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Mayor Torrey said he was concerned about the suggestion of Mr. Lee which could be interpreted <br />to mean that councilors should place themselves between police and protestors. He said he <br />believed councilors and the mayor should only deal with police actions through the City Manager. <br /> <br />Mr. Klein said that the authority of the City Council lay in its ability to enact ordinances and that <br />the City Charter prevented councilors from directing the activities of City employees. He said <br />councilors could request the City Manager to direct such activities. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey said that he had learned from the June 1 incident that the public should be even <br />more fully involved in decisions regarding public projects and that the most vocal members of the <br />public did not always reflect the will of all of the public. He also said he was concerned that <br />vandalism had come to be considered a legitimate element of public protest. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor said that she had not meant to imply that the City Council should have ordered the <br />Chief of Police to do anything, just that she had hoped to inquire whether the chief knew what <br />was going on during the June 1 incident. <br /> <br />Ms. Nathanson said that it was appropriate to improve planning processes for public projects, but <br />that the length of time involved in such processes often meant that different groups of elected <br />officials would be involved. She said she believed it was not possible to force citizens to <br />participate in public involvement processes and that it needed to be determined when to move <br />ahead with decisions and not wait for more opinions. She said she did not believe it was <br />possible to design a public involvement process which would completely avoid protesting of <br />decisions by certain elements of society. <br /> <br />Ms. Nathanson requested additional information after the meeting regarding the convening of a <br />working group to assess the roles and responsibilities of police mid-mangers under community <br />policing, and regarding differential responses referred to in the document entitled "Summary of <br />Community Involved Policing Action Plan" attached to the agenda item summary. <br /> <br />Mr. Laue expressed appreciation for the report regarding the June 1 incident. He said he <br />believed a great deal had been learned regarding how police can be better utilized in the future. <br />He said he did not believe it was possible for the council to solve issues related to the need to <br />allow free expression of dissent and protecting the safety of the public. He said he believed the <br />need to improve communication with the public was the most important lesson which could be <br />learned from the incident. <br /> <br />In response to a question from Mr. Tollenaar, Mr. Hill explained that the general police policy <br />regarding use of force and chemical agents continued to be under development. <br /> <br />Mr. Tollenaar said appropriate action in incidents such as occurred on June 1 were not easy to <br />determine because it was difficult to differentiate between "civil disobedience" and "uncivil <br />disorder." He said he did not believe the police had failed in the incident, but that the failures of <br />top City management to provide clear direction were obvious. <br /> <br />Mr. Lee said that he believed the City Council should be informed of all elements involved in <br />public projects which could have an impact on City life. <br /> <br />The meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m. <br /> <br />MINUTES--Eugene City Council August 3, 1998 Page 7 <br />5:30 p.m. <br /> <br /> <br />