City Manager/ Mayor:
Interesting approach to Police deployment is the new program that Chief Kerns announced called data-led policing. How will the results be measured as to the success of this and any new program that results from the Chief's task force. That should be the first question that the media and Council ask--"How will we measure success of the program?"
Below City Manager and Mayor please find more quotes from frustrated and concerned citizens of Eugene about our downtown condition and crime in Eugene. These folks are wanting you to do the job you were given to protect our citizenry. We all have been waiting for Chief Kern's Task Force to complete their review. Now that the study (again) of the downtown matter has been completed what will be the course of action next and how will we know if it is successful or not? Hopefully that is not another study group to study the task forces results. EugeneAdvocates has projected many potential solutions and yet none have been acted on, studied or implemented. Why not? How do the recommendations of the Chief's Task Force vary and where can one find them?
EugeneAdvocates for a Clean City
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"Why would the mayor care about who you are when she can simply walk outside and verify exactly what you were saying? I could understand if it was a complaint that couldn't be substantiated because it was his word against hers. But really, anyone can walk over into the downtown area and see examples of what you guys are talking about."
(signed by a another concern citizen and taxpayer)
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"Get rid of politicians who cater to the vocal minority! Okay okay, I know that's a pipe dream but.........in the next election all of us need to show our support, volunteering or donating money to get someone in office that isn't afraid to do the right thing."
(signed by a frustrated citizen and taxpayer)
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"The reason government doesn't have any money is because they are wasteful. I cannot believe the money that is thrown away by the city, or at least not prioritized in times like these. In a time of recession when this city's crime stats are leading the nation, why are we spending money on things like:
-Paying someone to water flowers downtown.
-Street Sweeping during summer months (I often see the streetsweeper cleaning streets that are already clean). They do it "just because"
-Building a skate park
-The Police Department use to bid out police car work to local mechanics. Did you know the police department pays the city $1200 a month, to Public Works Vehicle maintenance, for every police car they have? Some of that is for replacement cost, but the rest is just in case the car might need work. Where does that money go.
-Does the police department really need all those substations? The public thinks they are getting better service because they have a station in their community, but the fact of the matter is that officers are assigned certain areas, and they are going to be in that area whether there is a substation or not. That has to cost a million dollars or more if you count staff. Do we really need all those people working in those substations? No. It just makes people feel good.
-I wonder how much it cost for those new parking meters that take credit cards? How much does the city make on parking as opposed to wages/benefitsof the people writing the tickets, vehicle maintenance costs/judges?
-Downtown needs a loitering law"
(signed by a downtown employee and concerned citizen)
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"I need to point out that I don't live in Eugene. Eugene is a beautiful city, but I wouldn't EVER raise my kids here in the condition it's in."
(signed by a parent who is concerned for their childrens' environment)
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"Unfortunately many of the people who hang out around the Mission, do not stay there at night because they don't like the "rules".. In an earlier e-mail, I forgot to mention St. Vincent de Paul as another resource for the homeless. They have a multitude of resources. But the ones who don't want to abide by the rules, don't have anyone stopping them from committing crimes.
Mayor Piercy should be ashamed. An anonymous group pointing out the MAJOR problems downtown is besides the point. ANYONE can go down there at any time of the day or not and see that your group is NOT exaggerating. In fact, they would probably find it much worse than what you've described. Piercy is merely using your anonymity as a means to deflect from the problem she doesn't want to deal with."
(signed by a tax payer and concerned citizen)
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"One key observation from people who attended(the public safety work session) and I've spoke with is they were unaware of how bad key members of the council really are. There's a lesson to be learned but first one must experience the circus."
(signed by a frustrated business owner and tax payer)
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"This city is divided. In any normal city, most of the citizens are like-minded. Take Springfield for example. The vast majority of it's citizens are conservative. In Portland,the majority of citizens are liberal. Each city usually leans one way or the other. In Eugene, we have a divided community. This happens in most University towns. 1/3 of Eugene is staunchly liberal, 1/3 very conservative, and there is 1/3 that go either way depending on the issue, but they lean more liberally. That is a problem. Why? We can't ever get anything done without pissing off 40-50 percent of the population. We don't stand united on almost ANY issue. In cities like Springfield, a great majority of the population think alike and their city runs more smoothly. In most years the council is divided this way too, but more often than not, there are a great amount of city councilors who cater to the vocal minority."
(signed by an observant downtown citizen)
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Referring to the latest crime statistics comparing cities in Oregon a concerned citizen and taxpayer writes:
And let’s just bet that Mayor Kitty’s response will be, “Well, at least we’re not Gresham. *They* really suck!”
(signed by a concerned citizen who sees a pattern)
