CC Minutes - 05/13/98 Work Session

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He anticipated that some people would ignore the ordinance and be rearrested. For the majority of people, the pressure created by the ordinance would keep them away. Mr. Meisner said that he appreciated the changes that were made in the ordinances in response to the council committee. He noted that the ordinance stipulated a citation could be issued to one who commits an offense under this chapter, the criminal laws of the State, or the mall rules. He asked why the City needed to create a criminal trespass penalty for a violation of the mall rules. City Attorney Jerome Lidz responded that many of the offenses described by Officer Fellman addressed by the mall rules were behavioral in nature, not criminal, although wilful violation of mall rules was a criminal offense. Ms. Bohman added that staff had discussed limiting the ordinance only to crimes other than willful violation of mall rules and the council might wish to adopt that approach. Responding to a question from Ms. Swanson Gribskov, Officer Fellman reviewed the mall rules. Mr. Torrey asked who enforced the mall rules now. Officer Fellman responded that the police enforced them. Mr. Meisner questioned if the ordinance would work if the City's goal was to get inappropriate or criminal conduct and behavior off the mall. He said that his ward had experienced displacement of such behavior from Washington-Jefferson Park to Scobert Park and had been unable to displace the activity from Scobert Park. Mr. Meisner pointed out that the conduct involved was not specific to the mall. He asked if an ordinance addressing such a limited area accomplished that goal or merely displaced the activity. He asked if those arrested were the types of people who would be kept in jail or if they would be matrixed out and return to the mall. In response, Officer Fellman said that the department thought the ordinance would work but could not know for certain until it was tried. Regarding the issue of displacement, Officer Fellman believed that the problem on the mall could be attributed in part to the physical environment of the downtown. Cheap food and transportation were nearby, the mall was within walking distance of camping sites, and it was not traveled by other people to a great degree because of the criminal activities that occur. In addition, the lack of automobile traffic, empty storefronts, and construction at the west end of the mall contributed to the problem. Officer Fellman said the result was that other people could not establish ownership of the public space and share it. He did not think displacement would be a problem because there was nothing in the vicinity with the same physical attractions. Mr. Meisner asked about the City's experience with exclusion ordinances in the parks. He asked if an exclusion citation had ever been issued in Scobert Park, and if it kept the individual involved out of the park. Officer McDermed responded the department had issued several such citations at Scobert Park and it was effective for most people. She pointed out that such people had other parks to go to, and it was difficult to follow them from park to park. Officer McDermed reiterated that such citations were a tool but not a solution. She believed the ordinance could be effective because the City was also working to move the youth to other positive activities off the mall and the criminal element were on the mall because the youth were on the mall. Officer Fellman observed that at the present time, young people on the mall were learning the criminal lifestyle from adults. Mr. Farr indicated his support for the ordinances, although he still had concerns about them. He believed staff when it indicated it was not targeting people for their appearance, but noted the skepticism voiced by those who feared they would be targeted. He said that it would difficult to MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 13, 1998 Page 6 11:30 a.m.