CC Minutes - 06/30/99 JEO - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Peter Sorenson, Lane County Commissioner, noted that the Lane County Department of Health and Human Services administers the adult parole and probation function and it is a post trial issue. He said that the courts will make pre-trial release decisions and the people that work for the Custody Referee's office do not work for Lane County, they work for the courts and they have a duty to determine what the risk level is of a person that had been charged with a crime and is awaiting trial. He said it is a civil liberties issue to make sure they have the courts, not the executive branch of government, making the release decisions. He said he was interested in hearing from prevention advocates on whether there is enough prevention as the PSCC wanted. He wanted to know if law enforcement favored this and if it was a fair way of allocating the costs from the general public and the business community. He wanted to know what support would be shown for this measure. Pat Farr, City of Eugene, echoed what Sorenson said about hearing from all elements of Lane County before moving forward with this measure. He noted that unincorporated Lane County was not represented at the table and they need to find out their viewpoints. He thanked the PSCC for their hard work. He said he had concerns regarding additional income taxes and they are echoed throughout the community. He believes that in the final analysis, the benefits of this measure will outweigh the concerns. He said the big issue is the prevention element and he urged the PSCC to push for more prevention. He said he believed his voice was heard as there is a great list of prevention and programs that are geared toward youth to stop crime before it happens. He said with regard to the alternative school program for at-risk youth, there are programs within the community that are already established and he hoped that any new programs will be done in conjunction with what is already happening. Maine noted a concern is not duplicating services and it is directed to getting kids into a school. Fred Simmons, City of Springfield, noted that the PSCC had done a wonderful job in formulating the issues. He said people want to see additional dollars being spent and the issue with the County needs to be handled carefully in showing how those dollars are necessary to replace vanishing dollars. He added if this issue is to be placed on the ballot and be successful, they want to see new dollars for new programs and enhancing existing ones. He said the voters are behind an enhanced law enforcement and voters who voted against the levy said that they should have voted in the affirmative. He said that communication needs to be done clearly as to what the programs will mean to the whole community in both the cities and unincorporated areas. He said people he had spoken with stated they did not want to have a floating issue, they want to have a defined amount of money that is fixed. He wanted to have a yearly report to show how efficient it is and how it is improving public safety and then they would be willing to look at it as an issue and vote on it. He said there is an attitude in the community that they want to see a police presence and people who have violated the law put in jail and do the time. He added they want to see that both the District Attorney and the Sheriff have an adequate amount of resources to provide those public services. He said they need to go out and convince the community that this is a critical part of the first part of 21st century. Page 9 -- Lane County Joint Elected Officials Meeting -- June 30, 1999 WP bclm1990751M