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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCMinutes - 07/28/04 WS MINUTES Eugene City Council Work Session McNutt Room--City Hall July 28, 2004 Noon COUNCILORS PRESENT: Bonny Bettman, Scott Meisner, David Kelly, Betty Taylor, Jennifer Solomon, Gary Papd. COUNCILORS ABSENT: George Poling, Nancy Nathanson. His Honor Mayor James D. Torrey called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order at 12:03 p.m. A. WORK SESSION: Joint Meeting with Police Commission City Manager Dennis Taylor introduced Tim Laue, Chair of the Police Commission. Mr. Laue expressed appreciation for the opportunity to speak to the council. He said it had been his honor to serve as Chair for the Police Commission and noted that Andrea Ortiz was the Vice-Chair. He also thanked the staff person to the Police Commission, Jeannine Parisi, for her work and commended her for doing her "duty in the best traditions of public service." He introduced Commissioner John Brown, who had been with the Police Commission since its inception. He spoke glowingly of Mr. Brown's service to the commission and to the community. Mr. Brown thanked the council for the opportunity to speak to them. He provided an overview of Attachment B: Police Commission Annual Report FY 2003-2004. Councilor Solomon arrived. Mr. Brown highlighted the revised policies that resulted from the work of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Team Policy Committee, from page 7 of the report. He noted that the work of the Social Security Number Task Force had culminated in one of the first policies in the nation to govern collection of such data. Mr. Brown discussed the 2003 Auditor's Report, which had identified several department deficiencies, and the resulting recommendations for improvements made by the Police Commission, from page 5 of the report. Ms. Taylor asked what the drug dog was trained to sniff out. Mr. Brown replied that the dog was trained to detect a variety of drugs, but was intended to search structures and cars and not people. Ms. Taylor wondered if the dog would be walked through town to find drugs. Mr. Brown assured her that the dog was MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 28, 2004 Page 1 Work Session not brought in unless there was reasonable suspicion. Chief Lehner added that the same criteria used to determine the need for an officer search was required to deploy the dog. Ms. Taylor asked if the dog could discern between cat urine and methamphetamine. Chief Lehner responded that a well-trained dog could, but he was uncertain whether the Belgian Malinois, Kyra, deployed by the Eugene Police Department (EPD) had been trained to that degree. He explained that each substance required a little bit different training and certification and he did not know what level Kyra had achieved. In response to another question from Ms. Taylor, Ms. Ortiz clarified that the difference between the Social Security Number collection before and after the task force had met was that now there was a policy, whereas before there had not been one. Mr. Brown added that the task force looked all over the United States for a policy to model the City's policy after and was unsuccessful. He reiterated that the City was now using a policy that clarified Social Security Numbers were voluntary information and a person stopped by the police was not required to provide that information to the detaining officer. In response to Mr. Meisner, Mr. Brown clarified that the uniform review had resulted from the inability to distinguish certain security company employees from EPD officers, particularly the University of Oregon campus police. He said the purpose of the review was to find a solution that made the EPD officers easily identifiable. He noted that there was not an ordinance in the community that prohibited other agencies from wearing similar uniforms. Mr. Meisner asked if the City had the authority to direct the University on its uniform policy. Mr. Brown responded that it was important to be sensitive to the issue and that discussions with the University were being held regarding such a policy. Mr. Pap~ thanked the Police Commission for its hard work. He related a story of being stopped by the police in Nevada and refusing to provide his Social Security Number on demand. As it could have resulted in an overnight stay in the town jail, he said he ultimately capitulated. He approved of having a policy that made such information voluntary. Mr. Pap~ asked Mr. Brown to elaborate on the downtown community policing project. Mr. Brown stated that the resource implications referred to on page 5 of the report correlated with the recommendation to restore funding for the second foot patrol officer for the downtown area. He reported that the discontinua- tion of the position had a profound and negative effect on policing in the downtown corridor. He said City contract requirements caused Downtown Eugene Incorporated (DE1) to reduce its deployed security by 60 percent and the City replaced DE1 security with a company that provided less coverage. He added that many of the recommendations in the plan were non-revenue related. Mr. Pap~ asked if people in the downtown area had been surveyed to determine if they felt more or less safe. Mr. Taylor replied that such a survey had not been conducted, but staff worked with DE1 and other stakeholders to improve the safety of the area. Ms. Ortiz stated that the commission intended to conduct some citizen outreach in the community to determine what the needs were. Mr. Brown added that the Saturday Market and the other representatives of the downtown community were unanimous that downtown safety was their primary issue. He related that another recommendation of the project had been to provide at least one officer in the downtown area with specialized training in mental health issues. