Item 3A: Approval of City Council Minutes

Home Browse Search

ATTACHMENT H M I N U T E S Eugene City Council Work Session Council Chambers – City Hall 777 Pearl Street—Eugene, Oregon July 14, 2010 12:00 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: George Brown, Mike Clark, Andrea Ortiz, Chris Pryor, Jennifer Solomon, Betty Taylor, Alan Zelenka. COUNCILORS ABSENT: George Poling. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the work session of the Eugene City Council to order. A. WORK SESSION: Police Department Data Led Policing Strategy Ms. Piercy introduced City Manager Jon Ruiz who introduced Eugene Police Chief Pete Kerns. Chief Kerns offered a PowerPoint presentation entitled Transitioning to the Future—Data-Led Policing Report to the City of Eugene Mayor and Council—Chief Pete Kerns—July 2010 and circulated a handout to councilors containing the presentation. Ms. Piercy expressed her appreciation for the decrease in property crimes. She noted while the City’s property crime rate was high, there was less violent crime than in other cities. She asked how engaged the campus police were. Chief Kerns said representatives from the University of Oregon (UO) Department of Public Safety attended weekly Data Led Policing (DLP) meetings, and had recently hired a captain whose responsibility it was to work collaboratively with the Eugene Police Department (EPD) to address crime in the university area. Ms. Piercy was interested in how the City of Springfield jail was utilized and the impact it had on City of Eugene issues. A challenge for the EPD was being located in a state and county with significant funding issues. This resulted in a lack of prevention on the human service side. It was not EPD’s role to provide social services in the community and doing so was not a cost-effective way to provide those services. Mr. Clark thanked Chief Kerns for the report and congratulated him for the innovative approach he had implemented for the department. Mr. Clark noted staffing levels were significantly less than optimum and was heartened to see the department’s success. He was particularly encouraged by the work of Sgt. Fitzpatrick and the officers working in the downtown area. Lane County was expected to have a $30 million revenue loss during the next couple of years which would likely result in a significant reduction in jail beds. He asked what the marginal affect would be from that loss and what the City Council should be doing about the problem. It was important for the City to make intelligent decisions. MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 14, 2010 Page 1 Work Session