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Home My WebLink About07/30/09 - City Council Newsletter EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER July 30, 2009 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 NEIGHBORHOOD LEADERS GATHER FOR EDUCATION AND EXCHANGE AT TRAINING WORKSHOP STAFF REVIEWS ACCESSIBILITY COORDINATION FREE SYMPHONY PERFORMANCE PLEASES AUDIENCE AND FULFILLS OUTREACH GOAL THE INSIDE SCOOP: GET THE MOST FROM LIBRARY CARD WHITEAKER NEIGHBORHOOD RIVER FESTIVAL DRAWS RECORD CROWD PROJECT TO ENHANCE AMAZON CREEK NEAR FOX HOLLOW ROAD BEGINS RESEARCH DEMONSTRATES INCREASING BUS RIDERSHIP AROUND THE CITY Neighborhood Leaders Gather for Education and Exchange at Training Workshop On Tuesday, July 14, 34 neighborhood leaders representing 15 Eugene neighborhood associations gathered to learn about City resources and talk about issues of community engagement and effective advocacy. The group attending the neighborhood leaders training represented over 200 years of combined leadership experience (ranging from a few months to over 34 years) working on behalf of Eugene residents. Participants were joined by three guests who shared their unique perspectives about leading neighborhood associations: Majeska Seese- Green (past chair of Whiteaker Community Council), Paul Conte (past co-chair of Jefferson Westside Neighbors) and Jan Wostmann (chair of Laurel Hill Valley Citizens). The neighborhood leader training workshop was coordinated by Neighborhood Services program staff and is part of a larger effort to develop a robust training program to build the capacity of the City's neighborhood organizations. An additional neighborhood leader training is scheduled for August 11 (pre-registration is appreciated). For more information about training opportunities for neighborhood leaders, contact Neighborhood Planner Rene Kane at 682-6243 or rene.c.kane@ci.eugene.or.us Staff Reviews Accessibility Coordination On July 26, 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), the world's first comprehensive civil rights law for people with disabilities. Nineteen years later, President Obama is calling on Americans across the country to affirm the importance of the ADA and demonstrate an even greater commitment to promoting, protecting, and ensuring the full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by people with disabilities. Efforts are underway at the City of Eugene to meet this call to action. The recently adopted Diversity and Equity EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 1 July 30, 2009 Strategic Plan identifies several strategies, including designation of a new ADA coordinator and creation of an accessibility coordination plan to help ensure City operations and services are designed so that all people have equal opportunity to access and benefit from City programs and services regardless of ability. As a first step, Shawna Adams has been assigned as project coordinator and interim ADA Coordinator. Shawna is a planner in the Planning and Development Department, temporarily on loan to the Equity and Human Rights team, part of the City Manager’s Office. Her primary tasks will be to assess how the City coordinates compliance with the ADA, identify best practices and options for ADA coordination, and present findings and recommendations to the Human Rights Commission Accessibility Committee, internal Equity and Human Rights Board and City executive team, later this fall. For more information about the project or to provide feedback, please contact Shawna Adams at 682-2653 or shawna.l.adams@ci.eugene.or.us. Free Symphony Performance Pleases Audience and Fulfills Outreach Goal Five thousand people turned out to hear the Eugene Symphony’s first free outdoor summer concert, Eugene Symphony in the Park, at Cuthbert Amphitheater on Saturday, July 18. The orchestra was in top form and music . director Danail Rachev, along with soprano soloist Elizabeth Racheva, charmed the capacity crowd Maestro Rachev led the orchestra in a program that featured 12 selections ranging from light classical to pops and jazz. The evening culminated with Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, complete with cannon fire. In keeping with the Eugene Symphony’s mission of “enriching lives through the power of music,” the free summer concert aimed to expand the scope and capacity of the symphony’s annual outreach programs that currently serve more than 17,000 children, adults, and families each year. The Eugene Symphony, City of Eugene, and Kesey Enterprises Incorporated (the Cuthbert managing company), all share a goal to increase cultural opportunities - particularly among underserved audiences - with barrier-free access to high-caliber music performances, and promoting engagement in the area’s cultural resources among audiences of all ages, backgrounds and means. The symphony plans to make Eugene Symphony in the Park an annual community concert. The photo was taken by Steve Smith of Imagine Graphics. For more information, contact Laura Niles at 