CC Minutes - 07/15/08 Joint Elected Officials

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overlapping public safety efforts, but there was such strong opposition on the Eugene City Council that it did not progress. He felt there were a number of different areas in which some of the duplication could be eliminated. He acknowledged the City of Eugene’s police oversight process, adding that he knew there were officers in other agencies that would not be willing to work under the Eugene system. He believed that the PSCC would be a good starting point as it involved the three public safety systems. He wanted to ask how they could come up with a solution so that the entire population of Lane County was served by the public safety system. Councilor Zelenka reiterated his appreciation for the proposition for the fund swap that Councilor Bettman had made. He thought the discussion about the issue should be at the JEO table but the votes should occur in the individual jurisdictional level. He also agreed with Councilor Poling that a public safety solution should include prevention and intervention. He added his support for cooperation and efficiency and also agreed that they should try not to duplicate services as much as possible. Mayor Piercy remarked that differences exist. She felt that the county and the two communities could work together creatively to find solutions without losing sight of their differences. Councilor Pryor recognized that there were two parts to the public safety discussion: the crime and incarceration component and the other parts such as prevention and intervention. He believed that with sufficient funding the two police departments and the sheriff’s office would run well. He stressed that at present the system was “grossly underfunded.” He thought that things like the third battalion could be worked out between the jurisdictions, such as community policing. He said the JEO coordination needed to occur around services the County had traditionally provided, such as juvenile services and court services. He said they could talk about this as a coordinated effort but he pointed out that the PSCC had put measures on the ballot and all had failed. He related that the PSCC had come up with plans and then had not had the resources to follow through with them. He did not want to keep doing the same things that were not working. He wanted to find “a new mechanism” that would address that side of the equation. He preferred to focus this effort on drugs, prevention, youth, and education because he believed this was where the region was “floundering.” Springfield Councilor Wylie stated that the region needs adequate parole, probation, supervision, and jail time. She remarked that she worked in the treatment field and believed more treatment services were needed. She said some of the responsibility for the funding belonged in other places. She noted that the State had continually cut back treatment funding and area representatives needed to put pressure on the State to get that money back. She related that she had talked to Springfield Police Chief Jerry Smith about regional issues and how the cities could cover the areas that would be affected as the Lane County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) “got thin.” She said Chief Smith had indicated that the departments were already looking out for one another. Councilor Wylie pointed out that a person who was wearing a Eugene Police Department badge would know they were responsible to the police oversight process. She thought the two chiefs and the sheriff could work together and do a lot of streamlining. She noted that they were already doing a lot of radio and information sharing. She underscored the importance of being responsible to the citizens and keeping them safe. She averred that there were a lot of things they could do; they could talk about what they needed to place on the ballot and how to get legislators to bring more funds to the issue. She added that one idea she had for the ballot was to provide voters with a choice on what amount of money to allocate to which portion of the public safety system. MINUTES—Joint Elected Officials— July 15, 2008 Page 8 Lane Board of County Commissioners and Eugene and Springfield City Councils