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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/21/2016 Work Session City of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCU-HELD MONDAY NOVEMBER 21, 2016 The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room,225 Fifth Street, Springfield,Oregon,on Monday November 21,2016 at 6:00 p.m.,with Mayor Lundberg presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Lundberg and Councilors VanGordon,Wylie,Ralston,Woodrow and Pishioneri. Also present were City Manager Gino Grimaldi,City Attorney Mary Bridget Smith, City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff. Councilor Moore was absent(excused). 1. Springfield's Legislative Agenda 2017. Niel Laudati,Legislative and Public Affairs Manager,presented the staff report on this item. In an effort to gain input and work towards an efficient and clear process for the upcoming 2017 Oregon Legislative session that runs from February 1,2017—July 9,2017 the City has developed a new plan with a goal to ensure that the Springfield community's interests are advanced and/or protected throughout the legislative session. The Springfield Final Draft Legislative Agenda and the 2017 Legislative Priorities have been compiled with input from the Mayor and Council,the League of Oregon Cities and discussions with our local representatives. There are five main areas for engagement during the legislative session. 1. Identifying goals 2. Defining our resources and roles 3. Our system for tracking,assessing and responding to bills 4. Our communications protocol and expectations for all parties 5. Drafting an extensive and approved list of priorities. Mr.Laudati said this is a new process and the first time the City has taken a proactive approach to legislation. This will provide a tracking mechanism to address bills and legislation that have impacts on our community at the onset of the process. He described the following goals: • Actively engage the Mayor and Council on legislative issues---creating opportunities for participation in the legislative process • Establish ongoing communication with the local and federal delegation. Protect Springfield's interests by monitoring proposed legislation. • Actively engage in the upcoming transportation funding discussion • Maintain working relationships with partner agencies The City is fortunate to have engaged professionals in our ranks. This level of professional ability extends beyond the direct work completed for the City and community,but also involvement with City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes November 21,2016 Page 2 external groups including policy boards,advisory groups, professional associations and general interest.This internal team will serve as a Legislative Committee who will work with Mr. Laudati and the Council Legislative Committee to track and review bills throughout the session. In addition to our staff resources,the City plans to contract with a Salem lobbyist to represent many of our interests. The lobbyist is Elizabeth Howe,principal for Howe Public Affairs. Elizabeth is a well- respected partner who also contracts with City of Eugene. This will provide us with the long discussed option of having a state-level `United Front' on agreed upon priorities. Ms. Howe has a bill tracking system that she will train staff to use to enter information on bills that affect the City. It will help to prioritize the bills and allow the Mayor, Council and staff to trach the bills through the whole process.Having a public affairs representative in Salem full-time will allow the City to work with our legislature in a different way to determine their needs and position Springfield in a way to help them. Council and staff can expect weekly updates on bills and where we are in the process, and how the Mayor and Council could have some input or testify. Mr.Laudati referred to Attachment 2 of the agenda packet which provided a long list of priorities and issues that are important to Springfield and other cities along the I-5 corridor. We will have the advantage of working closely with the City of Eugene,but in areas where the two cities disagree,Ms. Howe will pull back and allow each city to lobby on their own as appropriate. Staff met with the Legislative Committee today and they felt we were on the right track. Councilor Woodrow asked if they had given Ms. Howe parameters so she will know what's important specifically to each city. Mr. Laudati said staff and the Council will determine what is important and relay that to her. She has already started pulling information together,and staff will continue to provide input on important bills as they come up. Staff has a good idea of where the Council wants the City to go, and will continue to get input from staff and the Council. Councilor Woodrow asked if there will be an opportunity to provide input on something that looks like it will be presented as a bill. Mr. Laudati said Ms.Howe has already provided a list of possible upcoming bills. Councilor Wylie asked how the League of Oregon Cities(LOC) legislative agenda fit in with ours. Mr_Laudati said it fits well. City staff are working with.the LOC, and Mr. Laudati attends the LOC Legislative Committee meetings.Having a lobbyist in Salem provides more time to interact with the LOC to make sure our priorities match. Councilor Wylie asked to see that information in the report. Councilor Ralston said the Legislative Committee just met and made some additions and deletions to the list. Mr. Laudati said the list was very large and would be refined. One of the items on the Iist was the issue with levees and the one in Springfield that needs to be addressed.The Mayor signed a letter that was sent to the Governor asking them to look at how we need to handle this levee and the thousands of people it impacts in Springfield. Transportation funding is another very big topic that needs to be City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes November 21,2016 Page 3 addressed during this session. Some of that discussion includes how the transportation bill is funded and specifics Council would not want to see as an option. They also want to look at the bills that focus on environment and how our community feels about things and wants to see things happen. Another part of the discussion was regarding labor costs,public safety items and expansion of the previous bill #4110 regarding health insurance and how we bill. Councilor Ralston said they pulled the item that referenced carbon taxes. Mr. Laudati said an update of the list would be provided with the changes. The City will continue to work with Smith,Dawson,Andrews(SDA)on the federal level and United Front. Given what the City is doing with cross-laminated timber(CLT)and Career Technical Education(CTE),this is an exciting time as we partner with our school district when we go back to Washington DC. Mayor Lundberg said transportation is a huge issue, and how we will have money to spend to keep our roads up and completing projects. Several agencies put together transportation packages such as the LOC,the AOC(Association of Oregon Counties),OMPOC (Oregon Metropolitan Planning