They may seem like governmental faces in the crowd to many University students, but the members of the Eugene City Council make a bigger impact than students may think.
In fact, the eight council members could decide many big issues this year, from cell tower locations on campus to the location of a new sports arena.
The City Council, the legislative branch of Eugene’s government, develops policies and legislation for the city.

Papé
The City Council has two leadership positions, president and vice president, who don’t hold any significant additional power. Currently, Ward 5 City Councilor Gary Papé is president and Ward 8 City Councilor Nancy Nathanson is vice president.
Papé, who has lived in Eugene for 48 years, said the city doesn’t have the resources to do everything it wants, and as a result, it must make cuts.
“First and foremost, I want to find a way through this difficult financial time,” he said.
Papé said he wants to focus his efforts on public safety services and saving police services, which he said are short of what a community of Eugene’s size should have.
Also on Papé’s plate are working on the new fire station and federal courthouse constructions, and enhancing branch libraries to accompany the downtown library.
“I hope we will do it with the long-term taste and construction we saw with the (downtown) library,” he said.

Nathanson
Nathanson, whose western ward is more conservative than the other South Eugene wards, is heavily involved in telecommunications, but she also lists public safety, as well as parks and open space, as her top priorities.
Nathanson’s involvement in telecommunications started when she chaired a committee that developed Eugene’s comprehensive telecommunications ordinance. Now, Nathanson serves on a 15-member Federal Communications Commission advisory committee that works to protect consumer rights and municipal authority — something she thinks the FCC’s deregulation attempts are impairing.
“My particular interest is to make sure we protect consumer rights, which are shrinking in this atmosphere,” she said.

Bettman
Ward 1 Councilor Bonny Bettman, who represents what she called in an e-mail a “strong democratic constituency,” said she plans on focusing her attention to ensuring a fair, transparent and accountable public process. She also wants to make sure budget priorities reflect community priorities and to work toward neighborhood safety and livability.
“I want to encourage citizens to get involved. Democracy is not a spectator sport,” she said. “Pick an issue, get informed, and participate.”

Taylor
Ward 2 Councilor Betty Taylor, who has also served on the City Council for six years, represents a liberal to moderate demographic.
Taylor said she approaches this year with three simple priorities: to protect the environment, to protect individual liberties and to maintain an open and accessible government.

Kelly
Ward 3 Councilor David Kelly, who represents the University area, said he serves a diverse set of constituents. Based on voting records, however, the area tends to be more liberal than other areas of Eugene.
Kelly said a major priority for him this year is minimizing cuts to many of the city’s smaller services, including recreation and senior services, as the current budget crisis forces programs to be slashed.
“I want the broadest range possible to survive,” he said.
The West University neighborhood is also an issue Kelly feels strongly about. As a member of the West University Joint Task Force, Kelly hopes students will become more involved in improving the neighborhood this year.
“I really hope that out of that task force will come some good long-term improvements to the West University neighborhood,” he said.

Poling
Ward 4 Councilor George Poling, who also represents moderate and conservative areas, said the biggest challenge for him as a councilor was his time commitment, which includes work on seven committees.
“It’s been busy, but it’s what I expected,” he said.
Poling, a retired law enforcement officer, said he wasn’t involved with city politics when he worked in law enforcement, but he became interested in the process after retiring and watching reruns of City Council meetings.
Although he cites maintaining adequate funding for public safety as his top priority, Poling is also heavily involved with transportation issues, including the Interstate 5/Beltline improvement, the I-5/Coburg improvement and the Bus Rapid Transit projects.

Solomon
Ward 6 Councilor Solomon, who represents mostly moderate and conservative areas of town, said her biggest surprise when she joined the council was adjusting to the influx of paperwork. Aside from memos and reports, councilors receive a thick packet every Thursday to review for Monday meetings.
Solomon’s priorities include economic development and voter confidence, but she said her real passion lies in transportation.
As a member of a citizen committee, Solomon spent a year studying transportation in Eugene and helped develop a two-pronged funding strategy that included a gas-tax increase and the adoption of a transportation-maintenance fee. After being passed through the City Council, however, the fee was later repealed.

Meisner
Ward 7 Councilor Scott Meisner, a former lawyer and an antique furniture restorer, said that based on voting records, his ward has become more conservative after redistricting. But, Meisner said, his ward is still “highly diverse.”
For Meisner, the building of the downtown library can already be checked off the priorities list. Meisner was named chairman of the Mayor’s Library Improvement Committee and was heavily involved in the new library’s planning and development.
“My primary ambition was to get a new library system here, and we’ve done it,” he said.
Now, Meisner said he wants to focus on increasing services for his ward and working the city through the current budget crisis.