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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 2A: Approval of Minutes ECC UGENE ITY OUNCIL AIS GENDA TEM UMMARY Approval of City Council Minutes Meeting Date: May 11, 2009 Agenda Item Number: 2A Department: City Manager’s Office Staff Contact: Beth Forrest www.eugene-or.gov Contact Telephone Number: 682-5882 ISSUE STATEMENT This is a routine item to approve City Council meeting minutes. SUGGESTED MOTION Move to approve the minutes of the March 9, 2009, City Council Meeting, and March 11, 2009 Work Session. ATTACHMENTS A.March 9, 2009, City Council Meeting B.March 11, 2009, Work Session FOR MORE INFORMATION Staff Contact: Beth Forrest Telephone: 682-5882 Staff E-Mail: beth.l.forrest@ci.eugene.or.us Z:\CMO\2009 Council Agendas\M090511\S0905112A.doc ATTACHMENT A M I N U T E S Eugene City Council Public Hearing Council Chamber 777 Pearl Street—Eugene, Oregon March 9, 2009 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Chris Pryor, George Brown, Andrea Ortiz, Mike Clark, Alan Zelenka, Betty Taylor, Jennifer Solomon, George Poling. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. She announced that action on Item 4 on the agenda would be postponed as further work was required. 1. CEREMONIAL MATTERS Ron Dittler, Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission, and Peter Ruffier, Eugene Public Works, presented an award to the City of Eugene from the Lane Council of Governments recognizing the Metropoli- tan Wastewater Management Commission intergovernmental partnership, which had provided wastewater services for 72 years. 2. PUBLIC FORUM Mayor Piercy reviewed procedures for providing comments. Drix, West University neighborhood, Eugene, spoke to the council about toilets, Twitter, style and class. He described the public toilets that were available at the Burning Man gathering and said that public toilets gave back integrity. He would provide more information at a later date. He discussed Twitter, an internet site that allowed people to connect with one-sentence statements about what they were doing. He suggested th allowing local artists to put their work at the 10 and Charnelton site downtown. Joe Collins, Eugene, discussed the Crest Drive/Friendly Street/Storey Boulevard “triad.” He said residents of the “triad” were coming before the council with many requests, including saving the Amazon Creek headwaters, saving trees, designation of their streets and objections to paying for street improvements because others would use them. He said those residents spent hundreds of hours preparing presentations to protect their neighborhoods and wallets. He noted the City was already paying $3.15 million of the $5.7 million cost of upgrading streets. He urged the council to read an article in that day’s Register- Guard about the project. He said it was discouraging to see so many people organized for their own benefit instead of advocating for things to benefit the community like a homeless shelter, more clinics, more jail beds and more treatment programs for addicts. Zachary Vishanoff, Ward 3, Eugene, urged the council to think about retaining the current police chief. He commended Interim Police Chief Pete Kerns for his willingness to solve problems and hoped he would be considered for the permanent position. Regarding the Police Auditor, he expressed concern that delaying an administrative investigation, during a criminal investigation, was a way to avoid investigating the police and MINUTES—Eugene City Council March 9, 2009 Page 1 supported concurrent investigations. He opposed involving municipal court judges in resolving differences of opinions between the Police Auditor and Police Chief regarding concurrent investigations. Marlene Varady , Crest Drive, Ward 2, Eugene, submitted a petition with 37 signatures requesting the following: assess the entire ward affected by road improvements, allow assessments to be paid when property is sold, make available an interest-free or very low interest loan from the City and provide some type of tax advantage or lower property taxes on assessed homes to help defer the costs. She had talked to many neighbors and one family was faced with foreclosure while other faced considerable financial hardships. She said there was a range of incomes in the neighborhood. Declining property values and lack of financing made it extremely difficult for people to sell homes. Kim Heddinger , Crest Drive, Ward 2, Eugene, stated that she owned two lots and would be assessed $38,000, which was not affordable. She objected to Mr. Collins’ characterization of neighbors as a “triad” and noted that the neighborhood was diverse. She said the roads had been in poor condition for many decades and the improvements would not increase property values. She said it would be difficult to finance the assessments in the current credit climate. She encouraged the City to research how other municipalities handled street improvement assessments. Marilyn Mohr , River Road neighborhood, said her neighbors recognized the inequitability of the current system of assessment for street improvements. She encouraged the council to find more equitable methods for financing street improvements as it affected property owners across the city. Jan Fillinger , Crest Drive, Ward 2, Eugene, encouraged the council to modify the code to provide a fairer assessment method for street improvements and supported a moratorium on street improvements if that was necessary in order to establish a more equitable approach. He said many people, particularly the elderly, had fixed, low or no income and needed other options for paying assessments, such as when property was sold. He urged the council to delay the project and modify the code. Joan Kelly , Elmira Road, Eugene, commented that it was not that easy to obtain the necessary number of property owners to oppose a project as it was not simply 50 percent plus one; it was based on the assessable linear footage. She said a large number of rentals, and footage that was not directly in front of a residence, further complicated the matter. She was supportive of options such as paying an assessment at the time a property was sold. She was distressed that it appeared easier to assess residents for the cost of street improvements than to deal with the federal regulations involved in using stimulus funds. She noted inconsistencies in subsidy income information on different forms that had