TORREY
continued from page 1
chance to create a new home for some
of the city's most important adminis
trative offices.
"I want you to think, and I want
you to dream and I want you to talk
about what might be," Torrey said.
Torrey also expressed regret that
little progress was made on the goals
he set in the previous year's address.
He had hoped to improve road
maintenance in Eugene and Lane
County, relieve the understaffed po
lice department and provide free ac
cess to city libraries for children liv
ing outside city limits, whose
households currently pay $80 per
year for access.
Torrey ran quickly through his re
view of the past year — emphasizing
the inadequate funding for education
in Oregon — before moving on to his
broad vision for the new year.
Though he said money for trans
portation improvements in the state are
at a minimum, Torrey asked that the
best bridge possible be built to replace
the one on Interstate 5 that crosses the
Willamette River. The new bridge, he
said, should have off-ramps to Franklin
Boulevard and into Springfield.
"There is an opportunity to revitalize
and connect our two cities in a positive
way," he said to applause. "We need to
work together to make it happen. *
Torrey's second goal was for the dty
to update the economic development
strategy that was last revised in 1984.
"Downtown Eugene is not alive," he
said. 'It's a long way from being alive."
In conjunction with the Eugene
and Lane County communities, the
city needs to examine its economic
opportunities and its strengths and
weaknesses, he said.
Finally, Torrey proposed a vision
for a Eugene Civic Center. He asked
the city to create a committee to
"think outside the box" and explore
opportunities for relocating the Eu
gene Police Department, City Hall of
fices, the municipal courts or other lo
cal bureaucracies.
He shared his idea of tearing down
the existing City Hall on Pearl Street,
building a police department in the
nearby parking lot and constructing a
combined city, county and 4J School
District administrative building.
"None of this may happen, but I
don't want to see the opportunity es
cape us," he said. The mayor did not
say how much this project might cost.
Eugene City Councilors will even
tually be in charge of approving and
developing any of the mayor's plans
into policy.
"Those are his broadly stated may
oral goals," Ward 7 Councilor Scott
Meisner said. "The Council has yet to
come up with its own set of goals."
Meisner added that the speech
raised no "alarm bells" in his mind
and said for the most part, the mayor
talked about ideas that are shared by
most of the council.
Ward 3 Councilor David Kelly,
who represents the University area,
said he was "very pleased" with
Torrey's emphasis on the need for
partnerships, though Kelly was
cautious about endorsing any ideas
without details, facts or input from
the City Council.
t? & Comfercnce (filter
Tim Bobosky Photographer
During the State of the City Address at the Eugene Hilton on Wednesday, Mayor Jim Torrey
said that among other things, he would like to develop Eugene further economically.
"Every issue he raised is certainly
worth further work," Kelly said.
"The question, as always, is if there
is enough money. Will the voters be
willing to pay?"
Contact the city/state politics reporter
at nikacarlson@dailyemerald.com.
WAGE
continued from page 1
Senior Paul Manokore said the in
crease was good news.
"In a good way, it will really im
prove my budget," Manokore said.
He was quick to add, however, that
the positive effects depend on whether
or not there would be increases in the
price of commodities.
"If they raise (minimum wage), they
have to subsidize it with something,"
he said. "If wages go up, prices go up."
Junior Kimberly Schwarm, who
works two part-time jobs, said she is
excited to get more money, but feels
the increase will not make much of
a difference.
"I'm kind of frustrated because tu
ition is rising," Schwarm said. "The 15
cents isn't going to make up for the
$2001 have to pay."
She said the last wage increase
hardly made a difference because reg
ular consumer goods seemed to get
more expensive.
"It makes me wonder why we have
one of the highest minimum wages
and we're one of the poorest states
and one of the hungriest," she said.
Departments around campus had
to readjust their payrolls for the new
wage and are still trying to determine
what the repercussions of the increase
might be.
University bookstore Human Re
sources Manager Natalie Eggert said it
is too early to state how much the wage
increase would cost them financially.
"The increase this time isn't going to
be as significant as the last time," Eggert
Source: Bureau of Labor & industries
Kim Premore Design Editor
said, referring to the 2003 wage rise to
$6.90 after it stayed at $6.50 since 1999.
While the increase comes during a
period of challenging economic
times in the state, Eggert said she
doesn't believe it will affect the
bookstore negatively.
"We're pretty strong financially, and
so 1 don't think it will have a big im
pact, " she said. She added that it is un
likely the store would hire fewer stu
dents, but there may be some areas
where the business might have to try
to cut costs, such as shipping charges.
According to an article on the Ore
gon Employment Department Web
site, http://www.qualityinfo.org, some
consequences of higher wages may be
decreased employment is some sectors,
reductions in raises or workers fringe
benefits, or higher consumer prices.
"Minimum wage affects mostly retail
and services that compete locally, so
costs can be passed on to consumers,"
said Brian Rooney, the Oregon Em
ployment Department's regional econ
omist for Lane County. He added that
some agricultural services might hurt
more from labor cost increases because
they compete internationally.
Economics will determine if mini
mum wage will increase next year. Ac
cording to Oregon's Bureau of Labor
and Industries Web site at
http://www.boli.state.or.us, starting
this year, the commissioner of tire Bu
reau of Labor and Industries must cal
culate annual adjustments to the
wage for the following year, based on
any increases to the U.S. City Average
Consumer Index for All Urban Con
sumers for All Items.
Contact the news editor
at ayishayahya@dailyemerald.com.
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