CC Minutes - 11/23/98 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mayor Torrey determined there were no other persons present wishing to testify and closed the public hearing. He noted that the council was scheduled to take action on the proposed ordinance on December 7, 1998. 4. PUBLIC HEARING: ORDINANCE TO CREATE A POLICE COMMISSION Mr. Johnson announced that the council would hold a public hearing on a proposed ordinance to create a Police Commission. Acting Police Chief James Hill stated that recommendations regarding the proposed ordinance made at the November 18 Council Work Session had been incorporated into the current proposal. He said it was important to differentiate between the current proposal and the ballot measure regarding a police review committee recently rejected by voters. Mr. Hill said the proposed ordinance under consideration was to be a policy reviewing board. He said the board could deal with policies having to do with police misconduct, but would also consider policies having to do with resources, expansion of Community Policing, and other public concerns. He said it would not be a board to review individual police officer actions. In response to a question from Mr. Fart, Mr. Hill agreed that the two bodies addressed different aspects of police operations--the ballot measure with individual police officer actions, the current ordinance with department policies. In response to a question from Mr. Tollenaar, Mr. Hill said it was true that the concept of a police commission and a police review board had both been proposed by the External Review Advisory Committee. In response to a question from Mr. Lee, Mr. Johnson added said that it was his intention to better inform himself about what was involved in police review, to consider options in the "external review alternative" with appropriate staff and citizen committees, and to discuss with the council whether a differently organized board should be considered. Mayor Torrey determined no other councilor had a question regarding the proposed ordinance and opened the public hearing. Nick Urhausen, 2558 Warren Street, said that he had no objection to the establishment of a policy review Police Commission. He said he believed the External Review Advisory Committee had excluded the opinions of those who were opposed to citizen review of police. He suggested that the proposed ordinance be amended to not include members of the City Council on the commission, or to have the City Council perform the duties of the proposed commission. He said that he did not agree with the proposal for members of the Police Commission to be appointed by the Human Rights Commission and Police Chief, but believed that city councilors and the mayor should each appoint one member. He suggested that the proposed commission be limited to an advisory role and that there be provision for "minority reports" in its recommendations. Ron Chase, 1775 West 14th Avenue, stated that he represented the Human Rights Commission. He reported that the commission had unanimously endorsed the proposed ordinance establishing a Police Commission. He said he assumed that the member of the commission from the Human Rights Commission would be chosen by the commission. MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 23, 1998 Page 5 7:30 p.m.