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Ms. Ortiz advocated for a focus on underutilized areas as Four Corners. She said if Eugene put as much <br />effort into that area as it did in downtown it would change the landscape in an area that served as an entry <br />to the community. Mr. Dedrick said that staff would return with a discussion of commercial <br />redevelopment soon, which could address some of Ms. Ortiz’s concerns. <br /> <br />Mr. Zelenka agreed with Ms. Taylor’s remarks about Rexius. He did not think Eugene was accurately <br />characterized as anti-growth or anti-businesses and recalled that Forbes had ranked Eugene as the fifth <br />best community in the country for businesses to relocate to. He believed the local business environment <br />was very good in spite of Mr. Clark’s “rhetoric.” He thought the entire council wanted to see more and <br />better family-wage jobs, and he believed that was what the task before the council was all about. Mr. <br />Zelenka anticipated that Eugene would continue to be the job center for the region. <br /> <br />Mr. Farr believed the major disincentive for businesses to remain in Eugene or come to Eugene continued <br />to be a lack of available land. <br /> <br />Mr. Brown said people must realize there were limits to growth. The community could not build on <br />wetlands, steep slopes, or farmland. He did not think Eugene had many suitable factory sites and said that <br />the council could not pretend Springfield did not exist. . <br /> <br />Mr. Brown requested a breakdown of the private and public investments for the projects reviewed by <br />staff. He also requested the final report of the Green Jobs Task Force if available. <br /> <br />Speaking to Mr. Zelenka’s remarks, Mr. Clark suggested that rhetoric was also saying one thing and <br />doing another. He said if the council stated it wanted to increase the community’s job base it needed to <br />remove the constraints that kept that from happening. He pointed out that Rexius moved to Springfield <br />because it could not find a suitable site in Eugene. Mr. Clark pointed out the City was facing $6 million <br />in budget reductions but none of the councilors wanted to cut services. If the council’s rhetoric was that it <br />cared about economic growth, wanted to see more jobs, and wanted to fund the desired service levels, it <br />needed to increase the value of land inside the UGB. <br /> <br />Mr. Pryor advocated for the council to depend on actual information to the degree possible and not take <br />things on faith. He believed the community needed to accommodate industrial growth but the issue was <br />to what degree. He said that government could only create an environment for job growth. He suggested <br />that Eugene’s anti-business reputation was based on people’s perception that it was overly restrictive in <br />its regulations. He believed regulation was necessary but must make sense. Mr. Pryor recommended the <br />council discuss changes in that area to ensure the City was providing a logical, reasonable regulatory <br />environment without “giving away the farm.” <br /> <br />Mr. Brown suggested the loss of Rexius was mitigated by the redevelopment that would occur on its <br />former site. <br /> <br />Mr. Brown adjourned the meeting at 1:19 p.m. <br /> <br />Respectfully submitted, <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Beth Forrest <br />City Recorder <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 18, 2012 Page 3 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />