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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/19/1992 Meeting M I NUT E S e Eugene City Council McNutt Room--City Hall August 19, 1992 11 :30 a.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Shawn Boles, Bobby Green, Ruth Bascom, Randy MacDonald, Paul Nicholson, Kaye Robinette, Roger Rutan. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Debra Ehrman. The adjourned meeting of August 17, 1992, of the Eugene City Council was called to order by His Honor Mayor Jeff Miller. Mayor Miller announced a change in the agenda, saying Item IV would be covered fi rst. I. WORK SESSION: EUGENE DECISIONS FINAL STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT Mr. Robinette said it was time to decide if there was anything in the tenta- tively approved core service package that the council wants to change. He e said finalizing the package would enable the council to decide if it is to be part of the final strategy, realizing $5.16 million in savings and service changes to date. Mr. Robinette said the council can then take a second look at fire redeployment and library issues. He expressed the opinion that fire redeployment should be funded through property taxes. He noted one of the key elements of the library issue is the private fund-raising effort under way. Mr. MacDonald agreed and said that the time to begin to discuss funding for public safety and the library is while the Revenue Committee is reviewing revenue issues. He said the primary challenge is to deal with the shortfall and then build public support for the other elements. Mr. Nicholson said that a city that provides and pays for city services structurally encourages flight to the periphery where people can enjoy the services and avoid paying for them. He noted that the mechanism that compen- sated for that in the past was Federal revenue sharing. Mr. Nicholson said that the council must find some way of sharing the burden of supporting an urban center. Mr. Rutan said that the council should not put off enhancements but rather plan as to when and how they can occur. He expressed support for the direc- tion the council is taking. Other councilors expressed support for the course the council has chosen. Mr. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council August 19, 1992 Page 1 11 :30 a.m. - ---- e Green said he too has received phone calls from constituents but most have been concerned with the personal income tax. Mr. Boles said the core service package was inadequate in the areas of affordable housing, community policing, and human services but he would support it. He suggested that the charge of the Revenue Committee be expanded to include a utility tax, saying a broad-based funding mechanism is needed. City Manager Mike Gleason said that after the council closes on the core service package, staff will produce a clear statement about the core and confirm it with the council. Upon approval of the core, staff will design an organizational implementation plan. Ms. Bascom said she wanted more discussion on the policy for doing community policing. She also suggested the council stop using "drop" and "include" categories in further discussion of the strategy. Mr. Boles moved, seconded by Mr. Green, to endorse the following: reduce Facilities Preservation by $.8 million, include corporate cost efficiencies of $.8 million, show service changes of $3.5 million, and fund the remaining $2.84 million plus enhancements of $1 million, for a total to-be-funded core of $3.84 million. The motion carried unanimously, 7:0. Mr. Boles moved, seconded by Mr. Robinette, to expand the charge of the Revenue Committee to include the revenue implications of a e utility tax with a low-income protection. Mr. Rutan moved, seconded by Mr., Robinette, to amend the motion to include a restaurant tax to the charge of the Revenue Committee. Mr. Boles argued that the charge to the Revenue Committee was to find a revenue source for the core. He said that the council should broaden the base and ask the committee to look at all revenue sources and then it can choose which to use to fund the core. Ms. Bascom felt that the council should focus on funding core services first. She also was opposed to moving on a utility tax before contacting the Eugene Water & Electric Board. The amendment to the motion carried, 5:2; Ms. Bascom and Mr. Boles opposed. The motion carried, 6:1; Ms. Bascom opposed. Mr. Boles moved, seconded by Mr. Rutan, to expand the charge of the Revenue Committee to look at revenue sources that might be applied not only to core services, but also any as-yet-unfunded elements on the list, including fire stations and library. The motion carried unanimously, 7:0. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council August 19, 1992 Page 2 11 :30 a.m. e Mr. Boles said the Revenue Committee should report to the council if it needs more time to complete its task. Mr. Gleason asked for support from the media to let citizens know that the council is now deliberating revenue sources very carefully and no decision on revenues has been made. Mayor Miller summarized the discussion saying the council has now agreed on core services, and will focus on that before considering enhancements. The Revenue Committee is reviewing revenue sources to fund the core, but that may be applicable to other options. The council decided to meet two additional times to complete its discussion of the final Eugene Decisions strategy. II. SAFER SCHOOLS PROGRAM Dave Whitlow, Public Safety Director, said that the purpose of the presenta- tion is to report on the two-month operation at the end of the last school year of the Safer Schools Program. He added that the school board will also ask that the program be funded for