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Mr. Clark agreed with Mr. Pryor about bridge funding leading to long-term sustainability and Ms. <br />Bettman’s point about equitably serving the people of Eugene. He cautioned against having those <br />discussions in an accusatory manner and hoped jurisdictions could collaborate effectively to solve problems <br />that affected them all. He did not see assistance coming from the State or federal levels; solutions would <br />need to be found regionally and required establishing priorities. He said in view of the budget crisis it <br />seemed inappropriate to spend almost $8 million to acquire Amazon headwaters properties without a <br />communitywide conversation. He hoped the council would accept the chief’s recommendations and move <br />them to the Budget Committee for discussion. <br /> <br />Mr. Zelenka asked if costs associated with rehabilitating the current City Hall had been estimated. Mr. <br />Carlson said estimates had been developed and would be presented at a work session in late May or early <br />June. <br /> <br />Mr. Zelenka said it was important not to suggest that the County’s budget crisis had been resolved by a <br />Eugene bailout because there were still dramatic cuts that would be made. He asked if the city manager <br />concurred with the chief’s recommendations. Mr. Ruiz said the recommendations were his and had been <br />developed by a team. <br /> <br />Chief Lehner clarified that the funding recommendations for Buckley House, the district attorney’s office, <br />the jail and field law enforcement were not saving the County; they represented a set of very limited and <br />specific contracts to avoid a public safety crisis and its impacts on the City of Eugene. He said the County <br />clearly understood the funding was a City backstop for Eugene residents. <br /> <br />Ms. Piercy pointed out examples of existing collaboration among jurisdictions, such as fire departments, <br />which maximized available resources and established the foundation for further collaboration. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman said any funds remaining in the Facility Reserve after the current City Hall was upgraded <br />should be used to add patrol officers on an ongoing basis. She said despite loss of revenue, the County’s <br />budget was $455 million and the City was considering using $2.5 million of its General Funds, when it was <br />facing a deficit, to bolster services that the County should be providing while at the same time the County <br />was foregoing revenue from development projects throughout the County. She said the council and the <br />voters did not have any impact on those policy decisions and that was a problem that should be rectified <br />immediately. <br /> <br />In response to a question from Ms. Bettman, Mr. Ruiz said he understood from the council’s discussion that <br />it was supportive of the recommendations in the AIS as long as they were viewed as a bridge to long-term <br />solutions. He liked the concept of exchanging dollars with the County and would research how that could be <br />achieved. Chief Lehner stressed that the County had not requested any funding; he initiated conversations <br />with County officials to ascertain the impact on Eugene citizens when he saw the magnitude of the proposed <br />cuts. <br /> <br />Mr. Clark objected to the continuing discussion of whether the council should have input on how the County <br />operated. He said he had requested the work session because the council was elected to fix problems, not <br />blame, and should be working on solutions for the people of Eugene. <br /> <br />Mr. Pryor, seconded by Mr. Clark, moved to direct the city manager to bring to the <br />Budget Committee recommendations that reflected the policy discussions made by <br />the council. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman asserted that the Budget Committee did not make any policy decisions, but had policy <br />discussions about equity and providing services to the citizens of Eugene, assuring that the funds were <br /> <br /> <br />