Eugene City Council — October 26, 2026

0:00 everyone, and welcome to the October 26, 2021 Eugene City Council Meeting. Thank you for

7:24 joining us the broadcast on Comcast, one or two. The public comment period will be limited to 90 minutes or conclude by 10 p.m. whichever occurs first, first. If the number of speakers exceeds the time that we have allotted, we encourage speakers to begin abbreviating their remarks of the maximum

8:10 number of speakers can be heard. For those joining the meeting remotely, you are welcome to email your comments to City Council and that is true of anyone giving public comment tonight. As a result, I would like to ask that you welcome to email your comments to City Council and that is true of anyone giving public comment tonight. As a reminder, City Council's meeting rules apply to all attendees both in the chambers and in the lobby and include no flags, signs, louder disruptive language, noise, or conduct that obstructs the business of the council. Please keep the room quiet and respectful for all speakers and your welcome and silent support. We, we encourage those that are ill or who are ill to join our meeting remotely rather than in person and we have masks available in the lobby if you need one. In case of a medical emergency

8:58 an automated external defibrillator in AED is located on the counter behind the staff at 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 near the front of the room the doors to the patio can also be used as needed. And In the end, this is a way of resisting the erasure of, indigenous histories, and to honor native communities by inviting truth and reconciliation. Following treaties between 1851 and 1855, Kalapuya people, people were dispossessed by the people of Kalapuya. The I- overshadow,,

9:43 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 resili of displaced indigenous people. The city of Eugene is built within the traditional homelands known as Kalapuya Alihi. Kalapuya descendants are citizens of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde community of preval and the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon. and 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.

10:29 Our first item on tonight's agenda is committee reports and items of interest. I'll now open the floor for committee reports and items of interest from council. Councillor Groves. Thank you, Mayor. a tour of people from san diego to come up and look

11:14 I appreciate those opportunities and just wanted to mention that. Thank. Councillor Keating. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you Mayor. I have one brief but very important update, update, announcement, seven days, five hours, 23 minutes, and 20 seconds till Election Day. But who's counting? If you haven't got I haven't got your ballot yet, please, go to lanecountyor.gov. Hf you have any a

12:22 live in North Eugene, that there is a the a shooting that took place at that school and that took the lives of several people,

13:16 close, closely held and loved people in and around the community of Bend. And, um, friends and partners in Bend know how much the city of Eugene and our families and our kids and our teachers and our community cares for them and is with them as they're navigating this extraordinary grief and the trauma of that experience. I want to highlight for our community that the prioritization at Silver Rail Elementary has encouraged community members looking to express their support to consider sending drawings, postcards, other expressions of care to that school community and that would be addressed to the parent teacher organization at Silver Rail Elementary School

14:01 at the address of the school. Our hearts go out to that community to every community that has been affected by this type of horrific and damaging gun violence. And if you can, please do express that support to that community. I also want to offer my appreciation and highlight a couple of other activities within our community. I've said to many people over the last few weeks that we are an incredibly busy community in the fall every year between Labor Day and the beginning of the holidays. I had the great fortune of attending a meeting at our new downtown youth hub. Also just over a week ago, this is a new free low barrier third place in our downtown right across from

14:46 the Holt Street serving youth age 14 to 24. It was made possible through a partnership with Connected Lane County, Ophelia's Place, a family for every child 15th night and also the Lane ESD. It's a really fantastic, fantastic space and incredible partners who've come together to make that resource possible within our community. So truly a privilege and a joy to attend that that opening event. I I

15:35 had the good fortune to join Bushnell University for an event where they were celebrating the beginning of their venture further campaign. This is particularly I think of interest to those in our community who are wondering about capacity within our health care fields and professions and exciting as the work that they are setting out with that campaign will be a new nurses and also new primary care physicians for our community into the future very ambitious and exciting work to see happening just a stone's throw from where we are at Eugene City Hall. Lastly I just want to highlight and building on Councillor Keating's remarks that we do indeed have an election coming right up and tomorrow October 27th is the day that it is recommended

16:20 if you're planning to drop your ballot in the mail that you drop that ballot into the mailbox. There are numerous opportunities to drop your ballot off in person at a ballot box as well, but that is the recommendation. For those who are thinking about mailing their ballots later, please make sure that your ballot has the opportunity to be postmarked by Election Day. That is the necessity and not all mail put into the mailbox on Election Day will receive a postmark on that day in the city of Eugene. So please vote early and take advantage of our incredibly safe and accessible election system here in Oregon. On that front, also this week, thanks to partnership with our interfaith leaders, the U of M.O.R. Center, and connections with our League of Women Voters as well, we'll be hosting a

17:06 conversation with Secretary of State Tobias Reed about elections integrity. I just want to appreciate those community members and those leaders in our community for their engagement and for seeking good information to support our community with. With that, that concludes our first agenda item this evening and our second item on tonight's agenda is consent calendar one approval of City Council minutes and also approval of City Council tentative agenda. There are no questions from council. I'll turn to the council vice president to put a motion forward. I move to approve the items on consent calendar one. Second. Any discussion from council? Seeing none, I will now take a vote for this motion. Councillors, please lock in your votes on the tablets in front of you. Five.

