Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Taxpayer Comments

NOTE THESE COMMENTS COME FROM TAXPAYING CITIZENS NOT DOWNTOWN VAGRANTS...

"There is just one conclusion we can draw from these pictures and others like them: this is the kind of city Kitty Pearcy and most of the city government wants. They don't care about businesses and building a tax base. People drinking, sleeping and defecating on sidewalks? Fine with them. Unlicensed dogs pooping in front of stores? Fine.

Kitty and her ilk see these people (maybe the dogs, too) as victims of an unjust society. We are spinning our wheels trying to get them to improve Eugene.

Kitty and her colleagues will use public funds to build bike paths and create programs that act as magnets for the homeless. Our efforts are better spent electing people who will solve the problem than trying to get Kitty and crew to change their minds."

(signed by a taxpayer expressing their thoughts)
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"Well according to Open For Business magazine from the Chamber of Commerce everything is under control downtown !"

(how true is it that neither the Chamber of Commerce or the Lane Metro. Partnership do not hold the city responsible for downtown but seemly condone what occurs downtown.)
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"I want to mention to you and your group that I think we are just getting more of the same old “feel good ideas” from the Chief of Police with his recent recommendations for dealing with Downtown public safety issues. His so called immediate or short term ideas are for the most part more of the same ideas we have been trying for the last few years and will do nothing but continue to move our problem people around downtown.

The real issue and highest priority should be more jail beds. Please read my attached to the Editor. I have been involved with these street issues for over 10 years and every cop on the street will tell you the same thing that we must have jail beds available to get the offenders off the street. Currently there is not room for downtown offenders, even with the additional 84 bed from the county this summer there is only room for the most serious crimes. Downtown offenders are only warned or arrested and released a few hours later. The Chief only recommends an additional 10 jail beds to house downtown offenders as a possible long-term idea, in other words in a few years or never.

I asked Chief Kerns directly at a Chamber Breakfast last Friday about this issue and he had no real answers except that his recommendations would make a big difference. In the same meeting the police department admitted that the vast majority of the downtown crime are committed by the same 10 to 15 people. Would it not seem logical that to be able to get these people off the street and locked up, until there trial, would reduce the crime rate considerably.

Please don’t be fooled by such suggestions of an exclusion zone for repeat offenders or limiting the downtown sale of beverages with high alcohol content( two of the Chief’s recommendations). This just pushes these problems into the nearby neighborhoods where it is even harder to deal with them.

Common sense tells us that without jail beds there are no consequences for bad behavior, we cannot keep repeat offenders off the street, we cannot keep drug addicts and alcoholics long enough for detoxing. We just keep moving these people around from Broadway to the Library to the bus depot to the nearby neighborhoods and back to Broadway.

I am one of your groups biggest fans and I applaud you for bringing attention to the downtown problems. I know it is easy to feel like the battle is won now that the Chief and hopefully the City Council is taking notice, but none of these recommendations will do much good without at least the 10 additional jail beds."

(signed by a concerned taxpaying citizen)
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"Technically the real and most effective means of resolving downtown issues is putting more cops with attitude on the streets.

Source of least resistance theory. If the people fear them, ie: knowing they'll get smacked down if they give them lip service, etc. That's how it works in Springtuckey, and the cost is minimal.

How that happens in our current environment is the challenge." (opinion of a resident and taxpayer)
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"Hello Eugene Advocates, PLEASE consider this anonymously submitted, but in case anyone wants to document this, I noticed today in one of the park blocks (the one without the fountain, the eastern-most block, towards the north end of it) just east of the stone wall, that there was a syringe - look for an orange cap - and a spoon not far from each other in the dirt). Pretty sad. Thought you might want to know."

(signed by a concerned taxpayer)

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:36:39 EST