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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 09/08/08 MeetingM I N U T E S Eugene City Council Public Forum Council Chamber 777 Pearl Street—Eugene, Oregon September 8, 2008 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Chris Pryor, Andrea Ortiz, Mike Clark, Betty Taylor, Jennifer Solomon, George Poling. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Bonny Bettman, Alan Zelenka. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. She noted that the Consent Calendar had been included in the business of the previous Work Session. 1. PUBLIC FORUM Mayor Piercy reviewed procedures for providing comments. Carol Berg-Caldwell , 2510 Augusta Street, hoped for improved city/police relations. She related that two days of group discussions with a conflict resolution expert had been conducted at the Human Rights Commission for concerned people. She had attended two sessions. She said she had attended a dinner meeting with City Manager, Jon Ruiz. She thought it was essential for representatives of the Police Department and “some of us” to hold some joint sessions so each side could listen to the other and there would be no more “them and us.” She had been troubled to read Councilor Clark’s comments wherein Police Chief Bob Lehner had “taken some unfair shots from some extreme points of view” and that he understood why Chief Lehner would become tired of the abuse. She declared that it was never extreme for citizens to defend the voting process or to oppose a City ordinance being violated. She asked hypothetically how the councilor would feel if someone tampered with the election process under which he had gained his seat on the council. Ms. Berg-Caldwell said Mr. Ruiz supported the Police Auditor reporting to the council and not to the City Manager. She took issue with Mayoral-candidate Jim Torrey’s alleged opinion that the auditor should be a City employee. She asserted that a donation from the police union positioned Mr. Torrey as the “pro-police candidate.” She accused Councilor Clark of political opportunism. She averred that the voters that supported the Police Auditor Ordinance would “see through this.” She commended Mr. Ruiz for reaching out, even “to his critics.” Daniel related situations from his family life. Zachary Vishanoff , Ward 3, provided a packet of photocopied articles and asked for staff’s assurance that it would be delivered to Councilor Bettman in her absence. He said it was about the University’s arena project. He opined that the media had failed in regard to the arena. He wished to confirm the date of the MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 8, 2008 Page 1 Public F public hearing on the arena and asked if it was scheduled for October 7 in the Council Chamber. He asked if the City could do a press release to the public. He thought it would be good to “pin down” when that hearing would be. He noted that the information was available on line and urged the council to include the email address in a press release. He called the project “very significant.” He opined that KLCC had given the “least pathetic” media coverage of the arena and KEZI was the “biggest cheerleader.” He asked staff to pass out his packet of photocopied articles in front of him because it helped his “feeling like the council actually wants the information.” Joe Collins , P.O. Box 24411, related that he had gone to the library to talk to the research librarian about how to research individuals in public life. He said the librarian did not have this information. He commented that he was having a difficult time finding out things about the councilors. He asked Councilor Clark if he was related to a woman featured in the paper who was a loan officer at a local bank. Councilor Clark indicated that she was no relation to him. Continuing, Mr. Collins said he was “pleased” to see that Police Chief Bob Lehner was considering leaving the City. He hoped that he would take “half the District Attorney’s office with him and a couple of the more obnoxious judges.” He also had noticed that the area had the highest number of infant mortality deaths in the nation. He thought this should be addressed by the council. He remarked that the problem with problems was that no one stepped forward and took responsibility for the problems and then worked to solve them. He felt the area had an awful drug problem but the justice system did not seem to know anything about it. He asked the council to go to Douglas County for information because they seemed to know about drug problems and how to interdict them. He closed by expressing disappointment in the City Council. Mayor Piercy closed the public forum and called for councilor comments. Councilor Clark expressed appreciation for Ms. Berg-Caldwell’s comments. He said it was a free country and it was a “beautiful thing” that citizens had the ability to speak out. He said it was okay to attack him; it came with the territory. He stated that prior to the comments quoted in the paper he had related to the press that he had received input from people who lived in North Eugene that indicated they were unhappy that he had not spoken up about the treatment the Chief of Police had received. He stressed that many, many people he represented in North Eugene were very angry about how unfairly the Chief had been portrayed. He said they were also very angry that there seemed to be only one side to the conversation. He averred that some of the comments that had been made and some of the letters to the editor that had been written had been extreme and irresponsible. He believed that it was irresponsible for people to suggest that someone had broken the law based upon information they might not be fully aware of and then suggest there should be a specific remedy before being fully apprised of the details. He stated that he had not spoken out earlier because he wished to wait until “calmer heads” could prevail so that this could be dealt with in a thorough way at a time when all of the information could be heard without having anyone’s safety placed in jeopardy. He reiterated his appreciation for her remarks and stressed that he disagreed with them. th Councilor Solomon related that she had been at a coffee shop at the corner of 29 Avenue and Willamette Street and the shop had a laptop set up with a link to a city Web site that allowed a person to enter their favorite pothole. She thought it had been very easy to use. She encouraged members of the public to go to the site and register their favorite potholes. She believed this would be a useful tool for the City. Mayor Piercy thanked Councilor Solomon for bringing that up. MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 8, 2008 Page 2 Public F Councilor Taylor thanked everyone who spoke. She appreciated Ms. Berg-Caldwell’s activism “all of these years.” She averred that Ms. Berg-Caldwell was a good example of “citizens watching the public process.” She added that she wanted to hear the rest of what Mr. Collins wanted to say. She also wished to clarify that the public hearing Mr. Vishanoff brought up was not a City Council hearing. Mayor Piercy stated that the infant mortality rate that had been written about in the newspaper was a county issue and one that had been identified. She noted that she served on the Commission for Children and Families and this was an important topic for them. She commented that they could point to Lane County Public Health, which like all public health departments was in need of an infusion of support. She felt Lane County was huge and a vast amount of it was rural, making it difficult for people to access services. She said it was something they needed to work on. 2. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Approval of City Council Minutes - June 23, 2008, City Council Meeting - June 24, 20008, Joint Elected Officials Meeting - July 28, 2008, Work Session B. Approval of Tentative Working Agenda C. Authorization to Execute Employment Agreement with Interim Police Auditor The council had considered and approved the Consent Calendar during its preceding Work Session. The meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jon Ruiz City Manager (Recorded by Ruth Atcherson) MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 8, 2008 Page 3 Public F