not yet been corrected. Bill Eddie , Crest Drive, Ward 2, Eugene, thanked the council for its thoughtful discussion of assessment issues. He said it was a good time to find a more equitable solution to paying for street improvements by sharing the financial burden among more users of the roads. He preferred postponing the project until next summer while a better assessment policy was developed. He said the assessment would currently affect about 120 tax lots; spreading it to Ward 2 would involve about 8,000 properties at an estimated $250 each. He said assessing every lot in the City would cost each home owner about $40 and make each street belong to all residents. He urged the council to change the code and make street assessments fair to all concerned. Randy Prince , Eugene, expressed disappointment over what he perceived as downgrading the police auditor’s position by eliminating the requirement that the auditor be an attorney. He felt the council’s discussion of supervision of the auditor sounded like micromanagement of a position that did not need any more feedback than the City Manager. He said the auditor was supposed to be independent and many of the issues that had currently been raised, such as concurrent investigations, would be much more difficult to resolve if the auditor was not as qualified as an attorney. He advocated for Interim Police Auditor Dawn MINUTES—Eugene City Council March 9, 2009 Page 2 Reynolds, who he felt was the best candidate for the permanent position. He said he had well-founded problems with the Eugene Police Department and the agency needed to be reformed. Marion Eddie , Crest Drive, Ward 2, Eugene, thanked the council for its willingness to consider revising the street assessment policy and look for an equitable and fair solution. Steve Hirons , Crest Drive, Ward 2, Eugene, described growing up just outside Eugene and traveling along Crest Drive regularly. He said that many others who did not live along the street also used it on a daily basis and the cost of street improvements should not be imposed solely on the owners of properties along those streets. He encouraged the council to postpone the street improvement project while other more equitable approaches to assessment of costs could be considered. Toby Gamberoni , Crest Drive, Ward 2, Eugene, thanked the council for being receptive to new approaches to assessment and concurred with the comments of other Crest Drive area residents. He commented on the surcharge associated with his Sanipac bill, which would be used to keep streets in good operating conditions. He noted that Crest Drive was used by many parents who were taking children to and from Crest Elementa- ry and thought they should also be assessed for street improvements. He said the bank owned 75 percent of his home, but he paid the property taxes, and suggested that perhaps banks could assist with the cost of street improvements. He observed that potholes tended to slow traffic. Mayor Piercy closed the public forum and called for comments from the council. She pointed out that the City Manager was responsible for hiring the police chief. She assured Crest Drive area residents that the council did not want to see anyone lose their home because of assessments and was willing to work on ideas. She pointed out that the federal stimulus dollars could be used for repairs only on streets classified as collectors and above. Councilor Zelenka stated that the reason the City had a $170 million backlog of street repair projects was because over the years funding from the federal, state and County levels had vanished and the gas tax had not been increased since 1993, leaving local jurisdictions to pay for roads. He asked how many jurisdictions used an assessment methodology similar to Eugene’s. City Engineer Mark Schoening replied that most cities had a similar approach, but it was not used frequently; only affected properties were assessed. Councilor Zelenka clarified that all residents paid for maintaining improved streets. He said there would be $6.5 million in stimulus funds for all of Lane County and Eugene’s share would pay for four projects out of a very large backlog. He was willing to consider changes to the assessment policy, but felt that whatever method was selected would be perceived by some as unfair. Councilor Clark encouraged those who were affected by street projects to participate and provide their input. He agreed with the need to slow the process and assure that no one lost their home. He agreed with Councilor Zelenka about the funds that had historically been available for repairing roads, but no significant amount of local property taxes was spent on fixing roads; those tax revenues were spent on other City services, although he felt that a larger portion of that money should be used for roads. He said most of the local funding came from gas tax revenue and the council was currently discussing other funding sources. Councilor Ortiz announced that Lane County was making the armory across from Autzen Stadium available for emergency shelter during severe weather. She thanked Ellen Teninty for facilitating the work of the Police Auditor Ordinance Review Committee. She encouraged people to take advantage of the opportunity to vote on whether a street improvement project should move forward. MINUTES—Eugene City Council March 9, 2009 Page 3 Councilor Taylor remarked that the street assessment policy was unjust. She was not certain that postponing the project was the right choice, but felt there had to be a better way to pay for street repairs, such as assessing all residents, low interest loans, delayed payments or other options. Mayor Piercy observed that Eugene’s financial situation was shared by cities all over Oregon. She said that over 60 percent of the City’s budget was spent on public safety and the remainder on basic services that were very important to the community. 3. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Approval of City Council Minutes of January 7, 2009, State of the City Address; January 21, 2009, Work Session; January 26, 2009, City Council Meeting; February 9, 2009, Work Session; February 18, 2009, Work Session. B. Approval of Tentative Working Agenda C. Adoption of Resolution 4967 Requesting that Jurisdiction over a Portion of County Road No. 180 (Old Coburg Road) Be Transferred to the City of Eugene within a Specified Period of Time D. Appointment to Police Commission E. Ratification of Intergovernmental Relations Committee Actions of January 28, 2009, February 4, 2009, and February 11, 2009 Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to approve the items on the Consent Calendar. The motion passed, 8:0. 