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Home My WebLink AboutCC Newsletter - 02/23/06 EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER February 23, 2006 City of Eugene 777 Pearl Street, Room 105 Eugene, Oregon 97401-2793 (541) 682-5010 (541) 682-5414 (FAX) www.eugene-or.gov IN THIS WEEK’S EDITION ELECTIONS 2006 REGISTRATION FOR COMMUNITY GARDENS BEGINS MARCH 16 MADE IN OREGON EVENTS AT EUGENE PUBLIC LIBRARY CULTURAL SERVICES COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS RECREATION SERVICES DIVISION HONORS DIVERSITY AROUND THE CITY Elections 2006 : Candidates FiledWith one week remaining before the March 2 deadline for filing for the May 16 Primary Election, the following candidates have completed the filing process for City Council and EWEB positions: Jana Jackson, Bruce Mulligan, and Alan Zelenka for City Council Ward 3; George Poling for City Council Ward 4; Mike Clark for City Council Ward 5; Jennifer Solomon for City Council Ward 6; Ron Farmer and Ashley Miller for EWEB Wards 4 and 5; and John Brown for EWEB At-Large. Additional candidates who have filed prospective petitions but not yet completed the process include Rich Cunningham for City Council Ward 6 and Sandra Bishop for EWEB At-Large. Jana Jackson is the only City Council candidate who has elected to participate in the Voluntary Campaign Finance Program. For more information, contact City Recorder Mary Feldman at 682-8353. Registration for Community Gardens Begins March 16 The public is once again welcome to sign up for a garden plot in one of Eugene’s six community gardens. Last year, more than 200 community members participated in the program and grew everything from tomatoes and peppers to herbs and cut flowers. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 16, at the Parks and Open Space Division office at 1820 Roosevelt Boulevard. Registration will continue during regular business hours, Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., until plots are filled. For information about plot vacancies at specific garden locations, call 682-4800 after February 28. The City of Eugene has six community gardens at the following locations: • Amazon Garden at 27th Avenue and High Street • Mathews Garden at 15th Avenue and Hayes Street • Whiteaker Garden at the end of North Polk Street • River House Garden at 301 North Adams Street • Alton Baker Gardens on Day Island Road in Alton Baker Park • Skinner City Farm at the west end of Skinner Butte Park (north end of Washington Street. Last year, gardeners began enjoying new amenities such as wheelchair-accessible plots at Alton Baker EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 1 March 3, 2006 Gardens and larger organizational plots at Skinner City Farm. Rent is $60 per year for a plot approximately 500 square feet in size. Each plot includes access to tools, water, and a garden site manager. Eugene’s Community Gardens Program has been offering residents the opportunity to cultivate a plot of land since 1978. For more information, contact Matt McRae, Community Gardens manager, at 682-4845 or matt.a.mcrae@ci.eugene.or.us. Made In Oregon Events at Eugene Public Library This March, the spotlight at the Downtown Eugene Public Library is on Oregon community, history, and talent. On First Friday, March 3, the City Singers will strike inspiring notes in a free concert starting at 6 p.m. Organized by Maureen Robeson of Library, Recreation, and Cultural Services Administration, the choir is composed of City of Eugene employees representing nearly every department who volunteer their own time to particpate. At 7 p.m., enjoy "My Oregon: The State through the Eyes and Words of a Native Son," a talk by award-winning author Bob Welch, based on his book of favorite Register-Guard columns. A beautiful display of contemporary quilts and other works by the local fabric artists' group Tactile Expressions will also be available during this event. On Saturday, March 25, noon – 1 p.m., meet the artists of Tactile Expressions for an informal tour of the exhibit. Then, at 2 p.m., see and hear an illustrated talk titled "The Ties that Bind: Quilts of Community," by historian Mary Bywater Cross. Ms. Cross, "Once considered a quaint handicraft, quilts are now recognized as valuable records of women's contributions often overlooked in official histories. From the initial pioneer settlement in the 1870s to the present, quilting drew Pacific Northwest communities together to raise funds, create tributes to individuals, commemorate important events, and provide both physical and social warmth." This Oregon Chautauqua presentation is made possible by funding from the Oregon Council for the Humanities. For more information, call the Eugene Public Library at 682- 5450. Cultural Services Community Partnerships For the 2005/06 performing arts season, Cultural Services has been working with business partners from around the community toward the following goals: ? Extending the reach of its potential customer base with innovative partnerships to build business for the Hult