Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

Home Browse Search

management in the rest of the region would be better served if all of it was under the same department and all “spoke the same language.” She noted that the ACLU had testified neutral on the original bill (no one had testified regarding the amendment). Councilor Pryor averred that HB 2370 was a good bill as it would provide the coordination Oregon would need should there be a major emergency. He said he did not have an inherent fear of the military that would cause him to be nervous if the military became involved in an emergency. He noted that one of the failures in Katrina was in the incident command system because control was spread out over a number of organiza- tions and no one had a clear sense of who was in control. He related that it was used by incident command instructors as an example of how not using that system created a disaster. He stated that the military was integral to emergency management because it had the trucks, planes, resources, and people to provide the help that the victims of a disaster needed. Councilor Poling said he would support the bill. He thought it was the right step to take. Councilor Bettman commented that it was “ironic” to use what happened in response to Hurricane Katrina as a justification to turn Oregon’s emergency response over to the federal government. She thought the bill would transfer Oregon’s resources to the federal government. Ms. Wilson assured Councilor Bettman that the budget for the emergency response department would be transferred to the Oregon Military Department and would be funded like any other State agency. She said it would be a department within a State agency and not part of the federal government. She underscored that the money would not go to FEMA to fund the program. Councilor Bettman responded that it did not say FEMA, rather it indicated that it would be through the Office of Homeland Security. Ms. Wilson clarified that it was the Office of Homeland Security for the State of Oregon, which was a State department. Councilor Bettman asked if it would impact the Oregon State Police budget. Ms. Wilson replied that the budget would be transferred to the Oregon Military Department because it was believed that in case of emergency, the Oregon Military Department had more resources to respond to a statewide or region-wide emergency. Councilor Bettman asked if the Oregon State Police would be held harmless in terms of resources. Ms. Wilson affirmed that it would. Councilor Bettman asked if the federal government was bringing resources to the table and if the State of Oregon was “just handing the authority and resources to them.” Ms. Wilson reiterated that no authority was going to the federal government; the Oregon Office of Homeland Security was a State-level department in and of itself. Councilor Bettman asserted that the Oregon Military Department answered to the federal government. Ms. Wilson assured her that the department answered to the Governor of Oregon. Councilor Bettman opined that it was important to monitor the bill and not to support it because she believed that the bill would militarize Oregon’s response to a disaster. Roll call vote; the motion passed, 6:2; councilors Taylor and Bettman voting in opposition. MINUTES—Eugene City Council April 9, 2007 Page 12 Regular Meeting