City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening everyone and welcome to our July 13th, 2026 Eugene City Council meeting. Thank you for joining us tonight in this hybrid meeting format. Anyone wishing to access this meeting remotely can do so by watching the live stream available on our website, the broadcast on Comcast Channel 21, or by following the access instructions listed on the city's public webcasts and meetings materials page. Tonight's meeting will include a public comment period, and if you wish to speak, please fill out a request to speak form on our public webcast and meetings materials webpage or at the entrance to this room. We will accept request forms until 7.35 p.m., and these forms will be used to generate the order of speakers and to accurately enter speakers' names into the public record. Because there is a consent calendar two item, the public comment period will be limited to 90 minutes or conclude by 9.50 p.m., whichever occurs first to provide sufficient time for all agenda items this evening. If the number of speakers exceeds the time that we have allotted, we encourage speakers to consider abbreviating their remarks so that the maximum number of speakers can be heard. And for those joining this meeting remotely, you're welcome to email your comments to the Eugene City Council. That is true of anyone who is giving public comment tonight. As a reminder, council's meeting rules of conduct apply to all attendees, both in the chamber and in the lobby, and include no flags, signs, loud or disruptive language, noise or conduct that obstructs the business of the council. Please keep the room quiet and respectful for all speakers as you address the council, and you are welcome to wave your hands in silent support. We encourage those who are ill to join our meeting remotely rather than in person, and we also have masks in the lobby if you need one. In case of a medical emergency, an automated external defibrillator, an AED, is located on the counter behind staff on the west side of this room. And emergency exits are through the double doors located at the back of the room and the double doors located at the front of the room. The doors to the patio can also be used as needed. And with that, I call the July 13th, 2026 meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. And we will begin this evening with a land acknowledgement. Since time immemorial, the Kalapuya people have been the indigenous stewards to our region, building dynamic communities, maintaining balance with wildlife, and enacting sustainable land practices. This land acknowledgement is a way of resisting the erasure of indigenous histories and honoring native communities by inviting truth and reconciliation. Following treaties between 1851 and 1855, Kalapuya people were dispossessed of their indigenous homeland by the United States government and forcibly removed to the Coast Reservation in western Oregon. As we consider the impacts of colonization, we also acknowledge the strength and resiliency of displaced indigenous people. The city of Eugene is built within the traditional homelands known as Kalapuya-Ilihi. Kalapuya descendants are citizens of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community of Oregon and the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon. They continue to make contributions in our communities here and across the lands. We express our respect for the inherent political sovereignty of all federally recognized tribal nations and indigenous people who live in the state of Oregon and across the nation. Our first item on tonight's agenda is Ceremonial Matters, and I'd like to take a few moments to just offer a few remarks about the proclamations that I asked to be prepared for the months of July and August, and those are Independence Day Proclamation, the Day of Compassion Proclamation, Proclamation Celebrating the World Athletics U-20 Championships Week, and Women's Equality Day. All proclamations are ceremonial documents requested and signed by the mayor to bring attention to public awareness campaigns, charitable fundraising campaigns, arts and culture celebrations, and special honors. And you can find all proclamations from the City of Eugene cached on the City of Eugene's website. This month, on July 4th, we celebrated the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the unfinished work of our democratic experiment in the United States. And on July 6th, we again celebrated a day of compassion in honor of the 91st birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, whom received an award from the city of Eugene for his international leadership and human rights in February of this year. From August 5th to 9th, we will celebrate the World Athletics Under 20 Championships for an entire week as we welcome the world yet again to Eugene for that championship event at Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus. And we will celebrate Women's Equality Day on August 26th as it has been celebrated for the past 53 years. Our second item on tonight's agenda is Committee Reports and Items of Interest. And I will now open the floor for Committee Reports or Items of Interest from Council Members. Mr. Keating.

Thank you, Mayor. You mentioned the World Athletic Championships World Athletic Games and I would so look forward to that event and wonders remind folks that in 2022 right here in the heart of our Riverfront District we celebrated the World Athletic Championships. And at that time, it was impressed upon us. The idea swam like a river throughout the community that that would be such a perfect location to resurrect and bring back a Eugene celebration of sorts. With the world, you know, I don't expect it to be obviously in the summer of 2026 or any time in the near future, but I would love for some long-term planning or strategizing about how to continue to celebrate that space, celebrate Tracktown USA, and celebrate our lovely city with a resurrected Eugene celebration of sorts in the future. I want to go back in time a bit and just say thank you to the Looking Glass staff and volunteers. Last month, Mayor, I had the opportunity to be the keynote speaker at the Looking Glass Riverfront School graduation ceremony. And I failed to mention that when we met in June. But I wanted to extend from the dais my congratulations to the students who earned their high school diploma in GED from Looking Glass and Riverfront School and Career Center. And finally, for folks who attended the country fair this weekend, fair family attendees and vendors, thank you for looking out for each other and for another fair free from major incidents and for all that the fair family and the fair community do for our community. I just wanted to say congrats on a great fair experience. Thanks so much, Mayor.

Are there items of interest from Council? I will quickly offer two, seeing no other items in the queue. One is just appreciations to our staff and our community partners. Last week, we had a remarkable event at Eugene Airport celebrating the liftoff project and the Eugene Airport expansion. And I want to specifically thank so many of the partners who were there with us to celebrate that milestone and the work that we have ahead, particularly Representative Val Hoyle, Oregon Representative Nancy Nathanson, Oregon State University, and U of O presidents, Murthy and Schultz. as well as our staff and Airport Director Stevens. Really an extraordinary amount of work. You all are familiar certainly with this conversation from the year of feasibility study background that has gone into that effort, but it was a fantastic event and terrific to see people touring the improvements that are now underway and then actively imagining the improvements that we plan for the future as a component of our economic development infrastructure within this region and not just for the city of Eugene but for a five county region that is directly served by our airport and investments and we have so many great partners in this work, many more than who I just mentioned. That was last week, and a lot has been happening in our community. I want to especially thank everyone who worked around the clock on the July 4th weekend. People asked me what I was up to, and I said, well, that's a very aerobic activity in the city of Eugene, celebrating July 4th. We had the Butte to Butte kicking off, and at that start line at seven in the morning, many thousands of people running up and over Donald Hill, but also into our downtown in all sorts of different directions. kids and families. And that was wonderful to see. And then that afternoon, I was part of the delegation who accepted the Oregon Heritage Commission's recognition of the Prefontaine Classic. That is now part of, it's now a heritage event. Oregon Track Club partners and the commissioner from the Heritage Commission was there to celebrate that moment and a lot going on in terms of making history that happened all day at that event and really a wonderful showing by our community. This weekend, I will just highlight that we have yet again a packed agenda in our community. You all know Summer and Eugene. And the two things that I want to highlight are that I'm looking forward to spending time out in Santa Clara and celebrating our Santa Clara neighbors and our community park and helping to judge a pet parade. Looking forward to that very soon. And later in the day, being at Alton Baker Park just across the river for the Asian celebration. That is always an incredible community event, and I hope that I will see many of you there. Thank you, everyone, and that concludes our second agenda item this evening. Our third agenda item I will now turn to the city manager to introduce, which is a priority goal action, the approval of resources for housing affordable to low- and moderate-income people.

