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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/08/1986 Meeting M I NUT E S e Joint City Council/Human Rights Presidents Council Dinner/Work Session Bloch Room, Eugene Community Conference Center September 8, 1986 5:30 p,m, COUNCILORS PRESENT: Richard Hansen, Debra Ehrman, Ruth Bascom, Roger Rutan, Jeff Miller, Cynthia Wooten, COUNCILORS ABSENT: Freeman Holmer, Emily Schue, His Honor Mayor Brian B, Obie called the meeting to order, 1. HUMAN RIGHTS ANNUAL REPORT Mayor Obie noted that Mr. Holmer is absent from the meeting, He is in Holland speaking at an international conference on public works. Mayor Obie said that he would ask staff to prepare a motion for the Wednesday meeting excusing Councilor Holmer from attendance, e Mayor Obie said that members of the Human Rights Commission were joining the Ci ty Council tonight for the Human Rights CDmmission Annual Report, City Councilors and commission members introduced themselves, Ms, Miller introduced the agenda, The first part of tonight's agenda is the annual report from the Presidents Council, She said that the packet included a memorandum responding to the council's request regarding the human rights program structure, The third portion of the agenda was a status report on the human services planning effort being started in the county, Ms. Miller made some brief remarks about the Presidents Council members. She said Mr, Taitel, president of the Presidents Council, was retired from the Social Security Adminstration and was involved in many community activities, such as Very Little Theater, Lane County Early Prevention Program for Children, Birth to Three, and the Lane County Nursing Home Ombudsman Program. Marshall Peter is Executive Director of Lane County Direction Service, has chaired the Oregon Coalition for Exceptional Children and Young Adults, and is a member of the Community Development Committee. Mr. Peter has been a member of the Commission on the Rights of the Disabled for seven years, Angela Dean is a small businesswoman and has served as a commissioner for three years, She is involved with the Filipino Association and helped to organize the Asian Council and Asian Celebration. Ms. Dean also serves on the City's Sign Code Board of Appeals and the Joint Social Services Advisory Committe, Patty Pate is a small businesswoman who has been a member of the Womens Commission since , , e MINUTES--City Council Dinner Meeting September 8, 1986 Page 1 1983, Steve Dahl is acting president of the Youth Commission, Mr, Dahl is the youth pastor at Eugene Christian Fellowship and has worked extensively with e troubled teenagers at McClaren and other facilities in the state, Mr, Dahl has been a commissioner for one-and-a-half years, Ms, Miller said that the people on the Presidents Council are very active members of the community and knowledgable about their fields of expertise, Ms, Miller introduced Glen Potter, who has staffed the program for the past year, and Nancy Waggoner, WhD will staff the program in the future, Ms, Miller said she would like the discussion to focus on getting the program organized, linking the program to the City's agenda, and streamlining it for greater effectiveness, Ms. Miller referred the councilors to the materials in the packet, which commissioners will reference throughout the meeting. In an attempt to organize the program, the President's Council had established overall goals, Those goals were processed throughout all the commissions and extensively discussed before final adoptiDn, The goals clarify the purpose of the program and drive the work plan, All work plan items relate to one or more of the goals. Ms. Mi 11 er showed the counci 1 the program calendar, This calendar was established to help the Presidents Council see the relationship between each of the commissions and activities and assist staff in tracking activities that the commissions are involved in, Items in red are events; there is never more than one event in a month. The blue items are work items from the work plan; green items are code or bylaw requirements, Yellow items are planning or goals development. Ms, Miller referred the councilors to a copy of this chart e in the work plan for further reference, Ms, Mi 11 er said that staff will offer recommendations regarding program organization later in the meeting, Staff is ready to accept any suggestions councilors might have about this topic, Ms. Miller noted that staff had been working on the goal of linking the program more closely to the City's overall agenda, One of the reasons that the program was transferred to the Intergovernmental Relations Division is because the Joint Social Services contract is managed by IGR, Ms, Miller said there are many ties between Joint Social Services and Human Rights. The Presidents Council will be looking at these ties over the next year, Ms, Miller cited an item from the Six-Point Economic Diversification Program about making Eugene an attractive place for people to retire. The Aging Commission is interested in working with the Parks Department on this item, The Disabled Commission