CCMinutes - 07/26/04 Mtg - Laserfiche WebLink

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point of population and service load where a precinct deployment model must be considered. In terms of sizing the building, he felt it was appropriate for the long-term future. He added that, should the City size the facility for 2028, it could ultimately rule out the option for service delivery through the precinct model in the future. Councilor Poling called it essential to include the social services agencies in the new Community Safety Building, as well as address the other concerns of the Civic Center vision. He believed approval of the bond measure to be a responsible action to take at this time as it was a small step to attain the vision. He related that he had spoken to constituents and heard they were not ready to pay for the entire Civic Center and Community Safety Building project. He felt that the bond measure indicated that the City was acting in good faith by using available funds and asking for additional funds to help with the social services and the basic beginning steps of the Civic Center vision. Mayor Torrey pointed out that all of the City Councilors had indicated that the City needed the new facilities, though some felt the bond measure in question was not the right approach. He noted that some felt that the recent conviction of two Eugene police officers would impact the vote. He opined that it would impact the vote regardless of whether the vote was on a measure for a portion of the vision or for the whole vision. He thought the proposed building made great planning sense as it allowed for flexibility and expandability. Mayor Torrey called the inclusion of victim services element a statement that the City recognized that something meaningful needed to be done to step forward to address some of the incidents that had happened, not because such incidents happened but because it was just the right thing to do. He expressed amazement regarding the number of people who had shown a willingness to help campaign on the behalf of this bond measure. Mayor Torrey recognized that some councilors would vote in opposition. He expressed hope that, should the motion pass, that no council members would oppose the motion in the public because individual points of view did not succeed in the present vote. Councilor Bettman hoped the bond measure would fail to be approved for the ballot. She advocated for planning for the ultimate replacement of all of the services that were in the City Hall and upgrading facilities. In response to a question from Councilor Bettman, Chief Lehner stressed that the precinct model would only encompass patrol deployment. He stated that there was, by no means, a commitment to that model at present. He would not recommend, at any point, the decentralization of the investigations unit, which was the primary partner for the victim services providers. He noted that some information had been provided to the council on how this model had worked in other cities, such as San Diego, California, and Mesa, Arizona. He explained that, typically, the type of collaboration housed in such a facility included law enforcement investigations staff, primary prosecution and advocacy staff from a district attorney's office, social service and victim service advocates for victims of domestic violence and child abuse. He asserted that the planned facility was adequately sized for such partnerships. Councilor Bettman asked if the Chief was suggesting that a victim of such a crime would not go to the nearest precinct but, rather, would have to go downtown to the centralized Community Safety Building. Chief Lehner replied that where the victim would go had to do with the victim's condition. He underscored that the benefit of collocation was that the victim would not be bounced around from the Police Department to the District Attorney's Office and so on. He said properly choosing the partners to collocate with community safety would result in the right group of victim advocate agencies being available, primarily those who dealt with domestic violence, child abuse, and sexual assault.