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Ms. Ortiz asked what the UO planned to do. Assistant City Manager Medary said the UO was working <br />with Occupy Eugene on a transition date for the group to leave the Millrace, and she understood Occupy <br />Eugene would vote later that day on a new location. <br />Ms. Ortiz did not want the UO to ask the City to take heavy- handed enforcement against the protestors. <br />Mayor Piercy recalled the council received an e-mail message that indicated there would be flexibility <br />about the transition date. <br />Mr. Farr asked how the City could count on the splinter group camping in Alton Baker Park to do what it <br />said it would. Assistant City Manager Medary believed the campers would move on when they <br />understood it was no longer legal to be in the park. <br />Mr. Farr commended the excellent work of the Police Department. <br />Mr. Farr noted that the meeting was a special meeting of the council that he had heard characterized as a <br />surprise meeting but he questioned if anyone was actually surprised the meeting was happening. He <br />predicted the council would continue to meet about the issue, and said his previous vote of opposition to <br />the exemption was based on his suspicion that the council would have to meet repeatedly to react to <br />Occupy Eugene's decisions. <br />Responding to a question from Mr. Zelenka, Chief Kerns characterized the EPD's discussions with <br />Occupy Eugene as civil and collaborative, although parties to the discussions did not always agree on a <br />solution. <br />Mr. Zelenka thanked the EPD and thanked Chief Kerns for his leadership. His experience with Occupy <br />Eugene was that the participants were peaceful and respectful of the process. He thought they were doing <br />a good job. He characterized Occupy Eugene as a messy, evolving, unique consensus experiment in <br />democracy that he thought deserved a unique ongoing response from the council as the movement <br />changed and evolved. He took the word of representatives of Occupy Eugene people that the campers <br />remaining in Alton Baker Park were not part of the demonstration and asked "who would know better <br />than them ?" While Mr. Zelenka was sympathetic to the plight of the homeless and thought more needed <br />to be done for them, he was unprepared to discuss revisions to the City's homeless camping ordinance at <br />this time. He supported the motion and hoped that Occupy Eugene remained where it was or relocated to <br />Jefferson- Washington Park. <br />Responding to a question from Mr. Brown, Chief Kerns said the only public safety complaints he heard in <br />regard to Occupy Eugene concerned behavior problems related to drug and alcohol use and theft in the <br />Alton Baker Park camp location. In regard to the Millrace location, he had heard that some protestors had <br />entered buildings without permission and there were dogs at large, although officers had generally <br />encountered dogs on leashes. Mr. Brown confirmed with Chief Kerns that Occupy Eugene had caused no <br />property damage or rioting. <br />It was Mr. Brown's experience that the Occupy Eugene protestors very respectful of the community. He <br />said the City made exceptions to its laws all the time, citing the moratorium on the number of chickens <br />one could keep and people drinking in public before UO football games as examples. He acknowledged <br />the council might have to meet again on the topic but he did not care. He believed Occupy Eugene was <br />highlighting a national emergency and he supported any move to City property the group wished to make <br />if it did not cause unforeseen problems. He believed that Occupy Eugene would continue to operate as a <br />peaceful event. <br />MINUTES— Eugene City Council October 31, 2011 Page 2 <br />Special Meeting <br />