18:03 Voting in the affirmative. And zero. Motion passes with a vote of five to zero. Thank you very much and that includes our second agenda item. The last 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 the City Council and the Mayor and not to the audience. The person at the podium is the only person who should be speaking while giving comment. Staff can please share a list and the number of speakers that are signed up to speak by 735 p.m. this evening and announce the first speakers. Thank you mayor we have

18:49 seven speakers signed up this evening. 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 and please note that use of profanity is not permitted. Our first speakers tonight

19:36 our Lynn Woodrich followed by Richard Green. My name is Lynn Woodrich. I'm the co-chair of the active Bethel community and a Bethel resident for over 30 years. I live in Ward 8 and have been speaking on behalf of ABC board for the past six years. First, thank you. The 270,000 Johns Hopkins Love Your Block grant that we received is a real gift to Bethel and Trainsong and we're grateful. But I need to correct the record. The city's announcement says this grant addresses limited community engagement in our neighborhoods. The grant application goes further saying participation often diminishes and that without consistent involvement the plan risks slow or incomplete implementation. That is not our

20:23 story. In January 2021 the ABC board held a visioning meeting over zoom. In 2022 we held five park events to gather more ideas from our neighbors. We handled all of our we handed all of our results to the city when it was decided by the the council that after 40 years Bethel needed a plan. The city launched its planning effort in 2023. Bethel and trains on board members received a draft of the Bethel plan on October 22nd, 2026, three years later and nearly six years after residents began their visioning work. Residents have not been the slow part of this process. We've been engaged consistently for years. Dr. Rojas of the Bloomberg Center at Johns Hopkins said that residents often have

21:08 the clearest view of what their neighborhoods need and that Love Your Block shows what happens when local government invites the public in. We agree. We're already in. So tonight I ask the council to do two things. First, acknowledge that Bethel and Trainsong residents have been and continue to be involved and invested in our neighborhoods. Second, commit that residents will be real partners in the Bethel plan and deliver results our neighborhoods can use. We're ready to do the work. We ask the city to meet us with the same urgency. Thank you. Thank you, Lynn. Our next speakers are Richard Green followed by Wynn Mansell. My name is Richard Green. Hello, your honor

21:54 counselors. You know I spoke here about a month and a half ago about a policy of the Eugene Police to take everything from homeless people, including their of blankets, releasing from jail without anything, not a blanket. I know the situation's gotten worse now because it's raining, and among the things that are taken from the people are their tarps that they used to stay dry. I talked to some people in the park Sunday night after the rain, as in how they're going to stay dry, and they said, you know, their tarps were taken, they didn't know what they were going to do. You know, last time I spoke, I quoted, I quoted a Bible verse about, about this. But you don't need a Bible verse to know that's just plain wrong, to treat people worse than you would treat a dog. And besides for that, the same thing, the same way that you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing,

22:39 They in the world, causing a moral injury to our police and women who are asked to follow orders that are clearly morally wrong. They may not admit it, they may not admit it, they may not admit it, they are completely right. The same thing is that soldiers who suffer from this moral injury have post-traumatic stress disorder. So, the integrity of our police force, they undermine their compassion and their ability

23:28 to be courageous as we expect them to be. And then you would treat a dog the next day to risk their strangers, which they usually rise to the occasion, even if the moral injury is present in the officers' lives lives. So I'm asking you, pursue an independent Eugene policy to take some leadership in this matter. We don't need to follow national norms, we're

24:26 I would like to thank you for being here. Good evening, Mayor, Councillors, the award 7. the mail, take a walk, visit the library, and drop off in a secured drop box, which I'll use as a bridge to a second point on transparency and communications, once

25:11 again, just because during the special election I remember community members reaching out to get help from other community members for concerns of seeing one of EPD's traffic enforcement monitors, and they were unsure if that was in ALPR and just recently with the current election I believe a very flock shaped camera that turned out to be a ricotta camera was seen outside of a a ballot drop-off in Marcola which led to further consternation and getting communications out there about you know the security measures and just what the city or the county not that you have power over that are doing would prevent perhaps a cooling event or cooling effect of people wanting to get

25:58 out from vote. Recent news, bad bridge, but makes me think of the NDA policy specifically for data centers like in general. We should be communicating about like what sort of policies like that not just for data centers are reaching the city and whether or not the city should be even entering into anything like that or not just disclosing the contracts or disclosing any requests for NDA and on the topic of the data centers I'm going to encourage you guys to think about that not just as you know data centers they're not great especially hyperscaler ones especially with Microsoft laying off 27% of their global workforce not laying off a misspoke offering buyouts

26:47 to 27% of their global workforce to fund them but to consider asking what the city. So I'm going to take a look at some of the city specifically dislikes about that and seeing if land use policy can be used. As a blanket like noise pollution heat islands power usage, etcetera. Thank you. Thank you in our next speakers are Shelly divine followed by stephans track. Saturday was really fun. I was in the thriller dance mob for mentioning the Tobias Reed talks. I wanted to let everyone know that this Wednesday, the 28th, at 2 p.m., if you wanna participate

27:34 in the conversation with the Oregon Secretary of State, Tobias Reed, about local elections integrity, it's happening at First Congressional Church, which is at 1050 East 23rd Avenue in Eugene, so that's an in-person, nonpartisan event, And we'll include remarks from Tobias Reed and an opportunity for community members to ask questions about our election system and voting processes in Oregon. And I came down tonight to, the last couple of meetings I've missed and I've tuned in online remotely, I've watched y'all live on the channel. And I just noticed that when there's only, there was only like six speakers and tonight there's only seven

28:19 and I was thinking, hey, wouldn't that be cool if like we got the longer allotted time back, we got the three minutes back. So if it was, you know, maybe pick a reasonable number if there's only, you know, 20 or less that maybe we just automatically get the three minutes back because I would have liked to have heard Richard for another 30 seconds. And two weeks ago, the gentleman whose name I don't remember, you referred to it afterwards, Councillor Keating, a man was giving really amazing testimony about an awesome program initiative that I would have liked to afford him for like five more minutes actually. So something to consider and yeah thanks have a good night. Thank you Shelly. Our next speakers

29:04 are Stephon Streck followed by Kellyn Stanley. Good night and thank you City Council and everyone who took the time to come down here and speak tonight. I I understand everyone has a busy, busy schedule. Your time is valuable, and thank you for listening. My name is Stefan Streck, and I appreciate every single one of you. Now, I think it's important to mention once again that yes, every single person who showed up to speak here on the record tonight deserves more time to speak. And furthermore, the Council's policy of censoring speech

