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Ms. McDonald underscored the importance of the parking lot behind the WOW Hall to the function of the business. Rebecca Hill, 497 Autumn Avenue, introduced herself as the Student Body President of Lane Community College (LCC). She stated that the average age of LCC credit students was 28-years-old and the average age of LCC non-credit students was 45-years-old. She said she, like many LCC students, was a non- traditional student who had to manage student costs and single motherhood. She noted that, like most LCC students, she was also a renter. She commented that many of the students she spoke with at LCC lived in sub-standard housing and that many of them feared retribution should they speak out about it. She acknowledged that it was illegal for a landlord to evict someone for speaking out, but asserted it happened anyway. She alleged that the current system was inadequate to protect renters in Eugene as the only route a renter could take to better his or her situation was small claims court. She opined that many renters could not afford to pursue that track, nor could they pay for childcare and other expenses such action could incur. She averred that housing standards and a rental housing program in Eugene were a necessity. She said this would provide a local enforcement mechanism to protect the City's residents where the courts had proven they could not. She asked the council to work to create minimum habitability standards and implement a program to provide local enforcement of those standards. Nicole Karalekas, 408 Watson Hall, representing the Eugene Citizens for Housing Standards (ECFHS), called the issue of housing standards extraordinarily important to the city of Eugene. She noted that the council had indicated that one of its roadblocks was that more research and a better understanding of the issue were needed. She asserted there was "plenty of research" costing thousands of dollars that had been conducted over the last 20 years. She recommended that the City model a housing standards system after the system in Corvallis. She explained it was a complaint-based system which established a local enforcement mechanism, the main goal of which was to provide four minimum habitability standards: structural integrity, weather-proofing, heating, and plumbing. Ms. Karalekas outlined the Corvallis rental-housing program. She noted that the first year the program in Corvallis "broke even." She opined that the process could only benefit the City of Eugene. Joan Shea, 1520 Balboa Street, said she was executive director of a not-for-profit program called Oregon Crafted. She explained that her agency had sought what portion of the Oregon economy it could "grow" and had focused on the development of visual arts. She stated that the pilot program was being paid for by the State Economic Development Department and the Oregon Tourism Commission. She highlighted the program, which was a self-directed tour of the studios and galleries in this area. She expressed hope that the agency could partner with other groups in the immediate vicinity who also focused on cultural tourism. Ms. Shea reported that her agency worked with the University of Oregon (UO) to circulate surveys to artists. Twenty-one percent of the surveys were returned. She said the data indicated that the artists who returned the surveys generated $11 million in sales over the four-county area. She opined that the economic development committee should support local artisans. Kim Hoogendoorn, 500 Jefferson Street, #4, described the apartment she shared with her son. She said the house was "infected with cockroaches," had no working heaters in the bedrooms, had plumbing that overflowed into the living room, and had a hole in the ceiling. She stated that her son had developed asthma from the moldy conditions. She advocated for housing standards to be enforced. MINUTES--Eugene City Council March 8, 2004 Page 2 Regular Session