Center and the partners involved. ? Stretching marketing budgets. ? Building the Hult Center’s eMarketing with 1) Consistent; 2) Informational; 3) Fun; and 4) Colorful communications. ? Working with local organizations and their causes to support each other’s missions. ? Giving more value to one Hult Center ticket. All of these goals are met with the upcoming Hult Center Presents Nrityagram—— live music and dance from Indiaon March 22 in the Silva Concert Hall. For this rare and exciting event, the following outside partnerships were arranged: Nrityagram 1. Hult Center Presents is proud to support Holt International's Color of Hope event on May 12, a benefit to help orphaned and abandoned children in India. Holt Int’l is Nrityagram promoting through its fundraiser for India on May 12, while Cultural Services is supporting and promoting Holt Nrityagram Int’l through flyers and website article. 2. 10% at Cost Plus WORLD MARKET (Valley River Center). Ticket holders will receive a 10% off voucher through this Nrityagram partnership that adds greater value to an ticket, Nrityagram and allows Cultural Services to place a 6 x 3 foot banner in the store. In addition, co-promotion via flyers, website, etc. has been implemented. EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 2 March 3, 2006 . , 3Tickets and dinner at Taste of Indiaauthentic Indian restaurant! Check out EugeneWeekly.com Nrityagram – Live Music and Dance from India and click on the banner, . Staff asked for and received a free dinner for two at the Taste of India restaurant for this contest for the 2,000+ e-News subscribers. In addition, the contest runs via a partnership with www.EugeneWeekly.com. Cultural Services is promoting the contest on EugeneWeekly.com (instead of HultCenter.org, where contests normally run), to increase traffic to the Eugene Weekly site. In return, Eugene Weekly is contributing two+ weeks of free web banner advertising plus three print ads (size 1/12) in support of the contest. 4. Cultural Services has partnered with the Eugene Hilton and the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art in providing prizes for the Hult Center’s monthly Buzz Trivia contest on the HultCenter.org website. The winner for the monthly drawing receives two complimentary tickets to a Hult Center event, a $50 gift certificate to the Big River Grille at the Hilton and two complimentary passes to Nrityagram! the art museum. The prize tickets for February— These are prime examples of creating positive impacts for all partners involved, with no additional financial resources expended by Cultural Services. Maximizing results for all partners takes an excellent (Nrityagram), product creativity, a strong brand name (Hult Center Presents), good will, trust, and a bit of tenacity. For more information, contact Hult Center Marketing and Public Relations Manager Billie Rathbun-Moser at 682-8380. Recreation Services Division Honors Diversity “Hello!” “Bonjour.” “Ciao!” “¡Hola!” These are just a few of the ways that Recreation Services Division staff greets their patrons. As the City of Eugene’s community expands, so does the diversity of the individuals served by Recreation Services. Due to the hiring of regular and temporary employees, patrons and staff are able to participate in cross-cultural communication in French, Italian, Russian, Spanish, Bulgarian, Sign, Japanese and Korean so that the division’s mission “…to strengthen our community by providing diverse recreation experiences” is achieved. According to the 2000 U.S Census Bureau, 10% of Eugeneans aged five and over speak a language other than English. This means that the need for inclusive and equitable services and programs for participants who do not speak English as their first language is increasing. Kim McManus, Recreation Programmer at Sheldon Community Center, mirrors the sentiment of many of the staff in saying, “We want to give everyone access to our programs in a manner that is easy to understand and provides a comfortable environment to ask questions.” This desire places Recreation Services in a very unique position to do outreach programs with community organizations such as Centro LatinoAmericano, and to provide translators for Korean, Russian and Spanish speakers at the We Are Bethel Celebration, the Multicultural Festival and Teen Court. The work that is being done by staff ties in with Recreation’s goals to accomplish the following: ? Provide diverse, community-driven recreation services that are inclusive, accessible, and affordable. ? Engage diverse community members. ? Promote human understanding and a sense of community through cultural and recreational opportunities. ? Build environmental stewardship. ? Promote lifelong human development through recreation opportunities. For more information, contact Recreation Services Division Administrative Aide Rayna Luvert at 682- 6860. For a more complete list of Recreation Program strategies and information please visit www.eugene-or.gov/rec EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 3 March 3, 2006