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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 04/20/98 Work Session MINUTES Eugene City Council McNutt Room--City Hall April 20, 1998 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Pat Farr, Tim Laue, Bobby Lee, Scott Meisner, Nancy Nathanson, Laurie Swanson Gribskov, Betty Taylor Betty Taylor, Ken Tollenaar. I. CALL TO ORDER The adjourned April 15, 1998, Eugene City Council meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m.; Council President Pat Farr presiding. II. WORK SESSION: PUBLIC SAFETY COORDINATING COUNCIL (PSCC) PROPOSALS Myra Wall, Lane Council of Governments (LCOG), provided background information and said the PSCC was close to completing the initial draft plan. She said the proposed levy addressed capacity, prevention, system efficiencies, and prosecution. She indicated that final action on the plan was scheduled for the PSCC's meeting the following week. Mayor Jimi Torrey arrived at the meeting at 6:38 p.m. City Manager Jim Johnson called attention to the meeting packet, noting that the Forest Work Camp and Juvenile Justice Center received majority PSCC support consistently because the public safety community believed that capacity was a major need in the system. Acting Police Chief Jim Hill explained the public safety community's needs and encouraged council questions. Ms. Swanson Gribskov described the process that resulted in development of the proposal and noted that the long-range plan would be completed by the time the levy was introduced. She acknowledged that the $93 million was a huge price tag and said the last page of the meeting packet reflected how the PSCC ranked the needs; and the next discussion will focus on reducing the numbers, with a target of $70 million. She said the figure represented an increase of about $10 monthly per household--S120 on the property tax bill. Mr. Tollenaar said the major challenge was to develop a levy package that people will understand. He noted that the PSCC's aim was to develop a long-range criminal justice system plan--something he called a "remarkable undertaking." He expressed appreciation for the staff notes, particularly the explanation that what the PSCC was looking for are programs, activities, and facilities that will produce some measurable outcomes that would have a direct impact on crime in the community. MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 20, 1998 Page 1 5:30 p.m. Mr. Meisner expressed concern about paring the proposal down too much and focusing on long- range outcomes, therefore somehow not meeting the public's expectations of public safety. He favored asking voters about the outcomes they desired and paying attention to the shod-term. He urged a reasonable, comprehensive approach. Ms. Swanson Gribskov said that capacity addressed some of Mr. Meisner's concerns. She said the proposal needed the support of not just the PSCC and the County, but both cities as well. Mr. Meisner responded that the other stakeholders were the people who are protected by the public safety system and he wanted to hear from them and "honor their expectations." Mr. Tollenaar said the lack of media coverage about what the PSCC had been doing for two years was a major problem for the council's interest in effective citizen input. He added that despite the diversity on the PSCC, there was a strong consensus on capacity. The realistic threat of being thrown in jail, he said, served as a deterrent. Mr. Johnson reminded the council that the subject under discussion was a County bond measure, and not all of the cities' needs have been accommodated through that package. He said staff may have recommendations for prevention programs more closely related to the City's needs. Mayor Torrey said he had been frustrated with the gap in programs for kids from birth to first grade. He noted that support for homelessness services will likely not make the cut, adding that just because the City has a benevolent community it should not assume responsibility for funding services for that population alone. Mr. Laue said increasing capacity on a significant level required demonstrable outcomes in terms of failure-to-appear and matrix-release rates. He asked for crime analysis as well to "be able to sell the levy." He ascertained that "double bunking" was not employed at the jail facility and asked for information about what happened to the idea. Ms. Nathanson shared insights from citizens over the last two years and said she believed the public would be willing to pay for a system that "really" was working. She expressed concern that an integrated approach to a metropolitan system was not yet evident, appearing more like "the big list" of needs and ideas about how to pay for them. On the other hand, the plan outlined by staff for Eugene was "excellent." Mr. Tollenaar called Ms. Nathanson's comments astute and explained that the PSCC was "not there yet." He said he would continue to work on presenting the public with a pared-down proposal, as well as keep working on a well-documented, well-researched criminal justice plan that meets everyone's expectation. Ms. Swanson Gribskov called the process modest steps of what is intended to be a comprehensive approach. Mr. Meisner said he wanted a comprehensive system that works and he would not be able to go to the voters piecemeal. Mr. Fart expressed disappointment that he did not hear much support for prevention, and he was "tired of pumping money into responses and incarceration." He asked the PSCC to give strong consideration to prevention. MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 20, 1998 Page 2 5:30 p.m. Mr. Lee said prevention was a "fuzzy" concept and there needed to be a theme that can clearly be communicated to the public. Ms. Taylor said she cannot imagine people voting for so much money. She agreed that too much was spent on incarceration instead of prevention. Ms. Swanson Gribskov said the next PSCC meeting was scheduled forApril 16 at 3 p.m. at the Downtown Athletic Club. Mayor Torrey expressed appreciation and thanked all the councilors who have served on the PSCC. He asked Mr. Fart to preside and left the meeting. iii. FINAL