4. PUBLIC HEARING AND ACTION: Resolution 1051 Adopting a Supplemental Budget; Making Appropriations for the Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Eugene for the Fiscal Year beginning July 1, 2008, and Ending June 30, 2009. Mayor Piercy convened the meeting of the Eugene Urban Renewal Agency. Councilor Clark recused himself to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. Mayor Piercy opened the public hearing and explained the procedures for providing testimony. Zachary Vishanoff , Ward 3, Eugene, said that urban renewal siphoned away money for basic services; the funds could instead be used to pay for streets. He said two-way conversions of streets like Willamette Street were costly and made streets more dangerous. He said many smart growth policies helped to grow the backlog of street projects. He urged the council to take a holistic view and said some of the $440,000 in the supplemental budget could be used to assist the Tango Center downtown. He said downtown mixed- use had become vandalized and empty. He was concerned about empty commercial space and agreed with Councilor Taylor that the focus should be on housing and parks. He suggested using urban renewal dollars for micro loans. John Barofsky , Ward 3, Eugene, stated that the council should approve the urban renewal district’s supplemental budget. He described the line items within the $440,000 amount and brought the council’s attention to $50,000 in legal fees, which came to approximately 250 hours of legal work on the project. He encouraged the council to consider hiring an in-house attorney instead of contracting out with a private firm. Mayor Piercy closed the public hearing. She said the City Manager was exploring the possibility of in- house legal counsel. MINUTES—Eugene City Council March 9, 2009 Page 4 In response to a request from Councilor Zelenka, staff provided details of the estimated costs within the supplemental budget. Nan Laurence, Planning Department, explained that the $50,000 for legal fees was a th cumulative number and the complications of a development project such as the 10 and Charnelton site depended on legal expertise. She said staff used legal counsel as judiciously as possible and hoped the actual costs would be lower than those in the supplemental budget. She clarified that some of the fees associated with the project would be shared with or paid by the developer. Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Taylor, moved to adopt Resolution 1051 adopting a supplemen- tal budget; making appropriations for the Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Eugene for the Fiscal Year beginning July 1, 2008, and ending June 30, 2009. The motion passed, 7:0:1; Councilor Clark abstaining. Mayor Piercy adjourned the meeting of the Eugene Urban Renewal Agency. 5. ACTION: Ratification of Unanimous Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) Committee Actions and Discussion and Action on Non-Unanimous IGR Actions on Legislative Policy from February 25 and March 4, 2009 Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to ratify the Intergovernmental Relations Committee’s unanimous actions on bills and approval of staff recommendations in the February 25 and March 4, 2009, IGR Bill Reports for bills not pulled for discussion at those IGR meetings. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. Intergovernmental Relations Manager Brenda Wilson reported that at the IGR February 25, 2009, meeting, committee members were not unanimous on House Bill (HB) 2643 regarding exclusion of special taxing districts from participation in urban renewal plans. She said staff had recommended a Priority 2, Oppose position because the bill would have a potentially negative financial impact on the City because the exclusion of taxing districts would reduce revenue. She said the IGR committee voted 2:1 against Councilor Taylor’s motion to take a Priority 2, Support position. Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to take a Priority 2, Oppose position on HB 2643. Councilor Taylor stated she voted to support the bill because urban renewal diverted money from schools and other taxing jurisdictions that needed it. She felt they should have the option of not participating. Councilor Brown agreed with Councilor Taylor. He said that school districts should receive all of the tax money that was raised for them; it should not be diverted. He said last year people who opposed the urban renewal district determined that $263 was being diverted for each child in the state for all of the urban renewal agencies. He said that meant a school of 300 students lost $75,000 per year. He was not certain that all taxing jurisdictions should be allowed to opt out, but did favor that for school districts. Mayor Piercy pointed out that on the other side of the equation was the amount of increased taxes that urban renewal districts brought in. Councilor Poling remarked that urban renewal districts were self-funding and the bill would decrease the amount of money available. He said supporting the bill would be in conflict with the council’s legislative policy to oppose reductions in urban renewal. Councilor Clark said he was not a fan of urban renewal agencies, but the bill would make districts less effective and he could not support it. He would support the motion. MINUTES—Eugene City Council March 9, 2009 Page 5 Councilor Ortiz asked if the bill had any relationship to providing additional state per student funding to schools. Ms. Wilson replied that the bill would not accomplish that on its own. Councilor Ortiz supported the urban renewal district as a useful tool for accomplishing the council’s goals for downtown. She said even if HB 2643 did pass, there was no guarantee of more funds for Oregon’s school children because of the state’s school funding formula. Councilor Taylor asserted that funds were diverted and even with the school equalization funding formula some students somewhere would get more money. She felt schools should have the option of not participat- ing and the tax money in an urban renewal districts could come from some other place. Councilor Zelenka explained that any dollars would go back to the state’s General Fund and the legislature would have to allocate it to schools. He doubted that would happen with the state facing a $3 billion budget deficit and allowing school districts to opt out of urban renewal districts would not increase their available funding. The motion passed 6:2; councilors Taylor and Brown voting no. 6. ACTION: An Ordinance Concerning Water Quality Waterway Provisions; Adding Sections 9.4770 through 9.4790 to the Eugene Code, 1971 that Establish a Water Quality Overlay Zone; Amending Sections 9.0500, 9.1040, 9.7055, 9.7205, 9.7305, 9.7820, 9.8005, 9.8025, 9.8030, 9.8055, 9.8215, 9.8220, 9.8320, 9.8325, 9.8415, 9.8470, 9.8472, 9.8474, 9.8515, 9.8520, 9.8855, and 9.8865 of that Code; Repealing Ordinance No. 20194 and Sections 6.650, 6.655, 6.660. 