HomeMy WebLinkAbout170208.WS.SIREMINUTES – Eugene City Council February 8, 2017 Page 1
Work Session
M I N U T E S
Eugene City Council
Harris Hall, 125 East 8th Avenue
Eugene, Oregon 97401
February 8, 2017
12:00 p.m.
Councilors Present: Emily Semple, Betty Taylor, Alan Zelenka, George Poling, Mike Clark, Claire Syrett, Chris Pryor
Councilors Absent: Greg Evans Mayor Vinis opened the February 8, 2017, meeting of the Eugene City Council. Councilor Syrett condemned the hate activity that occurred in the Whiteaker neighborhood over the weekend and gave information about the Whiteaker neighborhood meeting at which the incidents would be discussed.
1, ACTION:
MOTION AND VOTE: Councilor Semple, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to reschedule the South Willamette work session from February 22 to sometime in March, to allow additional time for community outreach. In addition, a revised staff proposal will be submitted to council by February 28. PASSED 7:0
Council discussion:
• Residents of South Willamette area feel they haven’t had enough time to review the proposal.
2. WORK SESSION: Downtown and Neighborhood Public Safety Assistant City Manager Sarah Medary, Planning and Development Executive Director Denny Braud, and Police Chief Pete Kerns gave a PowerPoint presentation on downtown and neighborhood public safety covering what was heard from the community, an EPD overview, project updates, and next steps. Council discussion:
• Concern expressed that major issues aren’t being addressed; current efforts are just “nibbling around the edges.”
• Need to identify and address inappropriate behaviors.
• Anything that is done for downtown should also work for the entire city.
• Important to hold people accountable for their actions; take greater advantage of jail beds.
• Key to success will be addressing negative and anti-social behaviors downtown.
• Addressing the issues through law enforcement isn’t enough; other programming and cultural strategies are helpful.
• Creating a vibrant downtown for everyone will be a community effort.
• Consider maintain and expanding free parking downtown.
• People have to go somewhere; explore shelter options.
• Opposed to banning of dogs; if dogs don’t have a license they should be asked to get one.