CC Minutes - 03/11/09 Work Session

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Mr. Clark related that he had met with the former chief because this had been an issue he had brought up previously. He said they had an initial survey of what it would cost for Eugene to provide take-home vehicles. He had always favored this idea and would support the motion. Ms. Taylor remarked that having police cars parked in the neighborhoods was almost like expanding the police force. She opined that a police car was nearly as effective as a police officer in slowing traffic and discouraging some behaviors. The motion passed, 7:1; Ms. Ortiz voting in opposition. B. WORK SESSION: Joint Meeting with Human Rights Commission Mr. Ruiz invited Raquel Wells, Access and Equity Manager, to the table. Ms. Wells introduced the Human Rights Commission (HRC) chair, Annette Leonard, and co-chair, Paloma Reza. She noted the members of the HRC who were in the audience. She also thanked staff for their work in supporting the work of the HRC, especially Human Rights Program Specialist Francisca Johnson and Division Manager Andy Fernandez. Ms. Leonard introduced the newest staff member to the HRC, Human Rights Management Analyst Holly LeMasurier. Ms. Reza highlighted what had transpired with the HRC since it had lost approximately half of its commissioners two years earlier and, subsequently, two of its staff members, Greg Rikhoff and Karen Hyatt. She said at that time the HRC had to reprioritize its staffing and work management and, because of this, the HRC had put a pause on the work of the standing subcommittees, with the exception of the Accessibility Committee which had ongoing projects. She stated that the HRC and staff had started looking at developing a transition plan to prioritize the work. She related that the assessment recommendations had been presented to the City Manager and Assistant City Manager in June, 2008. She said the commission staff had formed a team in July, 2008, that incorporated sustainability, human rights, and equity and diversity, with a focus on looking at the common threads of those different bodies and ways to better integrate the HRC work with other work being done in the City. She noted the hiring of Andy Fernandez as the new division manager. Ms. Reza stated that the HRC had begun to formulate the work plan in October, 2008. She noted that the commissioners had taken on its development in this iteration and were participating a lot more than they had previously. She felt this had led to more manageable goals for the work they could do. Ms. Reza said through this process the HRC had still participated in events and had conducted outreach. She reported that they had collaborated with a community group, the Community Coalition for the th Advancement of Human Rights, to put on an event held on December 10 to commemorate the 60 anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She stated that the focus of the event had been on being a human rights city. They had also conducted some outreach at the Asian Celebration in February, 2008, asking what people thought were the top three priorities for human rights issues in the City. She related that the most common priorities expressed were around homelessness, hate crimes, racism, and access to the City and its processes. They had also held the HRC annual picnic in July and had done outreach at that event. MINUTES—Eugene City Council March 11, 2009 Page 5 Work Session