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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCMinutes - 05/10/04 WS MINUTES Eugene City Council Work Session McNutt Room--City Hall May 10, 2004 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Bonny Bettman, George Poling, Nancy Nathanson, Scott Meisner, Betty Taylor, Gary Pap6, Jennifer Solomon, David Kelly. His Honor Mayor James D. Torrey called the meeting to order. A. WORK SESSION: Discussion of Lane County Public Safety Issues City Manager Dennis Taylor thanked the council for providing an opportunity for District Attorney Douglas Harcleroad and Sheriff Jan Clements to discuss some of the public safety issues facing Lane County. Sheriff Clements said that the County's public safety issues were shared by Eugene because the criminal justice system was wholly interdependent. He asserted that he did not want funding from Eugene. He said it was important to look for a long-term solution to the public safety system and he wanted the City to understand the current system deficits and a collaborative effort to influence County priorities in the short-, intermediate-, and long-term. He related that Eugene could double its police force and every officer added would have diminishing effectiveness because of deficits in the greater system. He said that until there was adequate jail and correctional space, adequate prosecutorial capacity, adequate supervision through parole and probation, adequate youth services, and capacity, intervention, and prevention programming, the system would not make the most efficient use of Eugene's law enforcement officers. He asked Eugene elected officials and Eugene and Springfield judges to coalesce around a plan to adequately resource the juvenile and adult systems. He distributed a handout detailing the cuts that would result from the County's proposed $1,279,559 in reductions to the Sheriff's Office budget for fiscal years 2004-2005. Ms. Nathanson arrived at 5:35 p.m. District Attorney Harcleroad stated that Lane County had 400 police officers in nine agencies and Eugene's police force was the largest. He said those 400 officers generated 8,000 criminal cases in the system, with Eugene's officers contributing the majority. He said that some of the cases, misdemeanors, were dealt with in municipal court, but all of the cases went to the District Attorney's Office. He said the District Attorney's Office had 25 positions, although two were vacant. Mr. Harcleroad indicated that a recent evaluation of 76 district attorney offices around the country by the American Prosecutors Research Institute determined that his office was understaffed by seven positions. He said the County's proposed budget would result in a 19 percent decrease in funding and eliminate six positions, leaving 19 attorneys to handle 8,000 cases. He anticipated that 3,650 cases, of which 2,000 were misdemeanors, would no longer be prosecuted and in fact had already begun to reject cases such as harassment, criminal mischief, trespassing, and second degree theft. Mr. Harcleroad related that if the proposed budget was adopted, his office would MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 10, 2004 Page 1 Work Session virtually be out of the drug prosecution business, including the sale of cocaine, heroin, and methampheta- mines and the manufacture of those drugs. Ms. Solomon arrived at 5:40 p.m. Continuing, Mr. Harcleroad said that possibly 100 to 200 felony drug cases would be prosecuted if they were substantial quantity cases. He stated that in 2003 there were 1,550 drug charges equating to approximately 700 cases from the City of Eugene, and starting July 1, 2004, those would no longer be accepted. He said that felony property crimes under $1,500 in value would no longer be prosecuted, leaving homicides, felony assaults, other violent felonies, drunk driving, misdemeanor domestic violence, other violent misdemeanors, other violent juvenile crime, and some major burglaries and theft to be prosecuted by 19 attorneys. He remarked that the magnitude of cuts to the public safety system did not appear to be happening elsewhere in the country. He asked that the council relate concerns to county commissioners regarding prioritization of budget cuts. Ms. Taylor asked what type of youth services would be cut. Mr. Clements replied that the Serbu Center presently operated at one-third of its capacity and many of the intervention and prevention programs, such as Pathways, were reduced or eliminated. Ms. Taylor noted that one of the cuts listed on the handout called for no police patrol for four hours during the night and asked what would happen in a life-threatening emergency. Mr. Clements said in that type of situation, deputies would be called from home and overtime would be paid; other nonlife-threatening situations would be handled by the next shift. He said the hours not covered would likely be between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. when calls were down dramatically. Mr. Pap6 asked if other counties were experiencing similar problems. Mr. Harcleroad said data he had seen for comparable counties such as Washington, Clackamas, and Marion indicated that each of those areas had a significantly better property tax base with a higher rate and, in addition, Washington County had a public safety levy. Mr. Clements added that of Oregon's 36 counties, Lane County was second to the lowest in taxes Mr. Pap6 asked how the