29:52 speech is a direct violation of the First Amendment and you are all in violation of the Constitution, our sacred Bill of Rights. That is deplorable and I find it dastardly to mention integrity while our so-called elected mayor takes a full minute more above the extra 30 seconds that she gives herself, truly in the face of the people, quite sad really, really quite sad. Furthermore, speaking of tragedy, it is an absolute shame what happened in Bend, but it's important to understand that this tragedy was stopped by a lawful gun

30:38 owner and carrier who chose to break the law banning entering those school grounds with a gun to defend those children. People died because the Democrat laws put in place forced him to separate his ammunition from his gun. And truly, if these Democrat gun laws were not in place, maybe nobody would have died that day. Again, not just sad, heartbreaking. This is important to understand. Our Bill of Rights is not something you get to pick and choose what words are approved and what are not. Indeed, by your opaque policy of arbitrarily enforcing an offensive

31:31 speech band, what is that? What is offensive speech? Is the truth offensive? to some yes to those in power often we can do better and no matter what happens the votes rigged thank you our next speakers are Kellen Stanley followed by Jennifer Blaser hi my name is Kellen Stanley I'm not sick this is just a precaution I'm in Matt's Ward the last time I spoke with you all it was in favor of star voting I'm currently the vice president of star voting action I'm coming to do today to give you a bit of food for thought. Everyone right now is very concerned about AI and job losses,

32:17 and so I thought I would present a historical concept that has been used successfully in the past when unemployment was high. I doubt anyone here has heard of this, so, you know, a little bit of education. So, in between World War I and World War II, Austria was experiencing rampant inflation. And a little town called Wergel took all of the money that it had, put it in the bank, and borrowed against it to create a stamp currency, which is also known as a demerarge currency. Demerarge currencies lose about one, well, in this case, lose 1% of their value every month. And so it provides no incentive to keep the currency and instead makes people spend their

33:05 money as quickly as they receive it. This was hugely successful in Wurgle in eliminating the unemployment 12 to 14 times faster than anywhere else in the state. Because the currency doesn't act as a store of value, essentially it circulates very really. So, okay, going back to my notes, the the concept of demerage is very successful in making the the world the store of value. Essentially, when money doesn't act as a store of value, the store of value becomes the world. So in

33:51 Wergel, all of the roofs were fixed and all of the roads were fixed, which was is exactly the intention of currency. The proponents of Dem I'm going to turn it over to

34:47 our next and final speaker is Jennifer blazer. Excuse-me Jennifer blazer. and I think we all know that there's probably more out there. What are we doing? I certainly don't want my tax dollars paying for any lawsuit losses because Skinner doesn't know how to keep his force in check. My suggestion is that he maybe look into Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd and implement his tactics rather than copying James Corden's karaoke segment and trying to be a local celebrity. I'm almost positive he'll get better results. Next we have the The Devil's Sided Media $2.5 million fee quote from EPD for info on the Justin Peckles case. I've seen online that it could be the highest fee quote ever. Also according to Skinner's fee response, I calculated there are around 900 files per

35:34 day on Peckles since he started working for EPD, which is also embarrassing and ridiculous. His brother-in-law Joel works in EPD's internal affairs department and attends citizen review board, meetings? Seems like a conflict of interest. As an accountant, I propose we audit EPD's receivables and expenditures. Peckels, who was patrolling the Saturday market back in 2023, never helped me when I made multiple complaints about drug dealers at Free Speech Plaza. I'm a vendor there. He escalated a final call that I made about Constantine, a well-known drug dealer who sells dirty mushrooms, of all things. He's also a thief who still harasses me to this day. Offered I

36:37 and and

39:03 the a and.....................

40:33 we do. and- a. and that that, the I

7:23 I a and

8:55 ,,

10:28 And I

11:28 just.

12:32 And I'll now walk through Fort Worth. It's. It. It. It. B.

15:06 When face a special to conflict or when children may have witnessed harm, the updated policy adds clear guidance around child welfare coordination, evidence handling and interview considerations.

15:51 So as we look ahead, several important policy areas have recently stops, mental health evaluation, and the community safety payroll tax. We remain committed to transparent community-informed review of each item. And I We want to thank the mayor, city council, city manager, and our partners within EPD for their continued support. The commission remains committed to promoting clarity, accountability, and community trust in policing.

16:38 in--

17:31 and correct yeah it's on the work plan it just is not made on to an agenda quite yet okay thank you that's helpful the commission recommended a no policy change on the immigration policy 305 correct okay thank you what policy

18:24 proposals were discussed by the Commission around immigration that didn'ts quite get over the finish line. Were there any policy pieces that you recall that are worth reminding this council that we're even just discussed. I'll be honest and say I don't remember what I had for the lunch by yesterday so I will. I will try my best but what I do remember is the essence of the the policy that that we talked about is the big factor is that Eugene is a sanctuary city and EPD has to uphold that very much which means that and please correct me if I am wrong but there are situations in which police may

19:10 have to show up for something but they cannot actively support for example ice in their detainee but if there is active crime going on around that area that they have to address that but they cannot as a sanctuary city they cannot support them directly. Does that help at all? Thank rng? Okay, finally, Eugene has rather unique makeup in the, we have an independent police auditor, one of the three employees of the city of Eugene, the city council that is, independent police auditor S auditor, police commission, and a civilian review board. If someone were brand new to Eugene, asking you to define those three roles and how they interact and

19:59 how they're different. What would be your answer Rene? Oh, you're giving me the tough ones tonight. All right, counselor. So my understanding of the police auditor is they Mr. Renetsky reviews specific incidents of officers and how they have violated police policy or city policy in any way and I'm assuming city policy but have they violated any policy within the guidelines of the the role that they have. So that's the auditor's position is my understanding and then the Civilian Review Board my understanding is they look at specific the evidence of an officer with an individual and that interaction.

