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, ; J - ;," III. PUBLIC HEARING: VAGRANT POPULATION PROBLEMS--THE HUMAN SIDE OF ECONOMIC e DEVELOPMENT (entire report distributed) Mr. Gleason introduced Councilor Mark Lindberg. Mr. Lindberg said that staff had worked with him to develop the vagrancy report. He said that' draft copies of the report had been circulated to public agencies, City departments, and neighborhood groups for comment. He said the report found that the vagrancy problem was growing nationally and was to some extent an irrevocable situation, affecting or related to the City budget, the economic vitality of the downtown, neighborhood livability, park use, the budgets and programs of human service agencies, and the budgets and programs of the courts and jails. He said that while the problem cannot be eliminated, it can be managed. He suggested that a task force composed of people directly involved with the vagrancy problem be formed to study management of the problem and to report to the council in six months with recommendations to reduce the burden of the problem on taxpayers and to help vagrants. Public hearing was opened. Ernest Unger, Director of the Eugene Mission, 1542 West 1st Avenue, said that the report presented by Councilor Lindberg was an excellent evaluation of the problem. He said many of those perceived as vagrants in the downtown mall area are actually bored young people with families in the community. He felt that formation of the task force would allow coordination of efforts to address the vagrancy problem and help avoid duplication. He offered to serve on the task force. e Richard Guske, 278 North Grand Street, represented the Whiteaker Community Counci 1 . He said that the Whiteaker Neighborhood was strongly affected by the vagrancy problems and that neighborhood residents were subject to small burglaries, robberies, and harassment by the many vagrants in the area. He asked that the neighborhood be made a part of proposed solutions for managing the vagrancy problem, since much of the problem is concentrated in that area. He felt that the costs of vagrancy should be defined and compared with the costs of proposed solutions. Charlotte Lemon, 1280 Mill Street, said that the report was excellent. She endorsed the suggestion of forming a task force. She noted that the report did not discuss the problem found in the West University Neighborhood, where she lives, of people living in buses and vans parked on City streets. She said her neighborhood was encouraging residents to use the parks, since the presence of many neighbors would make neighbors feel more secure in the parks, despite the presence of vagrants. She said neighbors were also urged not to contribute to panhandlers. Ms. Lemon said despite these efforts, neighbors in the West University area feel threatened by vagrants. Nick Isaacson, Director of Buckley House, 707 East 17th Avenue. read a prepared statement in support of formation of a Vagrancy Task Force. He said that 70 per- cent of vagrants were abusers of drugs and/or alcohol. He discussed the high costs of processing these offenders through the justice system and incarcerating them at public expense. He said that Buckley House would like to see its detoxi- e MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 24, 1982 Page 2