CC Minutes - 07/15/08 Joint Elected Officials

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prosecute. She felt this was why there had to be localized decision-making. She agreed that the PSCC was not a good use of resources. She averred that both Lane County and the City of Springfield had “pretty remarkable success at the Legislature when they go up there and they ask for favors.” She asked if anyone had ever asked for a repeal of the requirement to have the PSCC. She also wondered if anyone had ever asked for an exemption from the tax-base freeze that had been enacted by Ballot Measures 47 and 50. She claimed that the ballot measures had caught the County “unawares.” She asked why they were not coming up with a strategy at the Legislature so that they could access more funds. She remarked that she had been impressed by the success that Lane County and Springfield had with other issues that were “maybe not as high a priority.” Commissioner Sorenson pointed out that the County had laid off 57 deputies. He said to say that Lane County was in deep trouble was an understatement. He commented that Springfield had built its own jail, which he considered “remarkable.” He felt that Eugene’s contributions to social services and corrections were good but ultimately the jurisdictions had to look after the taxpayers. He felt that if the board could show substantial public interest in a ballot measure, they would do so, but the ballot measures that they had mounted thus far had not passed. He averred that Springfield “had gone its own way with public safety” by building its own jail. He called this “further evidence of the divorce” that Springfield had obtained when it had been able to get out of the Eugene/Springfield metro planning process. Councilor Ralston was not interested in regionalized public safety. He felt that Springfield had been proactive and had citizen support for its jail project. He stated that the citizens of Springfield elected their councilors to represent them and to be responsible to them. For him it was a financial issue and Springfield did not have the resources to solve the County’s problem. He averred that Lane County residents needed to buy into the public safety system. Mayor Leiken noted that Springfield started planning for the jail in 2002 and passed its ballot measure in 2004. He said they had not profited, it was just an area they had looked at and worked on. He underscored that the bottom line was that Washington, D.C. had turned its back on Lane County and several other counties in Oregon. He averred that this area would need to “pull itself up by its bootstraps.” He noted that even when they were making plans for the jail it had appeared to them that the Save Our Rural Schools funding would continue, though it might “look a little different.” He thought Councilor Pryor was on the right track, but it was a funding issue. He pointed out that if it had not been for the levies that Springfield had passed and re-passed in 2006 the city would have roughly the same amount of police officers on the street as it did in 1980, though the town had grown by a third. Instead, he related, Springfield now had six or eight more officers. He underscored that Lane County had more officers in 1980 than it did today. He was not interested in forming more committees, but if the JEO wanted to focus on what the jurisdictions could do together to “take care of business” he was “in.” He indicated his support for potentially lobbying the State to eliminate the PSCC. He felt that Springfield was in a good position, noting that it had passed the Lane County measure. Additionally, he agreed with Commissioner Green: the criminals knew the system better than they did. Mr. Ruiz asked how staff could best support the JEO. He asked if it would be helpful for staff to identify options for how to move the discussion forward. Councilor Bettman wanted to vote on that at the local level. Councilor Ralston concurred. MINUTES—Joint Elected Officials— July 15, 2008 Page 10 Lane Board of County Commissioners and Eugene and Springfield City Councils