Thank you, Mayor. Tonight, Council is asked to approve an award of funds and a city-owned property to support the construction of three affordable housing proposals for low-income households submitted in response to the 2026 Affordable Housing Trust request proposals. process. The development proposals recommended for funding are River Road Housing by Laurel Hill Center, which is 45 units of permanent supportive housing. The second is Our Village by Square One Villages. That's 44 cooperative home ownership units for low-income households. And the city-owned property on Hilliard Street north of 34th Avenue is recommended for Yoncalla Commons by Hacienda CDC to build 12 home ownership homes for low-income households. These projects would support the construction of 101 new homes. And staff is here to answer any questions.

Thank you, City Manager. If there are no questions from Council, then I will now... Sorry, Councillor Keating. Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor. I am enthusiastic about the home ownership or the home, the square one villages model is how I should say that. But I've received constituent engagement, city manager, around an environmental impact piece on the 34th and Hilliard property. Do we have that information available that we could share with council?

If staffs can come up, I think they'll answer your question.

I'm Ellen Mae Galloway with Community Development. And we did the 34th and Hilliard property is a city-owned property. It's been city-owned since the 1940s. And in 2022, through the housing implementation pipeline, it was identified for future use as affordable housing. And we did extensive environmental review on that property. And we did find that It is in the future flood zone that is the moderate flood risk, which was previously called the 500-year floodplain. It's now called 0.2% annual chance of flood. And that floodplain hasn't been approved yet, but it's going to be approved or put into effect. There are no development plans requirements for that floodplain, but we did ask the developers to consider that moderate flood risk in their development proposal. There's also identified a small wetland on the property. 0.13 acres is the wetland that was identified. The property has a good number of Eugene Water, excuse me, Eugene Water and Electric Board infrastructure and E-Web did some water improvements last year and they did have to get a wetland permit to do those water infrastructure improvements. So they already have gotten a wetland permit for that and that would be expected for any development in the future that they would need to get a wetland permit before they'd be able to develop.

If I could follow up, Mayor.

Yes, Councillor.

Thank you. I appreciate the insight. Is there any plan by E-Web or the developer or the city prior to if this is authorized and handed over to preserve or protect that 0.13 acres of wetlands?

This is a sort of common process for a site that's within the urban area to go through the wetland permitting process. So through that process, they preserve as much of the wetland as they can. They also do particular development. They're required to try to... Address the wetland in different ways and that's part of the permitting process. So they'll go through the process they have to go through but it includes Helping to preserve wetlands that are larger habitat areas. So that's part of the wetland process The final question mayor if I may Yes, counselor.

Thank you. If this council approves this priority goal action in regard to housing tonight, I will this council have the ability to come back and give a thumbs up or thumbs down on any mitigation effort or any plan, rather, to protect the aforementioned wetlands?

The developer will likely apply for additional resources to help with the development, but it's not typical for council to take action on any wetland permitting process. That's just through the regular building permitting process.

Okay. I appreciate the clarification. Thank you.

Thank you. If there are no further questions from council, I'll turn to the council president to put a motion forward.

I move to award $325,439 of affordable housing trust funds to River Road Housing by Laurel Hill Center and $325,000 of affordable housing trust funds to Our Village by Square One Villages and move to award the city-owned property located on Hilliard Street and 34th Avenue, Assessor's Map 18-03-08-24, tax lot numbers 10900, 11000, 11200, and 11400 to Yoncalla Commons by Hacienda CDC. Second. Any further discussion from council?

Seeing none, I'll now take a vote for this motion. Councillors, please lock in your votes on the tablets in front of you. Councilor Evans and Councilor Zelenka, I see you voting in the affirmative, and the motion passes with a vote of eight to zero. Thank you very much, and that concludes our third agenda item this evening. We'll now move on to our fourth agenda item. I'll turn to the city manager to introduce a topic on another priority goal action, which is the adoption of resolution approving a low-income rental housing property tax exemption renewal for Vet Lift 1.

Thank you, Mayor. As you said, City Council has asked to adopt a resolution approving the renewal of a 20-year low-income rental housing property tax exemption called LRPD for Vet Lift 1. Vet Lift 1 is an existing affordable housing development that was awarded an exemption in 2006 and has provided low-income rental housing since that time. The development includes 12 low-income rental housing units serving veteran households earning at or below 60% area median income. Renewal of this exemption would allow the property to continue to offer low-income rental housing for the next 20 years. Again, staff is available to answer any questions.

Thank you, City Manager. If there are no questions from Council, then I will now turn to the Council President to put a motion forward.

I move to adopt the resolution in attachment B to this AIS, approving a low-income rental housing property tax exemption for property located at 951 West 7th Avenue.

Second. Discussion from council? Seeing none, I'll now take a vote for this motion. Councillors, please lock in your votes on the tablets in front of you. Councilor Evans and Councilor Zelenka, I see you both voting in the affirmative and the motion passes with a vote of eight to zero. Thank you very much. That concludes our fourth agenda item this evening. Our fifth item on tonight's agenda is consent calendar one, an approval of city council minutes, approval of the city council tentative agenda, and a resolution amending the city of Eugene's annex to the Lane County multi-jurisdictional natural hazards mitigation plan. adopted by resolution four five four six If there are no questions from council I'll turn to the council president to put a motion forward move to approve the items on consent calendar one second a discussion from council Being none I'll now take a vote for this motion councillors. Please lock in your votes on the tablets in front of you I Councillor Evans and Councillor Zelenka, I see you voting in the affirmative and the motion passes unanimously with a vote of eight to zero. Thank you, that concludes our fifth agenda item. Now turn to the city manager to introduce our sixth agenda item which is an action on an ordinance concerning polystyrene and single-use bag regulations amending sections six point eight five zero six point eight five five six point eight seven four and six point eight seven six of the Eugene City Code 1971 deleting sections eight six point eight seven eight of the Eugene City Code 1971 and providing an effective date

In response to new statewide legislation related to the polystyrene foam food containers and packaging peanuts and single-use checkout bags, code changes are proposed to align the city's regulation with these new state laws. A public hearing was held on Monday, June 15th of this year, and no testimony was submitted.

