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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 06/08/98 Work Session MINUTES Eugene City Council McNutt Room--City Hall June 8, 1998 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Pat Fart, Tim Laue, Scott Meisner, Nancy Nathanson, Laurie Swanson Gribskov, Betty Taylor Betty Taylor, Ken Tollenaar. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Bobby Lee. I. CALL TO ORDER The adjourned June 1, 1998, Eugene City Council meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m.; His Honor Mayor James D. Torrey presiding. II. WORK SESSION/ACTION: RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR STATE COURTS FOR THE EUGENE MUNICIPAL COURT Court Administrator Marilyn Nelson provided the report, recalling that the City last fall contracted with the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) to conduct an organizational review and suggest ways of doing things more efficiently given the passage of Ballot Measures 47 and 50. She said the report includes 63 recommendations for "doing things differently," some of which have been implemented. Ms. Nelson said staff needed council direction on two policy issues: 1) neutral funding; and 2) the NCSC recommendation to move to full-time employee judges. She noted Judge Wayne Allen's memorandum outlining his perspective in the meeting packet. In response to a question from Ms. Taylor, Ms. Nelson said if the council wished to move to full- time judges, staff would need to seek contract extensions from current judges as those expire in one month and that is insufficient time to make the significant changes, which include a code revision. Addressing a question from Ms. Swanson Gribskov, Judge Allen said an election process for judges was usual but at the trial level an appointment process was more common. In response to a question from Mr. Tollenaar, Ms. Nelson said she agreed with Judge Allen's opinion that part-time judges are available to staff. Addressing a question from Mr. Meisner, Ms. Nelson said she used the average hourly rate based on other municipal courts to compute the annual salary. Responding to a follow-up question, Ms. Nelson said two full-time judges were not enough to backfill vacations and sick time. Minutes--Eugene City Council June 8, 1998 Page 1 5:30 p.m. Ms. Taylor reported public comment about inconsistency in the way people are treated in Municipal Court and wondered if the problem might be mitigated with two full-time judges. Judge Allen disagreed that there was inconsistent treatment, saying that judges have different ways of getting their points across but the law is applied equally. He added that he did not believe reducing the number of judges will make a difference related to consistency. Mr. Farr moved, seconded by Mr. Tollenaar to rescind the council's policy direction of neutral funding for Municipal Court. Ms. Swanson Gribskov expressed support for the motion but asked to have financial records and performance records kept and brought before the council periodically. Mr. Laue said he would support the motion "primarily because you cannot put a price on justice." He added that this was not the place to look for efficiencies and to do so would send the wrong message to the public and the judges. Mr. Meisner agreed, saying it is inappropriate to cast the necessity of revenue neutrality on the court. He added that it was a policy issue for the council "to decide that the fines do not cover the cost of law-breaking" and act accordingly. Ms. Nathanson said one of the reasons she supported the motion was because she was pleased with the initiative taken and the success of that initiative in addressing decreasing funds and the continuing circumstances. Mr. Tollenaar was also supportive but expressed concern with the District Attorney's suggestion of referring all misdemeanor cases to the Municipal Court. Addressing a question from Ms. Nathanson, Judge Allen said the current manner in which arraignments are handled at the jail seems to be working for the time being. Roll call vote. The motion passed unanimously, 7:0. Mr. Fart moved, seconded by Mr. Tollenaar, to change to a full-time employee judge model and instruct staff to draft applicable changes to the City Code, and to extend current judicial contracts through December 1998 in order to allow time for Code changes, classification development, recruitment and selection of two full-time employee judges. Mr. Tollenaar said the council should look at the possibility of hiring one full-time judge and the balance by contract. He explained that that would address the advantages outlined in the staff item summary, adding that he did not agree with some of the disadvantages noted--a rapid turnover would not necessarily be a bad thing. Ms. Swanson Gribskov disagreed, saying the current system worked well and allowed for flexibility. She noted the court was supported by a full-time administrator and that was a stabilizing influence. Minutes-Eugene City Council June 8, 1998 Page 2 5:30 p.m. Mr. Meisner agreed with Ms. Swanson Gribskov, noting that having a presiding judge model has worked well for the court. Mr. Farr expressed interest in Mr. Tollenaar's concept of having one full-time judge, augmented by pad-time judges. He said, however, that he believed an organization was best operated when there was consistency, e.g., full-time judges. Ms. Nathanson said to justify such a significant change there should be good reasons such as decreased costs or improved services. She pointed out that changing would not decrease costs and it was not clear to her that services would be improved. She asked City Manager to identify