20:51 So the auditor is specifically reviewing an officer's, whether they have some sort of policy, the Civilian Review board reviews specific incidents with officers and citizens, and then the police commission, we review specifically the policy as a whole and we does the policy, if I know very little about Eugene Police Department, will I understand these, do they make sense? Is there maybe something that we could recommend that might make more sense or could you explain it to us? So that's how I would explain it. I apologize for putting you on. No, no, no. I appreciate it. You're challenging me.

21:36 ,, I'm going to do the best, I'm going to

22:38 There is a lot of work that goes into this. I think we have a commission that works well together. I think Amelia stepped in and done a wonderful job in the leadership role as chair. And I would say it's a pretty high-functioning group. And it's no small feat that we were able to get through as much as we were this past one year. People show up, they're ready to work, and we go at it. And then the last thing, I guess this is a comment and then a question for the city attorney. As far as the city's status as a sanctuary city, we follow sanctuary practices, we follow all state rules, and the state has declared itself as a sanctuary state.

23:24 I don't believe we've ever declared ourself, quote unquote, quote, as a sanctuary city because there is no legal definition for it. Is that correct? I can't answer that question with certainty. The council's taken a number of actions that, again, are akin to those issues, whether that specific term has been used, I can't say. They kind of predated the use of. Thank you. And again, I want to emphasize we do follow the and it's of what a sanctuary city would do, but my understanding is that this has never been something that was declared by city council. part of the reason the explanation given to me was that there is no legal the definition

24:14 But again, we do follow the rules and tenets of what sanctuary cities do, and I know there's been a lot of work looking at what other cities do provide and that have sanctuary status, and we are following those. the I think that's all I have at this point, but again, thank you for the report, the time, and your leadership. Other discussion or comments from Council? I will then add myself to this cue I want to underscore and emphasize and also ask for

24:59 more information if needed if the statements are correct my understanding is also similar to what counselor just described in that the city of Eugene's positions in relationship to protecting the rights of our immigrant neighbors predated the state's conversation about sanctuary state status and that has to do with I think some long-standing values around how we in Eugene understand our neighbors and an experience of belonging and also the responsibilities of the federal government and state and local governments as outlined by our constitution. I have a couple of quick questions and these could be more for the city manager attorney. One of them is about the interface between

25:45 what might be city code and perhaps EPD policy and the reason that I'm saying it that way is because my expectation is that all of Eugene police department policy is in alignment with our existing local code and so my question about policies has to do with some of the nuances of particular laws. And the reason I'm raising this issue is it has to do with dependent children disadvantaging people in our community, and documented actions by a judge identifying who within say a family unit is a dangerous member of that family unit in relationship to two parents, and how that is then translated into our local housing laws and details as they relate to who is

26:39 allowed to remain in a unit of housing, for example. I'm realizing that that description I just gave is probably like, wow, where do those things intersect? How do we have a conversation about that kind of update in our code? I'm raising it because a member of our community explained, explained very clearly the the space that they were caught between in our existing laws and the number of hardships that were generated as a result of our local code not clearly being able to lean on the action of a judge. comfortable really addressing it off the cuff. I'd be happy to look at that and answer the question. Thank you. There are intersections around those things that

27:25 are can be complicated. For all the reasons, yes. I am and I'm even in my framing of, the question I'm trying to be thoughtful of those to sensitivities. So that was just one one general question. The reason I ask it is also because I appreciate so much the inquiry around the different layers of of engagement that we have in our community with the independent police auditor, the police commission, and the civilian review board, and and also we're and experience I will follow up city attorney on that point and then I would remiss I would be remiss if I didn't specifically thank the new members of our police commission who have had the good opportunity

28:11 to make relentations for their appointment in this first two years Burtrand, Kristin Dinevant, Martha Espinoza-Blank, and Katie Wilgus for their willingness to join the commission. And my appreciation to the, the whole body for for all of the work that you do in our city. Thank you. With that, our first agenda item this evening, not seeing, oh, Councillor Zel inka, I see a hand has, has been raised. Councillor. Yeah, just avoiding confusion. My understanding is that there's a difference between what the City of Eugene does and what any other city that would call themselves the same does.

29:02 There's nothing, don't with, as the mayor and it said, and the, our choice to do that, predated the state law. And so, we didn't need to update our laws that prevent us from, for instance, collecting data about immigrants and immigration status and things like that. And there is no functional So there's a lot of difficulty with that. And it's not a functional pathway to say you are a sanctuary city. It's really that you follow the state law and that you have

29:47 and we do. And also we have our own ordinances that cover that. So no functional differences between the and so it's really a distinction of a difference to me. Thank you, Mayor. I just have a quick follow-up, Amelia. Looking at the parking lot items and the in-progress items, there are two issues that may be weaving their way through the legislature, and I want to know if there's any interest by the Commission or if you've talked about this in the past and it just didn't rise to the crop for fiscal year 26-27 issues and priorities. Shock gloves, the use of shock gloves for restraint, and I

30:35 see AOPR policy was complete, but the use of AI is that was there or has there been any conversations among Commission members about the use of AI? Not specifically AI, but technology as a whole, with the understanding that that technology is going to continue to evolve as we move along. And obviously, all of these policies, well, not obviously, but all of these policies are working documents. And so we can revisit it any time. So the shock lives I haven't heard of. And when we create our work plan, it really comes about looking at policies. And just to give you a little back information, looking at when the last policy was updated

31:21 and kind of bringing forth some of those that it's been five years since it's been reviewed. So those are some of the items that made it to the top 10. Also just things that come up within our community that we want to talk about. So the technology piece, I would say AI has been brought up, but it's more in the context of technology as a whole. And other than the ALPR cameras, drones, I think we've talked about, it really hasn't been discussed too much specifically. But with those things, those will probably come up on our work plan for 2829. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you then to our staff

32:08 and also to our police commission chair and EPD staff this evening for being with us. That concludes our first agenda item this evening. I'm now going to turn back to the city manager for our second agenda item which is going to take a little bit of transition time here but is a work session for our sustainability the city of commission.