Thank you, City Manager. If there are no questions from Council, I'll turn to the Council President to put a motion forward.

I move to approve the ordinance in attachment A to this AIS, an ordinance concerning polystyrene and single-use bag regulations, amending section 6.850, 6.855, 6.874, and 6.876 of the Eugene Code 1971, deleting section 6.878 of the Eugene Code 1971, and providing an effective date. Second.

Any discussion from council? Seeing none, I'll now take a vote for this motion. Councillors, please lock in your votes on the tablets in front of you. And Councillors, I see you voting in the affirmative remotely, and the motion passes with a vote of eight to zero. Thank you. That concludes our sixth agenda item. And the seventh item on tonight's agenda is the public comment period. Public comment period is an opportunity for individuals to speak to the city council on any city-related issues except for those items which have already been heard by hearings official. Speakers should direct their comments to city council and to the mayor, not to the audience. And staff, can you please share the list and number of speakers that signed up to speak by 7.35 p.m. and announce the first speakers.

Thank you, Mayor. We have 22 speakers signed up this evening.

Thank you.

I will announce two speakers' names at a time. When you are called to speak, please state your name and your ward or neighborhood, if known, before beginning your comments. When you are announced as the next speaker, please move to the seat in the front row designated for the next speaker. When it is your turn, you may come to the podium. Please leave any bags you may have with you at your seat. If you have documents to give counsel, please place them in the basket near the podium. You will have two and a half minutes to speak. The timer will flash red when you have 15 seconds remaining to speak. Your microphone will be muted at the two and a half minute mark. Please note that the use of profanity is not permitted. Our first speakers this evening are Jay Smith, followed by Rebecca Casson.

City Council, City Manager, I'd like to address this first portion to the City Manager, who is the only person who has the authority to remove Chief Skinner. City Manager Hariyama, if the pleas of this community to remove Chief Skinner from his position and for genuine investigation into his culture have not swayed you, nor countless testimonials regarding misconduct, nor the understanding that Chief Skinner has lied to this community on multiple occasions, then I fear that this community has no reason to place trust in you. It cannot be understated that the culture of the police department is rotten all the way up. Chief Skinner's leadership is certainly to blame for allowing Martin Siller's behavior fostering an environment where racist, horrific remarks can be made. In jest, no less. City manager, your community has implored you to recognize Chief Skinner's role in fostering the racist culture of EPD, and we've given you plenty of time to show movement on this case. It should be understood then that it is the recommendation of this community, city councilors, that the city manager has failed to act in the best interest of the community. In approximately six, possibly five months, bear with me, you will have the opportunity to fire the city manager. It is our belief that you must do so. The city manager has failed this community and we are asking, imploring, get rid of this manager and have one that actually investigates Chief Skinner's behavior. Thank you.

Thank you, Jay. Our next speakers are Rebecca Casson followed by John Brown.

Hi, thank you for allowing me to have this opportunity to speak. And I'm here to talk about the Eugene Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which I really appreciate. I think definitely support the creation and preservation of affordable homes, low and middle income housing. And I reviewed the six applications and endorsed that decision. I think that those are projects that are really worthy of funding. And I just wanted, for the record, to state that I don't support funding Deb Northwest, Floral Hill Community Land Trust. I'm Ward 3. I forgot to mention that, Recordcast and Ward 3. And just that the scope and complexity of this development, I think, need more time. I am a resident of Floral Hill and I appreciate the City Council meeting minutes documented concerns of the neighborhood. We have some concerns related to the location, the density, the car dependency, the emergency response. The road is very narrow. LTD, it's not possible for LTD to come up Summit and Floral Hill Drive. The narrow road has no shoulder. There are hazards with passing in cars, neighborhood walks, biking, walking dogs on this road daily. We also have U of O joggers and gear bike riders that come almost every day. And the impact of that development, 80 to 100 cars is what we estimate would have a tremendous impact on some, you know, Access, and an impact on access to the park as well. I think that the number of cars are going to go up and down Summit and it's gonna create a lot more traffic going in and out of Hendricks Park. And so I want to ask that the traffic impact analysis done under the Eugene Code 9.8670 for this development that it specifically evaluate pedestrian and bike safety on Floral Drive given its function as a park access route. I ask that this comment be included in the public record for both the State Housing Infrastructure Financing Grant Award and any related city of Eugene land use review.

Thank you, Rebecca. Our next speakers are John Brown followed by Joseph Young.

Good evening, Mayor and members of the Council. My name is John Brown. I've resided in Ward 5 since 1950. My comments this evening are my own and they do not represent any position or from any board or commission I currently serve upon. I'm coming to you this evening to make sure you're aware of what I believe is an excellent opportunity for both property owners and the Eugene community. I'm not trying to bypass city planning staff, however, sometimes things get bogged down and don't reach the top. I represent the owners of the former Eugene Sand and Gravel Operations, with the comments tonight focusing on the approximately 166 acres located at the northwest quadrant of Delta Highway and Beltline Roads. Approximately 33 acres of this property is currently under the jurisdiction of the City of Eugene, however you've designated parks and open space. remainder is outside of the urban growth boundary. Operations ceased at this location decades ago. A full level of public services is available to the property, including sewer, water, electric, gas, and public roads. You strive for 20-minute walkable neighborhoods. There are two grocery outlets, eight medical dental, 11 food, and 31 retail service outlets within four blocks of this site. There are four LTD bus stops within two blocks and a major bike path adjacent to the south property line. The owners have tried for over a decade to have this property included into the UGB, and every time they do an outreach, the city staff indicates that it would be another few years. Now it's 2030, and it's in the Urban Reserve. I bring your attention a letter from Bill Close, January 20... 2015 from Land Use where he said they wanted to have this 35 acres included in UGB and then the owners would dedicate the remaining of the 166 acres to you for parkland. 100 acres of that is a freshwater year-round lake. It's adjacent to an existing city park. Hopefully the city staff and elected officials can help navigate through the bureaucracy to get this property into a status where it can be developed to provide housing, commerce and open space and increase our property tax base. Using a conservative estimate of 75% land use multifamily and the remainder general service office retail would easily generate over $250 million in value added to the community. The owners are aging, and this property happens to pass to following generations, and nothing happens soon. Technically, this property can be mined for its sand and gravel, and the lake can be filled with construction materials. To me, that would be a tragedy. I've lived in this neighborhood for a long, long time. I'd love to see something happen. And if you did it tomorrow, I don't know who would say no. I really don't. If you turned around and said, we can do this. I've had a conversation with the governor and explained the situation, and she said, that doesn't make sense. It doesn't. And hopefully you can help make it make sense. Thank you for your time.

Thank you, John. Our next speakers are Joseph Young, followed by Stefan Streck.