another school year. Mr. Whitlow intro- duced Jim Hill, Department of Public Safety and Jerry Colonna, Director of Secondary Education, School District 4J, who together managed the program. Mr. Whitlow pointed out that a school police program is a program that is strongly supported in the long-Range Public Safety Plan that the council e adopted about a year ago. He noted that the program is consistent with the plan's support for moving from a reactive to a proactive police force in order to cap, and hopefully reduce, calls for service. Judy Moseley, School District 4J Board President, stressed the importance of the partnership between the school district and city. She said the board is very impressed with survey reports of last year's program. Ms. Moseley said that the critical part of the program was the two police officers involved. Responding to a question from Ms. Bascom, Ms. Moseley said the board is discussing the closed campus issue. Currently, campuses are almost closed. Students may not come and go without permission or the office being aware. She added that freshmen are not allowed to come and go because a fairly small group of them has proven irresponsible. Ms. Moseley said the issue is time management. Responding to a question from Mr. Boles, Mr. Colonna said the district's approach is to gradually give students who should be given more responsibility greater control of their own lives. He noted that schools are allowed to make site decisions, including those about curriculum, deportment, and such things as open or closed campus. There currently are no schools that have chosen to have a closed campus. Mr. Nicholson asked for objective data on the effectiveness of the program and e August 19, 1992 Page 3 MINUTES--Eugene City Council 11 :30 a.m. e wondered if records had been kept previously. Mr. Colonna said the program was based on prevention, and that is hard to measure. He said it is difficult to say what the program stopped from happening. He said the program did have the following effects, however: Police visibility; The ability to arrest people almost instantaneously; In.services for staff; Conference for the students; and A change in policy as a result of the program. He said the school district chose to emphasize what the people receiving the services think about the program. He noted that records of calls for police services kept over the last four years did not indicate a change as a result of the program. Councilors expressed support for the program. Following a brief discussion about the presence of gangs and violence, Mr. Colonna said the community needs to feel responsible for its schools. He said this is not just a school problem. He has found that communities which have implemented such programs have generally done so after a tragedy--turning it from an economic into a political decision. Mr. Boles asked for more information on the relationship of police in schools to community policing and on the district's evaluation program. He expressed e concern at the process, saying he was under the impression that the City Council would simply be accepting the report today, and not taking any action. In spite of what he termed a violation of process that does not involve the school district, departure from council officers' agreement to merely accept the report, Mr. Boles made the following motion. Mr. Boles moved, seconded by Ms. Bascom to authorize the City Manager to enter into a contract with School District 4J regarding a Safer Schools Program for the 1992-93 school year for no more than $62,883. The contract is contingent on a written response from the school board with respect to the issues around time management and what activities the school board intends to take to help ensure that the schools are indeed safer. With Ms. Bascom's permission, Mr. Boles withdrew his motion. Mr. Boles moved, seconded by Ms. Bascom, to authorize the City Manager to enter into a contract with School District 4J regarding a Safer Schools Program for the 1992-93 school year for no more than $62,883. Mr. Boles said this had been previously discussed, when the emergency request was made and there is still no response after six months. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council August 19, 1992 Page 4 11:30 a.m. e Mr. Green shared Mr. Boles' concern about the violation of council process with regard to the request. Mr. Nicholson said he will support the motion, but wants a coherent written report with evidence and appropriate measurement criteria. Mr. Robinette emphasized the importance of a program evaluation but pointed out that the Department of Public Safety shared that responsibility. The motion carried, 6:1; Mr. Boles opposed. III. LOW-INCOME HOUSING BOND Res. No. 4342--A resolution of the City of Eugene, Oregon, taking official action toward the issuance of $1.7 million in housing revenue bonds. Mr. Boles moved, seconded by Mr. Green, to adopt the resolution. The motion carried unanimously, 7:0. IV. ITEMS FROM THE MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL. AND CITY MANAGER A. Council Process e Mr. Rutan expressed concern about the way the council conducted this meeting, saying the council had violated several of its own ground rules. B. Houses to be Moved Ms. Bascom said she wanted to start the Council Funding Request process for NEDCO permit fees to move two homes from the university area to the Bethel area. The tentative amount is $3,800; pending receipt of an estimate from the City's Public Works Department on the cost of raising traffic lights. The council supported going forward with the analysis. The meeting adjourned at 1:35 p.m. Re~~ Mich .1 ~ City Manager (Recorded by Yolanda Paule) cc113019.082 e MINUTES--Eugene City Council August 19, 1992 Page 5 11 :30 a.m.