HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Newsletter - 11/09/06
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER
November 9, 2006
City of Eugene
777 Pearl Street, Room 105
Eugene, Oregon 97401-2793
(541) 682-5010
(541) 682-5414 (FAX)
www.eugene-or.gov
IN THIS WEEK’S EDITION
SECRETARY OF INTERIOR VISITS WEST EUGENE WETLANDS
KAKEGAWA DELEGATION VISITS EUGENE
NEW PHONE SERVICE HOURS AT MUNICIPAL COURT
WET WEATHER WASHES LETHAL LIQUIDS THROUGH FOOD CHAIN
ST
FIRE & EMS CALLS UP SLIGHTLY IN 1 QUARTER OF FY07
CHRONIC HOMELESSNESS PLAN ADOPTED BY LANE COUNTY
CITY WINS SAFETY AWARD
"SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, THREATS, & BULLIES" TALK AT EUGENE PUBLIC LIBRARY
LOCAL CITIZEN TO BE HONORED FOR SAVING ANOTHER’S LIFE
‘GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS’ NOW ON EXHIBIT AT AIRPORT GALLERY
NEW FROM FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY: USED MYSTERY BOOK SALE
AROUND THE CITY
Secretary of Interior Visits West Eugene Wetlands
Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne was welcomed to the West
Eugene wetlands on Thursday, November 2, by Mayor Kitty Piercy and
members of the West Eugene Wetlands Partnership. The main
purpose of his visit was to get a first-hand look at a successful,
collaborative, conservation partnership involving federal and local
government entities and non-profit organizations.
During Kempthorne’s visit, Mayor Piercy, and staff from the City of
Eugene, Bureau of Land Management, The Nature Conservancy, and
Willamette Resources and Educational Network (WREN) provided the
Secretary with an overview of the West Eugene Wetlands Partnership’s
major successes with land acquisition, habitat restoration,
environmental education, and recreation facilities. A special focus of
the presentations was to inform him of the community’s effort to build a
wetlands education center in West Eugene. For more information,
please contact Eric Wold, Wetlands Program supervisor, at 682-4888.
Dirk Kempthorne (left) at west Eugene
wetlands.
Kakegawa Delegation Visits Eugene
On November 21, 2006, ten delegates from Eugene’s Sister City, Kakegawa, Japan, will arrive for a four-
day visit to Eugene. Their visit will include a tour of the State Capitol in Salem, meeting with Mayor
Piercy, and tour of City Hall. They will also enjoy the sights and culture of Eugene, and share
Thanksgiving dinner with local homestay families. The event is being hosted and sponsored by the
Eugene-Kakegawa Sister City Committee on behalf of the City of Eugene. This is the 29th Anniversary
of the sister city relationship between Eugene and Kakegawa. A Friendship Dinner to celebrate the sister
city relationship and to honor the guests from Kakegawa will be held on Wednesday, November 22, at
6:30 p.m. in the Vistas I room on the 12th floor of the Eugene Hilton and Conference Center. The
community is invited to this event. The price is $30 for general admission. Homestay families (two
dinners) and delegates are free. RSVP to (541) 345-0858 by Nov. 16. For more information about this
event and the Eugene-Kakegawa Sister City Committee, contact Mary Walston at (541) 682-5406.
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 1
November 9, 2006
New Phone Service Hours at Municipal Court
Beginning November 13, the primary Municipal Court public phone line will no longer be answered
between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. However, the court's phone reception service will continue to be
available daily from 8:00 to 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 to 4:00 p.m. Between 11:30-12:30, callers will receive
a recorded message advising them of the new phone hours. This change is a result of the frequent need
to operate two courtrooms in the afternoon due to the large number of people appearing at court for
misdemeanor and ordinance charges. Operation of a second courtroom for high volume court sessions
enables more efficient service to the public. The reduction of phone service by one hour allows for the
consolidation of staff lunch hours, freeing up more staff resources to provide courtroom support in the
afternoon. For more information please contact Kristie Hammitt at 682-5019 or
kristie.a.hammitt@ci.eugene.or.us
Wet Weather Washes Lethal Liquids Through Food Chain
This time of year, a toxic mix of rain and vehicle fluids appears as a colorful sheen on streets and
driveways. But this is a deadly rainbow, for once these fluids empty into the storm drain system and
local waterways, petrochemical pollutants can move up the food chain, damaging or destroying many
organisms along the way. Learn more about this problem in the latest issue of Stormwater Connections
due to arrive in Eugene mailboxes over the next week.
