CC Minutes - 02/27/02 Work Session

Home Browse Search

MINUTES Eugene City Council Work Session McNutt Room--Eugene City Hall February 27, 2002 Noon COUNCILORS PRESENT: Betty Taylor, David Kelly, Nancy Nathanson, Scott Meisner, Gary Rayor, Gary Pap~, Bonny Bettman, Par Farr. CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION Mayor James D. Torrey called the meeting to order. A.Work Session: Fire Operations Local Option Levy City Manager Jim Johnson introduced the item. He did not recommend the council proceed to the ballot with a serial levy for fire operations. He did not believe there was an unacceptable level of risk involved in the staffing patterns that were being recommended by Fire Chief Tom Tallon. He pointed out that the council had not done a thorough job of discussing the issue of funding fire operations with such a levy, or of educating and involving the citizens in the process. Mr. Johnson suggested that if the council wanted to have such a serial levy, it should set up a process that included a citizen advisory committee. That committee could review the issues involved and return with recommendations. Mr. Johnson said such a levy was inconsistent with the direction of the Budget Committee regarding no service additions in fiscal years 2004-05. In addition, such a levy was inconsistent with the council's financial goals and policies regarding fair, stable, and adequate resources, and many councilors' desire to lessen the City's dependence on the property tax. Mr. Johnson concluded that the financial policies also state that to the maximum extent possible, serial levies would only be used for time-limited operating purposes. Chief Tom Tallon said that City staff had worked on the fire bond issue for several years, with the goal of replacing the City's infrastructure. He said that firefighters were housed in a facility that was both unsafe and inadequate. He said that issue of the bond was the council's area of responsibility and he supported its actions. He said the issue of managing the City's resources was the Fire Department's responsibility. He said the department's command staff represented 97 years of experience, and he believed its planning was well-thought-out. It used national and local standards to develop a strategy that he acknowledged was not optimal, but he promised to work diligently while the department was in that configuration to get the City back to a position where it could adequately staff its stations. He said that while the strategy being contemplated was forced on the City by the decision of the board of the Santa Clara Fire District not to enter into contract with it, the strategy was safe and did not put the community at undue risk, being well within the national and local standards that had been set. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 27, 2002 Page 1 Work Session