is interested in making Eugene handicapped-accessible so the handicapped will spend tourist dollars in Eugene and come here to live. A, Commission on the Rights of the Aging Mr. Taitel referred the councilors to the new cDmmission's new brochure in their packets, He said that the commission's action plan is included in the work plan, He encouraged councilors to read these materials, Mr, Taitel said that among the commission's activities was a forum on Social Security with four speakers from the Social Security Administration. The commission had e MINUTES--City Council Dinner Meeting September 8, 1986 Page 2 been heavi ly involved in the promotion of the Lane County Ombudsman Recruitment and Screening Committee. This program, which was dormant for a e time, is now active with the help of the commission, These ombudsmen are people who are placed in various nursing homes in the City and are responsible for discussing with patients any problems they might have and referring them to the State for proper action. Mr. Taitel said that this year the commission has begun a study of long-term care insurance, a comparatively new field, and is investigating the problems of long-term care. He said that the commission has a representative on the Specialized Transportation Fund Advisory Committee, The commission was also active in securing the Olive Plaza as an alternative nutrition site after closure of the old site in downtown, In the coming year the commission plans to hold more public forums, The re will be a forum on October 21 at the Campbell Center, with three speakers addressing the subj ect of Living Wills, The commission expects a large attendance, Mr, Taitel said that in order to increase its visibility, the commission is recruiting an intern who will work with the commissioners to create and air videotape prDgrams. The commission is also interested in the ramifications to senior citizens of the Planning Commission's revision to the condominium conversion Drdinance, Mr, Taitel said that the commission is planning on being involved, with the Parks Department, in destination-point activities related to the Six-Point Plan, with the goal of encouraging senior citizens to retire in Eugene, e B. Commission on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Mr, Peter said that last year the commission had worked with various boards and departments regarding the accessibility of public and private buildings, On the publ ic side the commission has had significant i nvo 1 vement wi th projects such as the airport, the library, the Hult Center, and the downtown mall. He said that private businesses had come to the commission seeking guidance regarding access issues, Mr, Peter said that the commission had revised its accessibility guidebook, The commission had worked to support a Costa Rican exchange through the sponsorship of Mobi 1 ity International. Finally, the commission provided input on accessibility to the Metropolitan Partnership's brochure focusing on social services, Mr, Peter said that among activities planned for the coming year was an employers workshop that would focus on the advantages of hiring the disabled, The commission also hoped to do more networking with such agencies as the Southern Willamette Private Industry Council, Semi-Independent Living for the Visually Impaired (SILVI), and the Oregon Coalition of Exceptional Children and Young Adults. The commission will continue its work with the City's Affirmative Action Task Force to encourage the establishment of goals for the emplDyment of the disabled, Mr, Peter said that attitudinal barriers were the most significant problems the disabled face, The commission hopes to work cODperatively with the City e MINUTES--City Council Dinner Meeting September 8, 1986 Page 3 Council to hold an "As If Day," This activity allows the non-disabled to experience what it is like to be disabled for a single day, Mr, Peter said he e would like to persuade City Council members to spend a day experiencing what it would be like to be wheelchair-bound, blind, or mute, Mr, Peter said that the commission would like to be involved in destination- point activities involving the disabled. He said that due to the foresight of Lane Transit District in installing wheelchair 1 ifts, exce 11 ent programs offered through the Un i vers i ty of Oregon, and the presence of Mobi 1 i ty International, Eugene had positiDned itself to be the place in the world to visit if you are disabled and wish to experience yourself as minimally inconvenienced, He cited San Diego as a city which has acknowledged that there are large numbers of disabled persons looking for places to go where they can be as "mainstream" as possible and has marketed itself accordingly, Mr, Peter said he had a vision of Eugene as a place where disabled persons could visit or live and enjoy as normal a life as possible, Ms, Wooten said that in her opinion the single strongest effect of the Commission on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was the level and change of consciousness in persons parking in handicapped spaces, She felt that the work done by the