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 28, 2004 Page 2 Work Session Mr. Papd agreed that public safety was a key component in the reinvigoration of the downtown area. Mr. Kelly echoed the comments of Mr. Papd. He complimented the commission on its work to develop the Social Security Number policy. He recognized that the commissioners had taken on a large work load and thanked them for their excellent work. Mr. Meisner, speaking as a member of the Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations (CCIGR), recommended that the Police Commission consider whether the City should pursue the revision of law to exempt security services from the Qualified Rehabilitation Providers Contract Law. He asked the commission to provide the CCIGR with guidance as to what sort of "tweaking" the current laws would need. Mr. Brown related that the Hult Center for the Performing Arts had found criteria for its security services that exempted it from the contract restrictions which had affected Library security and parking garage security and had a "hugely significant" effect on DE1. Ms. Ortiz reported onAttachment A: Police Commission FY2004-2005 Worl~ Plan. Regarding the new social security number policy, she explained that a subcommittee made up of Carmen Urbina, Jeannine Parisi, and Angie Sifuentez was working on community outreach to help educate people on the new procedures. Ms. Ortiz underscored the necessity of developing uniform standards. She strongly felt that a Eugene police officer was not readily discernable from other security officers at a distance. Ms. Ortiz explained that most of the work was done through subcommittees and liaisons with commissioners participating at all levels. She said she was happy to do the work and enjoyed working to make the City more livable for all residents. Mr. Laue discussed the major components of the proposed work plan for the coming year, the complaint process and the exploration of civilian oversight models. He related that Chief Lehner had asked the commission to take a look at the complaint process from the civilian perspective. He called the recent wrongdoing of two officers the "elephant in the living room." He said the ability for the officers to continue their crimes while in uniform indicated the complaint process did not work. Victims did not report the abuse of power because they feared retribution. He explained that the contingency request was made because the community could not wait two years to resolve this issue. Mr. Laue said that one thing the commission had learned through its work was that public input should be ongoing. He reported that a forum had been held in June at the Erb Memorial Union on the University of Oregon campus and another one was scheduled in the Bascom/Tykeson Room at the Library for 7 p.m. on August 5, with more to be scheduled. He noted that he and Human Rights Commission Chair Sara Rich had spoken to the Neighborhood Leadership Council on the previous evening in order to let them know they were available to speak to neighborhood associations and also to encourage the neighborhood groups to sponsor forums. Ms. Bettman, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to approve the Police Com- mission FY05 Work Plan. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 28, 2004 Page 3 Work Session Ms. Bettman conveyed her support for the motion. She appreciated the receptiveness of the Police Commission and the community organizations. She felt the assessment of police oversight needed to be accelerated as proposed in the work plan. Mr. Pap6 supported the motion. He asked if the Police Commission was involved in helping to formulate the recommendation for a new police services facility. Mr. Laue replied that it had not been involved with its latest iteration. He recalled that the commission had helped to determine the need for it four years earlier and noted that one of its members served on the Mayor's Civic Center Visioning Committee. Mr. Pap~ opined that the Police Commission should have a role in the look and the function of the proposed facility. He suggested the commission's work plan should be amended to include it. Mr. Laue commented that the City Council "had not been shy" about adding to the work plan in the past. Mr. Taylor thanked the Police Commission for the work it had done over the last year. He called the agenda "ambitious." He wished to be on record as supporting the contingency request. Mr. Kelly noted that the work plan included a September work session to discuss the issue of off-campus parties. He recommended that, should it result in a request for action, the student body be allowed to provide input. Mr. Kelly applauded the undertaking of a thorough review of the complaint process. He conveyed his support for the motion. Mr. Meisner remarked that the City Council did assign the Police Commission work with no qualms and the Police Commission, in turn, had no qualms about taking on issues as they arose. He noted that the Police Commission was the only citizen body that had a full-time staff person and was now asking for a .5 FTE staff person and to contract out some work. He asked if the work plan the Police