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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/23/1982 Meeting J: ~ . M I NUT E S e Eugene City Council Special Meeting City Council Chamber June 23, 1982 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: John Ball, Mark Lindberg, Gretchen Miller, Brian Obie, Betty Smith, Cynthia Wooten. COUNCILORS ABSENT: D.W. Hamel, Emily Schue. Special meeting of the City Council of the City of Eugene, Oregon, was called to order by His Honor Mayor Gus Keller. Mayor Keller said that council members had enjoyed the Focus Month on Economic Diversification lunch meeting earlier in the day with members of the business community and representatives of Lane Community College and the University of Oregon. He thanked those who had attended for their comments and their help to the council in preparing for the second year of the City's economic diversifi- cat i on program. Mr. Keller thanked City staff member Susan Smernoff and the members of the Business Assistance Team for their work in organizing and publi- - cizing Focus Month. I. DOWNTOWN COMMISSION OPENINGS: BALLOT FOR FINALISTS (information distributed) Council members submitted ballots for finalists to be interviewed for positions on the newly created Downtown Commission. It was noted that applicant Wally Swanson was out of town for an extended period of time and that, if he were selected as a finalist, he would need to be interviewed by telephone. II. PUBLIC HEARING ON EUGENE'S ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION PROGRAM Mayor Keller entered into the record testimony of the Eugene Commission on the Rights of Women and noted that all council members had received copies of the testimony. Public hearing was opened. Jim Clay, 1002 West 2nd Avenue, said he is the owner of Plain and Fancy Woodworking. He referred to the Focus Month lunch meeting earlier in the day and thanked council members for presenting the ideas raised at each discussion table accurately and in good perspective, even though the councilors might not have agreed with all the ideas. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council Special Meeting June 23, 1982 Page 1 " . Mr. Clay said that this was his firm's eighth year in business. He agreed on e the need for those working with economic development to maintain a positive att itude. He said it was important for members of the pUblic to provide positive comments and constructive criticism to those within government who are working on economic diversification efforts. Mr. Clay said that the council needed to recognize the urgency of the current condition of the wood products industry. He said that many struggling firms will not endure long enough to derive benefit from such long-term programs as those contained in the Small Business Assistance portion of the City's Six-Point Economic Diversification Program. He noted that $260,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds had been set aside for investment in small businesses, but that individual businesses were excluded from applying for the funds under the original Requests for Proposals. Mr. Clay then discussed the proposed three-phase business assistance program and said that the first phase, which called for providing subsidized interest rates or short-term borrowing, was not the right approach to providing the assistance needed. He said he recognized that it was politically expedient to provide a number of smaller loans, but he felt that numerous small loans would have little long-term impact. Mr. Clay said that he had talked with representatives of the Community Development Committee, the City Council, and local banks and that he had found no indication that the proposed three-phase program will contribute to the goal of economic diversification or development. He said that he had asked his banker, David M. Gazeley of Centennial Bank, to review all the materials involved in development of the proposed program. Mr. Clay submitted a copy of a letter written by Mr. Gazeley evaluating the program, to be entered into the record, and read excerpts from the letter. Mr. Clay noted that City e staff had been very cooperative in providing him with the materials needed for this review. In the letter, Mr. Gazeley stated that he was "not convinced that providing short-term credit assistance through interest rate subsidies is in the best interest of either the program's goals, the City of Eugene, or the potential user of the funding." Mr. Gazeley recommended instead short- to medium-term business development loans. Mr. Clay said that, based on the advice he had sought, he would encourage the council to use the CDBG funds for a program with longer-term impact and to use the four basic goals adopted for the CDBG-funded program in evaluating the entire business assistance program. Mr. Clay said that he had additional questions on the program and indicated that he would submit those in writing for consideration by the council. Esther Loy, 2683 Elinor Street, said she is the President of the League of Women Voters of Central Lane County. She thanked the council for holding this hearing and the earlier round table discussion. She said that the League had recently concluded a four-year study of growth in the metropolitan area and had adopted a position on economic growth. She said that the League supported economic diversification efforts IIcoordinated on a county-wide basis; continued enforcement of environmental standards, continued systematic land use planning. . . and efforts both to help existing industry and to attract new business.1I She sai d that League felt that government should be involved in economic diversification, along with the private sector. She said that the League hoped for clarification on the question of whether there is are adequate amounts of various types of industrial land. Ms. Loy said that the League supported continued efforts to e MINUTES--Eugene City Council Special Meeting June 23, 1982 Page 2 . . . revitalize the downtown core area. She said the League was concerned that the e City's capital improvements program would not be feasible under current economic conditions. Ms. Loy urged the City to work with the University of Oregon and Lane Community College and emphasized the economic impact of these two insti- tutions on the Eugene area. She also urged continued public involvement in the economic development issue. Kevin Doyle, 766 East 15th