commission had affected the community's behavior. Mr, Peter said he wished to express his happiness with the quality and competence of the staff support the Commission on the Rights of the Disabled and Presidents Council had received frDm Intergovernmental Relations, He said that the change had given the commissiDns a new sense of vitality and had led to the human rights program being taken more seriously, e Mayor Obie said that the public sector is more likely to retrofit restrooms, create curb cuts, and widen doorways than the private sector. He was not sure whether to ascribe this to public pressure or to the availablity of funds, He asked Mr, Peter if the Commission on the Rights of the Disabled could catalog financial sources, such as loans and low-interest loans, for the pri vate sector to take advantage of when attempting to become handicapped-accessible, Mr. Peter said that the list would be short, There are some low-interest loans and perhaps some outright grants available but the major incentive for businesses to become accessible continues to be the tax incentive. He said that he would be speaking to the Downtown Commission the next morning about economic advantages in Eugene becoming a destination point with the disabled, He planned on talking with the commission regarding the tie-in Df accessiblity issues with the Centralized Retail Management concept and incentives the City could develop tD offer tD private businesses. He said it was difficult for businesses to see why they should become accessible when they do not expect to have many disabled customers, Mr. Hansen asked Mr. Peter about the curb ramps and asked whether the slope was reasonable or difficult for the disabled to go up and down. Mr. Peter said that Risk Management is interested in this subject, particularly around ramps placed off a steep incline near traffic, He said he thought it was a variable thing from ramp to ramp, e MINUTES--City CDuncil Dinner Meeting September 8, 1986 Page 4 Mr. Mi 11 er asked Mr, Peter if the Woonerf issue in the West University Neighborhood had been resolved, Mr. Peter said he did not think that it had, e C, Minority Commission Ms, Dean said that the Minority Commission's most significant act during the previous year had been aiding in the formation of the Asian Council and the Asian Business Directory. She said that the City was the first source of funding for the Asian Council, It was formally organized in November 1985, To fund the di rectory, the council had held an Asian Celebration. The celebration realized $1,000, and businesses had contributed another $1,000 to fund the directory, Ms, Dean said that since she had become a member of the commission she received materials from various groups to pass around to minority constituents. This had illustrated to Ms. Dean the need for a directory. She said she thought that due to the Asian Council's formation, the commission has been able to help out in many ways. The Asian CelebratiDn had gotten the Asian community very excited, and money left over from the first celebration had helped to fund the second celebration. Ms, Dean said that when the Sister City delegation from Kakegawa had come to Eugene, it had been Asian Council members who had helped provide interpreters. An Asian Council member, Tony Lum, had used his council connections to provide both interpreters and host families, Ms. Dean said that when Asian investors come to Eugene, they want to know what it is like in Eugene for minorities, whether Asian businesses do well, and how e they are received in the community, It is important that the Asian community is helped to help itself so more Asian businesses do well in Eugene. The business loan program has provided 36 loans, nine of which benefitted women and one of which benefitted a minority applicant. She said that a member of the minority community had cited to her the length of time the application took as one reason Asians did not apply. Ms. Dean said that the minority community needed to be convinced they would do well to be listed in a business di rectory. This is a first effort on the commission's part, Ms, Dean said that a good way to use the human rights commissions was for the one-to-one contact the commissioners have with their constituencies. Ms. Wooten asked if the commission had any sense of the overall well-being of the Indo-Chinese refugee pDpulation in Eugene. Ms. Dean responded that she had asked Richard Guske for names of Vietnamese business people to include in the directory and he had told her the Vietnamese were gone. There was one Vietnamese restaurant in Eugene, Ms, Wooten asked if there was a way to determine that population's status, Ms, Dean said the commission lacked the funds to do that sort of research. Mr. Miller commented that many of the Vietnamese families had relocated to Portland where they have more of a sense of family, He offered to put Ms, Dean in touch with the people in charge of the relocation efforts if she desired statistical information. e MINUTES--City Council Dinner Meeting September 8, 1986 Page 5 Ms, Wooten said that she was concerned with the status of the