32:59 We have the committee commissions fiscal year 26 annual port and fiscal year 27 work plan. Thank you mayor has a few comments while getting set up I just want to recognize the chair and the commission the staff for their leadership over the past year and advancing Eugene's climate and sustainability priorities. They've done a tremendous amount of work. And tonight the commission will be seeking approval of its they're ready. Thank you city manager and good evening mayor and council. One small clarification I am not in fact Danielle Klinkabel. Danielle is actually under the weather today so I'm here going to do my best to fill in for her

33:45 this evening. I also like to introduce Mitra Grewell who is the chair of this year's sustainability Commission. Just a quick agenda for this evening first I'm just going to share a really high level overview of the city's sustainability and climate work, and really how the Commission fits into that larger ecosystem. Chair Gruel is going to share highlights from the Commission's fiscal 26 and a report, including topics they engaged on, committees they formed, and information that was provided to Council last year. Chair Gruel will also go over the goals and priorities of the newly proposed work plan for this upcoming year. And the Commission is looking for action today from City Council to approve their fiscal work plan and committees. So before we get into the Commission's work, I wanted

34:35 to take just a quick step back and provide just a little bit of an overview about the City's broader sustainability work. A little history lesson, back in 2014 Council adopted the Climate Recovery Ordinance or CRO. This was amended in 2016 and established both fossil fuel and greenhouse gas reduction targets for Eugene. And so CAP 2.0 which was approved in 2020 is our second climate action plan and it includes a wide range of actions to try and meet the targets that are set out in the CRO. And there's a lot going on in the cap but at its core it's really based on coordination and partnership across a wide swath of stakeholders. And so as a result the city has staff all across the organization as well as community partners who are advancing work and pursuing actions to help make progress towards CRO goals and to implement cap

35:23 2.0. And this really includes a wide range of work making transportation cleaner, more accessible, increasing contact development as Eugene grows, powering homes, buildings with clean, efficient energy, preventing pollution through strong waste management, and improving community resilience to the impacts of climate change and many more. So the Sustainability Commission is really one component of this broader work. As a group of volunteers that meet once a month, the City has tried to leverage the Standing Committee by bringing them projects and policies for their feedback and input. So the topics you will hear about tonight represent a subset of all of the different work that is ongoing across city departments and being undertaken by community partners in support of CAP 2.0 and local sustainability.

36:11 We also wanted to recognize and thank the volunteers who serve on the Sustainability Commission. Members are all appointed by City Council and they provide advice on sustainability-related issues and they really serve as an important form for community input. There were three commissioners who actually wrapped up their service at the end of last fiscal year, and I wanted to acknowledge them, and that's Lily Yau, Chris Jorges, and Emily Reynolds. And then below that is our current list of Commissioners for Fiscal 27, and I just wanted to note there are currently three open Commission seats, Ward 3 and Ward 4, as well as one at-large vacancy that's appointed by Council as a whole. I also want to just plug that filling these seats is really an opportunity to increase the diversity of experiences and interests represented by this Commission, and with that, I will now

36:57 the state of the state. Thank you very much. Thank you. And thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Ian. Excuse me. Good evening, mayor and city council. Thanks for having me. I'd like to start by sharing some of our key accomplishments from our fiscal year 26 annual report which is appendix A in your meeting packet. its core work of learning about and providing feedback on emerging sustainability topics. At each monthly meeting, staff brought forward projects and policies and commissioners asked questions and shared community perspectives. As Ian mentioned, these topics align with the CAP 2.0 focus

37:46 areas. Regarding transportation, the commission reviewed sidewalk policy including funding and accessibility needs and material considerations. We We also provided input on the development of the electronic vehicle charging infrastructure plan, sharing ideas about location priorities, affordability concerns, equitable distribution, and possible integration with resilience hubs. For buildings, we provided input on the home energy score disclosure requirement, such as alignment with the climate goals, workforce capacity, and other implementation considerations. On waste, we learned about the Recycling Modernization Act and provided input on communication strategies

38:31 for new recycling rules, and where recycling depots should be located. We also learned about opportunities to reduce emissions from refrigerants. Finally, we reviewed the analysis of turf options at Golden Gardens Park, including considerations related to materials, playability, and environmental impacts. These topics reflect the breadth of issues the Commission engages with throughout the year and the value of early communication input in sharing policy. In addition to monthly meetings, the Commission formed three committees to take deeper dives into priority issues, and one Commissioner was assigned to serve on the separate City Advisory Committee. Committees are an opportunity for the Commission to do more in-depth work on an issue, and

39:20 this may lead to either participation in community events or the development of resources or memos for the broader commission or city council. The Sustainable Buildings Committee examined embodied carbon reduction strategies and prepared a memo to council outlining opportunities to reduce emissions in local building materials and infrastructure. The triple bottom line learning group developed a new reflection tool that helps commissioners apply environmental, social, and economic considerations when evaluating topics. And the Education and Outreach Committee continued refining engagement strategies, including tabling materials and community panels, all aimed at both better understanding community perspectives on sustainability while also sharing resources and programs with

40:08 the public. Finally, one commissioner served on the Envision Eugene Technical Advisory Committee, providing a sustainable sustainability lens on technical data used in long-range planning efforts. These committees are an important way that the Commission builds capacity, explores emerging topics, and supports council with research and community insights. Community engagement was a big part of the Commission's work last year. The Commission engaged approximately 130 community members by tabling at community events and neighborhood picnics. We developed some fun ways to engage people through a dot survey and spin the wheel game.