Good evening. My name is Joseph Young. I'm here on behalf of no one other than myself as a citizen of the great state of Oregon, the United States of America, and a resident here in Eugene, Oregon, for the past 24 years. The Affordable Housing Trust Fund It's great, I really applaud them for the work they did recently. Remarks were made about the Dev Northwest project that's proposed, and those were all pretty spot on. The fire life and safety problems that will occur if this is funded and if this is built are drastic. The city council and leadership will have serious, serious ramifications if there is some sort of fire disaster or some sort of major car crash or some sort of pedestrian car accident on this road. It is incredibly narrow. The widest it is at any point between Summit and And where it turns and goes down to the bottom is 19.89 feet. It averages 16.8 feet. It does not even qualify as a road under the qualifications listed in the City of Eugene's codes for what a road should be. And if it's not, it doesn't qualify. So with that being said, I urge the city to look at anything regarding this specific development with an added level of scrutiny. Because what's happened is it's been pushed through. It's been awarded funds in last year's HTF. It was awarded funds after it was denied. A $200,000 came from nowhere. So that's really why I'm here. Second why I'm here is the adoption of decorum rules by this council that infringe upon First Amendment rights is deplorable, despicable, and I completely disagree with it. We should be allowed in a traditional public forum to use whatever language we choose so long as it is not violent or threatening to the individuals in which we speak it to. I also believe that that you need to be a little clearer on if people are required to give their name or not, because it seems as if you are when you sign up. Thank you.

Thank you, Joseph. Our next speakers are Stefan Streck, followed by Mary Gent.

Thank you, City Council. My name is Stefan Streck, as you announced. I appreciate that. And I, once again, looking back on this past year, it is such a shame that we are in exactly the same position where the city is over budget, funds are being mismanaged, every department, besides parking enforcement, is completely dysfunctional. And this is all from the ground up a result of the failure of the Lane County Democrat Party. It is an absolute disgrace. Once again, just like last year, the budget is mismanaged, the budget is completely out of control, and your response to that is to pay developers to acquire more property to enrich themselves. More so, you continue to make completely empty gestures which do nothing to account for the people that are actually in need in this city. This month is Disabilities Recognition Month, actually, and you did not mention this. So how come nobody on this council cares enough about people with disabilities to speak up on their behalf? Just a week ago, on the 5th, there was a 67-year-old woman who left her care facility in South Eugene, South Eugene, where it's supposed to be nice. The police gave up looking after eight hours to go home, put on their gym jams, and get tucked into bed, while this poor, elderly, disabled woman died, passed away in the hot sun. And then they didn't continue the search until several days later when I had to mention it because a family was distraught. A good man lost his mother. A little girl lost her grandmother because of all of your negligence. And your priority is to give away public land, not even giving it away. You're giving away public land and public tax money. This is sickening. Now, I'm also someone who's disabled. I can park where I want. This woman deserves so much better, and you are all bigots in my eyes. I'm disgusted. Thank you.

Thank you, Stefan. Our next speakers are Mary Gent, followed by Lisa Kay.

Mary Gent, Ward 3, and I am here to comment on the broken public trust with your ongoing preferred status of Dev Northwest building multiplex high density middle housing on Floral Hill Drive. This was their third filing for trust fund dollars and no dollars were awarded in 2024 and in 2025 Dev Northwest did not meet scoring criteria criteria, but the council gave them $200,000 with a promise of $400,000 in 2026. This is public testimony from the developer. And on your website, you do not show that Deaf Northwest received these dollars. It is not transparent. It is not honest and it is not fair. The 2026 proposal should have been withdrawn. The forward progress given from a secret backdoor deal between the city and the developer has now put wheels on middle housing subdivision serving up to 200 additional residents. Strongly opposed by neighbors due to the low walkability scores, public safety concerns, fire response and evacuation, and an adequate water supply to fight a rapidly moving fire up the hillside into the urban forest of Hendricks Park. Look no further than the 72625 Fire Investigation Report at 2680 Floral Hill Drive. The Laurel Hill Valley and Hendricks Park are in the wildland urban interface, a priority fire risk from the fall easterly winds. Lane County's worst fires are from these easterly winds. and the fire trajectory is not changing. Smell the smoke. Springfield Fire Department has and is separating from us. Stop what you have started. We are not NIMBYs. You always had the option of building 15 affordable middle housing homes on the site. Instead, you want the big wins. Well, this is a big loss for everyone. Thank you.

Thank you, Mary. Our next speakers are Lisa Kay followed by Jim New.

My name is Lisa Kay. I live on Floral Hill Drive. I actually own three properties on Floral Hill Drive. I've been there since 2018, and I love that neighborhood. But besides that, that neighborhood serves Hendricks Park, which is the oldest city park And it's also the oldest neighborhood association. The Laurel Hill Valley Association is the oldest, the first neighborhood valley association in Eugene. We are very frustrated because we seem to have lost our voice. Neighborhood Valley well, all neighborhood associations seem to not be listened to and be just ignored as the process of what happens to their neighborhoods just goes through processes that just don't have space for logical input from the people who are most impacted. First of all, I'd like to thank the Affordable Housing Trust Fund for taking so much time to take a look at these applications that were in front of them. Our neighborhood had quite a few application feedback letters to them. We also had public comments during the 20-25 session. We were very happy when the affordable housing said, no, deny this. There are better options for supporting. We were very surprised that somehow $200,000 got sent to the funds anyway. This year, the scenario kind of repeated. We had a lot of neighborhood input again. This is not the first time we've spoken up about this community project. So we basically have tried to explain what the problems are with it. And I want to thank you as the City Council for listening to those, like the Affordable Housing Trust Fund did, poor walkability scores. The trust fund, the community land trust, is not really proven. We've asked DevNorth to provide feedback about how successful.

Thank you, Lisa. Our next speakers are Jim New, followed by Latife Amato.

