[NLC] Update ... the "secret life" of Envision Eugene

[Paul Conte]

All --

Here's the latest on the Envision Eugene schedule culminating in 
expected staff recommendations for City Council action on February 28 
-- EIGHT WEEKS from today.

January 12   --  City Council work session ("Social Equity"), 12:00 
noon, McNutt Room, 777 Pearl
January 26   --  City Council work session ("Environmental 
Stewardship"), 12:00 noon, McNutt Room, 777 Pearl
February 3   --  Public Workshop, 4-7 pm, North Eugene Location TBA
February 9   --  City Council work session ("Goal and Strategy 
Overview"), 12:00 noon, McNutt Room, 777 Pearl
February 10 --  Public Workshop, 4-7 pm, South Eugene Location TBA
February 16 --  City Council work session ("Strategies and Tactics"), 
12:00 noon, McNutt Room, 777 Pearl
February 16 --  Sustainability Commission (TENTATIVE -- results of 
Triple Bottom Line analysis by Planning staff), 5:30 p.m., McNutt 
Room, 777 Pearl
February 22 --  City Council public hearing, 7:30 p.m., Council 
Chamber, 777 Pearl
February 28 --  City Council work session (likely staff 
recommendation for Council decisions), 5:30 p.m., McNutt Room, 777 Pearl

No meetings have yet been scheduled for the Community Resource Group 
(CRG), which is supposed to come up with a "consensus agreement" on a 
"preferred scenario" for how growth will be accommodated. This 
scenario was supposed to be presented for consideration by the public 
prior to Council action.

I've received no indication the Planning Commission has scheduled any 
hearings or meetings on Envision Eugene.


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For the past couple weeks (and even earlier) I've been trying to get 
information about the Envision Eugene process so it can be included 
in a mailed JWN newsletter that would reach all JWN members in time 
for them to become informed and have a reasonable chance to observe 
and/or engage in Envision Eugene decisions that Council is scheduled 
to make on February 28.

We have a deadline of about January 11 to get material to 
Neighborhood Services for a newsletter that would be mailed shortly 
before the JWN general meeting on February 8. (The lack of any 
scheduling or substantive information about the upcoming decisions 
has already caused us to lose the opportunity to have a useful 
neighborhood discussion at our January 11 general meeting.)

Both Councilor George Brown and I have requested meeting information 
from Carolyn Weiss, but she provided nothing useful in response to my 
first request on December 20 and hasn't responded to either my or 
Councilor Brown's follow-up e-mails.

It's unclear to me why staff is holding back on letting the public -- 
and even City Councilors -- know what decisions will be in front of 
Council on February 28 and when substantive information related to 
these decisions will be available to the public. By the time of the 
first public workshop on February 3, there will be too little time 
left for most neighborhoods to engage in any meaningful way.

If you share my concerns about how neighborhood associations (and the 
public in general) are being kept out of the Envision Eugene process, 
please send an e-mail to your city councilor.

Also, I understand the City Manager and staff are contacting some 
neighborhood leaders individually to recruit their support. If you 
been honored with such a contact and can shed any additional light on 
what's being planned for the next eight weeks and Council's February 
28 meeting, please share with your fellow neighborhood leaders by 
posting to the listserv.

Paul Conte, Chair
Jefferson Westside Neighbors
2010 Eugene Neighborhood of the Year  
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