40:55 that these events help us understand what issues are at top of mind for the community, whether it's transportation, recycling, resilience, or home energy costs. We also developed a new way to gather community perspectives by hosting community panels at our meetings, one with youth and one with local businesses. These conversations provided insight into generational perspectives on climate action, as well as the challenges and opportunities local businesses face in navigating sustainability practices. And with our small grant program, the Commission awarded a $1,000 green fund grant to Fossil Free Eugene to support workshops on energy efficiency and winter weatherization. These workshops helped residents, including renters and low-income households, learn practical

41:43 ways to reduce energy costs and stay safe during extreme weather. These engagement efforts directly strengthen the quality and depth of the Commission's feedback to staff and Council. Looking ahead, the fiscal year 27 work plan outlines where the Commission will focus its efforts to align closely with CAP 2.0, work already underway, while also creating space to examine emerging sustainability issues and reflect community perspectives. The next few slides walk through our fiscal year 27 goals, anticipated meeting topics, proposed committees. The Commission has three primary goals this year. First, we

42:32 will continue reviewing current and emerging initiatives with a focus on CAP 2.0 priority areas. This allows us to provide timely and informed feedback as projects develop. Second, we aim to engage more fully throughout the life cycle of key projects. This means continuing to provide input on projects that we may have already addressed in previous years. By following initiatives from early development through implementation and beyond, commissioners can offer more nuanced insights to shape their success and impact. And third, we want to strengthen our community engagement efforts. This means expanding the tools and strategies we use to hear from residents and ensuring these voices are reflected in the feedback we provide to council and staff. These goals build

43:19 on lessons from previous years and position the commission to support the city's climate and sustainability work in meaningful ways. In fiscal year 27, the commission anticipates reviewing a range of sustainability-related projects within the CAP 2.0 focus area. Under transportation, we'll learn about current and upcoming active transportation projects and efforts to redesign some of our major corridors, including Franklin Boulevard, River Road and Highway 99. We'll provide input to LTD as they develop their long-range transit plan. For buildings, we expect to discuss strategies to increase housing capacity along major corridors and centers and consider climate related

44:04 actions in the housing production strategy and sustainability work at the University of Oregon. In waste, the Commission will review new projects in Eugene that will be funded through the RMA, otherwise known as the Recycling program. We also have a partnership with the commission on modernization act and provide feedback on sustainability initiatives at the library including their new drop-off kiosk program funded through the recent library levy. For resilience, we'll learn about the new community wildfire protection plan, provide feedback on the next natural hazard mitigation plan and review street tree projects funded through the 2022 street bond. These topics shaping Eugene's sustainability future. For fiscal year 27, the Commission is

44:58 proposing two committees for council approval with potential interest in a third depending on council direction. First, the Education and Outreach Committee. This group will focus on increasing awareness of sustainability resources and to better understand the range of perspectives and needs related to sustainability. One goal of this committee will be to put together a panel with unhoused and low-income community members so we can better understand their experiences with climate impacts and access to resilient resources. Next, the Sustainable Buildings Committee will explore ways to advance high-impact sustainability improvements in buildings by identifying key barriers, developing criteria for what qualifies as high impact, and reviewing approaches used for other cities. This work may inform

45:46 future opportunities but will not evaluate individual buildings or recommend specific projects. Finally we'd like to flag that the Sustainability Commission has an interest in data centers. We recognize this is a rapidly emerging issue and with many implications for sustainability. We do not have a proposal for this committee tonight as we know the Council has a work session on the topic on December 14th. The Commission intends to watch the city's plans to participate in the project. We will match the December work session and will it may have interest in convening a committee of if Council would like to request support from the sustainability commission regarding data centers

46:34 following that discussion. The last 2 here are external committees that the commission plans to participate in so one commissioner will continue to serve on the vision Eugene committee. These committees will help commission deepen its understanding of priority issues and provide more informed community-grounded feedback throughout the year. Thank you all for your time and attention. We welcome your questions and feedback on the Commission's work this past year and our proposed work plan for fiscal year 27. Tonight we are asking Council to approve the fiscal year 27 work plan and the two proposed committees, and outreach and sustainable buildings. We appreciate your continued support and

47:19 look forward to partnering with you in the coming year. Thank you. Thank you chair and thank you Ian for that presentation and update. I'll now open the floor for council discussion.

50:00 you had some sound professionals testing testing for death I heard Alan whoa

52:54 there's that one right there's a council online and here in the room we're gonna pick up with counselor comments and see how things go with whether or not this that it gets louder. Councillor Clark. Thank you, Mayor. I'll try and speak clearly without static. What I was mentioning was historically the Sustainability Commission concerned itself with our initial understanding of the triple bottom line, the idea that sustainability meant people, the planet, and our local economy to pay for.

53:41 It seems to me that the Sustainability Commission, as of the last several years, focused primarily on one of those, rather than all three. I was wondering if there are ever discussions about the more balanced representation of the triple bottom line in the work of the Sustainability Commission, for example, talking about economic sustainability of our community and our city government. Are those ever topics that come up in the Sustainability Commission? thank you for that question. It's my understanding that we try to consider the triple bottom

54:45 line perspective through all the topics that we explore. In fact, one of our committees last year was focused specifically on that and developing a tool with which the sustainability commissioners could use to reflect on our work as I've I've been a sustainability commissioner for about five years now and it's always been presented or my understanding that sustainability was referencing environmental sustainability but was meant to be considered with the triple bottom line perspective through all the topics that we explore so it might just be the fact that I've only been part of this for five years and you have a broader perspective on the progress of this Commission throughout

55:35 time but I'm sorry if did that answer your question okay then do you have anything to add? I think just to add a little bit of what Chair Guerer had said there was a committee last year and what they focused on was basically standing up a tool that can be provided as a resource and literally at every meeting now it's something that is handed to every commissioner and when there's a topic there's an opportunity to go through all three elements of the triple bottom line to try and think about that perspective and then I think a few of the picture a few of the topics that we've talked about particularly the Golden Gardens project that we looked at last year was a triple bottom line project so it's an opportunity to actually apply the tool to actual project that the city is pursuing moving forward so yes I think it is something that was core when the sustainable business task force came up

56:22 came about 20 or so years ago, and it is something that is increasingly flawed in the conversation. There are certain topics where it doesn't necessarily depend, but when it does, there is this resource for the Commission to use. I appreciate that answer and the work itself very much. I would only say as a final comment that the triple bottom line analysis that the relative equity position of any particular thing that the city is doing policy-wise, or its effect on the climate, or its effect on our ability to pay for it. It's that last one that I think we miss the perspective of the Sustainability Commission frequently

