CC Minutes - 05/12/08 Work Session

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Mr. Zelenka expressed dismay that the County’s budget crisis had gotten to the point of dismantling the public safety system. He noted that there were many items not included on the list of services to be restored, such as services to veterans, high risk pregnant women, infants and children and mental health services, parole and probation, alcohol and drug treatment, alternative corrections programs and many others. He hoped the public appreciated that it was a crisis situation. He was concerned with using City reserves to provide one-time temporary funding. He was intrigued by the ideas of a County levy to fund human services and the City assuming responsibility for the jail. He asked how the City could provide animal control services within the existing budget. Mr. Carlson explained that the City would probably concentrate on the regulatory and dangerous dog aspects and work with community partners on adoption activities. Mr. Zelenka agreed with Mr. Pryor that if a new City Hall was not built the Facility Reserve should be used to make the current building safe and secure. Chief Lehner explained that the County was forced to make substantial cuts to public safety because a majority of its General Fund was allocated to public safety and a substantial cut to the General Fund had a disproportionate affect on public safety services. He agreed with the need for a discussion of long-term solutions, but reminded the council that such a conversation would take some time and on July 1 there would be a genuine crisis if there was no short-term remedy. He viewed one-time funding as a bridge to get to a long-term solution, not merely a bandage on the problem. He said on July 1 the County’s problem would be Eugene’s problem. Regarding the Springfield jail, Chief Lehner said it was designed to be a low-risk facility that lodged low- level misdemeanants who did not have medical or mental health issues, were not mentally unstable or violent or presently addicted. He said such a facility would not address the problems facing Eugene and he was not certain that the City could operate the jail more efficiently or effectively than the County. He agreed with the need for treatment programs, but enforcement and prosecution were necessary to get people into those programs. He said based on the interest expressed by the community, animal control represented a remarkable opportunity for a private/public partnership. Ms. Piercy commented that the City could not tell other jurisdictions how to determine their financial priorities, but the current situation provided an opportunity to collaborate on how to provide services. She liked the concept of providing bridge funding while long-terms solutions were sought with State and regional partners. Ms. Bettman said it was important to address issues of cross-subsidy, equity and priorities and any proposal that the city manager presented to the Budget Committee should be factored into projections for the General Fund deficit. She thought it was irresponsible to take tax money or rates paid by Eugene residents to provide service to people who chose to live elsewhere. She said the County provided services far and wide and she would be looking for equity that any funding the City provided was constrained to serve City residents. She did not object to funding positions slated for cuts in the district attorney’s office as long as all current resources were preserved to current uses, she did not support funding services just to see the existing county funding shift to another use. She said similarly the City should pay for the cases it referred to Buckley House and not cross-subsidize other areas. She asserted that the Facility Reserve consisted of funds that were taken away from maintaining and updating the City Hall and if a new City Hall was not built a considerable reinvestment would need to be made in the current building. Mr. Pryor said he could support one-time funding if it was a bridge to long-term solutions that were sustainable. He said if funds were taken from the Facility Reserve, some portion had to be used to assure the current City Hall was functional. He said it was essential to be financially prudent with existing resources and accurately assess costs in order to make funds stretch as far as possible.