CC Minutes - 02/21/12 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Alley Valkyrie, Ward 1, supported the ordinance. She went on to criticize the City for not doing enough to solve the problem of homelessness and questioned why the City prohibited property owners from doing what they wanted with their property so people could build communities on private property. Michael Carrigan, Ward 7, supported the ordinance. He acknowledged the City and St. Vincent de Paul was having trouble finding vehicle and tent camping sites, and hoped the City Manager directed staff to work harder to find more sites. Ruth Duemler, Ward 3, supported the ordinance. She also hoped that more spaces could be found to reduce the existing waiting list. Her church accommodated a car camp and found the occupants helped the church with security and maintenance issues. She encouraged other churches and businesses to accommodate homeless campers. Joe Tyndall, Ward 1, supported the ordinance, although he considered insufficient to meet the need that existed. He advocated for a publicly camping site based on the Occupy Eugene model. Mayor Piercy closed the public hearing and called on the council for questions and comments. Councilor Zelenka asked why the number of car camping sites had been limited to three and requested information about the pros and cons of adding more spaces to each site. He also wanted more information about the waiting list. He asked where more sites could be located. Councilor Brown asked if there were site providers who would like to have more camping spaces on their properties but were limited by the City Code. Michael Wisth of the Community Development Department reported that the number of camping sites was limited to facilitate site management. Councilor Brown suggested that funding could be increased so service providers could add more site managers. Mr. Wisth said that the funding had been increased in fiscal years 2012 by $50,000 to increase the number of sites and underwrite the cost of site management. 4. PUBLIC HEARING: An Ordinance Concerning Downtown Public Safety Zone; Amending Section 4.874 of the Eugene Code, 1971; and Providing a Sunset Date City Manager Ruiz reported that the City's Downtown Public Safety Zone (DPSZ) would expire on April 30, 2012, unless the council desired to extend it. Mayor Piercy opened the public hearing. Mark Rust, Ward 4, supported the continuation of the DPSZ. He believed the zone had improved conditions downtown, leader to greater community satisfaction with downtown, and ending the zone would undo that satisfaction and stifle additional improvements. He believed exclusion was a reasonable alternative to jail for both the offender and community due to limited jail capacity for low -level offenders. Larry Leverone, Ward 3, encouraged the council to consider long -term solutions including a downtown youth community center; progress on the Opportunity Eugene Task Force; more well- trained and well - paid publicly accountable downtown police officers; just and equitable law enforcement; two or three more CAHOOTS vans or a publicly funded health facility; more public and private jobs; higher taxes on higher earners; integration of institutions of higher education into the downtown; improved medical care for all; and increased respectful dialogue between all. MINUTES— Eugene City Council February 21, 2012 Page 3 Regular Meeting