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Eugene Ciry Council PRIORITY ISSUES NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION INITIATIVE The purpose of this initiative is to build strong neighborhoods by developing community leadership and working collaboratively with residents to achieve the delivery of City services and neighborhood priorities. Work is focused on efforts related to neighborhood service delivery, public engagement activities, and neighborhood association empowerment. City staff are partnering with neighborhood leaders and associations to refine the Neighborhood Association Initiative Action Plan approved by the City Council in November 2005. The process will culminate with a Neighborhood Summit in February 2007, designed to encourage dialogue between neighborhood leaders, community leaders and staff, and to gain agreement on the top action items for City Council consideration. Accomplishments this year include reinstatement of Neighborhood Matching Grants, approval of two new planner positions to work on opportunity siting and infill standards, and funding to distribute neighborhood newsletters online. DEVELOP A CITY HALL COMPLEX MASTER PLAN The expansion or replacement of City Hall has been a major council project since 1999, when the federal government offered to purchase City Hall to use the site for a new federal courthouse. The City contracted with Thomas Hacker Architects (THA) of Portland in 2005 to lead work on the first three of four planned phases identified in the approved action plan. Phase 2, the Development Plan Phase, is expected to be complete by the end of 2006 with resolution of several major issues including whether to renovate the existing building or build new, whether police patrol should be included in the City Hall complex, and where a new City HalLshould be constructed. Next year's Implementation Plan Phase will focus on resolution of the issues required for implementing the Development Plan such as phasing, funding, and timing. ENHANCE UNDERSTANDING OF RACE ISSUES AND IMPROVE COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIPS By acknowledging and illuminating instances of bias in the community and making a commitment to change, the City Council is in a unique position to set the tone for race relations in Eugene and the metropolitan area. One emphasis of the approved action plan is for the council to hear from the communities of color and solicit their perspectives and ideas on race relationships in the community. In July, the council met with 65 members of the communities of color for a dialogue on issues of race in the community. In November, a 15-member Community Committee on Race was formed to develop recommendations based on the ideas from thejuly community meeting. These recommendations will be supplemental to the council's race priority action plan. STRENGTHEN AND PROMOTE COMMUNITY ARTS AND OUTDOORS ASSETS Good progress was made to strengthen and promote Eugene's environmental, recreational and cultural amenities. Eugene voters demonstrated the high value they place on these assets by approving a $27.5 million bond measure to purchase land for future parks and open space and to improve park facilities. The Cultural Policy Review process is building partnerships and clarifying goals and roles. A master plan for public art is underway. Two public forums this year provided valuable input for a collaborative marketing plan which will involve arts and outdoors partners in joint promotions. The City is planning for Eugene 08, the 2008 Olympic Track and Field Trials, and will capitalize on the opportunity for national exposure as the World's Greatest City of the Arts and Outdoors ®. IMPLEMENT POLICE COMPLAINT OVERSIGHT (MEASURE 20-106) AND LAUNCH POLICE DEPARTMENT :^STRATEGIC PLAN Implementation of the civilian oversight program is well underway with the hiring in mid-October of Eugene's first Police Auditor, Cristina Beamud. The council has clarified staff supervision issues for the Auditor's Office and received the draft ordinance "framework' from the Eugene Police Commission to establish the Auditor's Office and the Civilian Review Board. The Police Auditor's first efforts have been directed toward proposing ordinance language, meeting with community leaders and exploring office space. Three evaluations of the Police Department's strategic plan were published during 2006. Each quarterly evaluation includes updates on the action plan items from the 2005 review of the department's hiring, selection, training and supervision practices, which was conducted by the International Cities and Counties Management Association and Police Executive Research Forum, FACILITATE DEVELOPMENT OF AFULL-SERVICE HOSPITAL IN EUGENE After extensive work by the City to encourage location of a hospital in central Eugene, McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center identified a preferred site and signed a purchase agreement for the Delta Ridge site on North Delta Highway. In January 2006, the City Council amended the action plan for this priority, deleting the requirement for a hospital to locate in the central core. The site was annexed into Eugene in May 2006. McKenzie-Willamette provided funding for expedited review of the first round of land use applications necessary for the site to be developed as a hospital. In June, the hospital released a traffic impact analysis to address transportation requirements. After City staff determined that the analysis was incomplete, the City and the hospital agreed to a timeline extension, allowing the intergovernmental partners and the hospital to reline the traffic mitigation proposals. Page I 0 City of Eugene • Highlights of 2006 City of Eugene • Highlights of 2006 Page 1 I