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process by Rowell Brokaw Architects. He had been very encouraged at the initial meeting, but when the Community Advisory Team (CAT) was formed, he had not been as encouraged. He felt it was not ade- quately weighted toward environmental and open space concerns. He had been vocal about it as an indi- vidual, but the CPC as a whole had not taken a position on the issue. Mr. Ruiz explained that EWEB had approved their plan, and now it would move into a City process, which would be a 12 -month land use analysis. He said that there would be a lot more opportunity to weigh in. He thought there needed to be more discussion about how the property integrated in the master plan with the rest of the river corridor all the way to Walnut Station, particularly in the part of the research park that was north of the railroad tracks. How these areas were a signature part of Eugene was important to him. He hoped to address these issues sooner rather than later. Ms. Behm asked how Mr. Ruiz saw his role as the City Manager: did he see himself as neutral or as an advocate? Mr. Ruiz noted that for a vast majority of issues, he brought a City Manager's recommendation to the City Council. Ms. Behm asked where these recommendations came from. Mr. Ruiz stated that they came from a variety of places, depending on the issue – sometimes from staff. He stated that he tried to listen to community members, and tried to apply his and his staff's best profes- sional judgment. He did not think of himself as an advocate in the sense of having strong opinions. He did not think that was his role. He thought his role was to try to understand various aspects of an issue from a lot of different viewpoints, and apply his best professional judgment. Sometimes, his role was find- ing common ground between divergent viewpoints on an issue. Ms. Behm asked Mr. Ruiz if he had been on a tour of the WNA. Mr. Ruiz said that he had, on bicycle. He stated that he was always open to learning new things from any constituency. Mr. Holloter noted that the University of Oregon (UO) was advocating for a bridge over the river to Aut- zen Stadium. Mr. Ruiz said that the UO was interested in improving that access. He had not been in direct conversations with them. Mr. Holloter noted that he had been involved in the same issue about ten years before, when the Lane Transit District had studied converting the Autzen ped/bike bridge for motorized bus use. The CPC had pointed out that the plan for the "A called for no motorized vehicles traveling across the Willamette River through Alton Baker Park. Mayor Torrey had told him that the motorized vehicle ban might not be legally enforceable.. Mr. Ruiz did not know the legal parameters, but he was supportive of the work that the CPC did, and the work staff did to preserve open space. He explained that Sarah Medary, the Assistant City Manager, was the City Manager's Office liaison with the UO, and she would be open to meeting with them. Mr. Sonnichsen stated that the City Council would be able to amend the East Alton Baker Park plan at any time. He made clear that the CPC was concerned about the research park development north of the rail- MINUTES — Citizen Planning Committee for the July 15, 2010 Page 4 Whilamut Natural Area