distribution of budget cuts was determined. Mr. Harcleroad said that he had placed the most importance on serious person felony crimes, followed by misdemeanor person crimes, felony property and serious drug crimes. He said that nonviolent misdemeanors were at the end of the list, except if there was a one-person crime wave. He commented that his approach to prioritization was consistent with that used by other district attorneys across the country. Mr. Pap6 asked what impact could be expected in the River Road/Santa Clara area. Mr. Harcleroad said it was likely that offenders would quickly learn the offenses for which there were no consequences and those types of offenses would be repeated. In response to a question from Mr. Pap6, Mr. Clements related that expenses had increased by six percent while revenue increased at three percent. He suggested that to stabilize the system, public safety should be moved in whole or in part out of the general fund and into a county-wide service district that was dedicated, permanent, and had a separately elected budget authority. He emphasized that this proposal was not about consolidation. MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 10, 2004 Page 2 Work Session Mr. Pap~ noted that the suggested service district presented a compression problem. Assistant City Manager said there were compression problems in some incorporated parts of the County and that a special district would still be subject to the structural problem of Oregon's property tax system and eventually experience expenses increasing faster than revenues. Mr. Meisner expressed appreciation for the proposed solution, but noted that eventually, the same budget crisis would occur. He encouraged the County to consider solutions that were not property tax-based. He agreed with Mr. Harcleroad's prioritization strategies and commented that the community's top concerns related to ;;quality of life" issues and perception of safety issues such as neighborhood petty crimes and traffic enforcement. He asked if there had been a public involvement process as part of the prioritization. Mr. Harcleroad replied that the public had not been involved. Mr. Meisner asked if Eugene police would respond to an emergency call during the County's non-service hours. Police Chief Bob Lehner responded that he had already discussed the issue with Mr. Clements and Eugene would provide assistance. Mr. Meisner noted that a district attorney had recently been hired by the City at higher pay and said that seemed inconsistent with assurances given to the council that Eugene's legal costs were lower and that contracting out was necessary. He expressed concern that the City was attracting staff from other agencies because it paid substantially more. Mr. Harcleroad responded that he was involved in an assessment of municipal prosecution functions and had recommended that the City could save money by either contracting out services or having the district attorney's office provide them. He said the City was saving significant money by contracting out; the problem was that his office was far beneath where it should be in terms of salaries. Ms. Bettman referred to elimination of the County's participation in the Interagency SWAT Team under the proposed cuts and asked what would happen if there was an armed hostage situation in the County. Mr. Clements said if the situation was stable and there was only a standoff, he would secure the perimeter and wait for the Oregon State Police SWAT to respond. He said if the situation was aggravated and hostages were being injured, he would invoke mutual aid and other law enforcement agencies would respond. He said, however, that mutual aid could not become a pattern because then City taxpayers were subsidizing law enforcement in greater Lane County. Ms. Bettman reviewed the list of cuts and the extent of services that could be obtained for $1.3 million. She said public safety should be a higher priority and noted that $1.6 million was spent by the County to rebuild the Frank Parrish Bridge. She observed that although those dollars were from a different fund, all the money was coming from the same pocket. She said that reprioritizing should be done before a service district was considered, and hoped that there were other options available. Mayor Torrey asked what percent of the crimes that would no longer be prosecuted were handled by indigent defense and what percent of the crime were associated with drug use. Mr. Harcleroad estimated that between 75 and 80 percent were handled by indigent defense and drugs were involved in at least 80 percent of the felony crime that occurred. Mayor Torrey asked whether it was likely that County residents outside of Eugene would support a public safety service district. Mr. Clements said that a coalition of criminal justice stakeholders and elected officials could convince the public to support a service district. He said there were several options for MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 10, 2004 Page 3 Work Session addressing problems county-wide, including establishing a split rate as a home rule county. Mr. Harcleroad noted that the economic impact of not prosecuting crimes was unknown but should be considered. Mr. Pap6 asked how the proposed cuts would be prioritized if County commissioners were willing to provide more funding. Mr. Harcleroad said it would be very difficult to identify which programs and services to restore if