Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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components were affected by changes in staffing and service levels. He said an example was the effect of certain types of police staffing on the courts and other parts of the system. Ms. Bettman asked how comparisons were done with other jurisdictions when the study only looked at certain components of the department. She asked if the comparison included police personnel per capita or police personnel total resource per capita and how those were incorporated in the assumptions. Chief Lehner replied that police per capita and similar measures were very broadly used for comparison, but were not a good way to determine actual staff requirements because of the considerable variations among cities. He said it was a broad indicator of resources necessary to address the public safety issues in a community. He said Eugene had a very high property crime rate compared to other cities and one of the lowest officers per population ratios and, while that was useful from a broad perspective, actual staffing needs were workload-dependent, not ratio-dependent. Regarding the University of Oregon issue, Ms. Bettman asked if the department would consider a legislative remedy if discussions with the University were not productive. Chief Lehner said a legislative remedy would be preferable and he was working with the University on what legislation might be needed to provide the necessary capacity. Ms. Bettman requested clarification on how comparisons were made when the department only looked at certain components. She asked if ICMA (International City Managers Association) would only look at those components as well. Chief Lehner said that comparison had not yet been done; Magellan had compared staffing that was workload driven rather than support staff. He noted there were major discrepancies that would need to be better understood. Mr. Pryor expressed his appreciation for the department’s efforts to understand staffing needs, service levels and community expectations. He said those should be identified at three levels—optimal, minimal and functional—and the functional level could be defined by the community’s and City’s perspectives, along with the cost. He felt the department’s work would be extremely helpful to the council’s decision-making process. Mr. Clark thanked EPD for its work and for the Magellan report. He had been concerned for some time about the department’s ability to meet basic needs and agreed that increasing staffing was a substantial goal. He was stunned by the comparison to staffing in other jurisdictions and commended the department for doing a great job with current resources. He wanted to have policy discussions at the Police Commission and council levels about the type of policing that was expected prior to the next round of budget priority setting. Mr. Poling indicated he was pleased the University of Oregon issue was being discussed. He questioned whether there was something else the City could do to move the matter forward. Chief Lehner said it was a political issue in the State that would require a long discussion and serious work. Ms. Ortiz thanked Chief Lehner for his presentation. She said her concern was that no matter what staffing levels the apartment achieved, there was still a problem with the capacity of jails and the ability of the system to deal with drug addiction, which was the cause of most property crimes. She hoped that the discussion would expand to include how to address those issues. Mr. Zelenka agreed with Ms. Ortiz’s remarks. He asked if the University paid for the EPD officers policing the campus area. Chief Lehner said there were contracts in place to pay for policing costs, but that did take away from the department’s capacity. MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 29, 2007 Page 9 Work Session