CC Minutes - 08/05/98 Work Session

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Having reserved judgement until the council had spoken, Mr. Farr agreed that the program should be reconsidered in the fall and he withdrew his motion. The second concurred and the motion was withdrawn. C. Action: Council Committee on Homelessness and Youth Richie Weinman, Planning and Development Department, provided the report and noted the revised ordinance before the council was based on its previous discussion. He reviewed the changes, noting it reduced finds for basic violations but increased the finds for willful violations (repeated violations). He warned the council that the changes increased the risk of confrontations with the Police. Mr. Weinman asked the council to approve a contingency request for $60,000 in conjunction with the ordinance. The request would pay for a facilitator to manage the City-identified camping spaces, respond to complaints, document incidents, and recruit others to participate in the program. Mr. Farr expressed support for the amended ordinance, adding it would most help families striving to improve their situation. In response to a question from Ms. Nathanson, Mr. Weinman said it was understood that the facilitator would also make service referrals. He added that portable toilets would be placed near the City sites. Addressing a follow-up question, Mr. Weinman said some community agencies manage renter rehabilitation programs that provide limited amounts of money for repairing credit ratings and loaning move-in amounts to homeless families. Ms. Nathanson said a citizen suggested that the money would be better spent helping individuals find jobs. Mr. Meisner said he supported the ordinance in general, but expressed concerned that none of the proposals were permanent solutions. He said public input suggested that this was the best solution the public was willing to support. He expressed concern about the facilitator's ability to accomplish all the tasks identified. He recalled that the prior ordinance permitted overnight camping on private property and prohibited charging a fee, and wondered if it would it be reasonable to allow businesses to charge a minimal per diem fee. Mr. Weinman said the committee discussed the idea but decided it was best to avoid a tenant/landlord law situation. Mr. Meisner noted that in approving this, the council was, in effect, changing densities without any public process. He emphasized that this was only temporary. Ms. Taylor agreed that this should only be a temporary solution. She expressed concerns about attracting people from outside the area and forcing people out after the term ends. Mr. Taylor said she could only support Part A. Mr. Lee said the reason someone would not leave a location was because they have no place to go. He urged the council to find a way to incorporate the homeless population into society. He said the proposal was far more realistic than saying there is no vehicle camping in Eugene. Mr. Lee said "we cannot deny the existence of homelessness." He supported the proposal as an acceptable compromise. Mayor Torrey said this was a high-profile issue in the community that brings a potential problem for the City's police force. He urged council to vote for the facilitator to help support police, adding that if nothing can be done before October 1, the facilitator should be hired by September 1 to contact and inform homeless campers of the impending change. MINUTES--Eugene City Council August 5, 1998 Page 6 11:30 a.m.