HomeMy WebLinkAbout7.24.2019 City Council Work Session MinutesMINUTES
Eugene City Council
Harris Hall, 125 East 8h Avenue
Eugene, Oregon 97401
July 24, 2019
12:00 p.m.
Councilors Present: Betty Taylor, Emily Semple, Alan Zelenka, Jennifer Yeh, Michael Clark, Claire
Syrett, Chris Pryor
Councilors Absent: Greg Evans
Mayor Vinis opened the July 24, 2019, Work Session of the Eugene City Council.
Committee Reports and Items of Interest
Mayor Vinis proposed postponing the City Manager's Performance Raring Average motion to
after summer break because of all the other items on the agenda.
MOTION: Councilor Pryor, seconded by Councilor Semple, moved to reconsider Monday
night's Resolution Condemning White Nationalism and Alt -Right Activities and Groups.
Council Discussion
o Councilor Pryor -explained that he wanted to reconsider the resolution because it would
be nice if City Council provided greater and more forceful support for this particular
resolution to demonstrate clearly that the City is opposed to the level of racism and activity
going on.
VOTE ON MOTION: PASSED 7:0.
Council Discussion
o Councilor Semple - said she was proud to have brought this resolution forward and had
fully intended to vote in favor of the resolution on Monday night, but was concerned that
they might be condemning thoughts; noted it was against her values of freedom of speech
and civil rights and wanted more time to consider this unintended path, said she would like
City Council to pass a unanimous resolution consistent with their commitment to creating a
welcoming and safe community and is grateful for the opportunity to change her vote to
yes.
o Councilor Clark - said he wanted to vote in favor of this resolution; talked about the
comments calling him a racist and wanted to be clear that he does not think any race is
inferior to any other; said the problem with the resolution was that parts of it were
incendiary and factually questionable and he made edits that he sent to City Council that
would create a resolution he would be happy to vote in favor of.
MOTION TO SUBSTITUTE: Councilor Clark, seconded by Councilor Semple, moved to
substitute the language that he emailed for those places in the resolution so that the
council might have a unanimous vote.
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Council Discussion
o Councilor Clark- clarified language proposed because he had put forth multiple options,
choosing Republic in the first instance and emphasizing in the second; said he thinks it's
important to make this statement and wants to vote in favor of the resolution after
removing areas that are condemning people's beliefs; read the proposed changes:
o All mentions of us as a Democracy be changed to a Constitutional Republic. (or a Republic)
o Item C - Replace "...the belief that.." with "...the promotion of the idea that..."
o Item D - Strike "and alt -right' and "many of which have been emboldened by the national
political dialogue."
o Item E - Replace the word "maintaining' with the word "promoting' or "emphasizing'.
o Item H - Strike all that begins with "For example ...... (begin again with)..... The State of
Oregon also has..."
o Councilor Pryor - said it feels as if the council will be saying that they want to condemn
racism and racist actions, but that it's okay to be a racist and that sits uncomfortably with
him because there are certain things that it's not okay to be; said that in the current political
climate being a racist is very difficult to hide because it comes out in words and if you are
the group in power saying things about groups not in power, that in its nature is
intimidating and needs to be condemned.
o Councilor Syrett - said she could support the motion with all proposed changes except the
striking of the word "maintaining' because she believes the purpose and scope of white
supremacy is to maintain that regime; said that we should not make space in our
community to accommodate or tolerate the robust expression of beliefs such as white
supremacy and does not want to be silent or timid in the face of these beliefs.
o Councilor Clark and Semple accepted Councilor Syrett's suggestion as a friendly
amendment.
o Councilor Clark- said he would be willing to give up changing all mentions of'Democracy"
to help meet in the middle.
o Councilor Taylor -said that when people have to hide something, it becomes more
dangerous.
o Councilor Zelenka - said he was bothered by two of the changed proposals, including
striking "many of which have been emboldened by the national political dialogue" noting
that this conversation is happening because of the national political dialogue; said he could
see the problem with the wording in Item H implying that white supremacist groups called
for the deportation of Japanese -Americans following Pearl Harbor.
