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Referring to Mayor Torrey's remarks atthe April 20, 2004 meeting, Mr. Bowerman said that Mr. Torrey had spoken repeatedly about the conflict in the community. Mr. Bowerman said the City of Eugene faced a serious dilemma of polarizing forces of economic development. He said there was a full spectrum of what that represented, while those on the committee represented middle 50 percent. He added that polarization was both good and bad. He said it was good because the polarization was coming to the forefront, while the bad took time away from dealing with more constructive things. Mr. Bowerman said he felt there was an opportunity to find common ground that would enable the committee to do the work the Mayor and the City Council charged the committee with. He said the community had experienced periods of economic growth in the past, and those occurred when the community had a common vision. He added that the shared vision was not currently in place. He said it was important to honor the controversies in the community and to work through them thoughtfully rather than becoming polarized. Mr. Bowerman referred the handout, noting it contained the following assumptions and principles: Assumptions: 1. Eugene has a reputation for controversy in economic development efforts. 2. It is desirable to reduce controversy in this arena. 3. Controversy could be reduced by appealing to a broader segment of the population. 4. Spending scarce public resources on economic development programs will not be universally popular. 5. Broader support from the community is possible ~.~ narrowing the objectives (focusing on sustainability) while broadening flexibility (being more creative in solving prolems). Principles 1. Honor differing views: controversy is an opportunity to solve problems. 2. Promote creative problem solving and look for new ways to solve persistent old problems. 3. Make sustainability a screen for providing forms of public support. 4. Target retention, formation, and expansion of locally-based economic activity (home grown). 5. Support businesses that minimize costs to the public (externalized costs) and that increase environmental and public benefits. 6. Aim any business recruitment and incentives at businesses with employment pay-scale of at least two times minimum wage level. 7. Encourage enterprise or activities that produce the best value over their life cycle versus the lowest first cost. 8. Be willing to commit resources to public/private and public/public partnerships. 9. Streamline layers of protocol and bureaucracy. I0. Apply support uniformly irrespective of size of activity (small deserves same service as large). Referring to the five assumptions he had proposed, Mr. Bowerman said sustainability was the key element in the assumptions. He said the City of Eugene had already devoted a significant amount of energy to this process. He offered to distribute electronically the document previously developed, including a background paper on sustainability from 1999; a very 'informative discussion paper developed by City staff in 2002 entitled Potential Economic Strategies, Tools and Actions; and a resolution adopting a statement of intent regarding the application of sustainability principles to the City of Eugene in April 1999. Mr. Bowerman suggested that the committee acknowledge the work previously done by the City. MINUTES--Mayor's Committee on Economic Development May 3, 2004 Page 2