Organization Consortium),the Oregon Transportation Forum,the Mayor's Association,and state legislators also gathered input from around the state. There are many similarities among all groups. All things will be worthy of looking at and trying to come to an agreement in the transportation field during the upcoming session. She is very interested in how this comes together and how to match it with federal.Another topic was housing,which mostly comes from the federal government. We can advocate for issues that will affect Springfield. Council was very excited about this plan. Councilor Ralston said this will be a model of how things need to be done. 2. Housing Female Inmates in the Municipal Jail. AIC Chief Rick Lewis presented the staff report on this item. The Springfield Municipal Jail,which opened in January of 2010, was designed and constructed to allow the housing of both male and female inmates. Since opening,the City of Springfield has chosen to continue housing female inmates at the Lane County Jail. The City houses five sentenced,male inmates fxom Lane County and in exchange the County houses five female inmates,some pre-sentence and some sentenced. The City has been interested in increasing the number of available female beds; however the County has not reciprocated due to their own operational considerations. Earlier this year,the City received notice that, effective June 30,2017,the County would no longer house Springfield's female inmates. In order to accommodate female imitates,the Municipal Jail will designate the F-Pod as the female pod in the jail,per the original design. The Jail will convert two of the double-occupancy cells into single cells to house female inmates that require solo housing. The overall impact of this change will be that overall male bed capacity will decrease from 100 beds to 86,and that female bed capacity will increase from 5 (from the exchange program)to 14. Current average daily population in the jail is around 65. The decrease in male bed capacity should not cause any significant negative issues,and the increased capacity for female inmates will improve the overall performance of the criminal justice system in Springfield. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes November 21,20I6 Page 4 Accepting female inmates will likely increase the cost of medical services in the jail. That contract is currently in negotiation, and more details will be brought to the Council when they are available. There is also an existing need for a second padded cell,and that project will be moved up on the priority list as a result of accepting female inmates. The options are to house female inmates at the Municipal Jail,or rent beds from Lane County at a cost of about$117 per day/per inmate. If they were to,move forward to house female inmates, staff would need to review and update their policies,and make sure they had enough female detention officers,but not 24 hours a day.Currently they have 3 female detention officers,and several female police officers and employees. There are also privacy concerns regarding the facilities. Female inmates would also need to be given the same opportunities as the male inmates, such as serving on the work crew. Some of the benefits include an increased number of beds for female inmates which would give the Courts more leeway,it should reduce the number of failures to appear(FTA),and it would require less driving and processing time for the officers. Councilor Ralston asked if we had ever exceeded 86 beds on our own. Chief Lewis said the secondyear the Jail was open„ our highest occupancy was 92.A lot of that was cleaning up the FTA's. Councilor Ralston asked if we could rent female cells to other jurisdictions.He thinks this is a plus all the way around. Those arrested in Springfield should be jailed in Springfield. Councilor Pishioneri said this is a good step forward. There are things he wants to make sure they are aware of or will be checking. He understands they are waiting for inspection. He noted the section under Chapter 169 regarding hourly checks on inmates.There could be an issue if there were only male officers for single cells since they need to look through the window to make sure the inmate is breathing.He asked if they would have audio/video surveillance in those locations to protect the City against allegations. Chief Lewis said has staff was looking into that.As long as the cameras are not pointed towards showers, etc.they may be able to have them in the quad.They also think they may be able to get reports on when the door is opened and closed. Councilor Pishioneri spoke regarding card swipe technology will log when the doors are open and closed, as will pneumatic doors. They will need to look at the opportunity for women to get work credit if eligible so they are being treated equal to the male inmates. He hoped there would be a priority that any female staff member could search inmates as soon as possible after the arrest so they are not being held for too long of a time. Some departments have patrol or even office staff do the search. It can be dangerous to hold someone for too long for a number of reasons. Chief Lewis said they are looking into all of those opportunities. Councilor Wylie said this is a good plan. She asked if we were renting beds for income. Chief Lewis said they were hoping adding female inmate will increase the number of beds they are able to rent to Eugene since it would give them more options. Councilor Wylie asked why Lane County decided not to house our female imnates anymore. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes November 21,2016 Page 5 Chief Lewis said there are a number of factors;liability was one reason.. Councilor Woodrow said she likes the idea and the plan. She asked if they have an expectation of how those beds might fill up; all at once or a few at a time. Chief Lewis said it will likely be gradual,based on the back log from the Court. It may not fill up completely. Councilor VanGordon said he agrees with moving forward with this and is supportive. He liked the way they were thinking. Mayor Lundberg asked if our cost was lower than the County. Chief Lewis said Springfield charges$85 per night and Lane County charges$117 per night. Mayor Lundberg asked if the offenses of women inmates are similar to those of the men. Chief Lewis said they are similar in the crimes being committed. In the past, felonies were rare among women, but it is not unusual for women to be arrested for robbery now. Often,the male and female offenders are arrested as a team. This would allow us to treat both inmates equally instead of sending the female to Lane County. Mayor Lundberg said when they set up the jail, we knew at some point it would include both male and female offenders. Chief Lewis said the County has given the City until the end of June 2017 to make the change. He will work on getting this done by the end of February or early March. Mayor Lundberg said Council was supportive of moving forward. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:36 p.m. Minutes Recorder—Amy Sowa ;lriie 1ndxg Mari 1 eeloodrow Mayer- Council President Attest. Amy So City Recorder