57:08 on how we might be more economically sustainable in the things that we do and having that level of analysis. That's just my opinion on all of this. Thank you so much for that perspective. Councillor Groves. Thank you, Mayor. And thank you very much for the presentation and the information that you shared tonight. I want to also thank the three members that are exiting the Sustainability Commission. In particular, my appointee, Coach Yeovitz, our brief server, you've done a good job, I think. Welcome to our nearest appointee to the sustainability commission for my world world eight state of

57:55 library. I'm very much forward to the work that is continuing and I intend to go into field of both committees. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. serve as the sustainability Council representative to Sustainability Commission liaison and so I don't have any questions because I've had the honor of getting to work with all of you through this last year's work plan to work on the next year's work plan and so I just want to share the value I find from working with the Sustainability Commission particularly as we're trying to balance different needs, different

58:40 priorities and helping provide insight into which methods we're handling, environmental systems, maximum adjustments. So again, just all the work we've put in on non-terrible places. Councillor Zalinka. Yeah, thanks. Yeah, I partially agree with what Mike said. we can always be more economically sustainable. But I don't want that to be confused with more economically efficient. There's always an opportunity to do things smarter, better,

59:31 cheaper, faster. And the city government always tries to do that. And that's part of the city manager's charge to make sure that we do that on a regular basis and look at that. I think that's necessarily the charge of the Sustainability Commission to do that. The second thing I wanted to note was that when we talk about the cost of sustainability, we can't just say, what does this cost? That's only half the question. The other half of the question is, compared to what? If we compare it to not doing anything, or compared to letting other bad outcomes occur that have a higher cost, then that's the appropriate question that the city should be looking at from a life cycle

1:00:16 and a long-term perspective. So you can't just say this action costs x. You have to say and it costs x compared to y if we don't do anything. And the y in my experience has been much, much more expensive than taking action. Most of the stuff I do at Oregon Environmental Energy, the stuff that we're doing will save the state billions of dollars over the next 20 years if we become more efficient and more effective and more sustainable and at the same time reducing greenhouse gas emissions and add a boatload of jobs like hundreds of thousands of jobs. So, and compared to the alternative, which is to do nothing, which will have a tremendous

1:01:08 cost. We're already seeing that tremendous cost in the form of all these really extreme weather events that are causing wildfires and droughts and floods and things that are happening all over the world, not just in Oregon specifically. So when we do keep in mind the question of cost, you have to ask both halves of the question. was the cost compared to what? Thank you. Any other comments or discussion from council? Councillor Clark, Councillor Keating and then Councillor Clark. Yeah thank you Mayor. I want to echo my gratitude to the Sustainability Commission members. Thank you chair for presenting today and Ward 2 South

1:01:55 Eugene members Devin Mann and Jan Bowman and I check in periodically and I'm always thrilled to do so and learn about what you're working on. A couple things from fiscal year 27 work plan that jump out. LTD's long-range planning that connect 20-45 piece for a safe, reliable, convenient way for folks to get where they need to go. I would just underscore my enthusiasm for safe and reliable transportation options for the drivers as well and I wonder if in your data center committee project potential if that could be maybe reframed as a

1:02:41 technology emerging technologies committee that isn't just related to data centers but also examines driverless vehicles and the pros and cons in our community of automation, replacing the workforce or or or autonomous vehicles on the streets. I'd be interested in if if the Commission's willingness to to agree to such kind of a more broad creation of a committee. I'm not gonna let that get in the work of my enthusiastic support of your plan tonight, just my two cents. I'm I'm one of eight. I also want to highlight the climate actions and housing production strategy there's a new eight-year conversation that the Sustainability Commission will have around meeting housing needs with climate adaptation and mitigation features and reading off your work plan.

1:03:36 How do you anticipate that's going to change that's going to change from councils existing strategy or state law. I believe we have yet to hear this presentation, so I can't really comment on that as of yet, but I mean it's our job to just kind of hear what's happening and then contribute where we feel, if we feel like there's a spot for us to contribute related to that, but yeah. Thank you for that question, Coun. Councilor Keating, and I think broadly staff are working on this right now. They're working on the next version of this eight-year plan for the, housing production strategy, and one of the elements that are being talked about right now-

1:04:21 things related to climate resilience and it's like what staff intend to do is come to the Commission and just abund and just get some feedback on some of the ideas that are being bounced around and discussed internally to get some thoughts on, any things that might be missed, any things that could be incorporated in the line. frivolity we don't really know what any of those things are right now. There's a lot of work being done internally and staff will come in the spring to share a lot of what has been done. So I think it's done in parallel with what is going to be happening with much larger package related to the HPS that's coming. I look forward to that conversation, thank you. The item on street tree projects, I'm enthusiastic about learning more where the Sustainability Commission is at in regard to providing feedback to council, increasing our

1:05:08 canopy coverage, I would hope, and recognizing that's a future agenda item. I'll refrain from asking any objective feedback in regard to the street tree projects and street tree preservation and increasing the canopy coverage, but I think you know where I stand on the matter. There's an item that was not on your agenda, but I think it's been on in the past. Two-stroke motors for lawn equipment, gas-powered leaf blowers in particular. The items come back to us in the Layden Regional Air Protection Agency. Has it crossed your desk as chair of the Sustainability Commission? So the topics that we focus on in our fiscal year 27

1:05:54 plan, what the way that we choose them is a variety of topics are selected by city staff that align with the council work and topics of interest and then the commissioners vote on the ones. We only have a limited amount of time to I think it's a good idea to get the information about these topics and then do the committee work. So we have to whittle them down and I believe that did. It was one of the possible topics I believe this year but it wasn't selected as something to move forward because we did have a committee on it was it last year 2 years ago, yes. And I