Mayor, Council, and City Manager, my name is Jim New. I live in Ward 7. This past week, precedent was set by Lane County Commissioners Senega, Farr, and Lovell, who voted three to one in absolving a McKenzie River resident who illegally built more than 5,000 square feet of buildings, roads, and infrastructure within the River High watermark without pulling county building permits and violated state fish and game rules threatening fish and wildlife. County staff recommended fines be administered and the completed illegal construction be reviewed for code violations. In their decision, the three male county commissioners felt there was no illegal code violations and sent a message to the public that pulling building permits could be done after construction was complete, diminishing health and safety regulations and jeopardizing water quality. Most importantly, this illegal construction is upriver of the City of Eugene's only drinking water source at Hayden Bridge. At last week's E-Web commissioners meeting, there was discussion of a new source of drinking water on the Willamette River. It was stated if the Hayden Bridge intake was shut down due to contamination, seismic event, or drought, it would cost the city $29 to $59 million per day. This single source intake is in need of repairs due to the age that could take the facility offline, leaving Eugene with a very short reservoir supply. Thus, loosening of regulations on upriver construction along the banks of the McKenzie River could affect 200,000 customers. A correction needs to be made in the decision by the county commissioners as their decision has now set the ground for future contamination of the city's only drinking water source. This illegal construction has become much bigger than just a building code process violation, but now affects E-Web water sourcing, distribution, and city water customers. As elected officials, you are sworn to protect the public and your constituents from health and safety hazards. E-Web and the City of Eugene have new managers who are committed to improving the communication between the two entities along with the city councilors and E-Web commissioner liaisons. The recent decision by the three male county commissioners warrants a prompt and urgent discussion in protecting the city's water source. I hope those discussions are forthcoming and can correct this precedent setting action by the three county commissioners. The citizens of Eugene and E-Web Water customers will be anxiously paying attention to this issue. Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Jim. Our next speakers are Latife Amato, followed by Jojo Breslin.

So this week, ICE murdered two more community members. On July 13th, a 26-year-old Colombian man, Juan Sebastian Guerrero, and on July 7th, they murdered Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. And I think it's really hard for almost every brown person in this room, and I would bet in your personal and professional lives, with people with so much power, with an audience and a voice, to not even acknowledge that. So I really encourage you to use your voice to honor the dignity of every life. Now my main comment about EPD and Chief Skinner. I'm back again because there's a specific test here on the table right now and I want the council and city manager to sit with it. Chief Skinner has acknowledged that there are other tapes from that night, other incidents involving the same pattern of behavior we've heard about that he has personally reviewed and decided are not problematic, just dark humor. These tapes are not released to this council, they're not shown to the public, and this quiet decision behind closed doors by the very department accused of the misconduct in the first place. How is that accountability? That is a department that's grading its own homework again, and we've already seen how that goes. So here is the ask, plain and simple, release the tapes to the public, all of them. Every officer who witnessed that behavior and said nothing, who stood next to it, who laughed, who worked alongside it, heard it, and stayed silent needs to be disciplined too. Silence in the face of that conduct is not neutral. It's participation. A department that only holds the person caught on camera accountable while everyone who watched and said nothing keeps their badge is telling us exactly what it actually tolerates. It's showing us its culture. Maybe seeing the tapes will tell you what the public already knows. Don't look away. Take accountability in action and rebuild the trust. City Manager, this is your litmus test too. Accepting trust us from a department that has already withheld evidence once is not oversight. It's cover. Please do your job or move aside for someone else to do so. Discipline every officer who stayed silent and fired Chief Skinner. Thank you.

Thank you Latife. Our next speakers are Jojo Breslin followed by Ken Willis.

Good evening Mayor Knudson and City Councilors. My name is Jojo Breslin. I'm a resident of Ward 2. I've been coming to city council meetings for over the past year. I kind of wanted to get more engaged with my local government and see what's going on. And in that time, there's a lot of issues the community comes up here and talks about. Today, of course, is even some. There's one that I hear rather consistently, and so I Timing kind of worked out and I wanted to talk about that a little bit today. And also because it's a very crucial aspect in our community that I think is important to make sure that we get right to a certain degree. And that is the history of black residents within Eugene. This past Saturday I had the great pleasure of going on a history tour with the Oregon Black Pioneers nonprofit they had out here in Eugene. Going around various different spaces throughout. It was a nice little two hour walk. And part of that talking through the history that black residents faced from the city's inception and up until even recent times. Despite some claims or arguing over the ideas of Eugene being a sundown town, we most definitely did restrict black residents and what they were able to do here in our community. They lived across the Willamette River in the Ferry Ferry Street Village in a relatively tense city that would flood consistently, displace folks, and even when that wasn't enough for them to come back and be resilient and rebuild, they were displaced with the creation of the Coburg Bridge that we drive over just across the way. That sent black residents across Eugene to Amazon Creek, the Skinner Butte, area, as well as my notes are escaping me. Apologies. Anyhoo, I'm running out of time. I had maybe a rather ambitious idea of what to talk about up here today. But nonetheless, I do think it's important for us to talk about, you know, there's a history of the KKK. They were at one point more per capita due to our rather small city sides than anywhere in the nation. KKK was listed, well, stood out on letters among Skinner's Butte that you could see all the way down to 8th Street, down Willamette. They would burn wooden crosses and such up until the early 1900s. And even through, there were signs, I would say, no coloreds allowed into businesses, even while black businesses were in downtown Eugene on Willamette Street. So I encourage folks to look up Oregon Black Pioneers and other places that talk about...

Thank you, JoJo. Our next speakers are Ken Willis, followed by Jacob True.

Ken Willis, Ward 5, up here with maximum cynicism. So a theme has already emerged amongst, what, on the 11th speaker? Bad communication. Last year when the flock nightmare started going down, it took me three phone calls to get ahold of Mike Clark. He finally got ahold of me after I threatened to just hound you until I drove you nuts. I gave five emails and four phone calls to the former city manager regarding flock, didn't hear anything. I had to scream across the room at Chris Skinner because he didn't have the guts or class to come up here and face honest criticism. And now it's your turn in the barrel, city manager. So I set up an appointment with your office two months ago to have a talk about SB 1516 and policies about surveillance. You guys want it done in six months. Kai Fireside, who wrote the bill, was going to come in with me. We had a plan for you to go. If you want it done in six months, here it is. I called on Monday to confirm it. Tuesday, your office called and canceled for no reason and gave me no opportunity to reschedule. So if you wanted to build trust, you failed. If you wanted to build good communication, you failed. I'm literally bringing the lady who wrote SB 1516 into your office, and you canceled. So if you won't communicate, our information isn't good enough, nothing's good enough, then we're at a standstill here. I mean, this has become an incalcitrant body. You're not doing anything. I don't know what else to do with you guys. won't take meetings. Now, I'm sorry if it was a little rough sitting through me getting Chris Skinner, but the brother deserved it. I'd really like to know why you canceled. We're coming in with specific information that helps you. I wanted to see you win, but you've already lost my trust and respect. I'd like a new city manager. My other issue is Randy. You made a comment at a city meeting of something regarding secret flock fans in town that were too afraid to show up to the meetings or to voice their concerns. I don't believe that. And if you actually have people that supported mass surveillance in town, feel free to have them come down here and discuss it, because that was a crazy comment to make. You made something to the effect of you were aware of a bunch of people in town that were pro-surveillance and pro-flock. I talked to about 2,000 people over a year's time. I didn't run into one. So I'd like to see that proof. But- You can?

