CC MInutes - 08/10/09 Regular Meeting

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police operations work.” She felt communication and non-violent means needed to be “#1” before any use of tasers. She averred that their misuse would not change the ways police operations happen and the relationship between the police and the community. She believed there was more work to be done in this area. Zachary Vishanoff , Ward 3, observed that the Police Auditor ordinance changes were on the evening’s agenda. He believed that there had been a lot of complicated changes through the work of the Police Auditor Ordinance Review Committee (PAORC) and since then. He had been trying to follow the details of it and it was difficult and complicated. He averred that it would be a “healthier process” if, as the changes were made, there were periodic changes and some “level of effort” to discuss the details. He commented that he was lost. He understood that the PAORC had requested to be reconvened and this was not happening. He was interested in knowing why that request was “being ignored.” Mr. Vishanoff understood that the Oregon Research Institute (ORI) wanted to relocate to a property near the Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) site. He was concerned that this would “open up a back door” in the Riverfront Research Park. He opined that there was not enough public discussion over whether that was a good idea. He noted that if one went to the Atrium Building and asked to see ORI plans and whether there would be a public hearing, the planning staff indicated that they did not know. He asserted that when staff did not know, the person requesting the information was required to pay $85 for staff to make a determina- tion whether a public hearing was needed and whether it was in compliance with the Riverfront Research Park master plan. He asked the council to ask the Planning Division to make a determination. Kimberly Gladen , 361 West Broadway, stated that she lived and worked in the downtown area and did not own a car. She believed that the downtown had a lot of potential but it had a “really bad problem” with security. She said there were a lot of people who were mentally ill in the downtown area. She attributed this to the last eight years of politics; a lot of programs had been eliminated. She averred that police would need to be trained to handle the mentally ill and homeless in a humane and kind way. She predicted that they would have a lot of wounded soldiers coming home from the war, which would increase the numbers of homeless and mentally ill people. She declared that these people were the “least of our brothers” and the most damaged people of society and damaging them further would not improve the situation. She believed that the problem with the downtown was directly related to the need to deal with these core social problems. She related that there was a person sleeping on Broadway in the old Rosewater Deli area until the mid- afternoon. She felt it was difficult for people to walk by and see that with their kids. She said seeing a police cruiser could make a person feel more secure or that there was a problem. She added that they would have to work harder to maintain a presence without adding to the carbon footprint of the force if the police facility moved across the river. She concluded by stressing that the downtown needed attention and the police needed to be more a part of the community. Tom Kamis , 856 Lincoln Street, #2, Ward 7, supported the retention and expansion of the parking exemption program. He related that he had received “amazing” feedback from customers and people who were downtown. He noted that someone had stressed the importance of asking the downtown businesses how they felt about the parking exemption. He wished to point out that there were only five businesses along the stretch in which the exemption was in place. He predicted it would take ten minutes to ask them. He said parking should be exempted in the downtown area. He opined that the City had opportunities to change the downtown core and the City Council had decided to “take away some development opportuni- ties.” He declared that the City had given up a big opportunity to have a lot of employers downtown when the City had “[done] away with that last possible build-up” of the downtown area. He did not think the City deserved any more money. He declared that if lack of funds was the issue that would keep the parking exemption from being in place for a longer period of time, the City Council would have to “learn to do without.” He underscored that the councilors were the City’s leaders and he believed that they should have MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 10, 2009 Page 2 Regular Meeting