6.665, and 6.670 of that Code; Adopting the Water Quality Waterways Map; Amending the Eugene Overlay Zone Map; Adopting a Severability Clause; and Providing an Effective Date City Attorney Emily Jerome stated that the record for the matter was closed following the council’s public hearing in May 2008. She understood the council had just received email testimony concerning the ordinance from Barbara Combs. She said Ms. Combs had submitted substantial testimony while the record was open; however, unless there was a motion to reopen the record the email testimony was specifically rejected and would not be considered in the council’s decision-making process. Therese Walch, Public Works Department, explained that the ordinance was a waterway protection proposal that aimed to fill the gaps in protection on waterways of significance to water quality,and acknowledged the significant incidental protection provided by the Goal 5 natural resources protections adopted previously by the council. She said impetus for the protections could be found in the Clean Water Act, as well as local adopted policies in the Comprehensive Stormwater Management Plan adopted in 1993. She said approx- imately 13.5 miles of waterways would be protected, the ordinance would affect approximately 368 property owners within the city limits upon adoption and ultimately up to about 548 property owners, the difference being properties currently outside the city limits but inside the urban growth boundary that would be affected only upon annexation. Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to adopt Council Bill 4975, an ordinance on water quality waterways protection. Councilor Clark commented that the council had just discussed street improvements and how they wanted to avoid affecting a minority of people unfairly. He said the ordinance was the same issue; it was a worthy goal to protect waterways, but resulted in up to 548 people losing their property rights for value that was MINUTES—Eugene City Council March 9, 2009 Page 6 shared by the entire community. He said it was wrong to put the cost of cleaning up waterways on a very few people and he would not support the ordinance. Councilor Poling asked what it would cost the City to acquire the property necessary to meet the proposal. Ms. Walch said the cost estimate for a conservation easement approach was provided at the council’s January 28, 2009, work session as an alternative to a regulatory approach. She said the ordinance was not a proposal to acquire those management areas. Councilor Solomon agreed with Councilor Clark’s objections to the ordinance. The motion passed, 5:3; councilors Clark, Poling and Solomon voting no. The meeting adjourned at 9 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jon Ruiz City Manager (Recorded by Lynn Taylor) MINUTES—Eugene City Council March 9, 2009 Page 7 ATTACHMENT B M I N U T E S Eugene City Council McNutt Room—City Hall—777 Pearl Street Eugene, Oregon March 11, 2009 Noon COUNCILORS PRESENT: Alan Zelenka, Mike Clark, Chris Pryor, Betty Taylor, Andrea Ortiz, George Poling, George Brown, Jennifer Solomon. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the work session of the Eugene City Council to order. A. COMMITTEE REPORTS AND ITEMS OF INTEREST FROM MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL, AND CITY MANAGER Mayor Piercy welcomed everyone. She expressed appreciation for the work of the neighborhood associa- tions and staff on the Neighborhood Summit. She thought it had been well done and had been amazed by the amount of energy and activity in the room. She thanked the people who worked to organize it and those who chose to spend a portion of their Saturday attending the summit. Mr. Clark announced that the Home Builders Association planned to host a conference called Impact 2009: How Housing Affects Our Local Economy, scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on March 18 at the Eugene Hilton Hotel. He said the association was partnering with Lane-Metro Partnership, the Chambers of Commerce of both Eugene and Springfield, and Northwest Natural Gas. He related that they planned to talk about local issues of economic development and how it affected housing. Mr. Clark related that he and Mayor Piercy had met, on February 23, with people who were working on an initiative and a website on local food production. He looked forward to helping them. He offered to share the link to anyone who contacted him by email. Mr. Clark had attended a meeting of the group, Catalyst, on March 3. He explained that the group was comprised of young people in their early 30s who were involved in issues of the downtown area. He said they had discussed downtown development and downtown safety. He related that he had attended the Neighborhood Summit as well and added his appreciation for all of the work that had gone into it. Ms. Ortiz had spent time at the Neighborhood Summit. She said there were a lot of people there and a lot of good conversation had occurred. She was glad that staff had been able to “pull it off so well.” Ms. Ortiz reported that the Trainsong Neighborhood had met the previous week. She said they had their official neighborhood group meeting so that they would start being recognized as an official neighborhood group. She was pleased by this and wished the group well. She related that it had been attended by more than 20 people. Ms. Ortiz said she had attended the Communities of Color dinner. She related that 11 public agencies shared this open house once a month and the communities of color visited and networked. She said it had been well-attended and was held at the Atrium Building. She had participated in the First Friday Art Walk MINUTES—Eugene