full funding was not provided. Mr. Pap~ suggested that the council request a work session with Judge Allen and Police Chief Lehner to discuss the effects of Lane County budget cuts. Mr. Taylor responded that it might be more useful to wait until the county commissioners had made their budget decisions known and staff had begun the analysis requested by the Budget Committee to prepare for County cutbacks. B. ITEMS FROM MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL AND CITY MANAGER Ms. Bettman commended Public Service Officer Michelle Mortensen for her handling of inquiries and complaints from the public. She reminded councilors to submit their City Manager evaluations by May 14, 2004, in preparation for the May 26, 2004, work session. She asked that councilors indicate whether they had a preference for an executive session as part of that work session. Ms. Taylor commented that Milton Park was scheduled for an upgrade last year and asked when that was likely to occur as all of the equipment had been removed and the land was now bare. She referred to a recent email from Sharon Banks that addressed misinformation regarding the Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority (LRAPA). Mr. Kelly reminded the public that Election Day was May 18, 2004, and ballots should be submitted to Lane County Elections. He noted a recent request in Springfield to amend the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Area General Plan to redesignate 17 acres from industrial to commercial use, and questioned whether that was inconsistent with a shortage of industrial land. He asked the City Manager to determine what mechanism existed to ensure communication so that one jurisdiction within the metro area did not impact compliance of the entire area. Mr. Taylor said he would pose the question to staff from Eugene, Springfield, Lane County, and the Lane Council of Governments. Mr. Papd welcomed service to Eugene by Delta Airlines. He asked for a specific financial accounting of the Chiquita site that included purchase, legal expenses, demolition costs, and recovery from the federal purchase of a portion of the site and what the remainder should be sold for to obtain full reimbursement of costs. Mr. Papd asked if the City Manager had recommendations for the $9 million that could result from resolution of Qwest litigation. Mr. Taylor replied that he wanted to wait for the litigation to be settled and obtain a clear accounting of what was owed and how much had been collected and then address use of funds at a future work session. Mr. Papd commented that he had attended a preview of the new Jordan Schnitzer Art Museum at the University of Oregon and it was going to be a wonderful addition to the community. He observed that it was ironic that three councilors were committed to campaign spending limitations and campaign finance reform MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 10, 2004 Page 4 Work Session three years ago and now two of them were running for office and were not participating in campaign spending limitation. Mr. Meisner congratulated Friends of the Library on the success of the annual book sale, which raised $73,000. He reported that he had met with Amtrak officials from Washington DC, and they were so impressed by Eugene's depot project that they were looking for funds to assist the project. He noted that the Downtown Eugene, Inc., awards ceremony would be held on May 14, 2004. He asked that the Parks and Open Space Division work with citizens of the Santa Clara area to take some temporary steps to create some park amenities at the location of the proposed Filbert Meadows Park, which was currently vacant land. Ms. Solomon commented that a new park in the Bethel area, Bethel Community Park, was a wonderful addition to the community and when she visited it over the weekend it was filled with people. She reported that she had attended the eighth year celebration at the Service Station on Highway 99 and commended the City for helping to provide that service to citizens who needed it. Mr. Poling stated he had toured the proposed Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) project sites for next year. He said that projects would include adding pass-through lanes from Interstate 5 to Coburg Road and Coburg Road to Delta Highway on Highway 105, similar to the lanes from the Q Street on-ramp to Interstate 5. Referring to the proposed cuts to LRAPA funding, he asked if a liaison officer could be established between LRAPA and the citizens of Lane County to ensure continuation of air quality monitoring and a local contact person in the event that LRAPA was eliminated. He asked what budget reductions LRAPA had experienced over the past three years. Mayor Torrey invited councilors to attend a dinner at the Cascadia Mayor's Conference to be held May 13, 2004, at Valley River Inn. Ms. Bettman stated her objection to Mr. Papa's comments that she felt mischaracterized several councilors' intent. C. WORK SESSION: Public Works Accreditation Mr. Taylor introduced the item and commented that he had been impressed during the past year with the commitment to continuous improvement and best practices. He said that the Public Works Department over the last several years had been involved in a self-assessment as part of its efforts to become accredited under the American Public Works Association (APWA). Public Works Director Kurt Corey noted that the council would be receiving a