HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/09/1989 Meeting (2)
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STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS
January 9, 1989
Mayor Jeff Miller
You have just given me one of life's great opportunities, and that is the
subject I want to talk to you about this evening: opportunities.
I began learning about opportunities when I was just 11 years old. I was the
youngest of a family of five living in a rough neighborhood in Cleveland,
Ohio. My father was a parts salesman and my mother worked in a bakery. And
one of my lifetime heroes comes from that period of my life: a man by the
name of Sam Muscal.
When I talk about my personal heroes, I list the influence of Sam Muscal
right along with that of Martin Luther King, Jr., Mother Teresa, Saint Fran-
cis, Thomas Jefferson, and even Jesus. Sam Muscal was a big man: a meat
cutter by trade, a German Jew who was lucky enough to escape the Nazis during
a ghastly journey to Dachau. And Sam ran a three-aisle grocery store in our
neighborhood, and he got to know me because I spent a lot of time there
shopping for my family. Even today, I can hear that rich German accent and
see those big, gentle hands as he would lift half a beef as if it was a
toothpick.
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One day Sam offered me a job
and eight hours on Saturday,
all the Pepsi I could drink.
drink a lot of Pepsi!
as a stock boy: five hours a day on weekdays
and the pay was great--fifty cents a day plus
Now that was a bargain for me because I could
I remember Sam would occasionally call me into the back room and hand me a
sandwich, and once in a while he would put a hot pepper in it. Held do that
just for the joy of watching my expression as I tried to act very cool eating
that hot pepper. Sam would sometimes leave change around the store to see
whether the boys he hired would report it when they swept up or discovered it
on the counter, and I always did.
For me, five years of working for Sam Muscal was one of life1s great opportu-
nities. It was Sam who took me off the street and gave me an opportunity to
go straight. Sam Muscal taught me the work ethic. Sam Muscal taught me to
respect all kinds of people. Sam Muscal gave me a stiff determination to
succeed.
Tonight, you the people of Eugene, like Sam Muscal 35 years ago, have given
me a great opportunity. And I can think of no more promising place to re-
ceive this opportunity than in a city that is accustomed to recognizing
opportunities and to making the most of them.
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It was by recognizing and seizing opportunities that the people of Eugene
were successful in building the Hult Center, in widening 6th and 7th avenues,
in constructing Autzen Stadium and renovating Hayward field, in planning the
Riverfront Research Park, in developing one of the West's finest school
systems, in designing riverside parks and paths, in expanding a modest air-
port into a regional transportation center, and in developing a unique part-
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nership between our two cities, Eugene and Springfield, Lane County, the
University, and the business community.
Likewise, the decade of the 190s will be filled with opportunities. I want
to outline some of the opportunities that I believe are important, and to ask
you to join me in working toward the objectives we share: objectives of
achieving a safe and caring community, a competitive economy, a vibrant
downtown, fairness and tolerance toward all people, and reasonable taxation.
We want Eugene to be a safe and caring community, but we fall short of that
goal. No city worth its charter can continue to let people who lack decent
housing live in its City parks or sleep in unsafe buildings. People without
shelter should have safe places to sleep. People who are hungry should have
a place to receive a warm meal. People who want to work should be given a
hand in finding a job. People who are mentally ill should have access to
help from trained professionals and to emergency psychiatric care. People
who are slaves to drugs and alcohol should be able to find the trained people
and the modern facilities that can help to set them free.
Therefore, during the next four years, I will work with the council, the City
of Springfield, Lane County, and the State to provide emergency shelter for
our citizens. I will not settle for the expedient solution of letting sick,
homeless, and helpless people live in our city parks or in cars parked in our
neighborhoods. That solution is neither safe nor humane nor socially accept-
able because it is no solution at all.
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We must focus not only short term on emergency shelter, but also long term on
our lack of low-income housing. That is why I support the current efforts of
the council, the County, the school district, and the University to find
solutions to these problems. We must also stimulate private-side investment
in long-term, bricks-and-mortar solutions to our shortage of low-income
housing.
But even as C1V1C conscience moves us to shield our needy from the social
crimes of cold and hunger, we must shield our city from the drugs and violent
crimes of those who show no conscience. We should and we can enforce the
laws we have written to protect all our citizens. Eugene's police officers
do a fine job, but their ranks are understaffed. Even with that
understaffing, however, Eugene has a low crime rate for a city its size. But
we can be better. Even with a relatively low crime rate, we all know citi-
zens who are afraid to use some City parks, Some people in our community are
harassed by individuals who have little respect for social order or for
common-sense rules. It is no secret that the local manufacture and use of
methamphetamines far exceeds the national average. For too many citizens,
the words "meth lab" are not only an abstract phrase in the news but also a
vivid reality in their neighborhoods.