City Council March 11, 2009 Page 1 Work Session after the dinner. Continuing, Ms. Ortiz stated that the Lane Regional Air Protection Agency (LRAPA) had met on the previous day. She said the agency had been discussing the make-up of the board and the budget, and remarked that it was “all very controversial” because of funding issues. She related that LRAPA planned a public meeting for April 2 to talk about the Seneca Sawmill Sustainable Energy Project. She said comments and questions could be submitted to the LRAPA Web site. She stated that the agency also planned to monitor the air quality around the schools in the Bethel neighborhood. Mr. Pryor regretted that he had missed the Neighborhood Summit. He had attended Project Homeless Connect, however, calling it a “tremendous event.” He said just the volunteer support alone was gratifying. He noted that the Housing Policy Board had met two weeks earlier and was working on a number of federal issues regarding grants and funding applications. He related that the board was trying to ensure that the region received its share of any funding that was coming from the federal government. Ms. Taylor reported that she had attended the Southeast Neighbors meeting the previous night and the group talked “a lot” about sustainability. She shared that the group was happy that the City was involved in sustainability. She had also attended the Human Services Commission (HSC) meeting. She said they needed money. Ms. Taylor thought the Neighborhood Summit had been “great.” She had noticed that the facilitators were doing a good job. She related that someone had asked if the council really supported “neighborhood empowerment” and she had responded that she thought it did. Ms. Taylor stated that she continued to receive telephone calls and emails from the people who live in the Crest Drive neighborhood, and now she was hearing from people who did not live in the neighborhood, who were concerned about the people who were being assessed for street improvements there. She asserted that there was a widespread belief that the street assessments for the Crest Drive area were “just not fair.” She continued to hope that the City could find “some money to help,” perhaps by delaying some of the capital improvement program (CIP) projects and using some of that money. Ms. Taylor said the Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations (CCIGR) was scheduled to meet immediately following the council work session. Ms. Solomon had missed the Neighborhood Summit. She explained that her family was hosting a foreign exchange student and the student played for Willamette High School girls’ basketball team, which had won the state tournament over the weekend. She reminded the people of the Bethel community that the next meeting of the Active Bethel Citizens (ABC) was scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on March 18 at Petersen Barn. She noted that the ABC newsletter contained an agenda. Ms. Solomon related that both the Public Safety Coordinating Council (PSCC) and the HSC planned to meet over the council break. She planned to report on both when the council reconvened after the break. Ms. Solomon had come across a couple of articles about the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) and its impact on state government. She said the articles indicated that PERS was generating less money and cities would have to pick up the slack. She had not heard anything about this as it related to the City’s budget and how this would be accounted for. She hoped to get some information on this before the budget meetings. She expressed nervousness about having only six budget meetings, with only four weeks from the time the City Manager would give the budget message to the time the council was expected to adopt the MINUTES—Eugene City Council March 11, 2009 Page 2 Work Session budget. She foresaw a lot of potential decision-making for the Budget Committee and City Council if the budget shortfall was still projected to be between $8 and $12 million. She asked if there was an estimate of the property tax revenues. She wondered, given the current rate of unemployment, whether some people would be challenged to pay their property taxes. Mr. Poling announced that the Harlow Neighborhood Association planned to meet at 7:00 p.m. on March 18 at Monroe Middle School. He stated that in addition to all of the emails and phone calls about the street assessment policy, he was also receiving a lot of calls and emails about the potential garbage hauler surcharge. He wanted to reassure people that the council was not taking action on it and would be discussing it at a later time. He stressed that he had opposed the garbage hauler fee the last time it had come before the City Council and he was still opposed to it. Mr. Brown related that he had attended Project Homeless Connect and had been amazed by all of the good work done by volunteers there. He had attended the Neighborhood Summit and thought it was also a worthy event. Mr. Brown reported that he had met with five local bankers, along with City Manager Jon Ruiz, Executive Director of the Planning and Development Department Susan Muir, and Mayor Piercy to discuss how the City could better interact. He averred that the bankers misapprehended certain things about the City’s services. He said there was a perception conveyed by the bankers’ clients that the City was unfriendly toward business people and did not want development to happen. He felt that they were able to share with them that the efficiency of the permitting process had been improved. He personally knew a builder who had been able to obtain permits for a whole house in one morning. He related that the bankers were pleased to hear this. He said they had directed the bankers to recommend that developers who have issues with the process contact the City Manager’s Office. He noted that Ms. Muir planned to hold some workshops with loan officers to explain what the planners were doing in regard to permitting. Mr. Zelenka stated that the Police Auditor Ordinance Review Committee (PAORC) had completed its work. He said the work had been processed in preparation for the public hearing. He had also attended the Lane Workforce Partnership. He related that they were willing to help the City and other government agencies with the facilitating of economic development summits and forum. He noted that the partnership had received some stimulus money to