Commission was undertaking was too large for a citizen volunteer body. Mr. Laue responded that the commission met to discuss the workload and the likely increase in meetings, and the commission had indicated a unanimous commitment to the work. Mr. Meisner said he would support the work plan. He encouraged the commissioners to come before the council to amend the work plan should it prove to be too great. Ms. Taylor supported the motion. She felt the community had strongly indicated the need for such a review. She would not, however, support the second motion. Mayor Torrey expressed his support for the motion. He said the community expected this analysis to be conducted. He was concerned that the community could not wait as long as it would take the commission to complete the civilian review and asked the City Manager and Chief Lehner to bring something before the council with regard to how some changes in the department could be accomplished quickly. Mr. Taylor responded that staff would work to review and change administrative policy and was hoping bring this review before the council within the next three to six months. Mayor Torrey called for the vote. The motion passed unanimously, 6:0. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 28, 2004 Page 4 Work Session Ms. Bettman, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to authorize expenditure of an amount not to exceed $70,000 to support the Police Commission's re- view of the internal affairs policies and procedures and civilian oversight models. Ms. Taylor opposed the contingency request. She reported that she had reviewed the budget of the Police Commission and the commission had spent $92,000, mostly for staff. She opined that if this would be the only job of the Police Commission, then the staff person could spend all of her time on it. She felt it fortunate that the City had hired a Police Chief who was already familiar with external reviews. She thought it would be possible to easily gather information with the aid of computers. She hoped the council would be kept informed on the commission's work on the issue. Ms. Bettman stated that the commission would be looking at three different aspects of the complaint process: the intake, the investigation, and the adjudication. She said research would be done on each one of those aspects and how different communities treat the processes. She believed the resources to be absolutely necessary because the project would involve an extraordinary effort above the commission's regular workload. Mr. Pap6 asked what the staffing levels were for the Human Rights Commission (HRC) and the Planning Commission. Ms. Ortiz responded that the HRC had 2.5 FTE staff for the program. Mr. Taylor said different planners acted as support staff to the Planning Commission. Mr. Pap6 felt the contingency request was appropriate and that the proposed work could lead to a further request because of the size of the project. Mr. Taylor said that in addition to the Police Commission study and staff's external review, there was a third element to the review. He explained that the department would continue its relationship with external auditor for internal affairs, Howell Lankford, who would provide a similar review in the next year. He added that, based on Mr. Lankford's most recent report, he had asked Chief Lehner to develop some interim reforms, particularly in the area of intake and investigations. He requested the council's support for the continuation of these three phases of the review. He felt no bigger issue confronted the department and the City at this time and stressed the importance of working through the issue and moving forward to put into practice the types of policies and procedures that would guarantee the support of the community. Ms. Solomon echoed Ms. Bettman's comments. She assured the council that the work would be ~$70,000 well-spent." Mayor Torrey stressed the fact that some people felt they could not report abuses of power for fear of retribution was in itself abuse and must be remedied. Mr. Meisner highly recommended providing specialized outreach to the women's community. The motion passed, 5:1; Ms. Taylor voting in opposition. Mayor Torrey thanked Mr. Laue, Ms. Ortiz, and Mr. Brown for participating in the work session. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 28, 2004 Page 5 Work Session B. WORK SESSION: Discussion of Independent External Auditor Mr. Taylor noted that Ms. Bettman proposed having a discussion on bringing in an independent external auditor at a work session in the last month. He asked Mary Walston, Council, Public, and Government Affairs Manager for the Central Services Department, to speak on the issue as she had staffed the Citizen Charter Review Committee (CCRC), from which the proposal had originated. Ms. Walston stated that this issue was considered by the CCRC in 2001, and had been among several recommendations made to the council in 2002. She related that the specific recommendation regarding the creation of an external auditor position had not been forwarded by the City Council to the November 2002 ballot. She added that the materials provided to the council were the same as those previously considered in July 2002. Further, she noted that subsequent to the preparation of materials for the meeting today, a motion had been circulated by Council Bettman with the intention to place this question on the November 2004 ballot. The proposed motion was at councilors' places. Ms. Bettman expressed her intention of placing the motion