Citizen Advisory Committee Members

Member Spotlights - January 2007
For the past several months, the MPO Citizen Advisory Committee has featured 2 members per month in an agenda item called “Member Spotlight”.  This is a compilation of the portion of the meeting minutes summarizing what each member shared with the committee.  The next few months will feature the new members in the Member Spotlight.

John Anderson said he was born and raised in Eugene and worked for his family’s business, which included a truck stop in Coburg and rental unit in the University district.  He loved the community and had a deep interest in its infrastructure for his tenants, himself and all residents.  His association with the truck stop gave him some perspective on the needs of freight trucks.  He said he was married and had a child in the fifth grade.

Moriah Demers said she was a student at the University of Oregon (UO) majoring in political science and urban planning and had lived in Eugene for four years.  She was employed at the International House of Pancakes and had been car-free since moving to Eugene.  She hoped to eventually work in urban planning and transportation planning.  She said she was engaged and would be married next summer; her partner was employed by the Eugene Weekly.

Dan Egan related that he had moved to the Eugene-Springfield area in 1981 and lived first in Eugene and then in Springfield for the past 15 years.  He had worked in a variety of jobs including construction, for the Hilton Hotel, the Convention and Visitors Association and for the past ten years the Springfield Chamber of Commerce.  He had three children who were 17, 18 and 19 years old.  He said the Chamber of Commerce job was the best job he had ever held and Springfield was an interesting community that was evolving in many areas and making a contribution to the metropolitan area.  His interest in transportation issues had led to involvement in a number of Lane Transit District committees, City of Springfield citizen committees related to transportation and most recently the Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard extension in the Gateway area.  He noted that major transportation projects moved very slowly.  He was recruited by LTD’s governmental relations manager Linda Lynch, who assured him the assignment would be very easy with a one-hour meeting perhaps once every two months.  He said the work of the CAC to make transportation planning more accessible to the public was very important and he did not take it lightly.

Philip Farrington, a native of New Orleans and director of land use planning and development for PeaceHealth since 2002, said that prior to his position with PeaceHealth he had worked as a consultant to a number of firms and individuals across western Oregon since moving to the area in 1993 from San Antonio, Texas.  He had recently assumed leadership of the Oregon Chapter of the American Planning Association and had been searching for ways to engage the broader planning community and felt that participation on the CAC as an opportunity to do so.  He said he had been involved in planning projects and the public involvement components of those projects in many different communities and had an understanding of what techniques worked well or could be improved.  He considered the Public Participation Plan and Citizen’s Guide opportunities to find ways to more effectively and efficiently engage the public

Rich Hazel said he was born in the Eugene/Springfield area and was married and had a son who was a sophomore as South Eugene High School.  He recalled that while growing up in the area going for a drive was a common type of recreation.  He developed a fascination with road engineering, thought what a wonderful thing the interstate highway system was.  He learned about the road system and became interested in highway archeology:  what the dreams and visions were for an ideal road system that would expand into the future.  He said over the years he recognized there had been changes and lost some of his enthusiasm for roadways as a universal transportation solution; it was not possible to pave your way out of congestion.  He strongly believed that cars would remain, but work differently and roadways should not encourage commuting or subsidize freight transport of tiny quantifies of every single conceivable commodity hundreds of miles daily.  He felt it was necessary to change again to move into the future.

Dave Jacobson related that he was born in Buffalo, New York and moved to Los Angeles when he was young.  He graduated from UCLA and after employment in the public sector returned to school to obtain a teaching credential and then taught in the Los Angeles school system.  He returned to school again for a graduate degree in psychology and moved to Thousand Oaks, California to raise three children, operate a private learning center along with a family counseling practice.  He participated in a number of civic activities and a member of numerous committees, including a citizens’ traffic committee.  He moved to Springfield in 1999.  He said he played bassoon in the Eugene Symphonic Band, the Springfield Community Concert Band and a quintet.  He currently served on Springfield’s Police Planning Task Force and managed the American Association of Retired Program’s driver safety program statewide.  His focus was driver safety and mobility from the perspective of a retired senior.

Jeanne-Marie Moore said she was born in Sacramento, California and had lived in California, Arizona, Colorado, Minnesota and Oregon.  She had been involved in volunteer work since eighth grade, including the Red Cross, community initiatives, school districts, convalescent homes and the independent living movement.  She said that independent living did not mean doing everything yourself; it meant being in charge of how things got done.  She said she had been involved in disability politics since 1976 and had a master’s degree in social work.  She acquired a guide dog after falling on the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) tracks in 1983.  She was an advocate for accessibility and pedestrian safety and public transportation were major concerns.  She wanted everyone to have a vision of cooperation and justice.

Ross Notebaart said he was originally from Appleton, Wisconsin and had lived in Eugene for about five years.  He was a student at Lane Community College (LCC) in the energy management program.  He was connecting his interest in energy efficiency and alternative technology to his membership on the committee.  He hoped to bring the perspective of youth to the group as it addressed the region’s transportation issues.

Sylvia Shaw remarked that she had also been recruited by Linda Lynch.  She was raised in a small town in California, obtained a degree in social work and spent time in San Francisco and Berkeley doing street work.  She had also worked at San Quentin prison and was involved with the Black Panthers.  She and her spouse moved to northern Maine where she helped establish mental health clinics in a French-speaking area, and had two children.  Her family relocated to Eugene when her children became school-age and she became involved in the Lane County mental health system as well as a number of community activities related to environmental and land use issues.  She also had small business experience.  She joined the Peace Corps at 55 and was sent to Lithuania.  She returned to Eugene four years ago to manage a small business and was currently executive director for a non-profit organization related to conservation of the ocean.  She brought CAC members the current edition of “Cascadia Times.”  She was interested in a number of land use issues around the State.

Webb Sussman related that he was born in upstate New York, raised in Massachusetts and had a graduate degree from Boston University.  He had ten years of transportation planning experience, including working for a Metropolitan Planning Organization and with state and federal transportation initiatives as a consultant.  He left transportation and began working in software installation and technical support for a several companies.  He indicated that in 1982 he had installed the air traffic control software used by Portland International Airport.  He moved to Eugene in 2001 and was a bicycling enthusiast and also interested freight and highway issues.