Item 3A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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them out. He appreciated Mr. Michaels’ comments and agreed that they needed to do the work and do it well, but they needed to make sure they did not do it badly or in a hurry. He noted that San José had experienced many problems with its oversight system and recently fired its auditor. He was glad the community was going to “do this well.” Councilor Zelenka said he fully supported a strong auditor and had supported the ballot measure. He sympathized with most of the concerns expressed by people and he supported most of Councilor Bettman’s amendments. He observed that some of the people who had testified seemed to be under the impression that the council had to do something in order to implement what the voters had passed. He stressed that this was not so; the office of the Police Auditor was required and was not discretionary. He stated that the voters had not been asked whether all of Councilor Bettman’s amendments and changes should be implemented. He had come to understand that Eugene was very engaged and people expected to have a say. He supported the committee, noting that he would serve on it, and believed it to be balanced. He related that he intended to make sure all of the issues were fully vetted. He also stressed that the deadline for the process to be completed was March 11. He disagreed with people who felt they should “just get it over with quickly.” He did not think doing so would resolve the issues in the community and could make things worse. He pointed out that the Police Auditor supported the committee approach. Councilor Zelenka encouraged Mr. Clemens to attend the Sustainability Commission meeting, scheduled for the third Wednesday in December at 5:30 p.m. in the library. He said they were working on a second set of recommendations, one of which was a community food security plan. Councilor Bettman reiterated her objections to the committee process for her proposed changes. She called not moving forward with them “going back to square one.” She asserted that other charter amendments did not take this kind of time. She declared the process to be a “diversion.” She called the Eugene auditor a “weak” position. She said the reason she had not included subpoena provisions in her proposed amendments was because that would be a change from the authorities that had been decided upon. She asserted that the fact that her amendments were being characterized as changes was wrong. Councilor Taylor agreed with Ms. Berg-Caldwell’s assertion that Councilor Bettman’s amendments were just “codifying what was passed.” She was surprised that the attorneys had not brought forward this language “instead of waiting for a councilor to do it.” She asserted that the amendments did not change anything and were not far-reaching and “radical.” She called the amendments routine and believed that having a committee process was a “diversion.” Councilor Ortiz asked City Manager Jon Ruiz for guidance as to how to discuss the library security incident that had been related to them. She had heard anecdotal stories similar to the one that Mr. Cantrelle shared. Mr. Ruiz responded that they should talk and get a better feel for the concerns that had been expressed. Councilor Ortiz also wished to address people who said they had lost faith in the EPD. She had not lost faith in the department and this was why she kept working on it. She said they were part of the City and were City employees just like the people who work in the parks and recreation divisions. She declared that they were part of the community, too. She wanted to have good working conditions for them and she wanted to believe that they were trying to do what they thought was the best they could do. She averred that the community needed to let them know what was expected of them. She did not want to give up on the fact that the community needed a good police department. Councilor Bettman asserted that the community did not have accountability in the police department and when they had accountability the community’s trust would be restored. She recounted the events surrounding the tasering incident of May 30. She believed that the issue was not being “played out” where MINUTES—Eugene City Council November 24, 2008 Page 7 Regular Meeting