o Councilor Pryor proposed amending the substitute motion to read, "Extreme racial
prejudice resulted in the deportation of Japanese -Americans following Pearl Harbor..." in
Item H.
o Councilor Clark and Councilor Semple accepted Councilor Pryor's proposal as a friendly
amendment.
o Councilor Zelenka - supported the friendly amendment but is still bothered by striking text
about the national political dialogue.
o Mayor Vinis proposed rewording the sentence in Item D to read, "We recognize that there
has been a rise of white nationalist and white supremacist groups in the United States, and
that the national dialogue reflects that racist tension."
o Councilor Clark and Councilor Semple accepted Mayor Vinis' proposed rewording as a
friendly amendment.
o Councilor Yeh - said she was not comfortable striking the sentence, "Today, white
supremacy groups, including militias, are advocating for the apprehension, detention and
deportation of Central American refugees legally seeking asylum in the United States."
o Councilor Clark- said he had a problem with the statement that anyone who believes in
deportation of illegal immigrants is a racist.
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o Councilor Yeh - reiterated her opposition to striking this sentence or striking reference to
"alt -right" groups; proposed rewording the sentence in Item H to read, "Today, groups are
advocating for the apprehension, detention and deportation of Central American refugees
legally seeking asylum in the United States"
o Councilor Clark and Councilor Semple accepted Councilor Yeh's rewording as a friendly
amendment.
o Councilor Taylor - proposed postponing this item because she objected to re -writing the
resolution language in this way at the table.
o Councilor Zelenka - asked clarifying questions about postponing motions to reconsider;
said it was important that if they're spending time amending the resolution, they're doing it
to get to a unanimous decision; shared concerns that Councilor Taylor's suggestion to
postpone the item might mean she won't vote in favor of the amended resolution.
o Councilor Taylor - said she would prefer to consider the amendments thoroughly and vote
on the resolution after break because this process was messy.
VOTE ON SUBSTITUTE MOTION (with friendly amendments): PASSED 7:0.
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Mayor Vinis - said this was an important conversation to have but encouraged councilors IN
the future to make edits to a proposed resolution in advance and not during a City Council
meeting.
WORK SESSION: Implementation of Construction Excise Tax and Use of Affordable
Housing Trust Funds
Community Development Director Michael Kinnison, Grants Manager Stephanie Jennings, and
Building Permit Services Director Lydia Kaye provided an update on the Construction Excise
Tax (CET), a timeline for its implementation, and the outcomes and potential focus areas for use
of CET funds.
Council Discussion
o Councilor Clark- asked staff about the pilot assistance program; talked about his challenges
with the Construction Excise Tax because it makes housing more expensive and generates
more rental housing instead of home ownership; said he would prefer to make it easier for
low-income folks to buy homes and would support 15 percent or more of residential CET
revenue set aside for down payment assistance.
o Councilor Syrett - said she liked the makeup of the proposed committee; asked who the
committee would be making recommendations to; said her priority focus areas are included
on the proposed list, including both renter and homeowner assistance; asked if this funding
could be used for permanent supportive housing; said she supported this fund because of
its flexibility and will be looking for creativity in the recommendations from the advisory
committee and staff to make the best use of CET dollars.
o Councilor Zelenka - asked about the status of the renter protections task force and survey
and how that gets integrated into this process; talked about the affordable housing task
force group and their focus on more affordable housing, noting very few people in that
group were renters so the focus was not on renter protections; said he thinks this money
should be focused on people not losing their homes with assistance to renters and
homebuyers, including help with down payments, rental deposits, housing navigators, and a
single rental application process.
o Councilor Yeh -agreed that the money should be focused on the three proposed potential
focus areas and that the City should be looking at setting aside more than 15 percent of the
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residential revenue for down payment assistance; asked what a housing consumer advocate
is; said that it would be helpful if the recommendations were created within some context
related to other programs.
o Councilor Pryor - said his main interest in approving the CET was to provide flexibility and
options for spending the money; however, more options means having to decide where that
money is and isn't going; said he wanted the fact that housing needs in Eugene are not static
or one -size fits all to be considered; said one of his intentions is that the CET funding could
be leveraged with other sources of funds to create a bigger impact.