help unemployed people increase their training and find jobs. Mr. Zelenka had attended the Neighborhood Summit. He felt it had improved greatly from the previous one. He averred that having the neighborhoods be empowered was one of his top issues. Mr. Zelenka noted that there would be a Mayor’s Townhall Meeting on March 12 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers. The topic would be the potential spraying of bacillus thuringiensis Kurstaki (Btk) to eradicate the gypsy moth in the south hills. Mr. Zelenka reported that he had attended a reception for Ann Aiken, who had been elevated to District Court Chief Judge. He felt the promotion was well-deserved. He had also attended the Walnut Node Mixed- Use Open House. He said the process had begun moving forward and would come before the Planning Commission and, subsequently, the City Council in the fall. Continuing, Mr. Zelenka said the Sustainability Commission was scheduled to meet at 5:30 p.m. on March 18 in the Bascom-Tykeson Room. He noted that the Metropolitan Policy Committee (MPC) planned to meet on March 12 and would focus on the stimulus package projects and the public comment period on the Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP), which addressed area-wide and regional transportation planning. MINUTES—Eugene City Council March 11, 2009 Page 3 Work Session Mayor Piercy thanked all the volunteers for the work they put into Project Homeless Connect. She said the services provided at the event sought to improve the life situations of the homeless. She wanted to thank, in particular, Urban Services Manager for Community Development Richie Weinman, and Pearl Wolfe, of the Lane County Department of Human Services. Mayor Piercy said the goal of the meeting held with bankers was part of the economic development discussion effort. She underscored that they were very interested in protecting the businesses that were already in place as well as looking to the future for the economic development of the area. She stated that an intergovernmental group would also begin meeting. Mr. Ruiz thanked staff for work on both the Neighborhood Summit and Project Homeless Connect. He commended the City’s staff for its creativity and talent. Regarding the meeting with the bankers, he averred that people would find that if the City knew about issues, the City could be responsive to those issues. He encouraged people who found any obstacles to development to contact Ms. Muir. Regarding the budget, Mr. Ruiz indicated that he would follow up on Ms. Solomon’s question regarding PERS. He said the finance team was accounting “for everything possible.” He thought the council and committee would find that he was sharing more information about the budget than had been shared in previous years. He pointed to the information regarding the $12 million shortfall that had gone out earlier in the month. He wanted to publicly thank the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) for stepping up and indicating that they would be willing to negotiate and talk about the budget. Mr. Brown, seconded by Mr. Poling, moved to direct the City Manager to add the Eugene Police Employees Association (EPEA) proposal regarding taking cars home at the end of their shifts and consideration of seismic upgrading for City-owned first-responder sites that were below 2.0 ratings to the list of options regarding the disposition of the Facility Reserve Fund and the rehabilitation of City Hall. Mr. Brown stated that the first issue had been discussed through the years. He felt they should consider it again, given the economic times. He said the second part of the motion had arisen from the engineer’s report. He related that the problem was not just with City Hall; it affected a lot of other buildings. He pointed out that a 2.0 rating would be 60 percent destroyed and would not meet life-safety standards; City Hall was rated at -.8. He remarked that a person would not have to be a genius to understand that an earthquake would cause the City Hall to fall down. He provided a list of other first responder sites that needed upgrading. Mr. Poling said the motion tied into a discussion the council had earlier about the police patrol facility and the potential refurbishing of City Hall. He noted that the Lane County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) had shifted to take-home vehicles. He suggested that staff contact Chi Kennedy of the LCSO as a resource to start the initial gathering of information. Mr. Clark related that he had met with the former chief because this had been an issue he had brought up previously. He said they had an initial survey of what it would cost for Eugene to provide take-home vehicles. He had always favored this idea and would support the motion. MINUTES—Eugene City Council March 11, 2009 Page 4 Work Session Ms. Taylor remarked that having police cars parked in the neighborhoods was almost like expanding the police force. She opined that a police car was nearly as effective as a police officer in slowing traffic and discouraging some behaviors. The motion passed, 7:1; Ms. Ortiz voting in opposition. B. WORK SESSION: Joint Meeting with Human Rights Commission Mr. Ruiz invited Raquel Wells, Access and Equity Manager, to the table. Ms. Wells introduced the Human Rights Commission (HRC) chair, Annette Leonard, and co-chair, Paloma Reza. She noted the members of the HRC who were in the audience. She also thanked staff for their work in supporting the work of the HRC, especially Human Rights Program Specialist Francisca Johnson and Division Manager Andy Fernandez. Ms. Leonard introduced the newest staff member to the HRC, Human Rights Management Analyst Holly LeMasurier. Ms. Reza highlighted what had transpired with the HRC since it had lost approximately half of its commissioners two years earlier and, subsequently, two of its staff members, Greg Rikhoff and Karen Hyatt. She said at that time the HRC had to reprioritize its staffing and work management and, because of this, the HRC had put a pause on the work of the standing subcommittees, with the exception of the Accessibility Committee which had ongoing projects. She stated that the HRC and staff had started looking at developing a transition plan to prioritize the work. She related that the assessment recommendations had been presented to the City Manager and Assistant City Manager in June, 2008. She said the commission staff had formed a team in July, 2008, that