682-2697. The Inside Scoop: Get the Most from Library Card By popular demand, the Eugene Public Library will hold a new hands-on computer class. “The Inside Scoop: Your Library Catalog & Card” will debut on Thursday, August 6, at 6:00 p.m. at the Downtown Library. Library staff will teach powerful tricks to help participants get the most out of the catalog and their library cards. Topics will include how to: - Find the right item in the catalog, fast; - Get email notices about new library items related to a particular author or subject; - Place a hold for a specified volume in a series of books or TV episodes; - Suspend requests temporarily, without losing one’s place in line; - Keep a reading history, and - Pay fines online. The class will cover many other tips to save time and get better results. A Eugene Public Library card and password, and experience using keyboard and mouse, are required. The class is free, but due to limited space, pre- EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 2 July 30, 2009 registration is required. For more information or to pre-register, please call the Eugene Public Library at 682-5450 (press 2). Whiteaker Neighborhood River Festival Draws Record Crowd The Whiteaker Neighborhood River Festival drew a record- breaking 1,000 people, on Friday, July 24. The fifth annual event is one of the free community events hosted by Recreation Service’s Youth and Family Program each year. The River Festival featured Oregon’s largest ‘slip ‘n slide,’ kayak try-outs, a Fun For All Zone, live music by Samba Ja, library summer reading activities, circus acts and free food. Beginning at 7:30 p.m., the fun transitioned to nearby Sladden Park for a youth concert, featuring local ACT-SO youth, and a movie. For more information, call Aimee Goglia at 682-6358. Project to Enhance Amazon Creek Near Fox Hollow Road Begins This week, work will begin on a project to provide enhancements to the Amazon Channel near its intersection with Fox Hollow Road. The work done by the City of Eugene’s contractor, Delta Construction, will improve safety and enhance natural features. Work will occur between West Amazon Drive and East Amazon Drive in the channel and may create lane closures during some of this time. This work is designed to address serious erosion problems occurring near an outfall in Amazon Creek. Work will include realigning the piped flows more closely to the flow of the channel, stabilizing the stream banks in various ways and finally re-vegetating with native plants, shrubs and trees. While a few trees and several mature shrubs must be removed as part of the project, more than 100 trees, 500 shrubs, native grasses and forbs will be planted late in the year following construction activities. Jogging trails within the construction site will be closed for safety precautions. Work has already begun and could last through August. For more information, please contact Project Manager Terry Colvin at 682-5398. Research Demonstrates Increasing Bus Ridership Lane Transit District (LTD) is a key local partner in helping meet many City goals including reducing greenhouse gas emissions and providing transportation options for the community. LTD’s group bus pass program is in its 21st year and going strong. Dozens of local employers and student groups provide passes to over 70,000 employees and students in the region, getting them where they need to go. More than 2,000 employee group bus pass holders recently shared information about their travel habits and how these habits have changed since receiving a group bus pass from their employer. Commuter Solutions, the region’s transportation options program housed at LTD, managed the survey. Research results show that there has been a tremendous increase in transit trips for both work and non-work trips since the 2002 Group Pass baseline employee transportation research was done: ? Fifty-nine (59) of the 75 Group Pass Program employers participated in the surveys, with over 2,000 employees responding. ? In 2008, 74 percent of program participants used their pass to ride the bus to work, compared to 58 percent in 2002, an increase of 16 percent. ? In 2008, 58 percent used their pass to ride the bus for trips other than work, compared to 45 percent in 2002, a 13 percent increase. ? In 2008, 48 percent of program participants used an alternative mode of transportation (other than driving to work alone), compared to 40 percent in 2002. Eight percent more people are using alternative transportion. ? One-fourth of the survey respondents use their bus pass to attend community events. The 2008 research is available in downloadable pdf formats on the grey sidebar of the Commuter Solutions home page at www.commutersolutions.ltd.org. For more information or questions, please contact Marcia Maffei at EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 3 July 30, 2009 Marcia.maffei@ltd.org or 682-6206, or Rob Inerfeld, the City’s transportation planning manager, at 682-5343. EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 4 July 30, 2009