CC Minutes - 01/07/08 State of the City

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M I N U T E S Eugene City Council State of the City Hult Center for the Performing Arts January 7, 2008 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Andrea Ortiz, Chris Pryor, Betty Taylor, Bonny Bettman, Jennifer Solomon, George Poling, Mike Clark, Alan Zelenka. I. WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS Council President Andrea Ortiz welcomed those present at the 2008 State of the City. She said that all those present made Eugene a great place to be. She recognized the public officials present at the event. She welcomed the students present from Eugene’s Sister City Chinju, Korea, who stood to be recognized. II. MUSICAL SELECTION Those present heard a musical selection entitled Dancing Bear by Tonn Nua Celtic Band, which included members Ansel Dow, Daphne Garcia, David Garcia, Zoe Garcia, and Alison Helser. III. CITY COUNCILOR REMARKS Ms. Bettman, Ward 1, welcomed those present and thanked the mayor for allowing the councilors to speak. She expressed appreciation to all those present for their participation. She noted that the mayor would soon celebrate the positive achievements of the past year, and she shared her pride in the City’s achievements. However, she perceived systematic problems that would continue to undermine progress and sustainable change and hoped they could be addressed in 2008. Ms. Bettman offered the following for facilitating progress. She proposed the creation of the office of independent auditor to provide data, research, and information to public officials; she noted the risk that such an office could be diluted in the initiative process, and suggested her fears were well-founded in the opposition of the administration to an independent police oversight process with authority or power. She suggested that the administration manipulated an outcome to minimize the power of the police auditor and civilian review board, although it was better than nothing and most people were satisfied with the outcome. She said the independent auditor could face the same fate of providing a façade of accountability superimposed over “business as usual,” delaying true reform for decades. She advocated for an external professional auditor’s office with a caveat that the public must be informed and vigilant to ensure true accountability. Ms. Bettman called for the City Manager to create an in-house city attorney’s office. She said the City needed such a fully staffed office to save money and eliminate conflicts on the part of the existing firm, which represented many other clients who often had interests contradictory to the City’s. She said it was not an adverse judgment on the existing firm; it merely had too many bosses, and Eugene deserved attorneys MINUTES—State of the City January 7, 2008 Page 1