incorporated sustainability, human rights, and equity and diversity, with a focus on looking at the common threads of those different bodies and ways to better integrate the HRC work with other work being done in the City. She noted the hiring of Andy Fernandez as the new division manager. Ms. Reza stated that the HRC had begun to formulate the work plan in October, 2008. She noted that the commissioners had taken on its development in this iteration and were participating a lot more than they had previously. She felt this had led to more manageable goals for the work they could do. Ms. Reza said through this process the HRC had still participated in events and had conducted outreach. She reported that they had collaborated with a community group, the Community Coalition for the th Advancement of Human Rights, to put on an event held on December 10 to commemorate the 60 anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She stated that the focus of the event had been on being a human rights city. They had also conducted some outreach at the Asian Celebration in February, 2008, asking what people thought were the top three priorities for human rights issues in the City. She related that the most common priorities expressed were around homelessness, hate crimes, racism, and access to the City and its processes. They had also held the HRC annual picnic in July and had done outreach at that event. Ms. Leonard and Ms. Reza reviewed the four objectives/priorities in the work plan, as outlined in the Agenda Item Summary (AIS) and attachment entitled Human Rights Commission FY10/11 Work Plan. MINUTES—Eugene City Council March 11, 2009 Page 5 Work Session Ms. Reza discussed the outcomes of the first goal, which had to do with working to increase the Human Rights Commission’s effectiveness, efficiency, and accountability in responding to and aiding in the resolution of incidents of discrimination and harassment. She stated that the primary responsibility for achieving the outcome would fall on the Advocates Response Team (ART) and the Human Right Support System (HRSS), which would focus more on the management of the goal and working with volunteers. Ms. Leonard related that the second goal, which sought to promote relationships between the community and HRC through collaborative work on human rights issues, would be achieved by increasing the training and education for commissioners and in community engagement and support. She said the commission hoped to sponsor community summits so that community members could come and talk to elected officials and a human rights summit to educate the community. She stated that HRC leadership, HRC staff, and the Education and Outreach Committee would take primary responsibility for this goal. Ms. Leonard stated that the third goal was focused on enhancing the relationships and communications with the City of Eugene council, boards, commissions, and staff. She said the HRC ordinance contained language regarding how the HRC might interact at policy levels and with department chairs. She noted that the primary responsibility for the goal would fall to the leadership of the HRC, the HRC itself, and the individual liaisons to the other commissions and the Civilian Review Board (CRB). Ms. Reza said the fourth goal was around working toward the implementation of a Human Rights Framework. She related that the HRC was getting a lot of feedback from other cities looking to Eugene as a possible example of a human rights city. She said they hoped to present a recommendation to the City Council in that regard, possibly in the form of a draft human rights ordinance to push forward the framework of a human rights city. She stated that the goal would be worked on by the commissioners and the community members that were interested in it. Ms. Leonard indicated that she would send the councilors an email with all of the acknowledgements she wanted to share with them. She related that the Accessibility Committee had been working on taxi accessibility, the City’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) transportation plan, the bicycle and pedestrian plan, curb cuts, accessible signals and intersections, and things along that line. Ms. Leonard said the HRC wanted to have a clearer plan for how incidents of hate, such as hate graffiti, would be handled. She underscored the importance of responding in a way that engaged the community and showed the community’s ability to provide support rapidly. Ms. Leonard thanked the councilors, and especially Mr. Clark for serving as the council liaison to the HRC. She welcomed Mr. Brown as the new council liaison to the HRC. Ms. Reza reiterated the desire of the HRC to figure out ways to better collaborate with the council in addition to finding better ways to provide support and advice to the council on issues related to human rights. She asked for council input about ways the HRC could provide this type of support. She also asked how best the HRC could use its liaison to further communication between the council and HRC. Mayor Piercy thanked the HRC for the hard work they had undertaken. She acknowledged that they had been through a challenging transition. She suggested that the HRC could help the Sustainability Commis- sion in its work to develop the metrics related to sustainability, particularly those related to social issues. She felt that Mr. Brown would be a good conduit from the HRC to the council but noted that there was only so much time available in meetings to share such information. She recommended that the HRC consider providing ongoing memoranda on its work to the council. She added that the current economic conditions MINUTES—Eugene City Council March 11, 2009 Page 6 Work Session were adding pressures to people’s lives. She hoped the HRC would make itself available to the public in response to the situation. Mr. Clark thanked everyone. He said it had been a pleasure to serve on the HRC and to work with the people who served on the commission. He stressed the importance of understanding the level of passion the HRC brought to the table, calling it “something to be proud of.” He stated that the work plan had been the product of many nights of work. He was impressed by how hard everyone worked on it and at the “real dedication” to the work plan that had been demonstrated. Ms. Ortiz was somewhat concerned that the things the commissioners were talking about were things the HRC did when she served