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MINUTES <br />Eugene City Council <br />McNutt Room —City Hall <br />777 Pearl Street—Eugene, Oregon <br />October 31, 2011 <br />Noon <br />COUNCILORS PRESENT: George Brown, Andrea Ortiz, George Poling (via speakerphone), Mike <br />Clark, Alan Zelenka, Pat Farr. <br />COUNCILORS ABSENT: Betty Taylor, Chris Pryor. <br />Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the October 31, 2011, special meeting of the Eugene City Council <br />to order. <br />A. WORK SESSION: <br />Occupy Eugene <br />City Manager Jon Ruiz was present via speakerphone. Assistant City Manager Sarah Medary provided <br />the council with an update, reminding councilors that they voted on October 24 to grant Occupy Eugene <br />an exemption to the City's overnight camping ordinance so participants could camp in Alton Baker Park. <br />Subsequently, Occupy Eugene had moved to property owned by the University of Oregon (UO). Staff <br />had anticipated that Occupy Eugene would move to another camping site over the weekend; however, that <br />had not occurred. She said the group was negotiating with the UO on next steps. <br />Because Occupy Eugene had left Alton Baker Park, Assistant City Manager Medary recommended the <br />council rescind the exemption it had previously granted. <br />Mr. Brown, seconded Mr. Poling, moved to rescind the council's October 24 motion on <br />Occupy Eugene's location. <br />Responding to a question from Ms. Ortiz, Assistant City Manager Medary said those who remained in <br />Alton Baker Park knew it was still legal to camp there for the time being. Chief Kerns said Eugene Police <br />Department (EPD) officers regularly visited the remaining Alton Baker Park campers since Occupy <br />Eugene moved to let them know they would not be allowed to camp there if the council rescinded the <br />exemption. If the council took that action, the EPD would alert the Alton Baker Park campers and let <br />them know the department would take enforcement action if they did not leave in a day or two. He said <br />the Occupy Eugene protestors had indicated to him they did not consider the campers at Alton Baker Park <br />to be part of the protest, although the campers there considered themselves to be a splinter group of the <br />protest. The campers at Alton Baker Park had been encouraged by the police and Occupy Eugene <br />protestors to join the protest at the Millrace site. Responding to a follow -up question from Ms. Ortiz, <br />Chief Kerns confirmed that the Millrace site was owned by the State and controlled by the University of <br />Oregon (UO). <br />MINUTES— Eugene City Council October 31, 2011 Page 1 <br />Special Meeting <br />