Avenue, said he is the new development director for the Neighborhood Economic Development Corporation (NEDCO). He said that this local development corporation had been funded through the City's Community Development Block Grant program. He noted that the City's economic diversi- fication program called for establishment of a local development corporation and suggested that NEDCO was available to fill this role and that it would be a duplication of effort to create a second such corporation. He emphasized NEDCO's permanency and questioned the need for two local development corporations. Gordon Elliott, 938 Jefferson Street, asked the City to give a fair opportunity for others in the area to compete with the City economically. He was upset that his property, which is served by all urban services, had been excluded from the Urban Growth Boundary. He said that the project he proposed to develop on his property was environmentally sound. He said that if staff members could demon- strate to him that the project would not work, could not be funded, or would not meet the Statewide Planning Goals, then he would abandon the plan. Mr. Elliott referred to a document submitted at the November 17, 1981, Joint Planning Commissions' hearing on the Metropolitan Area General Plan and urged councilors - to read this document. Mayor Keller told Mr. Elliott that he, Mr. Gleason, and Planning Director John Porter would meet with Mr. Elliott within the next 30 days to discuss Mr. Elliott's proposed development. There being no further testimony, public hearing was closed. Councilor Wooten said that the questions regarding the use of Community Develop- ment Block Grant funds for economic development should be referred back to the Community Development Committee with a request for further consideration, and that the council should continue the discussion of the elements of that program and the ability of the program to meet the needs of the community. Councilor Lindberg referred to Mr. Clay's testimony. He thanked Mr. Clay and all those who had taken time to testify before the councilor to attend the noon lunch gathering. He said he appreciated these people's efforts and the productive dialogue between the public and private sector. He said that the feedback on the first phase of the City's economic diversification efforts would result in some re-examination of the program. Mr. Lindberg noted that applications for loans to businesses through the CDBG business assistance program were not being taken now, because decisions on the structure of and length of time covered by this program had not yet been made. - MINUTES--Eugene City Council Special Meeting June 23, 1982 Page 3 . - III. DOWNTOWN COMMISSION OPENINGS: DETERMINE FINALISTS/SET INTERVIEW TIME Council ballots for applicants to be interviewed as finalists for openings on the Downtown Commission were cast as follows: Councilor Ball: Counci lor Hamel: Councilor Lindberg: David Filer Theodore Larsen James McCoy Jim McCoy Michael Schwartz David Filer Elaine Denning Harold Hyman Hugh Prichard Anne Bennett Thomas Slocum John Matott Don Genasci Richard Skeie Tom Schott Hugh Pri chard Wayne Lawl ess Steve Shepard Nancy Hayward Allan Pierce Jon Pincus Dean Owens Thomas Schott Elaine Denning Steve Shepard George Boehnke Nancy Hayward Jon Pincus Anne Bennett Don Genasci Tom Schott Kay Bryant Richard Skeie Scott Galenbeck Wallace Swanson Mike Schwartz Wallace Swanson Councilor Miller: Councilor Obie: Councilor Smith: Steve Shepard A. Dean Owens Harold Hyman Hugh Prichard ~ Michael Schwartz John Matott e Nancy Hayward Richard Skeie Roger Neustadter David Filer Jim McCoy Hugh Prichard Jim McCoy Nancy Hayward Elaine Denning Dean Owens Haro 1 d Hyman Nancy Hayward Anne Bennett Theodore Larsen Tom Sc hott Tom Schott John Matott Steve Shepard Mike Schwartz Roger Neustadter Dean Owens Don Genasci Hugh Prichard Mike Schwartz Roger Neustadter Tom Schott Rick Skeie Elaine Denning Wally Swanson Wally Swanson Councilor Wooten: Elaine Denning David Filer Hugh Prichard Nancy Hayward A. Dean Owens Anne Bennett Don Genasci Steve Shephard Ri chard Skei e Roger Neustadter Jim McCoy e Tom Schott MINUTES--Eugene City Council Special Meeting June 23, 1982 Page 4 ) . Councilor Obie read the list of the top 13 vote-getters, as tallied by staff: e Tom Schott Hugh Prichard Nancy Hayward Richard Skeie Jim McCoy Dean Owens Elaine Denning Mike Schwartz Steve Shepard Anne Bennett Davi d Fil er Don Genasci Roger Neustadter Mr. Obie said that he had talked with Mr. Lindberg and that they were both disappointed that former Eugene Renewal Agency members Wallace Swanson and John Matott had not been included in the list of applicants to be interviewed. Mr. Obie requested that the council agree to interview these two people. Mr. Lindberg said he felt that Mr. Swanson and Mr. Matott should be interviewed in view of their past service. Councilor Ball said he had understood that 12 candidates were to be interviewed. He noted that the staff tally had included 13 names. Assistant City Manager David Whitlow explained that there had been a tie for position 12 and that both e names had been included, raising the number to 13. Mr. Ball noted that the additions proposed by Mr. Obie and Mr. Lindberg would bring the number to be interviewed to 15. Mr. Whitlow said that the council could select as many people to be interviewed as it wished. Ms. Smith felt that interviewing all 15 people would reaffirm the importance of the Downtown Commission. Ms. Mi 11 er felt that it was difficult to select from among 12 candidates and that raising the number to 15 would make the decision even more difficult. Councilors discussed whether they had intended the votes on their ballots to be weighted or unweighted, with general agreement that weighting of votes had not been anticipated. Mr. Obie moved, seconded by Mr. Lindberg, to interview the 13 people listed in the tally sheet prepared by staff, plus Wallace Swanson and John Matott. Roll call vote; motion carried 5:1 with Councilors Lindberg, Miller, Obie, Smith, and Wooten voting in favor, and Councilor Ball voting in opposition. Councilors agreed to hold the interviews on Wednesday, June 30, 1982. Mr. Obie suggested that 5-minute oral interviews be held, supplemented by written responses to questions. The meeting was adjourned to June 28, 1982. '-. - (Recorded by Darcy Marentette) MDG:DCM:dcm/CM26b21 MINUTES--E~gene City Council Special Meeting June 23, 1982 Page 5