Eugene weekly., August 02, 2007, Page 9, Image 9

The city plans to add eight work sta-
tions, a small conference room, a copier
area and a small kitchen for councilor use.
The mayor already has a large office near
the city manager’s office.
“Sustainability has been a strong ele-
ment in planning for this office space,” ac-
cording to a staff memo to councilors.
“The chairs are made from 96 percent re-
cycled and recyclable materials, paints are
low- or no-VOC products, the covering on
the work unit walls are made of a corn-
based material, and the laminates on the
work surfaces are made of a wheat-based
fiber.”
Of course, if the city tears down the
building as proposed, much of this sustain-
able stuff will be thrown away.
The adjacent McNutt Room where the
council holds most of its meetings will also
be remodeled by moving a wall to add
some more seating space. On occasion the
small room has had to turn people away or
pack them in when it reached capacity. The
council has a large City Council chamber
that seats hundreds but appears to prefer
the more intimate McNutt Room, where
councilors eat and talk to each other across
a large table. — Alan Pittman
CITY TICKETS
UNEXPIRED
METERS
The city of Eugene sometimes gives
parking tickets for unexpired meters.
“Section 5.315 of the Eugene City code
prohibits ‘feeding the meter,’” explains a
memo to elected officials from city park-
ing manager Jeff Petry.
“But the daily enforcement practice is
to not issue such citations and such a cita-
tion will only occur on a complaint basis,”
Petry wrote. For example, Petry said the
city has “a long-term agreement with the
Saturday Market to cite vehicles that
choose to park at a meter and feed the
meter all day (the driver could have parked
for free in any city garage on Saturdays). ...
On average, 1-2 citations are written each
Saturday for this violation during the
Saturday Market season.”
To help businesses, many cities design
their downtown parking rules to create
turnover for shoppers rather than allowing
workers to use convenient spaces for long-
term parking.
BY PAUL NEEVEL
CHRISTY
OBIE
Lifelong Eugenean
Christy Obie sits
on the front porch
of her south
Eugene home with
six of her 12 chil-
dren. The
youngest, 8-year-
old twins Lilly and
Delaney, peer out from behind Karson, Cooper, Bailey and Broyden. The family was
started soon after Obie’s marriage at age 22 to Bill Barrett, when the couple adopted
Jason, the son of her cousin who was tragically killed. They later adopted Jason’s
half-sister Maleah, in between the births of bio-babies Casey, Molly and Mason, and
also raised Mike, an adopted boy from down the road. “At that point, we decided to
adopt through a minority program,” says Obie. “There’s a need for homes for
African-American kids.” Since the twins entered school, Obie has had time to start a
non-profit, A Family for Every Child (afamilyforeverychild.org), devoted to finding
“forever families” for foster children. The first annual Heart Gallery exhibit, 33 por-
traits of local foster kids, has toured the area since its debut at the 5th Street Public
Market last November. “All but five have been adopted,” says Obie. “But there are
1,000 kids in foster care in Lane County.”
AUGUST 2, 2007 9