any problems. Mr. Johnson said he was not aware of any problems and court staff morale was good. In response to a question from Mr. Meisner, Judge Allen said he was at court every day, but the actual time was equivalent to about half time. Mr. Tollenaar said his proposal was not intended at all to solve existing problems, and certainly it had nothing to do with the performance of current staff. He said his suggestion was an effort to correct a structural problem that would enhance the role of the court in the community. Mr. Tollenaar said nationally "we are beginning to recognize that the total crime problem is closely related with the way minor street offenses are handled." The type of person that might be attracted to the job, he continued, might be one interested in specializing in these types of cases. Mr. Tollenaar moved, seconded by Ms. Taylor, to amend the motion by changing the last phrase to one full-time employee judge. In response to a question from Mr. Meisner, Mr. Tollenaar clarified that he intended that the balance of the work be carried out by contract with part-time judges. Mr. Meisner said he could not support the motion. Mr. Laue was unsupportive, noting that Judge Allen was addressing quality-of-life and street crime. He said he saw no advantages to changing the model at this time. Ms. Swanson Gribskov said she supported the amendment, but opposed the main motion. She explained the amendment would allow for both flexibility and stability. Ms. Nathanson said she favored the motion for the same reasons stated by Ms. Swanson Gribskov. She expressed interest in the potential for "doing it differently" with respect to street crime as discussed by Mr. Tollenaar, but added that she is not sure it require a full-time judge to develop the ideas and programs. As an alternative, she said, if it were important enough to the council, it might be referred to the Council Committee on Public Safety. Ms. Taylor reiterated her preference for at least one full-time judge and agreed with Mr. Tollenaar's remarks. She said she supported both the amendment and the motion, assuming the council will discuss it again. In response to a question from Mr. Meisner, Judge Allen said that to his knowledge none of the current judges would be interested in a full-time position. Judge Allen added that the non- compliance problem was the main problem with the criminal justice system in this and every other community in the country and part-time judges allowed for respites that made for a fresher Minutes--Eugene City Council June 8, 1998 Page 3 5:30 p.m. approach to the problem. Mr. Meisner said that is precisely why he was opposed to both the amendment and the motion. Mayor Torrey ascertained that the council could not contract for a full-time judge. Roll call vote. The motion to amend passed, 5:2; with Mr. Laue and Mr. Meisner opposed. Ms. Swanson Gribskov reminded the council that the new court structure would be more expensive. Roll Call vote. The main motion failed, 5:2; with Mr. Tollenaar and Ms. Taylor voting in favor. Mr. Farr moved, seconded by Mr. Tollenaar, to retain contract judicial services and reappoint Presiding Judge Wayne Allen to another four-year contract. Roll call vote. The motion passed unanimously, 7:0. III. WORK SESSION/ACTION: URBAN RENEWAL DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION Mayor Torrey adjourned the meeting of the City Council and convened a meeting of the Urban Renewal Agency. Lew Bowers, Planning and Development Department, provided the report, saying the question before the council was whether to decrease administrative costs for the urban renewal districts. He said this was the same report presented to the Budget Committee. Mr. Bowers called attention to the proposal attached to the agenda. Mr. Fart moved, seconded by Mr. Tollenaar, to approve the FY99 reduction for Urban Renewal Agency administration through the reduction of $70,000 and one FTE for administration of the renewal districts for FY99. The reduction is to be split between the two districts as follows: Downtown-- $42,000 (.68 FTE) and Riverfront--$28,000 (.32 FTE). Direct staff to prepare the appropriate motions for the June 22 City Council public hearing on the FY99 budget. Addressing a question from Ms. Swanson Gribskov, staff suggested approving the motion and revisiting the action after receiving information on its impact on the University of Oregon. Mr. Meisner requested, at a later time, more detailed information of how administration hours for the riverfront district was used. Mr. Johnson said he would provide the information for the June 22 meeting. Roll call vote. The motion passed unanimously, 7:0. Mayor Torrey adjourned the meeting of the Urban Renewal Agency and reconvened the meeting of the Eugene City Council. Minutes--Eugene City Council June 8, 1998 Page 4 5:30 p.m. IV. WORK SESSION/ACTION: PARK AND OPEN SPACE MEASURE Ms. Nathanson noted that the public information tabloid/survey had been released since the last council discussion on the topic and responses have started to come in. She said the committee will meet two more times in the next two weeks to finish its work: review the public input and council comments and formulate a recommendation. Ms. Nathanson acknowledged changes since the committee was appointed, including defeat of Ballot Measure 53 and a sense of what measures will be on the next ballot. Given these changes, she said, the committee needs council direction now; and that may be given in the following four ways, if it chooses to do so: 1) the maximum amount of money for the whole project; 2) the maximum impact on the taxpayer; 3) a proposal for placing a measure with