Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 09/26/11 Work SessionMINUTES Eugene City Council McNutt Room —City Hall 777 Pearl Street — Eugene, Oregon September 26, 2011 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Betty Taylor, George Brown, Andrea Ortiz, George Poling, Mike Clark, Chris Pryor, Alan Zelenka, Pat Farr. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the September 26, 2011, work session of the Eugene City Council to order. A. WORK SESSION: Annual Meeting with Police Commission The council was joined by Police Commission Chair Juan Carlos Valle and Vice Chair Tamera Miller. Police Commissioners James Manning and Jim Garner and Eugene Police Chief Pete Kerns and Police Commission Analyst Carter Hawley were also present. Ms. Miller reviewed the commission's 2011 work plan and highlighted the Public Outreach & Resource Committee's work on the closure of the Monroe Street Station and the Policy Screening & Review Committee's policy review work. Mr. Valle presented the commission's proposed work plan for fiscal year 2012 and highlighted the hate crimes conference, community survey, and anticipated policy review and outreach efforts. He requested council approval to continue the commission's two current committees and to form a third committee to design the hate crimes conference. Mayor Piercy, a member of the Police Commission, said commissioners worked hard and were engaged in their work. She found the meetings interesting, particularly the chief's monthly report. Mr. Clark, who was also a member of the commission, agreed with Mayor Piercy about the commission's hard work. He commended the balanced, effective, and thorough work plan and the commission's continuing ability to implement its work plans. He was proud to be a commission member and thanked Mr. Valle and Ms. Miller for their leadership. Ms. Ortiz was pleased to hear the commission would review the domestic violence policy. She determined from Mr. Valle that the Eugene Police Department (EPD) would pay for the community survey. Ms. Ortiz hoped the commission sought input from those who were hard to reach using typical survey methods, and in particularly hoped to have feedback from youth and the homeless population. Mr. Valle welcomed suggestions for the survey and noted that the City would contract with a professional firm to prepare the survey. Ms. Miller added that the initial survey would be a telephone survey but the questions would be asked through as many venues as the commission could find. MINUTES— Eugene City Council September 26, 2011 Page 1 Work Session Speaking to the subject of the survey, Mayor Piercy pointed out that some of the people the commission wanted to hear from might have to be surveyed where they could be found, such as in parks and at social service agencies. Mr. Farr shared the concern expressed by Ms. Ortiz about the need to reach out to those who were not normally surveyed. He suggested that Human Rights Commission could be a conduit to the hard -to -reach members of the community. Mr. Zelenka acknowledged the long -time service of former Police Commissioners Joe Alsup and John Ahlen and thanked them for their contributions. He requested a copy of the presentation the commission heard on marijuana. Responding to a question from Mr. Zelenka about the commission's plans as they related to street gangs, Mr. Valle indicated the commission would continue to investigate the issue from a policy perspective. City Manager Jon Ruiz anticipated the council would hold a work session on street gangs later in the year. Mr. Zelenka asked for more information about the work session the commission planned to hold on jail beds. Mr. Valle said the commission planned to research the issue and determine if there was any follow - up needed. Mr. Zelenka was happy to hear of the proposed hate crimes conference and asked when that would occur. Mr. Valle anticipated the conference would occur in about two years. The exact date was not known but a planning committee that included members of the Police Commission and Human Rights Commission would be formed. Mr. Zelenka recommended the two commissions affiliate with a national association to put on the conference. Mr. Brown noted his own past service on the Police Commission and commended the commission for its careful research, frank and open discussions, and willingness to take on contentious issues. He also thanked former commissioners Ahlen and Alsup for their service. He supported the work plan and emphasized the importance of the commission's policy work. He looked forward to the results of the survey. He thought the survey would be useful to both the department and residents. Mr. Brown determined from Mr. Valle that the commission was currently working on the department's search and seizure policy. Mr. Clark also commended the service of Mr. Alsup and Mr. Ahlen and said they had taken lead roles on some of the commission's most difficult issues. He reported that the commission heard a presentation on street gang issues earlier in the year and he had been surprised by the level of local gang activity. He thought it important that the council held a