Why don't you simply move the query out of the TT template?

my $dbh = DBI->connect( ... );

my $items = $dbh->selectall_arrayref(q{
    select user
    from logs
    where user not like 'adm%'
}, {Slice=>{}});

my $template = Template->new or die Template->error;
$template->process(\*DATA, {items => $items}) or die $template->error;

__DATA__
[% FOREACH item = items %]
   [% item.user %]
[% END %]
[download]

UPDATE: I should have checked before posting, holli gave the same answer first. holli++

L-LL-L--L-LL-L--L-LL-L--
-R--R-RR-R--R-RR-R--R-RR
B--B--B--B--B--B--B--B--
H---H---H---H---H---H---
(the triplet paradiddle with high-hat)