CC Minutes - 10/13/08 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Continuing, Councilor Bettman declared that the Police Auditor knew what her job was; it was very well- described in the ordinance. She asserted that the problem lay in her need to have cooperation from the EPD. Councilor Clark expressed disappointment that some of his colleagues were pointing their fingers at the EPD and accusing the department of obstructing the auditing position and the success of the office. He underscored that this was not his opinion. He said, for the sake of balance, he believed the auditors, both present and previous, had exceeded their mandate and their authority on several occasions. He believed they had made mistakes in judgment that were contrary to the ordinance and that were challengeable. He felt there was enough “blame here to go around for everybody” but for him the bottom line was that the council needed to exercise greater authority and supervision of the office and he hoped they would do that. Councilor Clark recalled that the staff member who made the presentation on August 13 mentioned that he had some questions about how the motion would affect any potential zone changes that might take place in West Eugene, because it would adversely affect the TransPlan. He also recalled that the staff work required for that particular motion would set back the work to fix the Delta Highway/Beltline Highway connection by an additional six months. Additionally, Councilor Clark observed that a couple of times during the evening the Mayor had been given credit for having led or created the WEC. He had attended a meeting at the River Road Community Organization at which he related that the Mayor had stated that she created the WEC. He had also heard the Mayor say at many meetings that it was not “owned” per se by the Mayor, rather it consisted of a group of citizens who had come together to do that work. He called on the Mayor to clarify this. Councilor Poling reminded his colleagues that he had requested a meeting of the council to figure out a process for handling complaints when a complaint had been made about the office the previous summer. He had wanted to determine what they were supposed to do to address other issues that arose as unintended consequences of the charter amendment. Councilor Poling also wished to speak to Councilor Bettman’s declaration that there was near unanimous agreement among councilors on the two ballot measures. He stressed that he supported placing the measures on the ballot to allow the voters to decide. He stated that he had specifically voted for one and had indicated that he would not actively campaign against the other. Councilor Poling echoed the request for a memorandum from staff regarding the specific ramifications of the decision to remove references to the WEP on August 13. He understood that the language had been left in as a placeholder. Mayor Piercy thanked everyone who “cared so much” about the success of the Civilian Review Board that they had come to express their “concerns and hopes” for the council to get any disagreements settled. She said the City Manager would have more information in the next couple of days for the larger discussion. Mayor Piercy expressed appreciation to the councilors for bringing up the ballot measures. Mayor Piercy also wanted to make clear that the elected officials could not comment on criminal cases. She thought everyone would continue to work to ensure that the auditor and the CRB would continue to work both for the police and the community. She added that she wished to thank Police Chief Robert Lehner for his service to the community. She wished him well. MINUTES—Eugene City Council October 13, 2008 Page 6 Regular Meeting