Item 3A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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Councilor Bettman indicated her support for the ordinance. She asked staff to follow up on Mr. Nelkin’s concern regarding the sharing of proprietary information. She wondered why the purchase price would be useful information and whether it should be required. Detective Randy Berger responded that the purchase price had been beneficial as they experienced cases such as one in which a $6000 ring was sold for $10, which clearly indicated the seller did not know the value of the item. He noted that the ring was returned to the person from whom it had been stolen. Councilor Bettman asked what sorts of protection existed to keep the information confidential. Detective Berger stated that law enforcement only received information on the purchase transaction that the store made. He said there were no records, nor did they have access to information on the subsequent sale of that item. In response to a follow-up question from Councilor Bettman, Detective Berger stated that the purchase price was not required information on the hand-written forms, but some businesses reported it anyway. Councilor Solomon asked if the City would require all of the businesses to purchase the software. Detective Berger replied that there was no cost for the software. He said the only expense to the business would be incurred if the business did not currently have a computer and internet access as part of its business inventory. Councilor Solomon asked if Detective Berger received an email from George Wingard of Eugene Ebay regarding a system other than outsourcing to the current provider, BWI. Detective Berger responded that he had spoken with Mr. Wingard. He related that the system Mr. Wingard spoke of used text files, which would not integrate with the current records management system. He added that having 55 stores reporting things in text files would provide a wide variety of description differences which would present some difficulty in EPD’s efforts to identify stolen items. Councilor Solomon surmised that this would not be much different than handling the process by hand with a paper trail. Councilor Papé appreciated Mr. Nelkin’s comments as well. He shared some of the concern regarding the cost of the system to vendors. While he supported the use of this system, he wanted staff to come up with an option wherein the City “picked up the tab.” He also wondered if it was really necessary for store owners to report the price paid for an item. He asked if the system would fail if the price was not in the notated box. Detective Berger replied that it would not. He reiterated that the price did help police personnel to identify stolen items. Councilor Taylor extended her congratulations to the gentleman who recovered his bicycle. She called it shameful that the City was not able to pay more attention to the problem of stolen bicycles. She hoped there would be cameras outside of the library for security purposes. Mayor Piercy ascertained from the council that it was not ready to take action on this item. 4. PUBLIC HEARING: An Ordinance Concerning State Traffic Laws and Amending Section 5.005 of the Eugene Code, 1971; and Providing an Immediate Effective Date City Manager Dennis Taylor explained that every few years after the legislative session, the City had an opportunity to pass ordinances to align the City’s municipal code with enactments by the State Legislature. He stated that Court Operations Supervisor, Kristie Hammitt, was available to answer any questions. MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 23, 2006 Page 6 Regular Session