in ^bicdo^ue
Faith & Its Role in
Higher Education
1d Annual fyacutiu fyosium
There will be a panel discussion
led by faculty, followed by
questions/comments and
a wine and cheese reception.
UO PROFESSORS
Daniel Falk, Religious Studies
Steve Shoemaker, Religious Studies
Deborah Green, Religious Studies
Timothy Gianotti, Religious Studies
Jack Maddex, History
LCC PROFESSOR
Eileen Thompson, English
NCC PROFESSOR
Loren Crow, History and Biblical Studies
HSU PROFESSOR EMERITA
Dodi Poelzer, Sociology
Friday, May 14th, 5:00 p.m.
Event will be held at the Newman Center
1850 Emerald Street (across from Hayward Field)
For more information, call 346-4468
HOUSING
continued from page 1
was recently evicted from her Eu
gene apartment, told the City Coun
cil that her landlord had refused to
fix her "non-functioning" toilet
promptly, leaving it unusable for
days at a time. When Loew com
plained to her property manager,
she said she received an eviction no
tice in the mail two days later.
"1 had to call during work hours
and I wasn't reassured that my toilet
was going to be fixed when it was
going to be fixed," Loew said. "I
think having a toilet is a human
rights issue and I think the reason
it's taken seven years for the adop
tion of some sort of local enforce
ment for housing standards is that
it's a class issue and the poor people
and the working poor in this com
munity are not adequately repre
sented."
ASUO President-elect Adam
Petkun, who addressed the City
Council, said he was looking for
ward to continuing the work toward
a housing code and discussed the
importance of the council taking
progressive action.
"I think it went well," Petkun said.
"We had a lot of support here, it's
something that's been building for a
really long time."
Asuu president Maciay Melton
said at the meeting that the push for
housing standards was really a push
for a mechanism for enforcing the
standards already in place at the
state level. After the meeting, howev
er, she said she felt the council had
misunderstood her.
"My point on the enforcement
mechanism was kind of missed,"
she said. "I don't think that we can
enforce these standards for all citi
zens unless we adopt (a code) on
the local level, and I don't know that
the councilors are getting that."
The history of housing standards
in Eugene stretches back to the ini
tial code created in 1966. The Eu
gene Housing Code remained in
place until 1983 when the City
Council voted to eliminate the code
because of high vacancy rates, re
dundancy with state laws, inconsis
tent enforcement and the need to
cut costs.
Melton said the issue of a new
code has been on the back burner
for many years.
"Back in 1997 was the last time
that the full council had a proposal,"
Melton said. " The council has been
hearing about this issue in some
way, shape or form for some time."
She said the West University Task
Force gave the council its recom
mendation last summer and hous
ing standards were the No. 1 recom
mendation in the proposal.
Ward 3 City Councilor David Kel
ly said the issue has been studied
over and over again and no more in
vestigation is required.
"There is a proposal out there
from Eugene citizens that is a proven
proposal, it's working in Corvallis ...
so 1 hope we can move forward."
After the meeting, Loew said she
was hopeful.
"As far as how the councilors took
it, I feel that the same people who in
the past have exhibited a resistance
HOUSING CODE
TIMELINE
• July 1966 — Eugene Housing
Code created.
• June 1983 — City Council votes
to eliminate the Eugene Housing
Code citing cost savings, the
passage of the State Landlords
Tenant Act, inconsistent
enforcement, and high vacancy
rates.
• December 1994 — City Council
requests a report of possible
strategies to address the critical
need for affordable housing,
including housing code options.
• March 1995 —The Planning
and Development Department
presents the finished scoping report
and staff recommends the council
not pursue the development of a
housing code.
• June 1995 — Council directs
staff to develop housing standards or
a code for rental properties for later
consideration in the fall of 1996.
• June 1996 — First meeting of the
Department Advisory Committee
(DAC) for the Housing Code Project.
• July 1996 — The West University
Scoping Report is released and
recommends the development of
housing code as a long-term effort to
improve the neighborhood.
• November 1997 — City Council
hears DAC’s recommendation at a
work session and refers issue to
“appropriate council committee.”
No further action taken by the
council.
• June 2003 — West University
Task Force presents its final report
to Mayor Jim Torrey and University
President Dave Frohnmayer,
recommending the implementation
of housing standards.
• February 2003 —City Council
agrees to schedule a work session on
housing standards, set for May 24.
SOURCE: Eugene Citizens for
Housing Standards
to the housing standards were vague
in their responses to the testimony
and the facts presented to them and
I'm wondering how they're going to
go," Loew said. "This is not an issue
that's going to go away because it's
very overdue, so I guess I'm hope
ful."
Melton said the council's reaction
represented a step forward.
"There are still some people, for
whatever reason, who are dragging
their feet on the issue," Melton said.
"Nancy Nathanson has been on this
council the longest and she was
quoted saying that this city is
'process happy' — well, we've been
in this process for 20 years and we're
ready for it to be done."
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