Thank you, Ken. Your time is concluded. Our next speakers are Jacob True, followed by Kai Fireside.

Hello everybody. My name is Jacob True. I live in Ward 1 and I'm here today to talk about public safety, community safety. As you go into the summer break, one of the big things you have to consider coming up is the community safety payroll tax that is coming up for renewal here very shortly. Right now as part of the statute, part of the ordinance, you have to assign 60% of that to police. Well, I'd like you to consider that when it comes to policing and public safety, prevention is much more effective and efficient rather than going for policing at the end of things. We are coming into a budget crunch, as ever, and you have to think about what kind of city we want to be running here. Do we want a city that's effective and efficient and takes care of people and their problems before intervention by police, or do we want to pay a premium to have the punitive measures of policing tacked on at the end? The city council was able to pass the community safety payroll tax in no small part because the vote for it happened right at the onset of COVID. 2020 in the pardon me, in the spring. At the renewal, so there wasn't a lot of availability for people to organize a response to it. I think that when we come to the five-year anniversary of it, again, it's delayed because of the implementation. But when we come to that, I don't think you can expect a lack of response to it this time. Also when it comes to public safety, We used to have a nationally recognized community response in cahoots, and we no longer have that. I want you to consider when you're thinking about different ways that we consider allocating funds with the community safety payroll tax, whether or not the city of Eugene will go for it as it stands right now, primarily pouring into the coffers of the Eugene Police Department, or whether or not there's a better way to deal with it. Consider Salem. We're spending an awful lot more than Salem on our police. There's some efficiencies and effectiveness that we can get from the amount that we're spending on public safety in that area and much more efficient ways that we can get the kind of care and public services that we want here in Eugene. Thank you for your time. Have a good summer.

Thank you, Jacob. Our next speakers are Kai Fireside, followed by Richard Reardon.

Evening, Council. My name is Kai Fireside. I'm here because in May, a colleague of mine scheduled a meeting with the new city manager. At the time, she was so incredibly busy that the meeting needed to be scheduled a full two months out. She had not a single half an hour free for eight-plus weeks because she is horrifically overworked. or speaking with us was an incredibly low priority. I have had an easier time getting meetings with senators. And that's a shame because we had several urgent matters to discuss, one of which was this new legislation that went into effect, which was highly technical in nature, Nevertheless, we waited our two months patiently and two days before a scheduled meeting her office canceled We requested a reschedule it was denied This meeting was for us to help you in Interviews the city manager said that flock was a good tool. She's perhaps open to contracts with other companies Senate bill 1516 went into effect recently it affects automated license plate readers like flock and I cannot imagine a single good reason to avoid talking with me, of all people, about ALPR legislation because I helped write it. In fact, I wrote entire sections of it because I was the most qualified person in the entire state. Section 6 is entirely mine. So imagine my surprise when your city manager cancels a meeting with me to talk about this issue. You, the council, have say over a single employee. You have one employee to watch over very closely to ensure that she doesn't make the same mistakes as the last one, and we are watching her too. I hope that Eugene is not the city where we test the consequences of violating this new law. Thank you.

Thank you, Kai. Our next speakers are Richard Reardon, followed by Steve Gilbert.

Hey guys, Richard Reardon, Ward 4, I think. Like a lot of people here, I'm kind of amazed that the city manager hasn't fired Hugh Skinner. Now, maybe I'm just an activist or something of that nature, but the guy's been on doing the job for, what, a decade? Shy of it. And the culture of EPD hasn't really changed an awful lot. Like, anybody with eyeballs can see that. Now, I gotta tell you, I was watching CNN a while back as Martin Siller gave the nation a racially charged vocabulary lesson. Normal stuff, you know. I guess it happens to the best of us, but I know it happens at EPD. But I also know one person who has the power to fire him, the city manager. Now, this person proportionally has the power, but also proportionally lacks the willingness to do it. This is the same person, by the way, who blew off a meeting with one of my friends and who probably knew a thing or two about ALPR, so I don't know. Like city council, I don't really listen to the public, so, you know, that's just me. But, look, maybe I'm just a dumb college kid, and I've seen allegedly serious people, like politicians and rich people protecting each other, I know what happens at Lane Community College, but I also know what happens here. So if you can just maybe, just maybe, right, get her to, I don't know, fix herself or just fire her before election day, that would be really cool. Thank you.

Thank you, Richard. Our next speakers are Steve Gilbert, followed by Josh Easterland.

I thought it would be a quiet night here. I'm Steve Gilbert. I'm third-generation Bethel resident. I've witnessed the changes to Highway 99 in my Bethel neighborhood. I suffered the consequences of them with my neighbors and area businesses. When the city and the county developed a plan to make homelessness rare, they selected Highway 99 and saturated it with chronic homeless services. The dangers to public safety by concentrating this vulnerable population on the highway were known and they were ignored. And the services continued to be added there. Has the plan to reduce homelessness worked? Absolutely not. The plan has fueled its growth. Eugene is now known nationally for homelessness and homeless services. Chronically homeless individuals come here from cities around Lane County, around the state and from across the country. They come from cities that enforce their laws or are lacking homeless services, cities like Springfield. Eugene and Lane County stick with their plan at the expense of their own budgets, policing, fire and EMT services, the judicial system, the DA, local businesses, and the safety and well-being of its residents. Downtown Eugene appears to be a different story. Downtown has its own dedicated police task force to address and move chronically homeless people. Now our council is considering grant monies to help the negatively impacted downtown businesses. There's no such concern for Bethel and 99. Bethel is where Eugene and Lane County have envisioned chronic homeless population to be all along. Thank you.

Thank you Steve. Our next speakers are Josh Easterland followed by Genevieve Channing.

Hello City Councillors, Josh Easterlin, Director of Equitable Access, Eugene Ward 8. I wanted to briefly highlight something that is developing up the road in Portland, whereas they are currently considering what they call the Portland Psychedelic Health and Safety Act. And a committee vote is expected this summer. What I find encouraging is not simply the proposal itself, but what it says about the conversation evolving across Oregon. A few years ago, discussions about psychedelics were often reduced to a simple argument over whether they should be illegal or legal. Increasingly, though, communities are asking a different question. How should public policy respond to the reality that people are already using these substances? Portland's proposal starts from that reality. It acknowledges that many people engage with natural psychedelics outside of the state regulated system and asks what policies best promote safety, education, and responsible use. It also draws distinctions that I think are important. It does not create commercial sales or storefronts. It does not affect laws around impaired driving. It does not change enforcement policies or priorities related to fentanyl or other substances that are driving addiction and overdose deaths. Instead, it focuses narrowly on whether responsible non-commercial engagement with natural psychedelics should be treated as a major law enforcement concern. Whether one agrees with that conclusion or not, I think it represents a more thoughtful and nuanced conversation than we've often seen in the past as more cities, researchers, healthcare professionals, veterans, spiritual communities, and everyday citizens engage with these questions. I hope Eugene continues to approach this issue with curiosity, evidence, and an openness to discussing what is actually happening in our communities. I'm encouraged to see this conversation continuing across Oregon, and I appreciate the opportunity to continue it here as well.