minority populations in Eugene, She said it did not look good to her. Ms, Dean agreed. e Ms, Wooten said she saw the commission as a tool to do more outreach in the community, Ms, Dean said that the Minority Commission has too few resources to do as much research and outreach as they desire, Ms, Dean said that the Minority Commission is composed of two Native Americans, Dne Asian, two blacks, and tWD Caucasians, There are currently no Hispanic members, Mr, Rutan asked what percentage of the population is considered minority, Ms, Dean responded that seven percent of the community is minority. She said that she thought that figure included the University of Oregon population, but she was not sure. Mr. Rutan asked Ms, Dean if the commission had representation from minority groups that are involved in the University of Oregon activities, He said he thought thi s was an instance where it would be important to have the University of Oregon working closely with the City, Ms, Dean respDnded that when Derri ck Be 11 resigned, they had heard from the University groups, Nothing further had come of that, but the commission did work with student groups closely and sponsored some of their activities such as Martin Luther King Day, Cinco de MaYD, and the Pow Wow, D. Womens Commission Ms, Pate said that last year the Womens Commission had conducted a racism workshop that had as its focus racism within the community and how to make e Eugene a mo re comfortable place for minorities to settle and work, The commission had also worked on increasing its ties with other womens groups, The commission was especially interested in the social servi ce de 1 i very network for women, which is connected with the Human Services Planning effort currently going on, The commission had also held its annual women on boards and commissions events. In 1982 the commission had looked into the percentage of women appointed to councils and commissions, At that time the percentage was only 24 percent, In 1986 the percentage has risen to 38,55 percent. She congratulated the council for appointing women, Mayor Obie said that the percentage of new appointees that are women was now closer to 50 percent, Ms, Pate said that the commission had been concerned when Behana House recently closed. They had lobbied for restoration of a treatment program in the community aimed specifically at serving indigent women, She said that the commissiDn had heard that the Social Services Fund will fund this program, The commission had become involved with the Children Services lobby, They plan to lobby the State legislature for more support for childrens services in Oregon. Ms, Pate said that the commission had taken a strong stand against Measure 6 Dn the November ballot, the measure prohibiting State funding for abortions. She said that commission members felt that this measure discriminated against lDw-income women, e MINUTES--City Council Dinner Meeting September 8, 1986 Page 6 Ms, Pate said that the commission was looking forward to working on such issues as downtown day ca re , She said that one of the problems women e traditionally have faced in working was child care, She said the commission is working closely with the Joint Social Services system to identify the basic level of essential social services for women in Eugene, Ms. Pate said that the commission had particularly wished her to convey to the council was how pleased commission members are with the staff support they are receiving from IGR, particularly with the addition of Ms, Waggoner to the staff . Ms, Wooten asked when the boards and commissions recruitment event will be held, Ms, Pate responded that it would be held September 30, E, Youth Commission Mr, Dahl introduced two other members of the Youth Commission in attendance, Rhonda Smith and Cheryl Zwillinger, Mr, Dahl handed out copies of brochures produced by the Youth Commission, He said that this year the Youth Commission has concentrated on three major areas, One area was the downtown mall and the situation that exists with youth on the mall. He said that the commission had gathered input from the downtown merchants, police, the Development Department, the Downtown Commission, and other involved agencies, in addition to a survey that involved mall users including youth, merchants, and consumers Dn the ma 11 . This information was gathered together and given to the Crime Action Task Force, The Youth Commission has a member on that committee, e Mr. Dahl said that the Youth Commission had formed the Youth Advisory Council, composed of young people from area high schools that meet with commissioners once or twice a month, He said that the commission discusses issues it is currently working on with this group to get its feedback. He said that the Youth AdvisDry Council assisted in preparatiDns for the 1985 Job Faire and was actively involved in the commission's downtown mall study, Mr. Dahl talked about the "Youth and the Law" brochure the commission had published in 1985, This handbook had been worked into some local curriculums, The commission had held its 5th Annual Job Faire, with an estimated attendance