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them because they do not think they will get a response. She suggested that they define for people that <br />reporting them let the department know that the crimes were happening. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy also expressed appreciation for the conversation on fees to vacant building owners. She <br />strongly encouraged a cooperative approach, rather than a regulatory approach. She agreed that even if a <br />building was empty, it still needed to look good. <br /> <br />Mr. Clark thanked everyone for the work they were doing to remedy the situation. He was glad to see that <br />they were taking “badly needed innovative steps” to create more accountability for crime in the downtown <br />area. He agreed with the Mayor regarding assessment of a fee on empty buildings. He had never been a fan <br />of the idea that the City should assess a fee to someone who could not seem to get business going well <br />enough to fill a building. <br /> <br />Regarding the OLCC and special district issues, Mr. Clark wondered if there were any existing districts that <br />could suffice. Chief Kerns responded that the first step would be to find out if OLCC was willing to grant <br />Eugene the administrative authority to make such an ordinance. He said they would study the behaviors to <br />determine where the best district would be. <br /> <br />Mr. Clark asked how long they wanted to study this. Chief Kerns replied that it would be good to have <br />something in place by summer. <br /> <br />Mr. Clark asked if there was a specific reason the Volunteers in Policing were not being considered to help <br />in enforcement of some kinds of things. Chief Kerns explained that in Oregon only law enforcement officers <br />were allowed to enforce the laws. He said some volunteers could write parking citations for handicapped <br />parking-space violations, but this would not address the problems they were trying to address. <br /> <br />Continuing, Mr. Clark noted that Judge Wayne Allen had come before the Police Commission at its last <br />meeting and stated that he could use an additional ten jail beds right now. He related that Judge Allen had <br />indicated that he was letting people go at present who should be going to jail. He asked if ten beds would be <br />an adequate number in order to do extra work to do a better job. Chief Kerns replied that it was not <br />adequate, but it was feasible. He thought that if those jail beds were used carefully, it could change the <br />behavior in the downtown area. <br /> <br />Mr. Clark supported moving the strategies forward. He averred that they would have a positive effect. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor asked if they kept records of complaints that were called in to the EPD if there was no response. <br />Chief Kerns replied that they did not. He said if they could implement the third strategy, which sought to <br />increase and implement automated behavior crime reporting and cameras, they would be able to develop a <br />system internally that could do this. <br /> <br />In response to a question from Ms. Taylor, Chief Kerns affirmed that volunteers could do the work it took to <br />record calls. Ms. Taylor thought it was important to let people know that the calls were being recorded. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor asked if the Chief was considering hiring the new officers to patrol in the downtown area or did <br />he intend to dispatch more experienced officers there. Chief Kerns replied that he would deploy more <br />experienced officers. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 27, 2010 Page 3 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />