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open. She updated councilors on what she called key changes in city government: <br />reorganization of the City Manager's Office and deconsolidation of the Department of Public <br />Safety into a Police and Fire/EMS Departments. She described recruitment for the position of <br />Director of Planning and Development Services and four challenges/goals for the department. <br /> <br />Ms. Elmer said guiding changes underway in democratic institutions and responding to demands <br />of citizens will require commitment of employees and support of citizens and sister agencies. <br />She said that the changes would only be made with pain, that the previous year had been <br />extremely difficult, and that she was challenged to build trust and confidence within the <br />organization and in the community. <br /> <br />Ms. Elmer said she would address questions raised by the mayor and councilors regarding her <br />short-term, interim plans, and long-term objectives for the Police Department. <br /> <br />Ms. Elmer stated that Leonard Cooke would remain the Chief of Police until he left the <br />employment of the City of Eugene. She said he had been a fine chief and thanked him for his <br />accomplishments, which she described as his legacy. <br /> <br />Ms. Elmer said her primary long-term Police Department objective was implementation of the <br />Community Policing action plan. She reviewed the seven strategies of the plan. She said her <br />priorities for implementing the plan in the next year were to provide a fully operational and <br />expanded interdepartmental problem-solving team, expand social service partnerships, increase <br />officer time spent on problem-solving, and expand community involvement efforts. <br /> <br />Ms. Elmer said her primary short-term Police Department objective was that the transition to a <br />new chief not have an effect on the delivery of services to the community. She described her <br />plan to identify a police captain to serve as acting-in-capacity chief and the hiring process to find <br />a new chief. She said her short-term priorities were to participate in helping shape the regional <br />public safety revenue plan, to integrate funding needs of Eugene with the work of the Public <br />Safety Coordinating Council (PSCC), and to implement International Association of Chiefs of <br />Police (IACP) and Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) recommendations. <br /> <br />Ms. Elmer said she believed the reaction of the community to the resignation of Police Chief <br />Cooke emphasized his legacy of community relationship building. She said she was saddened <br />that some had said he was their only avenue of communication into City Hall. She suggested <br />that the Human Rights staff would continue the legacy of the chief. <br /> <br />Mr. Lee stated that he did not understand the City Manager's use of terms such as "customer <br />service" and "community based service delivery" and that the unclearness should be part of her <br />year-end job performance evaluation. Ms. Elmer replied that she intended to involve the council <br />in processes to implement what she means by the terms. <br /> <br />Mr. Meisner asked that additional information be provided regarding how temporary placement of <br />personnel reduced the financial impacts of the loss of senior staff. Ms. Elmer said she would <br />prepare a report in response to the request. <br /> <br />Mr. Meisner asked that the City Manager provide additional information regarding her statement <br />that elimination of Department of Public Safety administration resulted in new front-line police <br />staffing. Ms. Elmer said that she would get back to the council in response to the request. <br /> <br />MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 28, 1998 Page 5 <br /> 11:30 a.m. Lunch Work Session <br /> <br /> <br />