CC Minutes - 06/01/98 Work Session

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diversity plan and for providing benefits for domestic partners; Warren Wong for attending HRC meetings and supporting the commission's work; for Police Chief Cooke and Interim Police Chief Jim Hill; Police Captain Roy Brown, Lieutenant Rick Siel, and Sargent Tim McCarthy; Helen Towle; Melissa Pearson; Marilyn Mays; Ruth Koenig; recording staff Kim Young and Elise Self; the City Council, particularly councilors Bobby Lee and Scott Meisner, and Mayor Torrey. Council Comment/Questions Ms. Nathanson expressed regret that the council's committee charged with reviewing the City's board and commission system had not had an opportunity to complete its work. With regard to the issue of enforcement of parking regulations by citizens, she called the commission's attention to articles in the Nation's Cities Weekly reviewing such programs in other communities and suggested a literature search. Addressing a suggestion from Ms. Nathanson, Mr. Van Steenbergen said the HRSS always invites graduates of the City's Police Academy to train and volunteer their time as advocates for the system. Ms. Nathanson concluded her remarks by expressing concern about budget cuts and the feasibility of setting up a program under the housing code. She wondered about a role for the commission in establishing such a program. Mr. Seibert said it made sense for the commission to address that and the council may wish to add it to its charge. Ms. Swanson Gribskov thanked the commission for its work and wondered about its collaboration with other communities. Mr. Seibert said that he attends monthly meetings of the Salem Human Rights Commission, which was the closest active group, and he serves on the State Bureau of Labor. Ms. Swanson Gribskov expressed concern with the commission's wish to participate in selecting City management staff. Mr. Seibert explained that the commission did not wish to "sit at the table" but wanted some sort of broad community discussion about what the City needs and how that will be measured in six months or a year. Mr. Lee commended outgoing and incoming commission volunteers and called the City Manager Pro Tem's memorandum on his expectations of City managers/executives on diversity and human rights "excellent." Mr. Johnson said there was plenty of room for involvement by the commission and community in many ways, adding that the issues around work force diversity included retention, working environment, and service delivery. Mr. Lee noted that managers had "bought into the plan." Mr. Johnson added that managers' performance appraisals would include a section on diversity and working environment. Addressing a question from Mr. Tollenaar, Mr. Van Steenbergen said that if the proposed external review process was implemented, he envisioned expanding many of the things the HRSS had done into external review. He explained that the process developed in HRSS allowed people who have complaints to be listened to and to have resolution. The review board would address issues that the HRSS had not dealt with and that the proposed auditor can handle. Mr. Chase said the proposal calls for a contact point early on in the review process where the HRSS will be involved if the complainant and officer accept mediation. If the parties do not agree to mediation, the internal review was monitored by the auditor. Ms. Miller said the auditor was more of an "inside" person who had access to all the information and can review police actions for purposes of recommending changes. She added the process addressed problems that required more of an "institutional response." MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 1, 1998 Page 4 5:30 p.m.