[NLC] Neighborhood "empowerment" and EE

[KINNISON Michael J]

Hello Paul.  Your concerns were shared with the City Manager's office and Planning Division.  Please see the following response.  It includes clarification on when Envision Eugene staff recommendations will be available to the public, existing opportunities to stay informed and provide input as well as an update on recent deliberations on the theme of Neighborhood Livability.

I have included all the signatories to the memo on the Neighborhood Livability theme on this message with the exception of the following as I do not have email addresses for them:  Joni Dawning, Charles Snyder, Carol DeFazio, Erika Seiferling, Angela Rooney and Krista Rojas.   Your help in forwarding this information to them is appreciated.  Thanks.


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Michael Kinnison | Manager | 541.682.5009
City of Eugene | Neighborhood Services | www.eugene-or.gov/neighborhoods<http://www.eugene-or.gov/neighborhoods>

"Building a healthy, equitable and prosperous community by connecting people and resources, creating opportunities, and
providing support for neighborhood associations, the City organization and the broader community."

Messages to and from this e-mail address may be available to the public under Oregon Public Records Law


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Dear Neighborhood Leaders,

I wanted to let you know that the memo on the "Neighborhood Livability" theme that was sent to the Envision Eugene Community Resource Group was included in the City Council packet for the work session on Social Equity and Envision Eugene that occurred earlier today (see Agenda Item Summary at http://tinyurl.com/EE-AIS-1-12-11). You can watch the webcast on the internet at http://www.eugene-or.gov after tomorrow, or at various times on Cable Channel 21.  The livability issues stressed in the memo are supported by staff and several councilors expressed explicit support for the contents during today's discussion.

The Community Resource Group has four meetings planned between now and February.  Tomorrow, January 13th, is the first meeting from 9:00-4:00 at the Hilton Vista Room, and the subsequent meetings are planned for January 20th, January 25th, and February 1st (all 9:00-4:00 at the Hilton).  Livability is a central pillar of the Envision Eugene work and we welcome your contributions to the CRG discussion.  If you plan to attend, please do let us know so we can have enough lunches for everyone.

In terms of opportunities for neighborhoods to stay informed and engaged in the lead up to and discussion of a set of draft strategies to be recommended by the City Manager, I would encourage neighborhoods to use the website, http://www.envisioneugene.org, disseminate the project e-newsletter to their email lists (available online and through Neighborhood Services weekly e-packet), and attend one of the two Open Houses scheduled for February 3rd and 10th in North and South Eugene, respectively.

Additional important dates for you to be aware of include:

*         January 31st, when a draft proposal will be available for public comment.  We will coordinate distribution of the proposal with Neighborhood Services so that all neighborhood leaders have the information on the 31st.

*         February 22nd, for a public hearing opportunity before the City Council. This is the council's regular hearing date due to the President's Day Holiday, and we recognize it conflicts with the regular monthly meeting time of NLC.  Unfortunately, that conflict cannot be avoided given our project timeline.

*         February 28th, when the Council will deliberate on the City Manager's recommendation.

Your feedback is critical and we appreciate your leadership in discussing these important issues within your neighborhoods.  We understand this is a lot of information to take in and turn around for the neighborhoods in a short amount of time.  Staff are available to attend a neighborhood meeting during the month of February should you request it.

Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns, and again, thank you for all of your efforts.

Terri Harding
Envision Eugene Public Involvement Manager
City of Eugene Planning Division
(541) 682-5635

[cid:image001.jpg at 01CBB275.03088980]<http://www.facebook.com/pages/Eugene-OR/Envision-Eugene/108335445865624>
www.envisioneugene.org<http://www.envisioneugene.org>



From: paulconte at msn.com [mailto:paulconte at msn.com] On Behalf Of Paul Conte
Sent: Friday, January 07, 2011 9:23 AM
To: KINNISON Michael J
Cc: OSBORN Keli M; KANE Rene C; Eugene Neighborhood Leaders Council (SMTP)
Subject: Neighborhood "empowerment" and EE

January 7, 2011

Hi Michael,

Please consider this a formal request on behalf of the Jefferson Westside Neighbors.

As you'll be aware, the City Manager has established a schedule in which, as he calls them, major "deal points" for Envision Eugene will be decided by City Council at a work session on February 28. (Note that public comment is not allowed at work sessions.)

A "public hearing" on the CM's recommendations to Council is scheduled for February 22.

According to the CM, a first draft of the recommendations will be presented to the EE Community Resource Group before the CRG's February 1 meeting. If past history is any guide, the information will be distributed just a few days prior to the CRG meeting.

The JWN Executive Board meets next week, and the JWN General Meeting is February 8, which means the board is very unlikely to have a chance to consider the draft EE recommendations prior to our general meeting. It also will be very difficult to prepare for a well-informed discussion of these important issues in the short time prior to the general meeting. Obviously, we also cannot include any information about the draft recommendations in a printed neighborhood newsletter mailed to all JWN members prior to the February 8 General Meeting.

Consequently, the EE schedule effectively precludes the JWN membership from any reasonable ability to take a well-informed, thoughtful position -- as a neighborhood association -- on these critical recommendations.

I believe most other neighborhood associations are in a similar or worse position.

I would like to request that you take this issue to the City Manager on behalf of neighborhood associations and advocate on our behalf for a public process that doesn't cut the City's chartered neighborhood associations out of this critical stage of Envision Eugene.

Please know that the JWN board and I are very appreciative of all the work and genuine support you and your Neighborhood Services staff provide our neighborhoods and volunteer neighborhood leaders.

Thank you and best regards,

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