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Toleration of these meth labs endangers our citizens, breeds crime in our
neighborhoods, and sets an abhorrent example for our children. To help our
officers respond more effectively, we must continue to implement the sound
recommendations of the Crime Action Task Force. Our community cannot afford
the luxury of the status quo if we hope ever to deal effectively with today.s
criminals. We must clearly, resolutely, and uncompromisingly commit our-
selves to eliminating the manufacture and use of illegal drugs in our commu-
State of the City Address
Jeff Miller
January 9, 1989
Page 2
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nity. We must make our streets and parks accessible, safe, and inviting for
every citizen who wants to use them. We must provide additional support to
our Neighborhood Watch programs. We must invest in eliminating unsafe build-
ings and in providing more street lights and greater safety in our parks and
neighborhoods.
Where senior citizens feel unsafe in their homes, let us deliver security.
Where women feel threatened on our streets, let us reduce that threat. Where
parents are anxious over the peril of drugs among our school children, let us
remove that peril.
These social and safety concerns cannot stop at the city limits. Residents
of Springfield, River Road, Santa Clara, and Glenwood face these problems
along with us. Our opportunities to create new and effective solutions will
come only through cooperating as an urban center.
Already, we have gained economies of scale by combining sewage, ambulance,
and computer operations. Likewise, we must consider the potential for shared
operations to provide police and fire, planning, permitting, and other ser-
vices. If we can learn to urbanize our efforts, I believe we will build a
metro area that is a national leader in cooperation, in compassion, and in
public safety.
The people of Eugene want not only security in their homes and on their
streets, but also the security of knowing that if they have the energy and
the skill to work, an employer will be able to hire them and pay a family
e wage. To that end, we need a competitive economy.
Eugene must continue to massage its image and rearrange its thinking. Rather
than saying most business is bad, we ought to say that most payrolls are
good. We ought to say that by working together we can stimulate existing
local business and also attract high-quality industries that will respect our
environment and honor our traditions. Being a caring community with a social
conscience does not mean we must post a notice at the city limits saying we
are closed to jobs, disinterested in payrolls, or indifferent to business.
Therefore, let us break ground on the Riverfront Research Park this year.
Let us unlock the economic promise of our partnership with the University of
Oregon, the City of Springfield, and Lane County.
Let us explore as yet unexamined opportunities with Sacred Heart Hospital.
Let us staff our building department so City employees can look contractors
and buil ders in the eye and say, "We want to he 1 p you. Once you gi ve us a
completed plan, we will issue you a commercial building permit in three weeks
or less, a residential permit in two weeks or less."
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Let us look at the Metro Partnership and the role we want it to play in our
economic future. And let us never again lose a prospect like Data General or
see a Hewlett-Packard plant that created 2,600 permanent, full-time jobs
locate in Corvallis instead of Eugene. Let us never again lose a prospect
like that solely because we are not ready.
State of the City Address
Jeff Mi 11 er
January 9, 1989
Page 3
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Likewise, we must complete the airport expansion, lengthen the runway, and
seek fares and schedules that will be competitive with those of Portland
International Airport, We can study the lesson of the city of Boise. Boise
became a site for corporate headquarters because it built an airport and
airline services that were competitive. Our airport can be a gateway for new
economic opportunities in trade, industry, and tourism if only we will devel-
op and nurture its promise.
A part of that promise can be the creation of jobs on the industrial sites
adjacent to the airport and around the Awbrey-Meadowview area, which offers
convenient access to air and rail transportation. But to realize that part
of the promise, we must also bring Highway 99 up to standards that are effi-
cient, modern. and safe.
Another important piece of our economic agenda must be our downtown. We need
a vibrant downtown. For citizens in this area, downtown is now a scattering
of fascinating pieces like those on a colorful game board: the stores and
services on the Eugene Mall that serve us, the unusual Fifth Street and Old
Town area that delights us, our world-class Hult Center for the Performing
Arts that entertains us, Skinner Butte and its beautiful riverside park that
relaxes us, the City Library that educates us, and the historic Shelton-
McMurphey House that puts us in touch with our past.
For motorists on Interstate 5, meanwhile, our downtown is composed of the
neon invitations of restaurants, motels, service stations, and other retail
establishments in the Gateway area of northwest Springfield.
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Right now, the "real" downtown Eugene is eagerly anticipating major develop-
ments at 8th and Willamette, at 11th and Willamette, and on Oak Street be-
tween 6th and 7th avenues. I know you are as excited by these possibilities
as I am.
But I say to you, our excitement must be complemented by an enhanced vision
of downtown as a cohesive commercial, cultural, and tourism center. To
capture that vision, let us begin pulling the reality and the perception of
downtown into a single economic unit that will at once capture the imagina-
tion of our citizens and attract the attention of those who are traveling.
As we succeed in fighting crime, as we strengthen our economy, and as we
bring unity and excitement to our city, our success may bolster our efforts
to employ the jobless and to shelter the homeless.