of 650 students and 90 employers, He said that the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce, Eugene Downtown Association, and the Southern Willamette Industry Council had all served as co-sponsors, He said a complete list of sponsors was in the handbook he had distributed, Mr. Dahl said that during the upcoming year the commission once again planned to be involved with the Job Faire. The commission was preparing a handbook on how youth can become involved with government at local, State, and Federal levels. In addition the commission was producing a 3D-minute video on the status and future of youth in Eugene, They plan to use the handbook and video tDgether or separately for educational presentations to classes in schools in the city, He said that the Youth Commission was very interested in the new program of assigning police officers to schools. He said they hoped to work with the City and school districts in this area, e MINUTES--City Council Dinner Meeting September 8, 1986 Page 7 In the near future, Mr, Dahl said that the commission intended to concentrate on substance abuse among youth, He said the commission is gathering e information from local professionals in the area of substance abuse and is correlating this information, He said that the commission had learned that there may be some Federal moneys for work against substance abuse, Mr, Dahl said that the commission had tried to make its activities supportive of the council's priorities and agenda through three major ways, The fi rst was in the area of economic development with the Job Faire; the second was the downtown mall with the survey and help the commission has given the Crime Action Task Force; and third was the commission's work on public safety through its involvement with substance abuse among community youth, He asked commissioners for questions or comments, Ms, Wooten asked if the commi ssi on does fo 11 ow-up on the Job Faire to determine how many people are placed. Mr, Dahl said that the commission had followed up this question through the Youth Advisory Council, Council members sa i d that many young people had gotten jobs, part i cul arly South Eugene students since the event is held at South Eugene, Mr, Rutan asked Mr. Dahl if the commission was involved with School District 4-Jls CoSAC program. Mr, Dahl responded that the commission is just beginning its involvement in this issue, Ms, Wooten noted that CoSAC is represented on the Crime Action Task Force, as is the Youth Commission, Mayor Obie asked what the chances were of rotating the Job Faire to allow other schools to take advantage of the opportunity it provided, Mr, Dahl said that the commission had discussed this possibility, The commission is looking at alternative locations, Mayor Obie complimented Mr, Dahl on the Youth e Fairel s success, Mr. Ta He 1 said that the Intergovernmental Relations Division had been a tremendous boon to each one of the commissions. He said he would like to ensure that he recognized them Dn behalf of the Presidents Council and the individual commissions for an outstanding job, Mr, Taitel said that for the first time the Presidents Council had established a program calendar for the coming year. He said that the commissions had conducted a joint meeting for new member ori entat ion, The counci 1 had sponsored a resolution through the Ci ty Manager to the State of Oregon recommending the withdrawal of State funds to South Africa. He said that the council had started a program of quarterly evaluations of all commissions' act i vit i es and tightened up attendance requirements for members and alternates, The counci 1 intended to continue program streamlining with heavier linkage to the City Council IS programs and agendas, The council would also like to see a closer link with the Joint Social Services, The counci 1 is reviewing its bylaws with the intent of revising them, Mayor Obie thanked Mr. Taitel for his work on the Aging Commission and the Presidents Council, e MINUTES--City Council Dinner Meeting September 8, 1986 Page 8 II. HUMAN RIGHTS PROGRAM STRUCTURE e Ms. Miller said that the council subcommittee had requested that staff examine the structure of the human rights commissions and investigate the possibility of combining them into one commission, Ms, Miller said that the staff had reviewed the program's history. They had looked at the situation that would be created by the formation of a single commission. The staff recommended that the streamlining efforts that have been begun be continued, Staff would like to look at the possiblity of going to nine required meetings with the option of each commission meeting more often if it wished. On page 4 in the staff notes there was a recommendation to streamline the application process, Currently the commission and the City Counci 1 i ntervi ews everyone that applies. Staff is recommending that the applicants be screened through pre- determined criteria and a joint committee of councilors and commissioners interview the best of those applicants, Staff was also recommending that alternates be bumped up if there was a vacancy, Currently alternates are approved by the City Council. Ms, Mill er said that staff was recommending that the program not be consolidated at this time, but rather continue to clarify the role that the program plays in City government and tighten the links to the City's agenda, Ms. Miller asked the councilors if if they had questions or comments, Ms. Bascom asked other councilors their opinion of the appointment process streamlining, She said that she and Mr, Holmer had valued the evening they spent interviewing applicants, She said that she wondered if the staff was not taking away, in an effort to save councilors' time, a portion of what is a valuable experience, She asked Mr, Miller if staff had trouble securing .