CC Minutes - 02/12/08 Joint Elected Officials

Home Browse Search

ing that the three jurisdictions did not always agree. She felt the starting point should be where there was agreement and then to move into strategizing on how to find agreement on the points on which they did not agree. She remarked that from a staff perspective, those issues were discussed all of the time and it seemed the jurisdictions were not that far apart when looking at the “big picture.” She agreed that staff should take a look at the top priorities and then come up with some options because it was their job to do so. She underscored that they needed to do it collectively because they did not have unlimited resources, they were speaking of the same pool in terms of the community at large, and they were dealing with the same issues and having the same impacts. Lane County Administrator Jeff Spartz noted that he had served in this capacity for six weeks. He averred that from what he had seen in the interactions of the Joint Elected Officials, they should “grab hold of a couple of the issues” and work with them. Regarding public safety, he remarked that it was “amazing” how common the threads were from one jurisdiction to another in the country. He believed that what would solve the problems would be to identify the larger ones and then worry about the nuances later. He suggested that if one method did not work they should move on to another method. Springfield City Manager Gino Grimaldi felt that the TransPlan was a common issue. He suggested that they should first take a look at the scope and start working through a work plan. He saw the MPC as the perfect vehicle to do so. He observed that the County had “a lot of energy around” the ORS 190 agreements. He thought the best place to start there was to get a proposal from the County and this discussion could take place at the MPC or a subcommittee of that body. Regarding HB 3337, he recounted that the suggestion had been made to look at the conforming language and see what issues arose from that. He suggested that one or both jurisdictions come up with the conforming language and then see where the differences lay and work from there. Regarding Commissioner Green’s suggestion to form a separate body to “get to yes,” Mr. Grimaldi thought they could either look at a separate body or look at modifying the functions of the MPC. He observed that special districts were an issue between the jurisdictions. He suggested that they work on resolution, but if no resolution could be achieved, then the jurisdictions needed to acknowledge this and move on. Councilor Zelenka concurred. He thought there should be four committees for the different areas of concern, with the MPC potentially serving as the entity to focus on transportation issues. He supported having staff scope out the issues and narrow and define them in order to find the areas of agreement. He suggested having the information that resulted from these activities brought back to the Joint Elected Officials as he felt it was the group that should “get to yes.” Mayor Leiken called the meeting a good start. He reminded everyone that the public was watching. He believed the jurisdictions needed “a couple of successes” or they would lose their credibility. Regarding the public safety bond, he recalled that the three jurisdictions had worked together and the bond had nearly passed. He averred that if all of the jurisdictions focused on one big issue a lot of good work would come of it. Councilor Bettman agreed that they should focus on “small, doable, and mandated activities” first. She did not agree that the decisions should be made by the larger body unless they had been vetted through the individual jurisdictions. She opined that it could be “to their advantage” to have a “metro police force.” She averred that this was a policy issue that needed to be vetted in each jurisdiction. She felt it would not be possible because the three public safety agencies were run in different ways. MINUTES—Joint Elected Officials— February 12, 2008 Page 9 Lane Board of County Commissioners and Eugene and Springfield City Councils