CC Minutes - 11/17/08 Work Session

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M I N U T E S Eugene City Council Work Session McNutt Room—Eugene City Hall 777 Pearl Street—Eugene, Oregon November 17, 2008 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Chris Pryor, Bonny Bettman, Betty Taylor, Jennifer Solomon, Andrea Ortiz (via telephone), Mike Clark, Alan Zelenka. COUNCILORS ABSENT: George Poling. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the special meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. A. WORK SESSION: Proposed Ordinance Modifying the Powers and Duties of the Police Auditor City Manager Jon Ruiz invited questions from the council. City Attorney Glenn Klein referred the council to the ordinance prepared by staff at the direction of the City Council, included in the meeting packet. Mayor Piercy reported that since Ms. Bettman put forth her proposed ordinance amendments, the council had heard from members of the Civilian Review Board and Police Commission expressing support for amending the ordinance but asking the council to slow down and institute an inclusive process. Mayor Piercy thought that the council could take the time to be inclusive and thoughtful. She supported the recently passed charter amendment, the Police Auditor’s Office, and the CRB and wanted to do all she could to ensure their success. Ms. Bettman asserted the provisions she presented to the council were strictly limited to implementing the charter revisions recently passed by the voters and addressed the authority and roles already provided via the charter, the council, and the voters to the Police Auditor’s Office. The council set a work session date and public hearing to allow for input on the provisions. She reiterated she had presented no new provisions. When the item was moved forward to a hearing, she had asked legal counsel to identify any legal issues, but the council did not “have that memo.” Ms. Bettman continued to support moving her proposals forward to a public hearing because they were limited to implementing the charter, were consistent with past processes, and there were “huge problems” with the motion she anticipated would be put before the body. She asserted that the motion had been “heavily lobbied for over the weekend,” precluding a public response. She assumed the motion had the votes to pass so the meeting was “pretty much just a staging.” Ms. Bettman asked City Attorney Klein to state if in his opinion there were provisions in the existing ordinance inconsistent with the new charter language just approved by the voters. City Attorney Klein said the existing ordinance was not inconsistent with the charter. Ms. Bettman said that Mr. Klein prepared a memorandum after she put forth her original motion that indicated there would be unintended consequences to the mandatory nature of what she wanted to see. Those consequences were that the auditor would be required to participate in criminal investigations. At MINUTES—Eugene City Council November 17, 2008 Page 1 Work Session