers game and emphasized the high <br />level of fan involvement. He also pointed out that the City of Portland was making money from the <br />facility. <br />Mayor Piercy said that the proposed expenditure would be a serious commitment for the City. The issue <br />was whether the expenditure was the right commitment. She believed one could make a case for the <br />stadium's contributions to the community from an economic, social, and historic perspective. <br />Ms. Ortiz asked how easy it would be for City Manager Ruiz to come up with $100,000. City Manager <br />Ruiz said it would not be easy. There would be a tradeoff, but he was unsure what it would be. <br />Ms. Ortiz was trying to reach an affirmative decision about the proposal but continued to be challenged <br />by the money involved. She believed the positive things mentioned by proponents were true but she was <br />MINUTES— Eugene City Council May 9, 2010 Page 4 <br />Work Session <br />