o Councilor Taylor - pointed out that no additional money would be coming in for the first
two years; said that helping with down payments and first and last month's rent is crucial.
o Councilor Zelenka - clarified that the SDC offset with general fund money is only temporary
for two years and additional money will come in the third year; talked about how many
people are housing burdened in Eugene and the need to educate people about helpful
housing programs; said he thinks this money should be a source for the renter protections
committee recommendations.
o Councilor Syrett - asked about additional outreach and engagement happening with rental
housing fund money; agreed with Councilor Yeh that it would be helpful to have context for
recommendations that are proposed, including existing programs and how they connect.
o Mayor Vinis - said part of the pressure on renters is that the short supply of housing is
driving prices up; said that remediation and protection for renters is critical, but so is the
supply and the need to build more affordable housing.
o Councilor Zelenka - asked if there was a method in place to track the number of housing
units built since the implementation of the CET; said he wants to be able to point to the
incremental changes made by implementing the CET; supported making it clear what the
City Council priorities were.
MOTION: Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved that the vast majority
of the CET funds be used on direct assistance to renters and homebuyers with at least
15 percent of the residential CET revenue set aside for down payment assistance.
o Councilor Syrett - shared concerns about precluding the advisory committee from coming
back with recommendations that might not line up with this motion; asked if City Council
could change the spending ratio with a future motion
o Councilor Clark- talked about wanting to increase assistance for low-income individuals to
help people buy homes rather than rent them; said the community is skewed towards a high
number of rentals and HB 2001 will make it even more skewed; noted that prices won't go
down as more units are created.
o Councilor Pryor - said the flexibility of the CET funds is one of its strong suits and
supported going thorough more of a process and getting more feedback before narrowing
down the focus area for the money.
o Councilor Zelenka - clarified that his motion directs a majority of the money in one
direction but leaves flexibility for the rest of the funds; said he wants to give the committee
that will be formed in August some clear direction from City Council.
VOTE ON MOTION: PASSED 4:3, Councilors Semple, Syrett, and Pryor opposed.
MOTION AND VOTE: Councilor Pryor, seconded by Councilor Yeh, moved to extend the
meeting by 10 minutes. PASSED 5:2, Councilors Zelenka and Clark opposed.
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3. WORK SESSION: Protections for Individuals Ordinance Update
Human Rights and Neighborhood Involvement Manager Jennifer Lleras Van Der Haeghen gave
an overview of the Protections for Individuals Ordinance and proposed draft code changes.
Council Discussion
o Councilor Syrett - thanked other councilors for reconsidering the resolution condemning
white nationalism and hatred and coming to a unanimous vote; said she was proud of
efforts the City Council, City Manager, and Police Chief have taken to ensure all residents
feel secure doing business with the City and accessing City services without fear that their
information will be turned over to another government agency without due process; said
she thinks the additional proposed code changes would further strengthen these measures
and give clear direction to City employees.
MOTION AND VOTE: Councilor Syrett, seconded by Councilor Semple, moved to direct
the City Manager to schedule a public hearing on an ordinance substantially similar to
the Attachment B from the City Council's packet dated July 22, 2019. PASSED 7:0.
4. Committee Reports and Items of Interest
Council Discussion
o Councilor Taylor - raised constituent concerns about tents along the bike path, the payroll
tax, and questions about why the power lines aren't being buried during the Willamette
reconstruction; mentioned the free symphony in the park event as one of the best things the
City does; said one of the worst things the City does is charge library fines, including putting
a freeze on accounts that owe more than $10 and referring fees to a collection agency at
$50.
o Mayor Vinis - talked about participating in the international disabled women's conference
and two upcoming events Mobility International is having that are influential and inspiring;
talked about participating in the U.S. Conference of Mayors and associated Climate Summit;
said she has chosen to serve on the steering committee for Climate Mayors in hopes of
finding opportunities.
The meeting adjourned at 1:32 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
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Beth Forrest
City Recorder
(Recorded by Elena Domingo)
Link to the webcast of this City Council meeting: here.
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