on it. She said the HRC had always incorporated education and ways to connect with people in its plan. She felt that the presentation of the work plan and the work plan itself reflected what had happened with the staffing. She averred that there was no reason to re-create the wheel, but she was glad the HRC members were passionate about it. She added that the other thing she hoped to see would be a hate crimes conference. She remarked that it was City policy not to give hate crimes “ink,” but she had seen Eugene on a list, in a law enforcement magazine, of cities in which hate crimes occurred and this had given her pause. Mr. Zelenka called the work of the HRC “incredibly important.” He said the recent incident at North Eugene High School exemplified that their work was not done. He liked the idea of the HRC working with the CRB. He also appreciated the joint meetings with the Sustainability Commission; he believed that there was a good nexus there regarding social equity. He opined that it was difficult to “nail down” social equity. He was excited about being called a human rights city. He said he was receiving so many emails that it was difficult for him to respond to them. He suggested that the HRC give him “a call.” He felt that the greatest human rights issues facing the city had to do with hate crimes and mental health issues. Mr. Poling thanked the HRC for its work. He liked the Mayor’s suggestion that the HRC send memoranda via email to the council. Mr. Zelenka, seconded by Mr. Clark, moved to approve the Human Rights Commission Goals and Work Plan for FY 2010/11. Mr. Clark supported the idea of having “councilor buddies” for the HRC members, like the Police Commission. He thought it would be good for councilors to have their own individual contacts. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. Ms. Leonard thanked everyone. She noted that they had spoken about the staff members who had left, but she wanted to ensure that the two staff members who had “carried more than their fair share” were thanked. MINUTES—Eugene City Council March 11, 2009 Page 7 Work Session C. WORK SESSION: Tourism Update Assistant City Manager Sarah Medary introduced Keri Westlund, who represented Travel Lane County (TLC), formerly the Convention and Visitors Association of Lane County Oregon (CVALCO). Ms. Westlund passed out copies of the new visitor guide. She thanked the council for making time for them. She introduced Kim McClatchie, Lisa Laughton, and Sally McAleer, who had helped with the branding process. She noted that the Eugene Olympic Trials in 2008 were up for a prestigious sporting event award for sustainability. She could not imagine another event which would have “moved the needle” for sustainability as much as the trials had. She expressed appreciation to the council for its support of the trials. Ms. Westlund recapped the history of CVALCO, now TLC. She stated that the organization was charged with marketing all of Lane County. She explained that the name had been changed because the acronym CVALCO was not intuitive. Ms. Westlund provided a Powerpoint presentation entitled Lane County Brand Strategy, hard copies of which were provided to the council. She stated that the brand platform was See All of Oregon in Lane County. A survey had been conducted and had found that Eugene was better known than Lane County. She presented the new logo, created by Oslund Design, noting that it included boarding sports, bicycling, boating, fishing and the mountains. Mayor Piercy thanked the group for being responsive. She recalled that one of her past complaints was that one could arrive at Mahlon Sweet Airport and not know they were in Eugene. Ms. Westlund responded that there was now a monitor in the airport showing events in the County. Mr. Pryor called the work “fabulous.” He said the list of key activities people liked to participate in that TLC had come up with trumped all prior lists. He noted the emphasis on authenticity in the presentation. He averred that authenticity was hugely important to people at present. He stated that branding needed to have infrastructure supporting it to work, and needed the resources to follow through with its ideas. Ms. Taylor agreed that the coast was the biggest attraction to Lane County. She reiterated her unhappiness with the charge people had to pay to park at some county park sites. Ms. Westlund replied that a lot of the sites were federally owned. She also had mixed feelings about the fees. She recognized that in some ways it was the only way the local waysides could get revenue. Mr. Clark echoed Mr. Pryor’s comments. He understood the value of this work and appreciated the approach they had taken. He especially liked the “tag.” In response to a question from Mr. Clark, Ms. Westlund clarified that the coast was considered the biggest draw to the State of Oregon and not just to Lane County. Ms. Westlund stated that when one looked at the ratios of room tax generation, Eugene captured approx- imately 51 percent of the room tax revenues in the county. She stated that the coast, while generating approximately 10 percent of the room tax revenue, captured about 25 percent of spending. She said some in-county trips accounted for this difference, because many local people engaged in recreational activities at the coast. MINUTES—Eugene City Council March 11, 2009 Page 8 Work Session Mr. Clark asked what the room tax collection levels were year to year. Ms. Westlund replied that they were still ahead year to year, but December had been “ugly” because of the winter storms. She said December was down by 30 percent in Eugene, but December was the worst month of the year. She noted that Eugene was a holiday shopping destination for people in the county and the retailers had also been impacted by the weather. She stated that January was up by 8.8 percent. Mayor Piercy did not feel that people told the stories of Eugene very well to visitors. She felt that sharing this could be of huge interest to people. She remarked that the City did not even “tell people who Wayne Morse” was. Ms. Westlund responded that City staff controlled a couple of pages in the visitors guide, because of the City’s contribution to the guide. Mayor Piercy thanked them for the presentation. The meeting adjourned at 1:31 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jon Ruiz City Manager (Recorded by Ruth Atcherson) MINUTES—Eugene City Council March 11, 2009 Page 9 Work Session