1:06:41 we felt like there was more that we could really give or on the topic you know we I feel like we had done as much as we felt like we could without the topic progressing in some way outside of our realm of influence. Okay I'm out of time so oh I have six seconds I'd like to request that memo from a couple years ago please and thank you. Any other discussion or comments from council councilor Clark thank you mayor I appreciate it I appreciate my friend Alan's comments I just didn't want to be misconstrued after that exchange that I I wasn't speaking to economic efficiencies at all so much as what I

1:07:28 was speaking to was that the name of the Commission is the Sustainability Commission at the Environment Commission or the Climate Commission but the Sustainability Commission which I believe exists to help us build a more sustainable community on all three fronts rather than just one and I just wanted to make sure that was my point of view was coming clear thank you for that clarification thank you thank you staff and not seeing any other questions I have a couple that I want to ask and also a few things to just appreciate one One of them is very much appreciating your focus on transportation projects and the collaboration,

1:08:14 cooperation with L.A.T.D.'s long-range planning and mobility planning, such an important part of supporting our climate and reducing emissions in our community, but also supporting people's quality of life and affordability within this community. And I'm curious if on that front you could share any additional comments or highlights that you would want to be sure are lifted up for the public's understanding around enthusiasm from the Commission as it relates to the specific category of transportation work. Transportation is one of the biggest contributors or the biggest contributor to greenhouse gases in our area. And so it is definitely a priority.

1:09:00 We have yet to hear this upcoming presentation in November, I believe, is the LTD Long Range Plan. So we can't specifically comment about that, but I can just tell you that every year we focus on transportation in some way, shape, or form, whether it's electric vehicles, to sharing electric like access to sharing vehicles. It is a very much a priority and yeah I just am very impressed with all the ways our community tries to make those options available to folks and looking at the infrastructure that we have here and the bike bikeability of the town with

1:09:50 bike lanes being said yeah I'm sorry Ian help me out please. I would just add to what Chair Gurrell said I think LTE specifically as I talked about in my my intro our CAP is really based on coordination and partnership and LTD is a critical partner for us locally and so we really appreciate the fact that they've come to the Commission this will be the second time in the last three years to talk about all the planning work and other important work that they're doing in here to help build and maintain and grow a robust transit system for us and so that we're able to actually work them into their engagement strategy and have the Commission serve as a sounding board for them as they do engagement on their long-range planning is really important. So I think it's it's good for the Commission to both learn about everything that's going on and have an opportunity to bring that perspective to

1:10:36 these conversations as we find ways to try and advance all of this really big important you know slow-moving work across the community. Thank you I very much appreciate what both of you shared in that information. I will also offer that sitting on the Strategic Planning Committee for LTD have really wonderful opportunities to see some of that work and that collaboration and coordination up close and is so often the case in the work of building cities there might be strategies or new programs where initially something sounds a little bit like a niche concept and then in a relatively short period of time you have something like our bike share program within our community being very widely used and adopted in a really important part of

1:11:23 supporting transportation or mobility needs for a lot of different people at an affordable price point. And that interface of our focus with our climate recovery ordinance and the CAP work to advance our climate goals and the resilience of this community but at the same time to also be supporting the affordability and the quality of life in this community and the connection that people have I think is incredibly important and an opportunity for us not to miss. And saying that, I have just learned about an upcoming community event that's on November 9th that is focused on the safety of our streets and different capacity building in our community,

1:12:09 and given, what the commission described about the focus and the importance of the transportation sector in our sustainability work, That could be a really wonderful touch point to be connected with. A lot of opportunity for public education and outreach, but also I think some opportunities to capture enthusiasm around investments in supporting a multimodal transportation system that's more affordable and more climate friendly, but also helping people to feel deeply engaged in that work in their neighborhoods, near their schools, along corridors that they travel regularly, and for us all as a community to have the opportunity to appreciate those moments. I see real opportunity there. Of course, I'm grateful for the continued work

1:12:55 on building energy efficiency and the engagement of our sustainability commission with all of the work that we are doing on housing. That guidance and interface is incredibly important and so just want to thank you and appreciate that work. With discussion coming to a close almost, Councillor Kuczynski. Yes, thank you. I said I didn't have any questions, but now I have a question. It's a bit of a history question. When was the Sustainability Commission first formed? Was it in conjunction with the climate recovery work, like that timeframe? I may have, Councillor Selvanka, correct me, but I think it was around 2008. So during Mayor Kitty Percy, there was a sustainable business task force, and one of the recommendations

1:13:40 that came out of that report was the creation of this commission. Okay. All right, thank you. That was my question. It was a little bit of history question or when it started. So, thanks. To be really specific, it was actually adopted. It was an ordinance from February 26, 2007 when it was officially authorized by the council. So, it probably came together. She wrote that before. Right, I made that motion. and the CRO was later in 2010 or 12, which I also made. Council President, or Council Vice President,

1:14:25 I should say I'm now going to turn to you to put a motion forward. Move to approve the Sustainability Commission's fiscal year 27 work plan. Second. Further discussion from Council? Seeing none, I'll now take a vote for this motion. All in favor, please raise your hands. One, two, three, five, six, and zero opposed. And the motion passes with a vote of six to zero. Turn back to the council vice president to put a second motion forward. Move to approve the sustainability commission's establishment of the following committees, education and outreach committee, and sustainable buildings committee. Second. Any further discussion from council?

1:15:11 Seeing none, I'll now take a vote for this motion. All in favor, five, six, and zero opposed. And the motion passes with a vote of six to zero. Thank you again, Chair. Thank you to our staff, all of our staff, and Ian for also pinch-hitting tonight. And please do also pass on our appreciations to the rest of the commission. As evidenced by this body's discussions over the last couple of weeks, there is a lot of appreciation by your local elected leaders as it relates to service on our commissions and our committees and our boards, and the work is valuable to us, so thank you. With that, this concludes our agenda for today for this work session, and I now close the October 26th, 2026 City Council Work Session.

1:15:57 We are adjourned.