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coverage and the loss of officers to retirement, the war, and to being fired due to illegal conduct while in uniform. Councilor Kelly thought the work would be valuable. He asked if half of the costs could be picked up by the EPD budget. He also wondered if the Police Commission had been consulted or provided the scope of work the study hoped to accomplish. City Manager Taylor responded no to both questions. He added that he did not think this particular work fell under the purview of the Police Commission, though the information would be available to both the Police Commission and the City Council for review, once completed. Councilor Solomon appreciated the expertise in terms of the contacts that City Manager Taylor brought into the community and his leadership skills. She asked if it would be possible for the consultants to speak to the Police Commission. City Manager Taylor replied that they had scheduled a series of interviews that included members of the Police Commission. Councilor Bettman indicated she was conflicted. She supported any oversight of the policies and practices of the department so that it could improve. She asked what the duration of the study would be. City Manager Taylor responded that it was hoped it would be completed within 90 days so that recommendations could inform proposals to be included in the fiscal year 2006 budget process, but he thought it could take as long as 120 days. Councilor Bettman conveyed her support for a larger sum of money, should it be deemed necessary, as she believed it would take much time and resources in order to take a comprehensive look at the department. Councilor Bettman also took issue with how the subject had been presented to the council. She believed the Police Commission did play a role as the results would provide a resource for the department and citizens in the community. She noted that some people on the commission read about the decision in the newspaper. Mayor Torrey supported the resolution, contingent upon unanimous support from Police Chief Robert Lehner and the City Manager. They indicated they both supported the resolution. He opined that such a study could not be conducted effectively within the community. He underscored that the report may reflect negatively on EPD. He reminded the council that this study could only be conducted in this way once. He felt the credibility of the City would shine if the City would %lean out its closet and be completely honest about what happened." He suggested that this sort of external activity would help the incoming mayor and would provide credibility for the department. Councilor Pap~ concurred with Councilor Bettman that the process needed to begin. He felt a credible and efficient complaint process would come from it. He asked Chief Lehner to speak to Councilor Kelly's suggestion that half of the cost come from the EPD budget. Chief Lehner called the police budget ~grim." He noted that the unrestricted money left from unfilled vacancies had been used to pay for, among other things, extra coverage for political candidates. He also said a set of recruits was undergoing field training and another set of recruits had begun the police academy, all of whom were on the payroll. He said the actual number of real vacancies for the coming year was low, but the fact was that a number of the recruits slated to fill vacancies were not ready to deploy. He likened his situation to ~flying the budget plane very close to the ground." He stressed that there were very few areas in which any budgetary flexibility could be found. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 11, 2004 Page 7 Regular Session