[WEC] More successful presentations; now what?

[Rob Zako]

Dear WEC friends,

On Friday, Kitty, Faye, Rick and I presented the WEC's work to the  
Oregon Land Conservation and Development Commission (LCDC). In  
general, the commission was supportive and interested in if and how  
other communities might do something along the lines of the WEC. Ed,  
Jack, Tom, Rob I, Kevin, Pat and probably one or two others I have  
missed were also there.

Then on Saturday, Kitty, Kevin, Pat, Jan, Jim and I joined Jamie and  
Tim at the annual meeting of the Oregon Mediation Association (OMA)  
for a discussion more about the WEC process. At one point, it felt  
like they had pulled out the couches and were bringing up all our  
repressed memories of what we actually did together over two years.  
Maybe some of us do need to have our heads examined! But overall,  
people were impressed by the work we did do together, and interested  
in what lessons could be learned to do similar work elsewhere, ideally  
more efficiently.

And with these two presentations, I hope we are at or close to the end  
of our outreach schedule. Since March, we have made presentations to  
something like 30 different groups. (See the attached schedule to  
arrive at your own tally.) We have also had several opinions,  
editorials and news stories published in local papers.

Now I think it is really in the hands of local governments to take the  
lead on implementing the WEC's recommendations. We have already seen  
that the City of Eugene is moving forward with some of the short-term  
recommendations. But the longer-term recommendations will require more  
public involvement, more technical analysis and ultimately approval by  
the relevant decision makers. Presumably, these discussion could and  
should occur in the context of the 5-year regional planning process  
that local governments are engaged in. This process involves updates  
to transportation plans (Eugene's transportation plan, two varieties  
of the regional transportation plan, the new LTD long-range transit  
plan, etc.) and land use plans (the Metro Plan, the Eugene UGB, City  
of Eugene zoning and land use regulations, etc.) I have been trying to  
follow all these interrelated efforts, and it still appears to me as a  
knot that has not yet been untied. Jamie and Tim are working with  
local planning staff to help them work together better on these  
various efforts. And LCDC received a report on progress on the  
transportation side of this planning work, and perhaps have some  
concerns about progress to date. There is probably still some "silo  
planning" going on.

As we move forward, perhaps the WEC can help by both nudging forward  
local governments and by serving as a sounding board for how the  
community can have these broader discussions in a way that integrates  
the WEC's ideas. I will be looking to try to bring together some WEC  
members and some planning staff to have these kinds of conversations.

Other perspectives?

Thanks,
Rob Z

P.S. Here's what's left on our outreach schedule:

other business groups: Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Development  
Council (EDC), Eugene Association of REALTORS®, West Eugene Community  
Organization (Clayton Walker, chair), etc.
other neighborhood groups: Active Bethel Citizens, Churchill Area  
Neighbors, Far West Neighborhood, Residents for Responsible Rapid  
Transit  (3RT), etc.
other environmental groups: LandWatch Lane County, Friends of Eugene,  
Sierra Club, , etc.
Sen. Floyd Prozanski, Sen. Vicki Walker, Sen. Bill Morrisette, Rep.  
Paul Holvey, Rep. Chris Edwards, Rep. Nancy Nathanson, Rep. Phil  
Barnhart, Rep. Terry Beyer
Governor Kulongoski
Congressman DeFazio, Senator Merkeley, Senator Wyden

I'm not going to twist any arms to make any of these presentations  
happen. But if others have energy to do so, I am happy to help.



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