There’s plenty more to read about. Over the summer, a new organic technology was put in place along a
few sections of the Amazon Creek, replacing chunks of missing stream banks. There’s timely news, too,
including several pages of flood management information, along with a flood hazard map for the Eugene
area. For younger citizens, the back page offers a special feature on ecological addresses.
This semi-annual newsletter of the Stormwater Management Program has been produced since 1994 to
increase awareness of surface water and natural resource issues in the community. Copies of the
newsletter have been placed in the Council Office. For more information or additional copies of the
newsletter, contact Kathy Eva, public information specialist for the Stormwater Management Program, at
682-2739.
Fire & EMS Calls Up Slightly in 1st Quarter of FY07
For the initial quarter of Fiscal Year 2007 (July through September), the Fire & EMS Department
responded to a total of 5,143 calls for service, a record number but only slightly higher than the 5,048
responses made in the first quarter of FY06. In a continuing upward trend, this may be the department’s
first year responding to more than 20,000 calls. Of the first quarter FY07 responses, 4,049 were to
medical incidents, 594 to fire incidents, and 500 to other types of calls (public assistance, odor
investigation, etc.).
In analyzing resource deployment, the department takes into account the fact that a fire response
requires more equipment and personnel, and generally takes longer, than a medical call. Fire & EMS is
currently preparing an update of the major Standards of Response Coverage analysis of the response
system, which will reflect six months' worth of data (latter half of FY06) demonstrating the effects of
restoring an engine company to the Valley River Station. Staff expects the improvement in overall
response reliability to be statistically evident in that analysis. For more information, please contact
Management Analyst Glen Potter at 682-7130.
Chronic Homelessness Plan Adopted by Lane County
The Ten-Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness was approved by the Lane County Board of
Commissioners on Wednesday, November 8. Brief presentations were made by Pearl Wolfe of Lane
County, Richie Weinman of the City of Eugene, and local homeless advocates including William Wise,
St. Vincent DePaul’s Emergency Services Director, Susan Ban, Shelter Care’s Executive Director, and
Nancy Glines, Cottage Grove’s Community Sharing Executive Director.
In Lane County, it’s estimated that nearly 1,300 people are homeless on any given night. During the
course of a year, over 6,000 individuals were homeless and receiving services from the Human Services
Commission’s funded anti-poverty programs.
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 2
November 9, 2006
Leading up to adoption, the Lane County Human Services Commission (HSC) in cooperation with the
City of Eugene hosted fifteen community forums on the Ten-Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness.
Pearl Wolfe( HSC Supervisor) and Richie Weinman (City of Eugene, Urban Services Manager)
presented this plan to a variety of groups including homeless youth, adults and families, faith community,
elected officials, Housing Policy Board members and school districts staff, Rotary groups, United Way
volunteers, and homeless service providers. A special leadership Summit on Homelessness occurred in
September and community leaders offered input on the Ten-Year Plan.
Some key components to Lane County’s Ten-Year Plan include strategies to:
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Create new, permanent housing beds for chronically homeless persons.
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Housing First Model,
Use an alternative to the current system of emergency shelter/transitional
housing, which tends to prolong the length of time that families remain homeless. The
methodology is premised on the belief that vulnerable and at-risk homeless individuals and
families are more responsive to interventions and social services support after they are in their
own housing, rather than while living in temporary/transitional facilities or housing programs.
With permanent housing, these families can begin to regain the self-confidence and control over
their lives they lost when they became homeless.
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Increase the success rate of homeless persons becoming employed and staying employed.
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Work collaboratively to stop discharging vulnerable populations into homelessness due to a lack
of safe options.
Lane County and the cities of Eugene and Springfield are partners in this effort with HUD to make this
plan viable. The Human Services Commission receives more than $2 million annually through a HUD
grant to provide funds to nine agencies that offer 15 unique programs to assist people who are homeless.
Funded agencies include White Bird, Shelter Care, St. Vincent dePaul, Looking Glass Youth and Family
Services, Birth to Three, Catholic Community Services, Womenspace, Mainstream Housing, Housing
and Community Services Agency of Lane County. For more information please contact Richie
Weinman, Planning and Development Department, at 682-5533 or richie.d.weinman@ci.eugene.or.us
City Wins Safety Award
th
For the 6 consecutive year, the League of Oregon Cities and City County Insurance Services (CCIS)
recognized the safe work performance by City of Eugene employees with a Silver Safety Award. The
award is based on the number of lost-time injury cases per 100 employees. The injury frequency rate for
the fiscal year 2005 was 2.91. CCIS Risk Management Consultant John Zakarriassen stated that City of
Eugene employees should take pride in receiving this award as the low injury frequency rate
demonstrates an outstanding effort in working safely.
