Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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would benefit the local communities. He opined that Lease Crutcher Lewis was qualified and had much expertise in the Eugene market. He added that Lease Crutcher Lewis valued the safety and livelihood of their workers and employed local citizens who perform the work on their projects at or above industry standards. He felt the City stood to gain value through the working relationship of the two companies and supported the no-bid contract process as it stood. Jan Spencer , 212 Benjamin Street, suggested that citizens should buy the property in question and form its own design process to decide what to do with it. He felt such a group of citizens could think of a lot of different uses for a downtown location that would be more creative than the proposed parking. He suggested that the community had many skills and much creativity that could be tapped into. He said he would leave his Web address and would convene a public meeting so that people could start this process. Steve Stearns , 32789 East Dixon Street, Coburg, stated that he was a local general contractor. He opposed the no-bid contract. He did not think the City would know whether it was charting the best course for itself without getting competitive bids. He related that Lease Crutcher Lewis said it would hire 90 percent local people, but Lease Crutcher Lewis itself was not local. He likened the process to a used car sale. Regarding Whole Foods Grocery, he said let them come because that was their business. However, he felt building a parking structure was the City’s business. th Ben Martin-Horse , 607 West 8 Avenue, thought Eugene was not a community “that was about competition, especially not unfair competition.” He said Eugene was a city whose soul was community. He did not think a downtown area would be made attractive by an “overabundance of parking.” He opined that downtowns were attractive because parking was unnecessary. He stated that he worked at Sundance Natural Foods and he wondered if he should fear for his job should Whole Foods Grocery open in Eugene. He worried for the other smaller community stores. He likened the proposed parking garage to subsidizing “our own loss of soul.” He felt Whole Foods should foot the bill if is wanted more parking. Zachary Vishanoff , Patterson Street, suspected that the reason a parking garage was being proposed for the downtown area was that the area was the second choice for a University of Oregon basketball arena. He opposed a Whole Foods Grocery moving into Eugene. He thought the no-bid contract tied into the Government Service Administration. th Virginia M. Lo , 1855 East 28 Avenue, brought a letter signed by seven faculty and staff from the Department of Computer Science of the University of Oregon opposing the project. She called the downtown an “important asset for all of us.” She opined that the need for a new parking garage was dubious. She opposed the no-bid contract. She felt the parking garage was a public subsidy for a corporation from Texas that could hurt the local food industry. She did not like that the proposed parking garage used public money to close the opportunity for a greenway. She did not feel there had been enough time to consider the issues given that the public hearing had been scheduled two days prior to the vote. She asked the council to slow down. th Madeline Smith , 594 West 11 Avenue, said it was difficult to “figure out what to do.” She wished to make Eugene a place that was a showcase of alternative energy technology, “permatopia organic farming practices,” and the rational rationing of all resources. George T. Boehnke , 2040 Willamette Street, likened urban renewal funds to manure: if you did not spread it around, nothing grew. He said the City of Eugene used urban renewal funds to purchase a library. He stated that the 90 businesses that had moved from downtown Eugene never came back. He thought that the MINUTES—Eugene City Council -- March 13, 2006 Page 20 City Council Meeting