Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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ATTACHMENT A M I N U T E S Eugene City Council Council Chamber—City Hall 777 Pearl Street—Eugene, Oregon December 12, 2011 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Betty Taylor, George Brown, Andrea Ortiz, George Poling, Mike Clark, Chris Pryor, Alan Zelenka, Pat Farr. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the December 12, 2011, regular meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. 1. PUBLIC FORUM Because of the number of people signed up to speak in the Public Forum, Mayor Piercy limited the forum to one hour to ensure the council had sufficient time to address all the action items on the agenda. Each speaker was given two minutes to speak. Mayor Piercy reviewed the rules of the Public Forum and opened the forum. Vincent Faini , Ward 1, asked the council to extend the camping ban for Occupy Eugene. He reminded the council that Occupy Eugene was also a protest. He was inspired by what he had seen at the camp and believed that Occupy Eugene had found creative and innovative ways to help the homeless at no cost to the taxpayer. James A. Rodman , no ward given, called for an end to the Occupy Eugene camp because he believed that matters had gotten out-of-hand and would cost the taxpayers more in the future. Laws had been broken. He felt for the plight of the homeless but believed Occupy Eugene had become a quagmire. He recommended that people who wished to demonstrate follow the law. He asked what services would be reduced so the City could give money to Occupy Eugene. He questioned how wastewater on the site was being addressed. R. Jamil Jonna , Ward 1, Avenue, spoke to contentions that Occupy Eugene participants did not need to camp. He said Occupy Eugene knew that the homeless would come to the camp and decided to welcome them. Occupy Eugene had not lost sight of the fact it was a protest. He believed the homeless were growing in number because of systemic economic problems and that the country was in a depression. He invited people to visit the camp and experience the collaborative engagement that was occurring. Gweneth Van Frank , Ward 3, asked the council to consider Option 4. Lauren Regan , Ward 1, discussed Occupy Eugene’s work with the City to ensure the safest possible camp. She asked the council to extend the exemption until a permanent location for the camp was planned and constructed. She offered to provide bi-weekly reports about the camp. She also asked the council to exempt the camp from the City’s ban on open fires. MINUTES—Eugene City Council December 12, 2011 Page 1 Regular Meeting