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Speaking to the proposal to be put forth by Mr. Zelenka, Ms. Ortiz suggested the proposal be modified by <br />retaining the current starting time for meetings at 7:30 p.m. and allowing people to sign up to testify five <br />minutes past the current cut -off. She also liked the idea of involving various community groups in the <br />readings. She envisioned the ceremony would be an event that brought people together. Mr. Clark said <br />he would be willing to modify his motion to include the participation of a group or groups in the <br />celebration. Ms. Ortiz suggested that the proposal be modified to indicate the mayor may, rather than <br />shall, invite a group or groups to participate. Mr. Clark agreed. <br />Mr. Brown appreciated Mr. Zelenka's attempts to modify what he considered a terrible idea. He said the <br />proposal had not united the council; instead, he believed it had been divisive, as demonstrated by the e- <br />mails the council was receiving. <br />Mr. Brown suggested that over time, the rationale for Mr. Clark's proposal had changed. At the process <br />session he had learned that supposedly, Eugene really liked to celebrate weird things, like the Eugene <br />Celebration, which he had previously thought was just a party for all of Eugene. Then he learned that that <br />there were people who did not like to celebrate weird things, although none had ever appeared at a public <br />forum or sent a -mails demanding that the City provide them with them with activities they liked and <br />could participate in. He termed the rationale that somehow the proposal would satisfy those residents' <br />needs as "fairly fantastic." Mr. Brown suggested that some of the people who lived in New Orleans did <br />not like Mardi Gras. The whole notion that something was needed for the "non- weird" was strange to <br />him. He did not see how the proposal would improve the operation of council meetings or help the <br />council work on the community's problems. <br />Mr. Zelenka suggested that the original thought behind Mr. Clark's proposal was to celebrate the country <br />and flag. As he considered the four holidays in question, it seemed odd to focus on the Pledge of <br />Allegiance on the Fourth of July when that holiday celebrated the Declaration of Independence. He <br />suggested that rather than recite the pledge at that time, the council have a reading from the Declaration of <br />Independence or United States Constitution. He asked Mr. Clark if he was willing to accept that as a <br />friendly amendment to the motion. <br />Mr. Clark declined to accept the proposal as a friendly amendment. He believed the proposal was quite <br />different from his original proposal, which he already had compromised on. He said the rationale cited by <br />Mr. Zelenka was not the reason for his proposal. He suggested that such readings could be incorporated <br />to the ceremony over time but did not want to modify the motion. <br />Mr. Zelenka, seconded by Mr. Brown, moved to amend the motion to indicate that at the <br />council meeting closest to the Fourth of July holiday the ceremony shall instead include <br />readings from the Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution. <br />Responding to a question from Ms. Ortiz, Mr. Zelenka said he did not object to doing both the pledge and <br />a reading. <br />Mr. Clark said he had not made the proposal to celebrate the country, although that was a valid and good <br />thing to do. He offered the proposal because there was, from his perspective, a large segment of the <br />community who valued the pledge and found it to be a normal and healthy thing for the council to do. <br />Such values were often met with hostility, leaving those residents feeling apart. He agreed there were <br />residents of New Orleans who did not like Mardi Gras but when they lived there, they had to tolerate it. <br />Mr. Clark recalled attending the Eugene Celebration Parade with his young children and being challenged <br />to explain certain parade entries to them and had found it offensive he did not have a choice not to. <br />However, he had to tolerate that because that was the community he lived in. Tolerating differences was <br />an important part of that community. There were many people in the community who wanted to see the <br />MINUTES— Eugene City Council June 27, 2011 Page 3 <br />Work Session <br />