on the table. She suggested she would be willing to reconsider the motion when Mr. Poling was present to vote on it, should it prevail and should he so wish. She opined it would be unwise to assume that the recent misdeeds of police officers were not indicative of a chronic systemic problem within the organization. She remarked that the City was unable to look at its services and operations objectively and it would help to provide an independent mechanism of oversight. She felt this would help reestablish trust and accountability in the minds of the public. Ms. Bettman disagreed with the contentions of those who maintained that hiring an independent external auditor would change the form of government from the council/manager form to one in which the council had more power. She declared such an auditor had no policy-making authority, no implementation authority, and would only provide factual analysis which would inform decision-making. She opined that this would be a way to measure government service with the goal of better quality and more accountable government. Ms. Taylor supported placement of the issue on the ballot in order for the public to have an opportunity to vote on it. She felt that the previous city manager's opposition to it had contributed to the council's decision not to put it on the ballot. Mr. Pap~ thanked Ms. Walston for the information. He commented that it could be a good service for the organization to have an auditor, but such an auditor should report to the City Manager. He averred that the council only needed one employee at the table. Mr. Kelly remarked that there were cities that had the council/manager form of government and an independent external auditor who reported to the council and such a model did not have an ill effect. He felt an auditor who reported to the City Manager would be perceived by the public as an agent of the manager. He opined that having the auditor report to the elected officials would increase public confidence in local government. He supported placing the item in the hands of the voters. Mr. Meisner was less concerned that the establishment of an auditor would impact the structure of City government. He felt it made sense for the City of Portland to have an independent external auditor as it did not have a manager and its elected commissioners ran City bureaus. He countered the suggestion that the MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 28, 2004 Page 6 Work Session addition of such an auditor would restore faith and manifest trust in the government by pointing out the Lane County had a performance auditor. He asked the council to consider the success rates of the County's bond measures and how the public perceived the County. Mr. Meisner thought it was premature to place this item on the ballot, given that the council had just held a discussion on the police review process and it had been stressed that the review would take a year. He felt the parameters of the auditor position were nebulous. He also suggested that the council should consider what it was going to cut or what new fee or tax it was going to propose to pay for such an auditor. He recognized there was the possibility that an independent auditor would find efficiencies. He noted that, as a result of such audits, some cities discovered more programs were needed and costs increased. Mr. Taylor shared his personal experience with performance auditing. He said the City had hired qualified auditors to look at specific areas. He predicted that an internal auditor would add approximately $120,000 annually to the City budget. He was uncertain how such an auditor would %tack up" against all of the other City's needs, such as the need for more police officers and more money for social services. He could not recommend placing this on the ballot in November. He thought the discussion to be worthy, but that it was premature to take action at the present meeting. Mayor Torrey recognized that some members of the council had been supportive of this for two years. He felt that what was pushing this item to the forefront was the conviction of two police officers. He stated that the police department of the City of Portland was the subject of much public scrutiny and criticism in the last year, although the City had an independent police review under its independent external auditor. He advised the council not to assume that having such an auditor would solve the problems of the City. He stressed that this was not a double-majority measure and did not need to be rushed onto the November ballot. He recommended that, should such a position be voted in, it should be made an elected position in order to be truly independent. He stated that, in the event of a tie, he would, as a courtesy to Ms. Nathanson and Mr. Poling, vote in support of the motion in order to provide them the opportunity to cast their votes. However, he would vote against it at the regular meeting, should the need arise. Ms. Bettman said she would not put the motion on the table should it be amended to be a ~redundant auditor," which she asserted it would be if it were answerable to the City Manager. She quoted research which asserted that ~an appointed auditor reporting to the legislative body has the fewest impairments upon independence." She though this form was the best option. Ms. Bettman agreed that an auditor identified problems. She alleged that, working with the City Manager, such problems would be solved prior to coming before the council. Regarding financing the position, Ms. Bettman