REPORT OF THE DEPARTMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON HULT CENTER OPERATIONS Mr. Johnson reviewed the council's direction to the advisory committee and noted that staff agrees with the committee's recommendations. Committee Chair Gretchen Pierce provided the report, noting the Hult Center was unique among supporting arts centers in the country. She explained that it did an astonishing amount, as it has one of the largest venues with one of the smallest budgets. She reviewed the meeting packet material and committee's recommendations, key among them was that the City maintain center operations. Ms. Pierce said the report had been presented to Hult Center management and it had been well-received. Mr. Fart thanked Ms. Pierce for her report and noted that it followed the most successful show ever presented at the center, Riverdance. Mr. Meisner complimented the committee's work and expressed surprise and support for the findings and recommendations. Mr. Tollenaar added his appreciation for the report and asked why the center had gone from five to eight resident companies given resource constraints. Mr. Johnson explained that the City has an administrative rule about how resident status is granted; if a group met the criteria, it was simply given. He added that two months ago he asked for a one-year moratorium on granting resident status to new companies. Ms. Nathanson said it would be helpful to review the purpose for the multi-tiered formula for rental rates. She regretted that budget constraints earlier limited community use of the center, saying its use was linked to learning about and supporting it. She asked if Studio I would compete with the convention and conference centers were it to be offered as a meeting room. Mr. Johnson said it was primarily devoted to serving resident companies, adding that the difficulty was that opening up that room opened up access to the rest of the building. He said the practice may change if it was beneficial to do so. Ms. Nathanson suggested that seats on the departmental advisory committee for the center go to someone who has chaired a board of one of the museums in the area or the CEO (chief executive officer) of an organization such as WISTEC (Willamette Institute of Science and Technology Education Center). MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 20, 1998 Page 3 5:30 p.m. Ms. Swanson Gribskov echoed praise for the committee's work and the work of the limited staff. She especially supported the recommendation to pursue a relationship with the University of Oregon. Addressing a question from Mr. Fart, Mr. Johnson said that center ushers were temporary employees, with some support from volunteers for "non-bargaining" work, so it was not an issue for the bargaining units. Mr. Meisner said he was glad to see the recommendation to call out, identify, and count the City's subsidy to resident companies, i.e., the community. Ms. Pierce said the council should be extremely proud of the work it has done with the center, particularly in the last year given reduced resources. She noted that Jacobs Gallery may be funded by a community group--a tremendous statement about community support. She added that there may be some other community-based solutions. In response to a question from Mr. Laue, Mr. Johnson said staff believes that a sustaining revenue source can be found to support the center. Addressing a follow-up question from Mr. Laue, Mr. Johnson said there has been some loss in service at the center, but the majority of the users will continue to pay the significantly higher rates. IV. REPORT FROM THE COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON HOMELESSNESS AND YOUTH ON A SUMMER YOUTH RECREATION PROGRAM Mr. Tollenaar moved, seconded by Ms. Nathanson, to authorize the expenditure of $117,510 from the Contingency Fund for funding of a summer recreation program for youth. Mr. Fart presented the request, noting that the kids themselves suggested ideas for activities included in the programs and Fairgrounds Manager Mike Gleason had made space available. He emphasized that the program was open to all kids, not just the homeless. Mr. Fart drew the correlation between recreation and crime prevention. He addressed the issue of cuts in other services by saying that the proposed program was accessible to all kids citywide, as free bus passes and free van rides would be provided. He reviewed the meeting packet material and asked for the council's support. Ms. Taylor wondered why the fairgrounds was not donating the space and if the County was sharing in the costs. She expressed reservations about funding the proposal given the cuts in other recreation programs, reiterating that all children are "at risk." Mr. Johnson noted that the County Fair was self-supporting and does not receive any funding from Lane County. He explained that unlimited use of the facilities offered by the fairgrounds will likely accrue a net loss for that organization. Mr. Meisner said the program would be open to non-Eugene residents and the other jurisdictions should be asked for contributions. He called the sponsorship program a "token program," if it was intended as a strategy to reach disaffected kids. Mr. Fart responded that Looking Glass will be actively recruiting kids for the sponsorships as well as all the other programs. MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 20, 1998 Page 4 5:30 p.m. Ms. Nathanson said she was most interested in the nonstructured time, which she believed served that population best, and the location was ideal. She used the opportunity to point out that kids hang out at parks and open spaces, and it would be prudent to try and provide more of those places. Mr. Laue ascertained that this was one-time money and said it should not be seen as a solution to the City's recreation service problem. Roll call vote. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. The meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, James R. Johnson City Manager Pro Tern (Recorded by Yolanda Paule) R:~1998~Admin Services~CIS~Councfl~cc980420ml. wpd MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 20, 1998 Page 5 5:30 p.m.