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Coordinator Shane Rhodes of the 4J School District. He thanked City Transportation staff members for <br />their commitment to the community and its quality of life. <br />Mayor Piercy said she and City Manager Ruiz had met with representatives of PeaceHealth, who <br />indicated that the organization still planned to renovate its University area facilities. <br /> <br /> <br />B. WORK SESSION: <br /> Human Rights Project Recommendations <br /> <br />Mr. Farr, the council’s representative on the commission, introduced Chair Toni Gyatso, Vice Chair Ken <br />Neubeck, and Elizabeth Andrade of the Human Rights Commission (HRC) and Guadalupe Quinn of the <br />Human Rights Think Tank. Equity and Human Rights Manager Raquel Wells, Recreation Services <br />Director Craig Smith, and City Attorney Jerome Lidz were also present for the item. Mr. Farr assured the <br />council that the commission was in good hands, and he believed it was at the beginning of a new era that <br />would allow it to be more responsive and less reactive. <br /> <br />Staff and commissioners then led the council through a PowerPoint presentation entitled Human Rights <br />Listening Project. The presentation provided an overview of the six-month project and the resulting <br />recommendations to 1) revise Chapter 2 of the Eugene Code to align with the current framework, 2) <br />reduce the number of commissioners to 11, 3) repeal the commission’s current subcommittee structure to <br />facilitate a more flexible ad hoc approach, and 4) increase commission involvement in the member <br />recruitment and appointment process. <br /> <br />Ms. Wells called the council’s attention to a draft ordinance that incorporated the commission’s <br />recommendations and asked the council to forward the ordinance to a public hearing. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy asked the commission to think about how the council could work on the issue of human <br />rights over time in a more consistent manner. <br /> <br />Ms. Ortiz supported commission review of commission applications and welcomed the commission’s <br />recommendations, but could not promise that the council would automatically accept those <br />recommendations because such appointments were wholly within the council’s purview. She did not <br />support holding positions for different wards or certain identified groups. <br /> <br />Mr. Brown expressed appreciation for the community feedback gathered by the commission. He <br />supported the four recommendations offered by the commission. He believed the proposed revisions to <br />the ordinance made sense and would result in the commission being more agile and getting more done. <br />Speaking to the recommendation that the commission screen applications and recommend applicants, Mr. <br />Brown thought that was a good idea, although he anticipated the council might not always act on those <br />recommendations. <br /> <br />Responding to a question from Mr. Poling about the proposed reduction in numbers, Ms. Gyatso believed <br />that the reduction would allow the commission to more narrowly focus on the task at hand. <br /> <br />Mr. Poling was unaware of any other City commission that played an active role in recruitment and <br />concurred with Ms. Ortiz and Mr. Brown that the council made a final decision. He did not favor <br />codifying that language. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council October 24, 2011 Page 3 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />