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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 03/11/09 Work Session 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 MINUTES—Eugene City Council March 11, 2009 Page 2 Work Session time the City Manager would give the budget message to the time the council was expected to adopt the 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 MINUTES—Eugene City Council March 11, 2009 Page 3 Work Session 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. 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. MINUTES—Eugene City Council March 11, 2009 Page 4 Work Session 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. 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. MINUTES—Eugene City Council March 11, 2009 Page 5 Work Session 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. 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. MINUTES—Eugene City Council March 11, 2009 Page 6 Work Session 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 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