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Home My WebLink AboutCC Newsletter - 05/26/05EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER May 26, 2005 City of Eugene 777 Pearl Street, Room 105 Eugene, Oregon 97401-2793 (541) 682-5010 (541) 682-5414 (FAX) www.ci.eugene.or, us "WE ARE BETHEL" CELEBRATION POLICE COMMISSION SOLICITS INPUT ON DRAFT POLICE OVERSIGHT RECOMMENDATIONS DOWNTOWN FLOWER POWER INTERNATIONAL TEENS SPEND SUNNY AFTERNOON WORKING AT TANDY TURN PARK ACORN PARK NEIGHBORS INVITED TO HELP DESIGN THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD PARK "We Are Bethel" Celebration Come join the fun on Saturday, June 4th from noon-6 p.m. for the fourth Annual "We Are Bethel" Celebration. The goal of the event is to bring people together to celebrate the richness of the Bethel neighborhoods. In previous years, sunshine and high spirits invigorated diverse crowds of over 3,000 Bethel community residents who take to the fields of Petersen Barn Park for music, food, youth activities, and much more. Highlights of the celebration include the kick-off of the Summer Concert In the Parks with Lo Nuestro, Club Bethel Youth Carnival, marimba music, a visit from the Eugene Police canine unit, a bike rodeo, interactive activities for all ages, and loads of fun. The event is free and all event communications will be available in both English and Spanish. Bethel Weed and Seed, the City of Eugene Library, Recreation and Cultural Services, and the Bethel School District will host the event which is sponsored by numerous community businesses. For more information, call the Petersen Barn Community Center at 682-5521. Para informacion en Espa~ol Ilamar al 682-5293. Police Commission Solicits Input on Draft Police Oversiqht Recommendations For the past nine months, the Eugene Police Commission has conducted an extensive review of current practices for handling complaints against police, including a re-examination of different models of civilian oversight. Multiple community forums were held to seek public input on concerns about the current police complaint system and to compile suggestions for improvements. In December, committees were formed to develop specific recommendations for how complaints are received, classified, investigated and, once a conclusion is developed, reviewed. In May, the committees presented a draft police oversight model to the Police Commission that combines a full-time, professional auditor and a civilian review board. The proposed hybrid oversight system seeks to: create an accessible, safe, impartial and responsive complaint intake system assure high quality, thorough and unbiased investigations promote accountability and fairness for all involved EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 1 May 26, 2005 o:o increase transparency in how complaints are handled and how dispositions are arrived at to build credibility and trust in the complaint system o:o identify organizational improvements to enhance the quality of police services to the public o:o avoid pitfalls encountered in other communities when implementing civilian review The oversight model will be refined following further discussion with stakeholders and community input, and then presented to the City Council on July 25. Community members are invited to provide feedback on the commission's draft civilian oversight recommendations at two public forums in June. The first forum, co-sponsored by the Whiteaker Community Council, is scheduled for Wednesday, June 1, from 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. at the Whiteaker Community Center at the corner of Clark and North Jackson streets. The second public forum will be held Thursday, June 30, 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. at the Hilyard Community Center, 2580 Hilyard Street. For a more in-depth description of the draft oversight model and other recommendations on the complaint process, please visit www.ci.eu.qene.or, us/policecomm.index.htm. Downtown Flower Power Seventy-six beautiful hanging flower baskets are being installed this week on light poles throughout downtown. This summer beautification program is made possible through a public-private partnership. The Facility Division's mall staff installed brackets on the poles, purchased the hanging baskets and will maintain them as they grow over the summer. Funding for both the acquisition and maintenance is through a partnership between Downtown Eugene Inc., some individual downtown property owners, and urban renewal funds. The new flowers complement 146 exiting downtown flower pots that are also provided and maintained through public-private cooperation. For more information, please contact Richie Weinman, Planning and Development Department at 682-5533 or Richie.d.weinman@ci.eugene.or. us. International Teens Spend Sunny Afternoon Workinq at Tandy Turn Park On Saturday afternoon, May 21,60 teenagers representing Oregon and 17 different countries descended on Tandy Turn Park and helped parks staff weed and spread mulch on the landscaped beds in the park. All the youth involved in the showcase service project which was organized for the 100-year celebration and District Rotary Conference held in Eugene last weekend, are part of the Rotary Youth Exchange program. The program gives young people from the United States the opportunity to spend a year in another country living with a host family and studying and learning about their culture, while young people from other countries come to the United States to experience American culture. At Saturday's project, there were youth from around Oregon who will be going to other countries in August as well as students from Russia, Turkey, Sweden, Thailand, and Chile and other countries who have been in the United States since last August. Tom Utt, local Rotary member and lead worker for the City's irrigation crew, was impressed with the amount of work these students accomplished and how they worked together to accomplish this feat. "Though this was a new experience for most of the international students, generally all the students got down to the hard physical labor of weeding, raking, shoveling, and hauling," he says. "One student from the Czech Republic was so intent on impressing the girls that he abandoned his arm sling, grabbed the EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 2 May 26, 2005 biggest wheelbarrow and industriously loaded and transported mulch with great zeal, despite the pain in his injured arm!" Steve Sanders, Josiah Sheehan, and Tom Moniot of the landscape crew organized the work effort. During the course of the afternoon, 30 yards of composted leaf mulch were spread on landscaped beds, including the bed that encompasses nearly the entire perimeter of the pocket park located in a neighborhood off Coburg Road. For more information about the project, contact Chris Girard, landscape supervisor, at 682-4824. For more information about the Rotary Youth Exchange Program, call 689-2984 or e-mail neercs@msn.com. For more information about Rotary in the Eugene-Springfield area, contact Tom Utt, member of the Rotary Club of Springfield Twin Rivers and irrigation crew lead worker, at 682-4830. Acorn Park Neiqhbors Invited to Help Design Their Neiqhborhood Park On Wednesday, June 1, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., Acorn Park neighbors are invited to a workshop to share ideas for improving their neighborhood park. Funding is now available through a Community Development Block Grant to make improvements to the park located between Acorn Park Road and Buck Street, south of 14th Avenue. Construction may occur as early as this summer. The workshop will be held at McCornack Elementary School Library at 1968 Brittany in Eugene. The 2.5-acre park currently includes a children's play structure, basketball court, and hard-surface paths. Neighborhood parks, which serve residents within about a half-mile, or 10-minute walking distance, can include a children's play area, accessible pathways, park furniture such as benches, picnic tables, trash receptacles, and open space for recreation and relaxation. They typically do not include restrooms, off- street parking, programmed athletics, skateparks, dog off-leash areas, and other facilities that attract visitors from a distance greater than the park's service area. For more information or to give input, contact Park Planner Carolyn Weiss at 682-4914 or carolyn.j.weiss@ci.eugene.or, us. EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 3 May 26, 2005