two choices on the ballot, e.g., parks and facilities and another version for that plus a certain amount for land banking; and 4) development of a list of projects, with the council setting a cut-off point for the proposal. Ms. Nathanson said the council may wish to set criteria for projects to be included in the list. Mayor Torrey mentioned the following measures that would most likely be placed on the ballot: a public safety measure that at minimum would add $1 per thousand per property; a 4J School District capital program and also something to address its football field situation; and a library measure, with a local operating levy. He added that the realities of Ballot Measure 53 made it more difficult to succeed at the poll. He asked the committee to be "strategically realistic" about the ability to win, keeping in mind that there will not be another chance to go out with a measure for parks for another two years. Ms. Taylor said she favored going out for "something big," with development postponed if necessary. In response to her question, Library, Recreation and Cultural Services Acting Director Terry Smith referred to pages 35 and 36 of the council packet, saying the public was surveyed at three levels: $40/$30/$20 million on a five-year levy and the response was mixed. He added that page 34 included a prioritized list of the public's desire about what they would like in the way of new parks. Ms. Nathanson pointed out that even the maximum figure will not meet projected need given the area's growth. Ms. Taylor said the 20-year plan made more sense and would include park users not yet here, spreading the cost more equitably. Mr. Farr said he supported land banking for parks and favored a mix of land acquisition and development later. He drew the correlation between parks and homelessness, noting that State zoning law allows camping only on public land, and asked the committee to discuss the potential use of park- designated at least on a temporary basis for camping in Eugene. Addressing a question from Ms. Nathanson, Mr. Fart said this would also disperse camping throughout the city and he had considered the question of camp(ing) supervision. Ms. Swanson Gribskov asked the committee to consider phases, e.g., take options on key parcels of land. She said she was leaning toward a longer-range (20-year), which should help address the cost issue for voters. She expressed concern with maintaining existing and future parks. Addressing a question from Ms. Swanson Gribskov, Mr. Smith said 700 surveys/questionnaires were returned, and of those 75 percent were supportive. Mr. Tollenaar said he was weary of rank ordering specific projects because it would put both the committee and the council in difficult positions, adding he was most interested in the A and A- plus options for the ballot. He suggested the lower level should be set at $15 million on a bond Minutes--Eugene City Council June 8, 1998 Page 5 5:30 p.m. measure. He identified the Council Committee on Public Safety public safety measure as his first priority, with the library as his second. He said his next priority would be a modest parks and open space bond-based measure focused on neighborhood parks in the north and west sectors, followed by ball fields. Mr. Meisner thanked the committee for its work and said he preferred a longer-term measure, perhaps taking options on some properties as suggested by Ms. Swanson Gribskov. He said he did not hear that parks were a great priority in central Eugene and the challenge was to find support for parks in the outlying areas where they are needed. Mr. Laue said a $15 million measure on a 10-year capital levy provided the best chance for success at the ballot. Mr. Smith said if that were chosen, it would take three years to do the Amazon Pool. Mr. Laue suggested a general obligation (GO) bond instead. Mr. Fart asked how the City could build a partnership with citizens for parks, suggesting grants to neighborhoods to develop and maintain parks. Mayor Torrey noted support at the $15 million level, adding that that did not preclude the committee from coming up with an enhanced version of Option 3 (the A and A-plus option). Ms. Swanson Gribskov suggested more modest improvement to the Amazon Pool and wondered about the possibility for partnerships for operation with nonprofits. Ms. Taylor suggested that the committee bring back a range of options, including a $40 and $50 million options. She said she opposed placing two measures in one on the ballot, i.e., Option A and Option A Plus. Ms. Nathanson said the committee would address the majority position or the sense of the majority positions expressed, adding that she shared concern with ballot congestion and hopes voters are willing to pass two "Eugene" measures. Mayor Torrey said it will be difficult for voters to turn down any measure for the school district. Mr. Smith said he has learned that the district plans to introduce a $8.4 million "mini-bond," adding the impact on the voter of that is about $17. Ms. Nathanson said the irony of the choices had to do with the issues of urgency and political feasibility; if the urgency was around land acquisition, the council should construct a measure that has the most likelihood of passing, making the dilemma that much harder. Addressing a question from Ms. Swanson Gribskov, Mr. Smith said the next discussion was scheduled for July 8, followed by a public hearing the following week. The meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m. James R. Johnson City Manager Pro Tem (Recorded by Yolanda Paule) R:~1998~Admin Services~CIS~Council~Cc980608ml. wpd Minutes-Eugene City Council June 8, 1998 Page 6 5:30 p.m.