Parks and Open Space periodic report that would answer questions from Mr. Meisner and Ms. Taylor regarding the status of neighborhood parks in their respective wards. Mr. Corey provided an overview of the accreditation process, using a slide presentation to illustrate the purpose of accreditation and the steps involved. He related that 15 agencies had completed the accreditation process and 31 were currently seeking accreditation; Eugene's Public Works Department would be the first agency in Oregon to become accredited. He listed the benefits of accreditation and stated that Public Works was pursuing it voluntarily for a number of reasons, including: MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 10, 2004 Page 5 Work Session · Budget issues and establishing a base of agency credibility · Succession planning and aging workforce issues · Complex workplace/knowledge management · Success of other agencies in managing liabilities Mr. Corey reviewed the phases of the accreditation process and commended the process management efforts of staff members Margaret Boutell and Roland Hoskins. He related that self-assessment consisted of an internal review of the agency's practices combined with a comparison of recommended practices contained in the Public Works Management Practices Manual. He said that Eugene Public Works had responsibility for more than 400 practices encompassing 30 chapters of the manual. Once the self-assessment was completed, he said that the agency would bring all practices identified as needing improvement to an acceptable level of compliance. He said that Public Works was in full or substantial compliance with all of the 400 practices, although simply complying with the practices was not a guarantee that things were being done as effectively as possible. Mr. Corey indicated that the most critical phase was the on-site evaluation visit by a team appointed by APWA, which was scheduled for June 26-30, 2004. He said that accreditation was granted for a three-year period and annual written updates were required to demonstrate continuing compliance, followed by a re- accreditation process at the end of the three-year period. He invited councilors to an open house at the Roosevelt yard on May 20, 2004, in celebration of National Public Works Week. Mayor Torrey opened the floor to comments and questions. Mr. Poling asked what the cost of the accreditation process was and whether there were financial benefits to accreditation. Mr. Corey replied that in addition to staff time, he estimated the cost at between $10,000 and $15,000 over a two-year period. He said that accreditation would not lower insurance rates, but based on the experience of other accredited agencies, the net indirect effect was a significant reduction of liability claims because of a proactive maintenance plan and preventive maintenance practices that lowered the bottom line. Mr. Poling commented that citizens expected predictability from City government and accreditation would provide that level of predictability and was a positive step. Mr. Meisner observed he had often expressed the wish that City departments and senior staff could spend time on continuous improvement and Public Work's efforts were commendable. He questioned why the council was just being informed of the process when it had consumed thousands of hours of staff time and had an additional cost. He agreed that documenting operating practices as people retired was extremely important and again expressed concern that the council was for told of the project sooner. Mr. Corey replied that accreditation was undertaken by the staff because they cared about what they were doing. Mr. Taylor said that ensuring practices were at the highest level and measuring them against standards was essential. Mr. Kelly remarked that perhaps the greatest value of accreditation was providing a formal structure to evaluate practices and capture institutional knowledge in the face of a high retirement rate. He said he was pleased that those efforts were occurring. MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 10, 2004 Page 6 Work Session D. WORK SESSION: Downtown Work Plan Mr. Taylor introduced the item, which was a follow-up to the council's adoption of the Downtown Plan the previous month. He said that a number of items had been identified for implementation strategies and Associate Planner Nan Laurence would provide an overview of activities that were underway and obtain feedback from the council on how to implement the plan to obtain an exciting and rejuvenated downtown. Ms. Laurence stated that the first step was to implement the Downtown Plan and staff had reviewed all of the implementation strategies and example projects and identified which were currently being implemented and had funding and staff resources available. She said that the first 12 items in boldface on the list of 116 strategies and projects on Attachment A to the Agenda Item Summary were underway with existing funding and staff resources; some of the strategies overlapped and some were discreet projects. Mayor Torrey called for comments and questions. Mr. Kelly said he was pleased that the Downtown Plan was adopted, but the work plan was not at all what he expected, consisting only of a list of items in the plan that indicated those being implemented. He asked that the Planning and Development Department (PDD) provide guidance on how to move beyond the 12 actions that were underway, including