But even as we cannot wait passively while a better economy trickles down to
our unfortunate neighbors, neither can we expect our good intentions alone to
extend the Eugene lifestyle to our minority citizens. We dare not assume
that fairness and tolerance exist toward all people.
Just before Christmas, I had the opportunity to spend an evening in the
McNutt Room with more than 30 black leaders. They reminded me once again
that they often do not feel a part of our community, even if their white,
liberal friends believe they do. They reminded me that Eugene is a tale of
two cities: one white and one nonwhite. They told me they are asked ques-
~ tions that trouble them and that also trouble me.
State of the City Address
Jeff Miller
January 9, 1989
Page 4
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An example: IIAre you from Portland?" Translation: IIWe don1t have any
blacks in Eugene, do we?"
Example: "00 you play sports?1I Translation: IIAll black people pass foot-
balls, dunk basketballs, or run track.1I
Example: IIHow did you happen to come to Eugene?" Translation: "Surely, no
black was ever born at Sacred Heart Hospital."
We must not only say that we are tolerant toward the racial, ethnic, and
religious minorities who are among us, but the minorities themselves must
affirm that we are. As mayor, I will meet regularly with minorities. As
mayor, I will remind the city that the human rights commission is not the
only board where minorities are to serve. As mayor, I will continually
remind myself that prejudice, intolerance, and abuse do not spring from bad
people, but instead from good people who do not understand one another.
Finally, the mortar that holds our community together is the tax that we pay
to run our city, our schools, our county, and our community college. But
this mortar is only as strong as the feeling of our citizens that these taxes
are fair and reasonable, that these taxes are being spent wisely, and that
these taxes are buying something worthwhile.
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Today as we plan our budget, we are being forced to make even harder choices
as a result of the past annual loss of more than $4 million in Federal funds.
To put that into perspective, those dollars would buy operation of a new City
library, a 20-percent increase in our budget for City police protection, and
staffing for wading pools in our City parks, and do this all within a bal-
anced budget.
As we determine the paths we must follow as a city, the road that leads to a
solution for ensuring fiscal stability is one that we must travel to the end.
Make no mistake: to live within existing revenues we will engage in tough
debates over competing priorities that will demand difficult decisions. We
must set priorities for services, finance our priorities adequately, and
recognize we cannot do everything.
I will work energetically with the council to develop priorities that can be
funded within the revenues you provide for your city. All of these are
opportunities. Opportunities to create a safe and caring community and to
make us stronger, Opportunities to support a competitive economy and to help
us prosper. Opportunities to create a vibrant downtown and to recapture the
soul of our city. Opportunities to live together in tolerance, love, and
respect and to be better for it. Opportunities to find a better way to pay
for the lifestyle we want and to become a more unified community as a result.
Tonight, I have set a direction for us to travel. During the campaign and
since, I have met with numerous individuals and groups. This is the direc-
tion I have heard you say you wanted to travel. Tonight, let us together get
started.
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I believe no one of us owns the whole truth, but each of us possess a part of
it. As citizens of Eugene, we are what the President-elect might call a
hundred-eight-thousand points of light. And I believe we can arrive at the
State of the City Address
Jeff Miller
January 9, 1989
Page 5
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best decisions if each of us will share our bit of light so that we can
brightly illuminate our path into the future. I ask you, the council, the
staff, the citizens, to join me in these efforts to choose the destinations,
to plot the routes, and to shed the light.
Even now, we are facing difficult decisions on the future of our City Li-
brary. I do not know what the right decision is on that issue. But I do
know that on every issue the wrong decision is to find reasons to oppose
every alternative until none remains. To every opportunity, there are those
who wi 11 say, "Yeah, but II
When I was 11 years old, Sam Muscal could have told me, "yeah, but. .
"Yeah, but you're too young. . . Yeah, but you've never worked before
Yeah, but how do I know you won't steal from me?" Well, he didn't say
then, and I ask you not to say it now.
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that
As we study opportunities, as we examine options, as we build a better commu-
nity, let us not be civic delinquents who would throw rocks at every new
idea. Let us instead be energetic carpenters and masons who would build our
community, board by board and brick by brick. If there1s a public hearing,
come out and testify. If you can't get to the public hearing, write a letter
to me or to your councilor. If you can't write a letter, call me at City
Hall. I will meet with citizens. I will return my phone calls, and I will
be as accessible as any mayor can be.
Over the years, I have lost touch with Sam Muscal. I am not even certain
whether he is alive. But if he were here tonight, I believe he would be
proud of himself for giving an inner-city kid an opportunity. To you who are
here tonight, and to those who are not, I pledge to try to be a mayor who
will make you proud for giving me this opportunity.
Now I ask you to join me in trying to make this city a prouder, better,
kinder place to live. Remember that success is also the journey and not only
the destination. I would like you to work with me to make this journey one
of the most successful that Eugene has ever had by working together, by
respecting one another, and by being prepared to capture every opportunity.
Thank you very much.
State of the City Address
Jeff Miller
January 9, 1989
Page 6