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HomeMy WebLinkAbout220209 WSMINUTES Eugene City Council Virtual Work Session Eugene, Oregon 97401 February 9, 2022 12:00 p.m. Councilors Present: Claire Syrett, Matt Keating, Jennifer Yeh, Emily Semple, Alan Zelenka, Randy Groves, Mike Clark Councilors Absent: Greg Evans Mayor Vinis opened the February 9, 2022, work session of the Eugene City Council in virtual format. 1. WORK SESSION -Ad Hoc Committee on Police Policy Update This work session provided an opportunity for City Council to receive a progress update on work supporting recommendations of the Ad Hoc Committee on Police Policy (AHCPP). City Manager Sarah Medary presented updates to existing policies, a simplified project management matrix and recommended next steps for City Council consideration. Council Discussion: • • • Councilor Zelenka -asked Judge Gill and Police Auditor Leia Pitcher to share their comments; thanked staff for their work, noting this is a challenging task to undertake; stated that he sat in on most of the AHCPP meetings and the range of recommendations go from simple to exceedingly complex; stated the multitude of recommendations did not allow time for in-depth analysis and discussion; recognized that 20 percent of the items have already been completed; noted many items require greater discussion and direction from Council and the proposed motions will help move things forward. Councilor Syrett -thanked staff for their important work on this; noted the time and effort to reconfigure the matrix was well spent and that significant revisions are at times the nature of how work progresses; expressed appreciation for the thoughtful layout of the information and that making it accessible to the community will allow them to track the City's progress and connect it with local and state policy; agreed this will be a dynamic document which changes in response to actions at the state and federal level; offered support for the two proposed motions; stated she would like to make accessible the original Charter change forming the Office of the Police Auditor and the process by which their office established current protocol/policy on interactions with the Internal Affairs Unit; expressed appreciation for comments on the complex nature of this work; noted it would not be responsible to accept all recommendations without further analysis, discussion and exploration of alternatives. Councilor Groves -echoed thanks for staff's in-depth approach to this work and noted the simplified matrix exceeded expectations; praised the Eugene Police Department for its proactive approach and ongoing work in an imperfect world; expressed concern about the ripple effects created by policy formation/changes and asked, from a MINUTES -Eugene City Council Work Session February 9, 2022 Page 1 workflow stand point, what percent of recommended changes would have broad- reaching impacts; stated the need to temper City and Council expectations on progress as it is important to get this right, which includes accounting for all intended and unintended consequences and effects; noted the external components of this process are also likely to have ripple effects. ■ Councilor Keating -thanked staff for putting together the simplified matrix; noted the recommendation to provide stipends for Civilian Review Board members, something he enthusiastically supports for all City boards and commissions; concurred with Councilor Groves on the long timeline ahead, and items that must go through the Intergovernmental Committee and State Legislature would not likely see adoption until January 2024 at the earliest; recognized the difficulties with timelines for such complex work but asked for inclusion of approximated implementation timelines in future materials; clarified the pathway for completing item 31 would begin with a work session engaging the community and evaluating civilian oversight structures, something on which Council can take immediate action. ■ Councilor Semple -expressed appreciation for the work of staff and the AHCPP in creating the simplified matrix; stated that this will be a time-consuming effort; stated the matrix is clear that what can be started has been started, as has the process to pursue other recommendations; stated the City and Council will not be able to do this work cheaply or quickly and they must be prepared for the time required for these recommendations to progress, evolve, and synthesize engagement across numerous stakeholders. • Councilor Yeh -asked if there are any confirmed plans for following up with the AHCPP for updates and discussion; expressed appreciation for Councilor Groves' comment that policy work takes time; noted the Police Commission has left some space in their workplan for discussion on these recommendations; suggested as new citizen oversight structures are formed they adopt the Healthy Democracy model. • Councilor Clark -thanked staff for their updated approach; stated the matrix does not currently include sufficient language around the problems each recommendation is meant to address, something he wishes to see included in future iterations; asked for the formation and inclusion of metrics to address how success will be measured . ■ Councilor Zelenka -stated the importance of keeping three things at the forefront of this process: 1) what problems are being addressed, 2) what the recommended solutions are and 3) how to measure that the problem has been solved; noted the proposed motion on providing history, background and status of civilian oversight is likely to take multiple work sessions, but is nonetheless an important step in educating and engaging the public. • Councilor Keating -noted that items 37 and 43 seem to have significant overlap yet different pathways for reform; asked the City Attorney clarify whether restricting the open carry of firearms in Eugene can be achieved through City code changes; asked whether a municipality operating in a collegiate controlled facility would affect the ability to restrict open carry at in-person public meetings held in college buildings; asked Police Chief Skinner about item 23 on drug testing police officers and what rises the to the level of "reasonable suspicion". • Councilor Syrett -stated the recommendations requiring a Charter amendment are a clear opportunity to solicit citizen engagement; expressed appreciation for Councilor MINUTES -Eugene City Council Work Session February 9, 2022 Page 2 Clark's request to include the nature of the problem being addressed and how success will be measured. ■ Councilor Clark -noted information such as cost of implementation and potential risk of litigation/ community backlash should be provided in advance of future Council discussions. ■ Mayor Vinis -expressed appreciation for the simplified matrix, noting it allowed for reasonable discussion; stated the usefulness of the matrix as a starting point and it being set up to direct readers to further links and resources; recognized many recommendations are complete or in motion and it should be expected this document will continually change; stated it would be helpful to include information on next steps and pending actions for open items; noted that each recommendation is a major project in and of itself and advocated for a standard format to be used in the overview /tracking of each item. MOTION AND VOTE: Councilor Syrett, seconded by Councilor Keating, moved to direct the City Manager to provide additional review, analysis and information on all items marked for intergovernmental action on Attachment B prior to setting the City's 2023 legislative priorities. PASSED 7:0 MOTION AND VOTE: Councilor Syrett, seconded by Councilor Keating, moved to schedule a work session on the history and status of the City's current civilian oversight system prior to July 17, 2022. PASSED 7:0 Mayor Vinis adjourned the meeting at 1:00 p .m. Respectfully submitted, Brooke Freed City Recorder AIC (Recorded by Jay Ferris) Link to the web cast of this City Council meeting here. MINUTES -Eugene City Council Work Session February 9, 2022 Page 3