CCMinutes - 09/15/04 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Meisner agreed that the scope of a public safety district should be narrow. He said it had been argued that the entire City contribution to the Health and Human Services budget was for public safety. He underscored the need to be very clear to the public what the district would provide. Mr. Meisner shared his skepticism regarding special districts. He called it short-sighted to create a district with only a property tax base. He felt that ultimately the district would have to seek serial levies. Ms. Bettman reiterated her recommendation to consider an advisory vote. She felt strongly about the split rate as urban residents would not want to feel that they were subsidizing rural residents. She would, however, consider the district as an option should it be very narrowly defined. Commissioner Green said that the County had a strategic plan and had reprioritized its budget so that critical services were allocated money first. He said the County was open to input and welcomed emails and letters from the councilors. Ms. Bettman said two things came to her mind, one of which was the assessment of systems development charges for public safety. The other thing that she wished to bring up was the bridge widening project at Mount Pisgah, which had cost $1.6 million. She stated that it may be different "pots" of money but it all came from the same source, the taxpayer's pocket. She opined that this alienated voter support for tax measures. Commissioners Green responded that the County commissioners relied on the councilors to explain to their constituents the restriction of such funds. He said he counted on councilors such as Ms. Bettman to differentiate transportation fund dollars and general fund dollars for the voters, because the general public had only a rudimentary knowledge of funding sources and the restrictions placed upon them. He expressed appreciation for the council's efforts to enlighten voters. Mayor Torrey asked what was "in it for us." He thought the biggest question that needed answering was when the rural residents would be satisfied with a fix to the public safety problem. He asserted that, until rural residents were satisfied, no such district would meet voter approval. He wanted the problem fixed because the criminal activity did not observe boundaries such as city limits. He expressed a willingness to have the entire County be under one public safety department. Commissioner Green reiterated his appreciation for the opportunity to speak to the council. He related that a Springfield councilor had suggested that the County was "playing a shell game with the money." He stated that in order to play such a shell game, one had to have the money to hide and the County did not have it. B. WORK SESSION: Draft Ordinance for Motor-Assisted Scooter Regulations Ms. Bettman, seconded by Mr. Poling, moved to direct the City Man- ager to draft an ordinance to ban motorized transportation devices from all City-owned, off-street paths, prohibit the use of such devices in a manner that disturbs the peace and requires Eugene merchants to make certain disclosures related to the sale of motor-assisted scooters. MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 15, 2004 Page 5 Work Session