Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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consideration, with the task force composed of council members, Occupy Eugene representatives, non-profit agencies, and other community members. Mr. Farr said the reality was that the homeless in Occupy Eugene were homeless before and would be homeless when the encampment was gone. He recommended that the Council Committee on Homelessness and Youth be reformed to consider the issues that had been highlighted by Occupy Eugene in a controlled environment with individuals who could actually make binding agreements with the City. Mr. Clark understood the challenges faced by the homeless and was willing to address those challenges in a structured, council-based manner. He was not willing to have a discussion with those who insisted the City “negotiate or else.” Mayor Piercy emphasized the proposed task force would be a City creation. The vote on the motion was a 4:4 tie; councilors Ortiz, Pryor, Zelenka, and Brown voting yes, and councilors Taylor, Poling, Clark, and Farr voting no. Mayor Piercy cast a vote in support of the motion and it passed on a final vote of 5:4. The council considered the second element of the motion. Authorize the City Manager to create or contract with a non-profit agency for a short- term site, like an Egan Warming Center, for the rest of winter specifically for chronic homeless with behavioral and additional issues that would be open seven days per week from approximately 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. Responding to a question from Mr. Poling, City Manager Ruiz did not envision the City would create a new nonprofit agency to provide the services contemplated, but rather would contract with a nonprofit for a temporary wet bed facility. He anticipated a cost of $40,000 to $50,000. Mayor Piercy believed the reference in the motion to “additional issues” should actually be to “addiction issues.” Mr. Clark, seconded by Mr. Poling, moved to amend the motion to remove the words “create or” and to replace “additional issues” with the phrase “addiction issues” and to direct the dollar figure to be $35,000 maximum from Council Contingency. Mr. Clark believed the coming winter would be cold and he perceived the motion as a humanitarian effort to expand the Egan Warming Center program. Mr. Pryor pointed out that Egan Warming Center was operated by St. Vincent de Paul in various locations. The current contract was for about $50,000 and he doubted the City could provide the service with less than that. He recommended the motion be revised to indicate the manager was authorized to spend up to $100,000. Mr. Pryor further proposed that the additional $65,000 would come from the funding approved for parks maintenance in Supplemental Budget #1. Mr. Clark and Mr. Poling accepted that as a friendly amendment to the amendment. Mr. Brown believed it was a mistake to put a dollar amount on the proposed facility. He pointed out the facility was a new mechanism for the community that would require very specialized supervision and the City had no real concept of the need. He suggested that such details be left to the task force. MINUTES—Eugene City Council December 14, 2011 Page 7 Work Session