Slocum
Orthopedic Center - Good
Afternoon, welcome to Eugene to the International Leadership,
Employment and Disability Program. Our community is proud to
host you and to be the home of the highly respected Mobility
International USA ( MIUSA).
We know this visit will be informative and fun because MIUSA
knows how to provide learning opportunities while building
friendships and having a great time.
I have been Mayor of Eugene for almost four years and before
that I was a teacher and a state representative. In all of
these capacities, I have been very proud of Eugene and the
leadership it has shown in ensuring that this city is a place
where all can live, work, and raise their families, where we
do our utmost to remove barriers and to create opportunities.
This is not something we are forced to do but something we
want to do.
The job of a Mayor is different in different places because
the forms of government are different. Here, the Mayor is the
chief political leader of our local government. The Mayor represents
the city at the state, national and international level. An
example of this is that I belong to the U. S. Conference of
Mayors where I join with Mayors all across this country and
world to advocate for policies that improve the lives of our
citizens in each community.
At home once a year I put address the community at a State
of the City to talk to the people about our successes and challenges
and to set the agenda for the year ahead. I have chosen to
do this in the Hult Center lobby where the entire community
is invited, at no cost, to attend. It is an expression of my
desire for all of our community to know this is their government.
On a daily and weekly basis I help set our city council work
agenda, chair our council meetings, and help set city policy
and direction. In addition I work on my own specific priorities,
attend a multitude of meetings on human and civil rights issues
as well as those that have to do with our economic, environmental
and social wellbeing. I go out to grocery stores in the community
once a month, set up a table and sit down to listen to people – and
they do come in large number. I probably have attended on 6,500
meetings in the last four years, doing my utmost to connect
people with their government.
Being Mayor is an honor and a gift. It is an honor to lead
one’s community and it is a gift to be able to use this
role to stand for important values and rights and to pursue
important goals. I understand you have heard about the work
many members of our community did together to ensure that our
new Federal Courthouse would be truly accessible to everyone.
As you heard, this community was unwilling to accept limited
access to this facility for those with disabilities/differing
abilities – even at the cost of jeopardizing the building
of it entirely. In doing so, Eugene recognized that a Federal
Courthouse is a place that symbolizes equal access to justice
for all, not just for some. This was an important statement
and an important expression of the values of our community.
Eugene should and must be a good place to live for everyone.
We rely on Federal law to give us the basis for ensuring equal
access to all through the American Disabilities Act as well
as through employment and education laws such as the Sec 504
of the Federal Rehabilitation Act. These laws help ensure that
each community must address inclusion and opportunities for
all.
A community is made up of people with differing abilities,
differing challenges. Some can be easily seen, some cannot.
We continuously must strive to understand them all and to do
our utmost to ensure that each of us has the opportunity to
be housed, fed, clothed – to have our medical and physical
needs addressed- to be educated and prepared for the future – to
have jobs that enable us to raise our families and have our
basic needs met – to pursue our own beliefs – to
be free of hatred and prejudice – to live in a safe society,
free from harm – to have access to justice- to drink
clean water and to breath clean air- to live together well.
The role of cities is crucial to ensuring the rights of all,
especially when the Federal government fails to do so.
These things do not occur easily nor are they maintained easily.
They take the constant work of a Mayor and all the members
of our community.
We are far from perfect but there are bits of perfection all
around us. The city of Eugene strives to ensure that the rights
of all, including those with disabilities are met. This is
true in policies, how we deliver all our services and in all
our employment practices. We try to focus on making it less
difficult for those with physical disabilities to move around
our city from curb cuts, to public transportation, to audible
street crossings. We build our parks with access in mind. Be
sure to visit the new RiverPlay Park, which is designed to
make playing equally accessible for those in wheel chairs.
We have recreational services and programs planned so that
all can participate even in trips to the snow and opportunities
to ski or get out on our rivers.
We are recognized for the efforts to ensure equal access to
play… and that’s a great thing. If you go up to
the top of Skinner’s Butte, where those with sight can
look across our beautiful city, there is a map for those without
sight so that they can “feel” a look at our beautiful
city. We plan access and opportunity to arts and culture events
as well, to participate in them as well to be an audience,
or to our planning and advisory groups, or in thinking about
access to participation in elections – to be able to
independently vote.
These are just some of the good things that are occurring.
There is much more to do. We have to be continually reminded
of gaps and unmet needs that are still out there. I know this
group is here is share and learn about employment strategies
for people with disabilities. In addition to sharing our strategies
with you here in Eugene, we are excited to also be learning
from you about what strategies are working in your countries.
The U.S has a long way to go to ensure full employment for
people with disabilities.
One important thing the city is doing right now is through
our Human Rights Commission we are moving toward being a Human
Rights City (United Nation’s Policies) where we consciously
infuse human rights of all kinds into everything we do in a
very purposeful way. The HRC will be bringing recommendations
to our council.
One of my key initiatives as Mayor has been to make Eugene
a more sustainable community. We have long been known for our
environmental stewardship. Sustainability really asks us to
take care of our people, our planet and to ensure that people
can make a living- social equity, protecting our natural resources
and having a good economy. It is this triple bottom line that
will keep this a good place to live for future generations.
Even in Eugene, people have too often posed the environment
vs. the economy and social justice. It is my strongly held
view that people of this community and across this world need
and want to have all three. In a time of climate change and
finite resources, we need to do things in new ways, to build
an economy that can work for all, to protect those resources
that once gone, are gone forever.
I believe strongly that we each have a role in changing the
perilous path this planet is on. The danger of a quickly warming
planet is real and its implications for air and water quality,
plants and animals, the displacement of people, and everything
we know are huge. We must consume less, conserve, recycle and
reuse more. We must use new forms of energy and transportation.
We must change and do it on a massive scale. I think we have
much to learn from countries and people who live more closely
to the land, who consume less and emit less.
This is a challenging time but the opportunities to do things
better are also huge. I believe in our abilities as people
across this planet to join together to learn from each other,
to put aside the waste of human conflict, and to use peace
as a catalyst for change. We can and must do this together.
We must all together work to make this the kind of world where
each can succeed, where each is more responsible, where each
of us understands our connection to each other and the power
and potential that gives us.n It is only in this way that there
is a real future for all of us- with all our varieties of abilities.
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