The framed award certificate is on display in the Human Resource and Risk Services lobby (Room 101)
at City Hall. This award is in recognition of the continued efforts of City of Eugene employees to operate
within the framework of a proactive safety program. For additional information, contact Mike Pungercar
at 682-5762.
"School Shootings, Threats, & Bullies" Talk at Eugene Public Library
Since the tragedy at Columbine High in 1999, shootings at schools have claimed over 400 student and
faculty lives worldwide. Across the nation this spring, 25 students were arrested in connection with 16
Columbine-style plots. This fall has seen additional deadly shootings in Montreal, Colorado, Wisconsin,
and Pennsylvania.
On Saturday, November 18, 3 - 5 p.m., at the Downtown Eugene Public Library, journalist Joseph
Lieberman presents a multimedia talk addressing the questions on many minds: Why is this still
happening? What haven’t we learned? What can we do?
Lieberman's book, The Shooting Game: The Making of School Shooters, explores “isolation, rejection,
anti-social behaviors, ready access to guns, and the accepted norm of violence in the media and society
as creating fertile ground for school shootings [which are] America’s most obvious yet most denied sign
that our youth are crying out for healthy social acceptance and connections” (Amy Pincus Merwin).
Joining Lieberman for this presentation are Jill Hollingsworth, Program Coordinator and Prevention
Specialist at Looking Glass Youth and Family Services, and Springfield Fire Chief Dennis Murphy.
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 3
November 9, 2006
Hollingsworth discusses teen bullying and suicide in the local community. The U.S. Secret Service has
identified retribution for bullying and harassment as a factor in the majority of school shooting cases.
Most shooters have been suicidal. Murphy was a first responder at the Thurston High School shooting in
1998 and founded the Ribbon of Promise National Campaign to Prevent School Violence. The
November 18 presentation includes original video and audio from Thurston. For more information, call
the Eugene Public Library, 682-5450.
Local Citizen to be Honored for Saving Another’s Life
The Eugene Fire & EMS Department will present a Citizen Life Saving Award to Brianna
Schooley a Eugene woman who, by administering CPR and using an Automatic
External Defibrillator (AED), saved the life of a man who had gone into cardiac arrest at
Chicago's O'Hare Airport. Not only will this award presentation acknowledge that a
Eugene citizen who, by her own actions performed an exemplary act and gave the gift
of life to a complete stranger, it will also give the Fire & EMS Department an opportunity
to educate others on the advantages of knowing how to administer CPR, and highlight
all of the AED locations throughout the City. For more information, please contact A/Deputy Chief
Operations Randy DeWitt at 682-7130.
‘Good News, Bad News’ Now on Exhibit at Airport Gallery
With its award-winning reporting and photography, Eugene's Register-Guard newspaper is a vital source
of regional, national, and international news. “Good News, Bad News” celebrates the Guard's contribution
to this community with examples of exceptional photojournalism.
The exhibit, which opened October 30 and runs through February 15, 2007, can be viewed by airport
passengers or by appointment. For more information contact Dena E. Brown at 541-744-0909 or contact
Airport Manager Bob Noble at 541-682-5430.
New from Friends of the Library: Used Mystery Book Sale
Attention mystery lovers! Don’t miss this one day sale on gently-used mystery novels, most available for
only one dollar. This new event debuts on Sunday, November 19, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. at the Downtown
Eugene Public Library. All proceeds benefit the Eugene Public Library.
The Friends of Eugene Public Library promise tables filled with mystery favorites: hard-boiled detectives,
British peers, mostly-honest cops, international spies, fluffy little ladies from quiet villages, Navajo police
officers, and many more. From classics to nearly new bestsellers, hardcover or paperback, most will be
priced at one dollar.
According to Carol Hildebrand of the Friends of the Library, “Mystery fiction is a big seller at the Friends'
annual book sale in April. But at the moment, donations are outpacing storage space, so we thought
we’d give readers a shot at these now. Anyway, winter’s the perfect time to curl up with a mystery – or a
half-dozen mysteries – right?”
The Friends provide paper bags; those planning larger purchases are encouraged to bring boxes.
Checks are welcome with proper identification, but the Friends are unable to accept credit or debit cards.
Admission is free -- and on a Sunday, free City parking, including in the garage beneath the Library is
available. For more information, call the Eugene Public Library, 682-5450.
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 4
November 9, 2006