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HomeMy WebLinkAbout190122 JEO WSMINUTES – Eugene City Council January 22, 2019 Page 1 Joint Work Session M I N U T E S Joint Meeting of the Eugene City Council and Lane County Board of Commissioners Harris Hall, 125 East 8th Avenue Eugene, Oregon 97401 January 22, 2019 5:30 p.m. Councilors Present: Emily Semple, Betty Taylor, Alan Zelenka, Jennifer Yeh, Greg Evans, Claire Syrett, Chris Pryor, Mike Clark Commissioners Present: Jay Bozievich, Pat Farr, Pete Sorenson, Joe Berney, Heather Buch Mayor Vinis and Commissioner Sorenson opened the January 22, 2019, Joint Meeting of the Eugene City Council and Lane County Board of Commissioners. 1. WORK SESSION: Homeless Services Systems Analysis Report City Manager Jon Ruiz and County Administrator Steve Mokrohisky provided introductory remarks and turned the presentation over to Gina Schaak, Elizabeth Stewart, and Douglas Tetrault, staff from the Technical Assistance Collaborative to provide the final report. Discussion • Councilor Clark – said the TAC recommendation won’t solve the issues Eugene is facing; single people living alone is a significant population not addressed in the strategies; consider requiring single people to live in shared housing. • Councilor Syrett – expressed appreciation for the level of detail in the final report; these are reasonable recommendations that will point the community towards its goal; supported proposed motions, noting they will require changes to systems currently in place. • Commissioner Bozievich – said the recommendation to add 40 new Full Time Equivalent positions is a huge commitment; asked if a data model is available to test the input assumptions and conclusions. • Councilor Zelenka – said the report offers a new approach and ideas and an opportunity to get on a glide path to success; requested additional information about operating costs for the navigation center, the tenancy support concept, and budget gaps. • Councilor Pryor – noted that most of the items on the list of recommendation have been considered before but the report compiled and integrated them into a system; encouraged moving from coordination to cooperation. • Commissioner Berney – said it is hard to contain the passion, knowing the pain and uncertainty of this crisis situation; raised the issue of homeless children and asked how the community can reconcile those statistics against a proposal that targets a completely different population; if the issues facing homeless families with children aren’t addressed, the community will see increases in addictions, criminal behavior and poor health. • Councilor Semple – encouraged by proposed process which should help other, sub-populations of homeless; asked whether pursuing recommendations was realistic and economically feasible; asked if implementation would result in a decrease in the percentage of homelessness or in the actual number of homeless people. • Councilor Taylor – asked about the availability of publicly supported facilities for people other than the proposed low-barrier shelter; important to consider those who experience sudden homelessness due to inability to pay medical or utility bills. MINUTES – Eugene City Council January 22, 2019 Page 3 Joint Work Session Link to the webcast of this City Council meeting: here.