- councilors to interview applicants, Ms, Mill er sa i d that the counc il will still be interviewing applicants, just not every applicant. She said that the councilor would be interviewing with someone from the commission, Currently there was a two-tiered system where everyone was interviewed by both the commission and the council, Mr, Hansen moved, seconded by Ms, Erhman, to accept staff's recommendation regarding the human rights program structure, Mr, Miller said that he thought the streamlining process could be helpful to the applicant and aid in reducing confusion, Ms, Ehrman said that she felt the work products were very impressive, Each commission had followed a work program and contributed to the council's better understanding and human rights endeavors in the community, Ms. Bascom said the commissions were like a lengthening, strengthening arm of the council to do the things councilors are unable to do themselves, Mayor Obie said he had been prepared to challenge staff's recommendation, He said that he had changed his thinking with the presentation and resulting ,~ MINUTES--City Council Dinner Meeting September 8, 1986 Page 9 better understanding he had of the commissions' activities, He said he had been long concerned about the energy levels and participatiDn on the e commissions, He said he could see that the energy and excitement were present on the Presidents Council and that the job is getting done, He said the human rights program was working better than he had ever seen it work, He said consolidation was not necessary, He complimented the Presidents Council for having the discipline required to establish attendance requirements, quorums, evaluations, and the work program. The motion passed unanimously, III , HUMAN SERVICES PLANNING Ms, Miller said that United Way and Lane County had joined to form a steering committee interested in the issue of human services planning in Lane County, She di rected counci lors to a memo in their packets that explained the background behind this effort, She said that the committee would be staffed by Margo Drivas of Lane County, who will be a United Way Loaned Executive, The group is working with the University for student help, A budget was being put together during the fall of 1986, Ms, Miller said that committee is going to review the need for human services in Lane County, resources currently available, and gaps and duplications in service, The material will be collected in many ways, such as demographic research, key informant interviews, and interviews with service providers, e The committee hoped to begin collecting data in January and end in June, Analysis of the data would occur over the summer and into the fall. So far the planning effort is being funded by Lane County and L-COG, The Joint Social Services Budget Subcommittee will make a decision later in the month whether or not to fund the effort, Ms, Miller said that as the budget comes together, staff may return to the council with more specific information as to how funds will be spent and request contingency funds for the effort, Ms. Miller said that the City has a variety of links to this issue, primarily the Joint Social Services fund. She said that this effort would enable that money to be spent for the greatest need in the most efficient way possible, She said that staff is hopeful that the effort will create a permanent data cDllection system, The human rights commissions are interested in this effort because the data would be collected by a whole list of social services that cross constituent groups, The groups covered by the human rights program are expected to be the five groups across the top of a matrix, which will provide very specific information to the different commissions. Ms, Miller said that there are links between the public safety system and social services system, The Parks Department has senior centers and programs for the disabled and youth populations, The Development Department is interested in attracting business to the area, and a social services system is something a business might consider in its decision. e MINUTES--City Council Dinner Meeting September 8, 1986 Page 10 Ms, Miller said that the staff would continue to report on this issue as it developed. e The meeting adjourned at 7 p.m, Re7~ '~ . Micheal D, Gleas ,City Manager (Recorded by Kimberly Young) MNCC0908 e 4It MINUTES--City Council Dinner Meeting September 8, 1986 Page 11