Thank you, Josh. Our next speakers are Genevieve Channing, followed by Winn Mansell.

My daughter Genevieve wanted to speak to City Council tonight. You want to share what you wanted to talk about? We're getting shy. She is going to kindergarten and wanted to talk about street safety tonight, and she's concerned about getting to kindergarten in ways that don't require a car. So... Okay, so we, Genevieve was concerned about getting to school on her bike on unsafe streets, and the fact that she has friends that are going to schools that are different from where she will be going, where there is a protected bike lane most of the way, we're very grateful for that, and thank you for that opportunity, but that some of her friends do not have that same experience in their way to school every day. So as she thinks about kindergarten and all the excitement that is going to happen between now and the first day, the way to get to school has become quite a topic in our house, and she wanted to speak to you about that tonight. Okay, we're getting shy, but that was the gist of what she was going to say. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Genevieve.

Our next speakers tonight are Winn Mansell followed by Blair Hickok.

Council, everyone else. So in the time that I've been coming to city council meetings, I think we've all had a lot of pretty intense discussions and a common theme I've seen and heard in a lot of them is the difficulties around transparency between city government and its populace. especially as we're approaching a re-review of mass surveillance, other software, other things facing the city, I really want to double down on encouraging you guys to open up. The city is here and willing to meet you. We've seen it with powerful activists getting the fence removed from the federal building, fighting for our First Amendment rights. We've seen it as the queer community of Eugene policed their own march and held the Pride march when it was otherwise canceled. With ALPRs, we have Kai Fireside in the audience tonight, who took incredible time out of their life to make sure strong legislation was written for all Oregonians. Yeah. Transparency is probably going to be the only way that this city starts to repair the broken trust with its populace. I've got an article just published today where even LAPD has acknowledged that they're going to cancel their ALPR contracts because the... Lack of reliability in their hot lists is causing massive public trust issues as 161 people have been pulled over incorrectly. We're all familiar with how our neighbors are being arrested all over the country, murdered all over the country, dealing with ICE. And yeah. Transparency, transparency, transparency. I'm also going to share with you something I got from the city of Bend, which I believe last city council meeting we were talking about how there was difficulty putting together a list of software. I learned best from example. City of Bend had this put together, got it to me pretty quickly. Figure it bounced off that, seemed pretty strong. Thank you. Go Cahoots.

Thank you, Wynn. Our next speakers are Blair Hickok, followed by Eli Mazet.

Hello, everyone. Blair Hickok, Ward 2. Pleasure to be here again before summer break. I want to talk about disability. It's disability month, yes. So let's talk about disability for a minute. So something very interesting has been happening in Washington Jefferson Park. There is a Food for Lane County subsidiary that does no barrier food service there. And they have been targeted by EPD. And so there's video circulating on social media right now. EPD arrested a man in a wheelchair who was occupying the sidewalk. They didn't ask him to move, they arrested him. They released him a week later. They gave him his wheelchair back, but I found out later that that's not very common. There's actually a mobility graveyard somewhere in EPD possession. So that's gross. Another thing is the city events that have been going on, like Mayor, I saw you at both Juneteenth events, Pride I went to. They're not accessible. Like, my... It's really hard to exist in a world that doesn't want to include you. And that feels very true for disabled folks in this city. And so it all boils down to accessibility for everyone, because if we live long enough as human beings, there's a 100% chance we are going to become disabled. So why don't we support folks? And that being said, I want to come back to EPD. So CILR is not a bad apple, and we have heard from multiple people here tonight. We are going to hear from more people tonight, and we've heard from multiple people on social media and in these meetings for the last few months. is corrupted, and why are we penalizing people experiencing homelessness instead of penalizing the cops who are targeting these folks? This science has been done. There is no study that says policing and criminalizing homelessness further solves anything. You know what it does? It creates chronically homeless people. And so the thing of it is, it's a public health and safety issue ultimately, and if we want to have a thriving community, we need to remove access to funds for policing, put them into social safety net programs. I'm very excited about the permanent supportive housing projects, but I'm really not excited about the fact that you guys just pushed through a project for protected wetlands. Like, ugh, anyways, I digress. Thank you, have a wonderful summer.

Thank you, Blair. Our next speakers are Eli Mazet followed by Robert Brock.

Hi, City Council. My name is Eli Mazet. I've been at the Saturday Market. I was born and raised in Eugene, but I've been down at the Saturday Market for 26 years. And I'm here really because there's been talk about maybe shutting the streets down around the Saturday Market. There could be signs that we put out. I was hoping to maybe say, hey, 20 miles an hour. We wouldn't shut the Fifth Street public market down and all the interaction that goes on there. I'm here. I had 100 different vendors sign, old vendors that have been down there for 30 years. We don't want to actually shut the streets down because it doesn't give access for people to come and see us. It's like downtown Eugene. They reopened up downtown Eugene so that we could really activate that space. And I know that there's not any real big plan right now to shut the streets down, but I wanted to just bring it as a concern when if it does go there that, you know, the Saturday market's this magical place to access the Saturday market. The mission statement really of the Saturday market is that we're there to teach artisans. We're there to promote people to run their own businesses like I was able to do. take care of five families with just one booth at the Saturday market. We want to keep the streets open down there. If we could find somebody or the city was able to bring in and bring some signs in that were just 20 miles an hour or something like that, I think it would really help the farmer's market and that downtown area in the future for any accidents. But we want to keep the streets open for commerce. People drive by from Seattle. They go to Duck Games. They drive by. They come down and they spend money with us. and they can really interact with the Saturday market. And I guess I'm just here to also reiterate that what a great thing the Saturday market is for the city of Eugene, just like, you know, the Eugene celebration. It's the same thing. It celebrates Eugene every weekend. I really appreciate what you guys are doing, and I really thank you.

Thank you, Eli. Our next speakers are Robert Brock, followed by David Igle.

