CC Minutes - 10/26/09 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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M I N U T E S Eugene City Council Regular Meeting Council Chamber—Eugene City Hall 777 Pearl Street—Eugene, Oregon October 26, 2009 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Chris Pryor, George Brown, Andrea Ortiz, George Poling, Mike Clark, Betty Taylor, Jennifer Solomon, Alan Zelenka. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. She noted that the Consent Calendar had been approved during the preceding council work session. 1. PUBLIC FORUM Mayor Piercy reviewed the rules of the Public Forum. Gaylyn Forster , 1955 Minda Drive, expressed concern that Rick Brissenden might not be reappointed to the Civilian Review Board (CRB). He had been following the aftermath of the tasering incident that had happened in May, 2008, and he felt that there appeared to be a lack of meaningful police oversight. He considered the loss of Mr. Brissenden to mean a loss of objectivity. He worried that the public might lose faith and to him, it felt like something was going wrong. He asserted that the City Council had a lack of willingness to have meaningful police oversight. He was concerned for the Eugene Police Department (EPD). He opined that without meaningful oversight the EPD “would pay,” and thoughtful, careful oversight was in their favor. Amy Pincus Merwin , 2220 Sandy Drive, said she had emailed her comments to the council and the Mayor. She declared that a dynamic had seemed to be “set up” since the tasering incident of May, 2008, which she believed had been “without cause.” She opined that there had been a series of “manipulations, controls, procrastinations, accusations” that had “undermined” the CRB process. She had been a witness and a speaker at the rally at which the tasering incident had occurred. She was shocked by how little understanding there seemed to be of what had actually occurred on that day, as she perceived it. She asserted that some members of the CRB were “in lockstep” with some members of the Police Commission, the council, the EPD, and the Eugene Police Employee Association (EPEA). It had been painful for her and had “re-stimulated the trauma” of witnessing the tasering incident. She feared the young man who had been tasered would never recover from having a concussion and that he would probably never exercise his civil liberties again. She felt that there was a syndrome she considered to be “battered community syndrome.” She alleged that members of the community and the City Council seemed “to be afraid” to speak up. She asserted that CRB members Rick Brissenden and Kate Wilkinson were willing to engage in dialogue and to question things, looking hard at the issues. She had heard that Mr. Brissenden’s appointment was in jeopardy. She believed that he was “just the kind of person” that should serve on the CRB. She urged the council to reappoint Mr. Brissenden. Hal Reed , 85139 Appletree Drive, stated that he had been asked by Eugene Advocates to speak up on behalf of public safety downtown. He provided two handouts, both pictorials of the significant problems and examples of the MINUTES—Eugene City Council October 26, 2009 Page 1 Regular Meeting