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Mayor Torrey announced the record for the item would remain open for written comment until May 7, 2001, at 5 p.m. There was no objection. 5. PUBLIC HEARING AND POSSIBLE ACTION: AN ORDINANCE CONCERNING THE DOWNTOWN MALL; REPEALING THE SUNSET PROVISIONS OF SECTION 2 OF ORDINANCE 20121 AND SECTION 3 OF ORDINANCE 20122; REPEALING SECTION 2 OF ORDINANCE 20149; REPEALING ORDINANCE 20150; AND PROVIDING AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE City Manager Johnson introduced the item. He said that Councilor Kelly had asked staffto develop some options for the council to consider, one related to extending the sunset date and the other providing language for the mall exclusion ordinance that would be similar to the exclusion ordinance for prostitution. He noted the presence of Chief Jim Hill, Captain Becky Hansen, Lieutenant Ron Roberts, and Officer Julie Smith. He noted Officer Smith worked on the mall and was familiar with the ordinance and could answer questions. Mayor Torrey opened the public hearing. Mark Johnson, representing the Lane Transit District (LTD), supported the repeal of the sunset provision of the ordinance, saying it had been a successful tool for the police in dealing with repeat offenders on the mall. He questioned why the City would want to stop a program that had been so successful in achieving downtown goals. Mr. Johnson said he was obligated to protect LTD employees and ensure their safety when working downtown. The ordinance helped him meet that obligation. He did not want to see the tool lost. Walter Hunt, 2745 Spring Boulevard, said that businesses near the LTD station were in support of extending the LTD safety zone to the front of the sidewalk as was done in Springfield. He said that his business was having a problem with spill over from LTD patrons. He suggested that there be a place on the LTD station for people to smoke rather than forcing them to use the sidewalk. Mr. Hunt also advocated for enforcement of City laws to clear the sidewalk. Russ Brink, 132 East Broadway, Director of DEI, said he was also vice president of the Safe and Sound Board, a public/private partnership that helped at-risk youth on the mall. He said that the situation downtown was frustrating for officers because they had so few tools to deal with it and offenders were quickly matrixed out of jail. The mall exclusion ordinance gave police the opportunity to exclude people from the mall for 60 days and it was an effective tool. Mr. Brink said that there was concern expressed when the ordinance was adopted that it was targeted at certain individuals, but statistics indicated only 149 of 609 exclusion orders were issued to youth. He said that more often youth were the focus of adult attempts to bring them into a life of crimes and drugs. He supported the repeal of the sunset provision. There being no other requests to speak, Mayor Torrey closed the public hearing. Councilor Bettman said she did not necessarily want the ordinance to be permanent, but wanted the sunset date far enough off in the future so that staff did not continually have to return to the council to renew the ordinance. She solicited suggestions on the topic from staff. Regarding the exclusion zone, Councilor Bettman asked if the City was seeing congregations of people on the edge of the exclusion zones, and if it would useful to expand the zone to address that issue. Officer Smith confirmed that staff tended to see excluded people at the westernmost border of downtown at Charnelton Street. She said it might be useful to MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 23, 2001 Page 6 Regular Meeting