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Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes
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Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes
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crime rate downtown. Chief Kerns noted that there were more officers downtown only in the summer. He <br />was not certain that much could be learned about the effect of a single strategy, particularly in the current <br />economic environment. <br /> <br />Mr. Zelenka said that the public had identified property crime as a major concern and agreed that no single <br />strategy was going to solve the problem. He supported the work of the task team and looked forward to its <br />recommendations, but any strategies would be coupled with development that changed the downtown <br />environment and attracted more people into the core. He was interested in more information on the Portland <br />model. Chief Kerns said he heard from downtown residents and business owners that one of the first steps <br />to a vibrant downtown was making it safe. He said Eugene had fewer social services and police per capita, <br />and fewer jails cells, than other comparable communities across the country and as a consequence had the <br />fastest growing crime rate. <br /> <br />Mr. Pryor agreed with Mr. Poling that problems downtown had existed for some time. He was willing to <br />take action to address those problems, rather than pass them on to future councils. He looked forward to the <br />task team’s recommendations and hoped they represented actions that the council could take. He felt there <br />was more that could be done to address illegal behaviors and behaviors that were legal, but threatening and <br />intimidating and kept people away from downtown, such as aggressive panhandling. He said public safety <br />was part of the infrastructure and would need to be addressed in order to attract development and people to <br />the downtown area. <br /> <br />Ms. Solomon concurred with Mr. Pryor that it was time for the council to move to implementation of <br />solutions. She asked about use of zones in which smoking was banned and whether that would apply to the <br />plaza at Broadway and Willamette Street. Ms. Medary said the zones applied to public facilities where <br />there was youth-specific programming, such as the library, and inclusion of the plaza could be explored. <br /> <br />Mr. Clark asked if the task team recommendations would include leveraging other resources to assist law <br />enforcement beyond the Portland model and a ban on certain liquor sales. Ms. Muir said the task team was <br />considering a comprehensive package of options and determining which should be recommended for <br />downtown. <br /> <br />Mr. Clark said the council had pursued a number of initiatives to improve downtown, but unless the public <br />safety environment was addressed it would continue to be difficult to attract or retain viable businesses. He <br />felt it was an enforcement problem and EPD needed to have the officers and enforcement tools required to <br />do the job. He asked how many additional officers were needed to adequately deal with public safety <br />downtown. Chief Kerns estimated that a total of 10 to 12 officers were necessary to cover the days of the <br />week and hours of the day when there was the greatest need and conduct proactive community policing <br />efforts. He said that presumed that the problem could be resolved only with enforcement, which he did not <br />believe was the case. <br /> <br />Mr. Clark asked if the task team was looking at whether the location of certain services downtown was <br />unintentionally drawing certain undesirable behaviors to the area. Chief Kerns said the task team was <br />examining that question. <br /> <br />Mr. Zelenka agreed with Chief Kerns that a holistic approach that was not limited to increased enforcement <br />was needed. He said simultaneous actions on several fronts were needed to create a safe and inviting <br />environment. He pointed to a number of projects that were already in progress. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council November 23, 2009 Page 4 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />
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