a suggested sequence of activities, relationships between projects, potential barriers to implementation, and recommendations on how the council could provide assistance to staff in terms of structure and direction. Ms. Laurence replied that the purpose of the list was to identify for the council those activities staff were currently able to undertake, consistent with the department's priority to implement the Downtown Plan. She said that future reports would include suggestions for other activities as funding and staff resources became available and a request for direction on timing and priorities. Mr. Taylor added that possibly multi-year actions plans could be developed during the council's annual strategic planning retreat. Mr. Kelly asked for a draft long-range strategic plan for the council to consider and respond to at its January 2005 retreat. Mr. Pap~ concurred with Mr. Kelly's request. He suggested that the list could be reduced by combining items that appeared to be similar or duplicative and asked how soon items 4 and 5, creation of a single zone to unify the downtown core and issuance of a request for proposals for purchase and development of the City-owned property adjacent to the new courthouse site respectively, would be done. Ms. Laurence responded that she could not provide a timeline of Item 5; however, Item 4 was being actively worked on and had already been the subject of a discussion with the Planning Commission. Mr. Pap~ questioned why the list contained an item relating to location of University of Oregon offices downtown. Ms. Laurence replied that the item arose from discussions between City staff and the University as a possible way to enhance the connection between downtown and the University. Mr. Pap~ expressed concern with the strategy related to seeking funding and developing a plan for a new City Hall and police station, and suggested that the strategy to develop an adaptive use concept for Eugene Water & Electric Board's steam plant be reconsidered. Mr. Meisner concurred with some of the previous comments. He said he did not want an agenda item summary or full scoping for each item and preferred information on which plan an item related to, what MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 10, 2004 Page 7 Work Session department would be involved, and who was responsible for accomplishing the tasks. He pointed out that several items on the list needed to be updated, using as an example the strategy to locate, retain, or expand local, state, and federal offices downtown that was actively in progress but not noted as such on the list. He said that supporting the continued residential use of structures in neighborhoods bordering downtown had been a priority for many years but he had not seen any progress on that item. Ms. Bettman asked for clarification on why the agenda item was before the council since no action was requested. Ms. Laurence replied that the first 12 items on the list had taken up available staff resources and funding and staff was seeking feedback from the council on whether there were other items on the list that should receive higher priority as time and funding became available. Ms. Bettman encouraged the City to be proactive in reinforcing the continued use of the Park Blocks for the Saturday Market and Farmer's Market. She said that over 800 vendors rotate through the markets, which act as small business and entrepreneurial incubators. She urged that any items related to improving conditions for the market receive a high priority. She also emphasized the use of environmental design as a crime prevention strategy. Ms. Taylor concurred with the need to move support for the Saturday Market and Farmer's Market to the top priority as they represented major downtown assets. She suggested that the City could stop charging for parking and address the issues of electricity and gray water. Ms. Nathanson raised the issue of new opportunities for owner-occupied housing in or near downtown and encouraged that as a way to improve the relationship and physical connection with the University. She emphasized the need to identify impediments to achieving higher density, mixed-use development and redevelopment downtown and barriers to creating mixed-use spaces for artists' residential and work spaces, as well as begin discussion of a new parking structure. Mr. Kelly acknowledged that all of the items on the list came directly from the Downtown Plan adopted by the council. He concurred with previous comments regarding support for the markets and suggested that when a project, such as electrical improvements for the markets, needed one-time funding or similar assistance that staff should bring the issue to the council. Ms. Bettman expressed surprise that Item 13, relating to helping employers locate, remain, and expand downtown through targeted use of economic tools and incentives was not shown as an active project as it appeared that there was ongoing activity. Ms. Laurence responded that the Development Division worked on that issue continuously as part of its regular work program and she had only highlighted those items that were specific projects. The meeting adjourned at 7:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Dennis M. Taylor City Manager MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 10, 2004 Page 8 Work Session (Recorded by Lynn Taylor) MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 10, 2004 Page 9 Work Session