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

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Jim Lynch, 2350 North Terry Street #26, said that he did not like the idea of a Police Commission and had also been opposed to the citizen police review board because they were not needed. He suggested that the Police Forum was a place for students to be involved. He said he wanted "picking on the Police Department" to stop. He suggested that no resources were being committed to implementing community policing. He said he would like to have more police officers on the street and that he did not want the new Police Chief to feel threatened by political activists. Ellen Klowden, no address provided, stated that she had been appointed to the External Review Advisory Committee by Copwatch. She said she believed a Police Commission could be more important than a citizen police review board since it would be more than a reactive body. She said she had no problem with a student being appointed to the commission and that she believed a majority of its membership should be made up of those affected by police actions. She said she liked the proposal that minority reports be allowed in recommendations of the commission, the proposed membership of a representative from an external review board, and having the Human Rights Commission nominate a member. Jim Hale, 1715 Linnea Avenue, said that he had been keeping track and that a majority of those who had testified at the public hearing were from only a few City Council wards. He said he believed a Police Commission was a good idea but did not like having a member designated by the Human Rights Commission, a student member, a member appointed by the Police Chief, or a person aggrieved by police actions. He said he believed the commission should "look like the whole city" and that the Mayor should appoint three members. He recommended that the commission seek to avoid perpetuating divisions which existed within the city. He said he believed more police were needed. Mayor Torrey determined that there were no other persons wishing to testify and closed the public hearing. Ms. Nathanson requested that councilors be given an opportunity to ask questions and make comments regarding the public hearing. Mayor Torrey approved the request. Ms. Nathanson said that, when consideration of establishing a Police Commission was placed on a council meeting agenda, she had been skeptical that it would be confused with issues related to the citizen police review board ballot measure. She said that the public hearing had not allayed her concern that some would consider the commission was simply a revised version of the review board. She said it pointed to the need for a clear statement of the purpose of the proposed ordinance. She suggested that such a statement could be developed from its Powers and Duties section. Mr. Johnson said that it was not uncommon to have a statement like the one suggested by Ms. Nathanson be part of an ordinance. He said it would be possible to ask a committee to prepare such a statement. Mr. Hill said that the proposed Police Commission was commonly misunderstood in the way identified by Ms. Nathanson and that he supported development of a preamble for the ordinance to clearly identify its purpose. Ms. Nathanson said that she believed a committee to develop a clear purpose statement for the ordinance would need to include representatives of many constituency groups. Mr. Hill MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 23, 1998 Page 8 7:30 p.m.