work session on the subject and looked forward to its discussion. Responding to a question from Ms. Ortiz, Ms. Miller confirmed that the commission continued to revisit the results of its policy work to see how things were working. She recalled that the commission revisited the taser policy in 2010 and said it would revisit the domestic violence policy in the coming year. Speaking to the issue of street gangs, Mayor Piercy said concerns had been expressed that certain groups would be perceived as members of street gangs and she wanted the council to be cognizant of that concern. Ms. Ortiz hoped the council heard the presentation on street gangs provided to the Police Commission and discussed the issue thoroughly. MINUTES— Eugene City Council September 26, 2011 Page 2 Work Session Speaking to Mayor Piercy's remarks, Mr. Valle said that Chief Kerns had been reaching out to different groups to hear their concerns about the City's approaches to street gangs. He believed those discussions were just the beginning of the City's outreach on the topic. Ms. Taylor, seconded by Mr. Brown, moved to approve the Police Commission's Fiscal Year 2012 Work Plan. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. B. WORK SESSION: Ward Redistricting Division Manager Keli Osborn of the City Manager's Office and Jason Dedrick, Lauren Hammond, and Sarah Zaleski of the Planning and Development Department were present for the item. Ms. Osborn, Ms. Hammond, and Mr. Dedrick led the council through a PowerPoint presentation entitled Ward Redistricting. The presentation outlined the principles driving redistricting, summarized past council deliberations and public input, and provided an overview of the two redistricting scenarios and some variations on the scenarios. Councilors asked questions clarifying the information presented. Ms. Osborn requested council direction regarding its preferred scenario. She anticipated the council would adopt a scenario in October. Mayor Piercy solicited additional council questions. Ms. Taylor thought downtown should be inside the boundaries of Ward 1 and that the Amazon neighborhood should be included in Ward 2 because the residents in the area associated with each other and shopped at the same places. She believed where people shopped was relevant to the question of ward boundaries. Mayor Piercy observed that in the best case scenario the council would never split up a neighborhood association with ward boundaries but that was not always possible. That issue was the subject of much of the input the City received. Ms. Ortiz liked the boundaries for wards 6 and 7 as depicted in Scenario 1C. Referring to Scenario 1D, Mr. Zelenka said he requested staff prepare the scenario, which included the Amazon neighborhood in his ward, Ward 3, because of the common issues faced by that neighborhood and other neighborhoods in his ward created by their proximity to the University of Oregon. He believed the neighborhood had a natural affiliation with Ward 3. Mr. Zelenka suggested the new realignment of the Cal Young worked best under Scenario 2 and solicited comment from Mr. Clark and Mr. Poling. Mr. Pryor expressed a preference for Scenario 1 with some adjustments. Responding to a question from Mr. Poling about the evolution of the scenarios, Ms. Osborn explained that Scenario 1C was derived from Scenario IA and 1B and Scenario 1D was based on the addition of the Amazon neighborhood to Ward 3. Mr. Dedrick suggested a next logical step would be Scenario IE, which he anticipated would be based on a combination of scenarios 1C and 1D. MINUTES— Eugene City Council September 26, 2011 Page 3 Work Session In response to Mr. Zelenka's question, Mr. Poling reviewed the division of the neighborhood association as it related to the scenarios under consideration and suggested there would not be much of a change of representation. Mr. Clark agreed with Mr. Pryor and anticipated the council would see a Scenario I that reflected some of the adjustments discussed. Speaking to Mr. Zelenka's question, he believed that Scenario 1 worked best with the realignment. Mr. Farr was pleased with the non - politicized nature of the redistricting process. Mr. Brown preferred Scenario 1C because it kept the Friendly neighborhood inside a single ward. He suggested Scenario 1 D could change that. He also suggested that Civic Stadium be retained in Ward 1 because it would keep the stadium aligned with its communities of interest. He said he would not object to seeing a Scenario IE. Ms. Taylor did not think there was anything wrong with a neighborhood association being represented by multiple councilors. She favored Scenario 1C. Mr. Zelenka suggested that Scenario 1D could be modified by the addition of Civic Stadium to Ward 1 because it would not change the population numbers significantly. Ms. Osborn indicated that staff would revise the scenarios in accordance with the discussion and share the results soon. Mayor Piercy adjourned the meeting at 6:40 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ' 6'0 J Beth Forrest City Recorder (Recorded by Kimberly Young) MINUTES— Eugene City Council September 26, 2011 Page 4 Work Session