Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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th David Parziale , 1475 East 15 Avenue, stated that he had come to Eugene to go to school because he had heard it was a progressive town. He said he had been involved in a couple of actions with the same group of people. He noted that he had participated in an action in March that had included a larger group of people marching in the streets against the Western Oregon Plan Revision (WOPR). He related that the police had helped the group stop traffic and cross the street safely. He averred that the May 30 action was not a protest; it was an event that sought to “spread the word” about pesticide use. He felt it was unfortunate that pesticides were still being used, given that information was out about how bad pesticides were. He also opined that it was inconsistent for the police to help one action stop traffic and then to use an allegation that the protesters stopped traffic to justify arrests at another action. He alleged that the only time traffic had been stopped was when an unmarked police car had stopped to speak to the young man who ultimately was tasered and arrested. Isobel Charolais , 1648 Alder Street, said she had witnessed the events of May 30. She wanted to express the shock, anger, disappointment and fear she felt toward the police officers. She called the incident the “cruelest act of violence” she had witnessed. She thought the event showed a lack of restraint and judgment on the part of the officers. She asked the council to imagine what it would be like to witness a friend being shocked and writhing in pain. She wanted them also to consider what kind of precedent it set to allow “peaceful protesters to be tased on the sidewalk.” th Samantha Chirillo , 157 East 27 Avenue, Apt. 3, supported the Police Auditor and the Civilian Review Board (CRB) “in their relatively new roles.” She felt the handling of the May 30 tasering incident would be challenging for the Mayor and council. She had witnessed the event. She averred that the auditor and CRB were the first step in “bridging the gap” for the community. She was concerned about the investigation procedure as it was currently being undertaken by the EPD. She thought the investigation could only be the first step. She wanted steps to be taken to ensure that the actions that happened on May 30 did not happen again. She expressed appreciation for the police. She acknowledged that their jobs were difficult and stressful. She realized that the police needed to err on the side of caution but she believed that the arrests on May 30 were without probable cause. She opined that the police had compromised the safety of the situation. She felt that the police had singled out the three people who were arrested. She alleged that the participants in the rally were all doing the same thing with spray bottles and it was street theater. She declared that communication skills needed to be integrated into training for both police officers and demonstrators. She had found out that theTasers were being used in a pilot project and asked that the EPD suspend the use of Tasers during the Olympic Trials. She noted that the Lane County Board of Commis- sioners was considering whether or not to continue the “last resort pesticide policy” on June 18. Michael Quillin , 2735 Kismet Way, said he did not oppose Taser use. He agreed that under appropriate circumstances Tasers could work very well in apprehending criminals. He averred that the EPD had gone beyond deployment of the Taser in an appropriate manner, given the May 30 incident and an incident earlier in which a participant in a naked bicycle ride had been threatened with a Taser. He felt the EPD was using the Taser for crowd control. He believed that this could be detrimental to free speech. He noted that Mayor Piercy and the Human Rights Commission (HRC) had proposed the following goals for the Human Rights City project: ? To be proactive in identifying and seeking solutions to human rights problems and issues; ? To address human rights violations, even when the violations could be considered unintentional or inadvertent; ? To establish mechanisms to ensure active public participation in human rights problem identifica- tion and in establishing solutions; ? To be transparent and open about all government decisions bearing on peoples’ human rights; MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 9, 2008 Page 4 Regular Meeting