CC Minutes - 06/14/99 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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component for Lane County cities. He emphasized the council's strong support for its Safe Community goal, and said that the City Council should be prepared to identify what it was going to spend any shared revenues upon, and how much money was needed for the programs identified. Mr. Torrey stated his support for a September ballot measure. If such a measure failed, the voters could be asked to consider a measure based on the property tax in November. He did not believe the November 1998 measure should be resubmitted because the County had received some substantial grants that could supplant the revenues previously requested of voters. Further, the legislature appeared to be ready to fund the Healthy Start Program, which could bring additional revenues to fund some of the elements of the levy. The Healthy Start Program was the beginning of the continuum of prevention programs. He disagreed with Mr. Kelly's contention that some of the programs identified by staff were better offered by the school districts, pointing out that the schools were the place children were, and for that reason services must be provided to children in the schools. He urged the council to avoid "turf' issues and to focus on the needs of the community and its ability to make meaningful difference in the lives of a young child. Mr. Torrey expressed hope that the only City measure on the November ballot was not one focused on whether councilors should be compensated. He believed that the community was waiting for the City to "step up to the plate" and deal with other important issues. Mr. Torrey indicated his past support for the PSCC measure, but said he was not prepared to support a measure that did not include the preventive components contained in the last measure. Mr. Meisner did not believe the citizens expected another money measure in the next election, even though a safe community was a primary council and community goal. He said that the City must demonstrate it was doing all it could with existing resources. He believed there was community confusion about the public safety services the City delivered since the council had cut and restored services over the past several years. Mr. Meisner did not think the City had persuaded the citizens it was actually implementing community policing. Mr. Meisner expressed hope that at some point the council discussed the City's mission. He agreed there were many things to be done in the community, but he did not think a single public agency could be all things to all people. Mr. Meisner said that there must be clarity about the respective missions of each agency. He added that clarity about mission did not preclude cooperative partnerships. Ms. Taylor indicated her concurrence with Mr. Meisner's remarks, saying it was not getting into a turf war to agree that there were some things better done by one agency than by another. She said that the City did not provide the same services or have the same focus as the school districts. Ms. Nathanson said that some public services, particularly youth services, were not well-coordinated, leading to duplication and fragmentation as well as service gaps. She suggested that if the council was serious about coordination and mission it might be time to consider an intergovernmental youth fund similar to the Intergovernmental Human Services Fund. She said that would be one way to think about where the dollars were coming from and how they were being used, and it would make those expenditures clear to citizens. Mr. Torrey noted that the League of Oregon Cities submitted a measure to the legislature that would require that each local Commission on Children and Families have municipal representation to ensure that more coordination of youth services occurred. MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 14, 1999 Page 3 5:30 p.m.