asserted that an independent auditor would save money. She countered that the council should think about how much the credibility of the organization was worth. She noted that the EPD had put out an audit with the same information on it for three years and nothing had been done about it. Ms. Solomon opposed having such an auditor because she was not interested in establishment of another government position. She pointed out that the proposal itself planned for an oversight committee, which would require that the City pay for staffing it. She predicted such an auditor would, before long, need an assistant. She believed the independent contracts the City already had for performance audits were working. She opined that an independent external auditor would ultimately be a contract manager as it would not be MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 28, 2004 Page 7 Work Session possible for one person to have expertise in all of the areas of the City services. She expressed reluctance to change the charter in this way and suggested that the money it would cost be spent on parks and police. As per the suggestion that an auditor would pay for itself by saving money, she questioned the wisdom of using savings in a department to pay for a position rather than paying for technological improvements or furthering the education of executives. Mr. Kelly was not surprised the City Manager did not support the idea. He predicted that some of the contract auditors for specific departments could be eliminated as the independent auditor could do that work. He opined that when staff wants a project the money is found, but if staff was opposed to something, the council heard that the City was in terrible fiscal shape. He thought staff had the creativity to find funding for such a position, should it be the will of the voters. Mr. Kelly disagreed that the discussion at the present meeting was brief and the suggestion that it was premature to place it on the ballot. He underscored the many hours the CCRC and council had spent in discussion on the item two years earlier. He averred it made fiscal sense to piggyback the item on a ballot that was already underway. Ms. Taylor concurred with Mr. Kelly. She said the CCRC was an %xcellent group of people who worked really hard" and a lot of thought had gone into it. She felt the least the council could do would be to place it on the ballot. Regarding the expenditure of money, she commented that the council had ~just casually spent $70,000," and reiterated that studies of other communities have indicated that such audits saved money in many instances. Mr. Pap6 opined that the trust issue could ;;go both ways," as the hiring of an independent auditor could suggest to the public that the City was not trustworthy. Regarding the three police audits, Mr. Pap~ asserted that it was the council's responsibility to be aware of such things and take action. Mr. Taylor clarified that the council or the manager could, at any time, make a request to initiate a performance audit. He believed there was a role for performance audits. He expressed concern regarding how many employees the legislative body wished to have. He thought erosion of the City council/manager form of government was problematic and would create undue tension without the requisite benefit to the organization and to the community. Mr. Taylor commented that frequently people said they did not trust the city manager or that they did not receive fair and objective information. He said this was an issue that undermined the whole profession he was part of. He noted he had worked in public service for 30 years. He emphasized that the whole cultural value of a city manager was based on provision of the best professional fair and objective information that he and staff could muster. He averred that, from his experience of the last year, the City had an ~incredibly talented staff" who worked very hard to provide the council with information from which decisions could be made. He recalled the process sessions in which staff and the council had worked to improve the way information was provided. He felt the suggestion that he and staff were not providing fair and objective information and were not trustworthy undermined, more than anything, the confidence the public would have in government. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 28, 2004 Page 8 Work Session Mayor Torrey pointed out that there would be a ballot in 2005 regardless of the outcome of this discussion, as enough signatures had been gathered to bring a tax issue before the voters. Ms. Bettman called it '~juvenile" to frame the issue as one of trust. She asked what was wrong with more accountability. She reiterated her feeling that having such an auditor in place would increase the public's trust in the City. She surmised that the motion would not pass and said she would not place it on the table. Mr. Kelly resented the implication that interest in an auditor indicated a lack of trust in staff. He said external performance and auditors were employed "all of the time" in private business. Ms. Taylor also disagreed that the item had to do with trust. She did not think Mr. Taylor had the time to take an in-depth look at a department. She felt audits merely provided an outside look at internal functions. The meeting adjourned at 1:32 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Dennis M. Taylor City Manager (Recorded by Ruth Atcherson) MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 28, 2004 Page 9 Work Session