10/13/1975 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Hamel requested a financial statement on room tax allocations so that Council might know where they presently stand in granting allocations. C. Proposals for New Civil Infractions Adjudication Procedure . The proposed procedure would decriminalize certain aspects of the city code to provide for effective alternative handling of low order violations. Staff would like indication from the council as to whether it agrees with the concept and, if so, needs policy direction from an appointed committee. Staff feels the proposed method has merit, particularly since the post of the present system is so high. . Examples of some matters that might be included in this new system are building code violations, defective equipment on cars, bike violations in the mall, etc. The City Attorney does not know of any other cities that have taken this approach, though some cities do have traditional hearings officers. Because of charter limitations on the City of Eugene's power, the small claims division has been proposed rather than appointing a hearings official for this kind of activity. Too, a small claims court provides broader territorial powers than the hearings official route. Assistant Manager said he had talked with the state court administrator, who was pleased to hear Eugene is considering the procedure - he is not aware of any other city doing it. Mr. Keller wondered about the Municipal Court backlog. Assistant Manager said the Court is running very smoothly, noting it takes 45-60 days for a case to come to trial as compared to 13 months just 6 months ago. The court itself is current and in a position to look at any process geared to streamlining dealing with old problems. Mr. Keller felt this new process should be pursued and suggested that the committee to look into it should include legal people as well as Council and lay people. Comm Mr. Keller moved seconded by Mr. Hamel to recommend es tabl.i shing a 9/24/75 commi ttee to look into the formulation of a sma..L.: claims court. Approve Mrs. Beal noted reading in the paper that Vancouver, B.C. was instituting a -- process by which citations and civil violations of city law lv-ere handled by a special judge and on an appointment basis - it applied even to traffic violations. Staff would be glad to pursue that avenue but it would take a computer capacity to blend together all parties involved - police, attorney, defendant and court. There are benefits in that type of system, and this new small claims division would be a first step in that direction. Mr. Bradley wondered if the charter could be amended to provide for implementing the Lane County system. Assistant Manager said he does not feel the county has any benefits the city process would not have. Mr. Haws mentioned previous discussions about the possibility of dissolving the Municipal Court and going to District Court. Assistant Manager commented that, when District Court provides the level of service presently afforded by Municipal Court, it would be in the city's best interest to consider that move. That will probably not happen for at least 4 years. Vote was taken on the motion which carried unanimously. D'Consideration of Committee Recommendation to Revoke Downtown Westside Association Charter Ms. Shirey reported that much time has been spent on this project. She would like to see all neighborhoods represented with an association but this one is not functioning according to the organizational policy. In answer to Mr. Bradley, Randi Reinhard explained the Council had instructed the committee to attempt to work out a solution to the problem. It did not stipulate what would happen if that solution were not reached. The matter had first been . placed on the council agenda because of a petition by tenants in the area asking for revocation because the association had not met its objectives. Mr. Bradley wondered if the present charter could be used for any future group 10/13/75 - 12 54-0