CC Minutes - 01/23/12 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Dennis Gabrielson, 300 South 10"' Street, Creswell, emphasized with the professor who spoke of profiling at the last public forum as Mr. Gabrielson maintained he had also been profiled by officers when working at night. He went on to aver that councilors misspoke at a recent meeting when they informed an individual they could not open a Police Auditor case because the council was the employer of the Police Auditor. Alley Valkyrie, Ward 1, apologized for the ad hominem attack on Councilor Poling. She said Occupy Eugene wanted to bring the community up, not tear down individuals, and hoped to work with the council toward that goal. Ms. Valkyrie recalled a councilor had suggested an attack on one councilor was an attack on all councilors and advocated for civility. She agreed, but maintained that Councilor Poling's characterization of Occupy Eugene participants as terrorists was a personal attack. All those in Occupy Eugene felt attacked as a result. She said while Councilor Poling might have been insulted by the comments he heard, they were not personally damaging, but to call someone a terrorist had serious implications. Occupy Eugene participants had been harassed and threatened by Councilor Poling's supporters. She was concerned for her safety because of Councilor Poling's accusation. She suggested that the money spent on the security fence at Councilor Poling's house could have fed and housed many people. Eugene Drix, Ward 3, spoke on the "State of Now." He suggested the coming year was a year for change, although the nature of that change was not completely known. He said he attended council meetings on a regular basis and loved it. He thought the democracy embodied by the council process made the community work. He recalled some of his past testimony and said he would be back. Drix applauded the First on Broadway building and applauded the council and City Manager Ruiz for facilitating its construction. He suggested to future residents that noise was part of living in the downtown neighborhood. Terrill Purvis, Ward 5, Occupy Eugene Medical Coordinator, discussed the positive outcomes of Occupy Eugene, which included a free medical clinic on Mondays and Tuesdays supported by donations from doctors and nurses. The clinic had served more than 150 people to date. He said homelessness was still a problem and people still needed help. He reminded the council that one of Occupy Eugene's missions was to help other people in the community. He hoped the work done by the community task force formed by the council led to positive things. Jean Stacey, Ward 1, expressed concern that the council direction related to allocations to fund the Egan Warming Center was not being implemented and asked the council to follow -up. She looked forward to the next meeting of the Opportunity Eugene Community Task Force on Homelessness. She believed the council would need to think differently about the City Code because she anticipated the task force might approach the council about waivers to current regulations to facilitate more housing for the homeless. She recommended the council start talking with their constituents about that possibility to avoid controversy in the future when the task force made its recommendations. Sophia Ross, Ward 7, shared the Occupy Eugene mission statement with the council. Miaya Sustaita, Ward 7, shared information about the "Occupy the Courts" event held the previous week. She reminded the council that Occupy Eugene submitted a petition asking the council to adopt a resolution calling on Congress to pass a constitutional amendment abolishing corporate personhood. She asked when the council would consider the resolution. She was disappointed that Eugene was not the first community to adopt such a resolution. MINUTES— Eugene City Council January 23, 2012 Page 2 Work Session