Good evening, I'm Robert Brock. I'm a resident of the River Road neighborhood. The Eugene Police Department got over $180 million in the last budget. With such a massive expenditure, it shouldn't be a big ask that there be oversight and accountability to see if all that money is actually helping to make Eugene safer. But the Eugene Police Department doesn't have that accountability. What we have instead is a police chief willing to turn a blind eye to racism and brutality from his officers, and a civilian oversight system that doesn't even have the power to act when it finds patterns of abuse. This, again, for a $186 million department purporting to protect and serve the people of Eugene. Without accountability to the people of Eugene, we're spending money not for community safety, but for officers like Martin Siller, Bill Soulsby, and Sam Teichel to brutalize and terrorize us. Accountability is the first step. We need Skinner out. We need a civilian oversight system that can keep abusive officers out of power. With the level of cost associated with the EPD, it's also worth considering whether police are an appropriate solution for the problems Eugene faces. We have a homelessness problem driven by low wages and high costs of living, a lack of affordable housing, and low access to health care, addiction services, and mental health support. These are problems the police cannot solve. And using cops to treat the symptoms of Eugene's homelessness problem is ineffective, inefficient, and more often than not, inhumane. Arresting the unhoused for trivial violations, bulldozing campsites, and destroying their personal possessions won't make Eugene safer or improve outcomes for the unhoused. Pushing them around from campsite to campsite won't make them disappear. When we pay police to sweep an encampment, we're spending money to make our community less safe, spending money to put some of our most vulnerable community members into an even more unstable position. The CAHOOTS program, on the other hand, was a massive success, providing services like medical aid, de-escalation, and transportation, intervening in crises before they became even more severe and costly, and connecting people with the services they needed to prevent future problems. Programs like CAHOOTS and Willamette Valley Crisis Care do more to make a safe community and at a fraction of the cost. As a city makes long-term plans for addressing housing and public safety and with limited funding, it must consider the many ways in which the police cannot be trusted to protect public safety. Those millions of dollars would serve us better if they were put towards social services, alternative crisis response.

Thank you, Robert. Our next and final speaker is David Igle.

David Igle. Here I am again addressing the fact that this community has been the victim of Talisha Brown. She has managed to collect $300,000 for construction of a memorial to be placed in Alton Baker Park. This memorial commemorates events in history that never occurred. This reminds me of the plan to place a statue of Civil War General Dan Sickles at Gettysburg in the early 20th century. When the architect was about to be hired, it turned out that the head of the memorial commission had stolen the money that was intended to be used for the construction of the statue. This was a particularly awkward situation in that the head of the commission was the very elderly Dan Sickles. I appreciate the fact that it's very awkward for you to deal with this situation. Apparently no one bothered to request primary source documentation for the narrative Brown was promoting. If she had been required to provide primary source documentation, Ms. Brown's narrative would have quickly been exposed as nonsense. I've asked if any of you still believe that Eugene was a sundown town. None of you responded in the affirmative. Eugene City proper, not across the river, has a proud documented history of black residents and property owners going back 135 years. I know this because I've researched and documented this. The Oregon black pioneers did not. In fact, their racing to change exhibit at the Lane County History Museum was so loaded with misinformation that it resulted in Jennifer Yeh being removed as a museum director. I've hired staff and will be purchasing advertising. Many people in this area will soon learn what has happened. Attempting to avoid this awkward situation through inaction will only make matters more difficult. I urge you to take prompt, appropriate action. My work is available to anyone at no cost. Thank you.

Thank you, David. Mayor, that was our final speaker.

Thank you, staff. I now close the public comment period. Are there any comments from City Council? Councillor Clark and then Councillor Groves.

Thank you, Mayor. Manager, one of my constituents spoke here, John Brown, and he talked about the Altucker property. I'm very familiar with that. It's very near my home. I have wondered myself for years and years and years how this literally hundred and some odd acres right across the street from Home Depot, literally right across the street, can be something that is continually outside even the consideration for a place that we might build homes. There is an opportunity in front of us that, as was mentioned by my constituent this evening, may not last forever with regard to the passage of time and generations. I'd love to have some kind of response from staff, memo form, whatever it be, about why we have to wait so long according to staff and the research and the work that they've done before that can be considered for addition to inclusion with our UGB planning and rural reserves and why it couldn't occur more quickly than that. So any kind of information that planning staff is able to give me about what's required to get the job done for the owners of that property to be able to do as they'd like, which is see housing built that we desperately need. Thank you.

Councilor Gropes.

Thank you, Mayor. Actually, my first question was the same thing. I'm interested in seeing this. I have brought it forward before to planning and was told that the barrier is Army Corps of Engineers, but I never was given any specifics. But it just seems in this time when there are people that don't want housing built in their area. This is an area that I think is ripe for it. And I like the idea about the park expansion as well. So that's one issue. And the second issue I wanted to inquire about, we heard testimony tonight about the potential or thoughts of closing streets around the market. And I haven't heard anything like that. Is that something we can look into and see if people are actually working on that?

Yes, I have a note to do that. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Mayor.

Councillor Yee.

Thank you, Mayor.

I can't get my mic working. I'm not sure if Genevieve is still here or not, but hopefully her mom will let her know. I really appreciate what she's thinking about. My own kids traveled to and from school using a bike or their feet for many, many years, and there are certainly barriers to doing that. So I'm so proud of her to be thinking of it now and how she's going to address that want and need into the future. And I can certainly appreciate being shy coming here. But maybe she could send us an email or a letter to be able so we can hear it in her own words. That would be really fantastic, I think, for us. And I just wanted to also appreciate what Wynn said about transparency and the city doing better on communication. It's something that is really important to me. And I do think that we have a lot of room for improvement. It's hard for folks to know how they want to interact and what they want to tell us if they aren't clear about what we're doing and why we're doing it. And it's our responsibility to get that information out. So people can form an informed opinion and then share their thoughts for us. And it is, I believe, a priority. It's my priority, but it is my belief that it's a priority of all my colleagues also going into the next years. to work on that and do better. Oh, and just real quick, since I still have time, I want to thank JoJo for his remarks. The Oregon Black Pioneers are an amazing organization that I also have been so impressed with over the years. They do amazing work all over the state, not just here, but everywhere. Their website has tons of information on it if you are interested in learning more about black history. in our state, both now and more recent. So I encourage you to take a look if that's something that's important to you.

Thank you, counselor, for highlighting that resource. We are now going to move on to our last agenda item for this evening, which is Consent Calendar 2 and a resolution annexing land to the City of Eugene, Assessor's Map 17-03-09-31, Tax Locks 800-900-1000-1100, located at 89830 North Game Farm Road. Move to approve the items on Consent Calendar 2. Second. Thank you, I'll now take a vote for this motion. Councilors, please lock in your votes on your tablets or raise your hands in the affirmative. The motion passes with a vote of... Oh, I'm sorry, I'm watching. Sorry, one more time. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. And the motion passes with a vote of eight to zero. Thank you, everyone. And that concludes our agenda for this evening. And I'll close the July 13th, 2026 City Council meeting. And we are adjourned.