The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About2011-0405 Documents Submitted at Mtg . "';"V'(~ ~ ,;-, ~ .. : ", .. . " . ~;:-"."" -: -.. ~p t/~!J I I3ru ~ ~ bv rll pu ptce. ":/MOJ m Creating Abundance , LlI!ifAiS.O [!ge'flffftake place. t is not to bring men and women over to our side, but to offer freedom not disturbed by dividing lines. It is not to lead our neighbor into 0 comer where there ore no alternatives left, but to open 0 wide spectrum of options for choice and commitment. It is not on educated intimidation of good books, good stories, and good works, but the liberation of fearful hearts so that the words con find roots and bear ample fruit. It is not 0 method of making our God and our way into the crite- ria of happiness, but the opening of on opportunity for others to find their God and their way. The paradox of hospitality is that it wonts to create empt/ness- not 0 fearful emptiness, but 0 friendly emptiness where strangers con enter and discover themselves as created free; free to sing their own songs, speak their own languages, donee their own donees; free also to leave and follow their own vocations. -Henri Nouwen . 113 tT-e"" Co.k t\-~'f'-T2.e,\\ . l t 3u.~\'{\\'-\\e.6, Lt-S-ll ~ DS Name Established Purpose Representation Approval Notes Ashland Water Advisory March 16,2010 provide public input and Multi-stakeholder: City Voice Vote: Councilor Ves Ad-Hoc Committee advice to the City staff Council Member; Jackson, Silbiger and and their Consultant Neighborhood/Community Chapman. YES; (Carollo) for this project Group; School District; Councilor Navickas and Ashland Downtown Voisin, NO. Motion Assoc; Chamber of passed 3-2 Commerce, Home Builders Assoc; Ashland Hospital, Ashland Fire - Department; WISE Project; Ashland Coalition, Utility SDC Committee, League of Women Voters; Environmental Group Citizen Committee on January 5, 2010 Assess need for Multi-stakeholders Councilor Voisin, fJO Public Safety General identified public safety Navickas, Jackson and Obligation Bond Levy facility improvements & Lemhouse, YES; recommend funding Councilor Silbiger and strategies Chapman, NO. Motion passed 4-2 Ad Hoc Croman June 16,2009 Recommend on Reps from neighborhood, Councilor Silbiger ~e5 Advisory Committee implementation strategy, Chamber of Commerce, recused on potential updating respective City SOU, City Council & conflict of interest. commission or Planning Housing, Voisin, Navickas, stakeholder groups on Transportation & Tree Lemhouse, Jackson, , the status Commissions Silbiger and Chapman: all A YES. Motion I passed Siskiyou Blvd Safety April 2008 Assess options to Interest-based and NEVER brought to Chapman served on Committee improve blvd near SOU institutions, Traffic Safety formal vote; tabled by committee members, Council liaison Chapman/Jackson; - happened anyway Aesthetic Advisory December 16, 2008 Provide input to Multi-stakeholders Vote: Councilor Hartzell, ? Committee (AAC) Interchange Area Hardesty, Jackson, - Management Plan Navickas and Silbiger, YES. Motion passed. ~4 &:k ~ufI . "'15/lIp~~6.f3 Economic Development September 18, 2007 Hear public input Motion to recruit ~es Taskforce regarding potential members and staff: increase in Transient Hardesty, Chapman, Occupaocy Tax Navickas, Hartzell, Silbiger, Jackson, YES. Motion passes 6-0 Transportation 2007 Financing Taskforce Ad Hoc Transportation October 16,2007 Address transportation Councilors ~e5-~ nOC Committee planning, public transit Chapman/Jackson mls and parking issues to form a mayors ad hoc, rather than standing Transportation Committee; unanimous vote for standing comm Ad Hoc Ashland Fiber June 7, 2005 Analyze/recommend Reps from business, January 30, 2003, Network Options operational options for technical, industry and PUBLIC INPUT: Russ Committee the Ashland Fiber financial Silbiger Expressed Network concerns about AFN and ... recommended starting up the ad hoc committee again to deal with ongoing concerns, Ad Hoc Grove December 16, 2004 identify needs of Interests specific to issue Committee underserved youth in & providers community & range of options for responding to those needs Ad Hoc Charter Review May 4, 2004 Work w/ consultant to Multi-stakeholders Committee recommend changes to Charter Transient Occupancy November 4, 2003 Recommend options Subcommittee of the Tax Council regarding the allocation Council: Jackson, Hearn, subcommittee of the Transient Hartzell Occupancy Tax Ad Hoc Economic July 16, 2003 review and ground truth members from 2000 Development Review updated economic data; committee, other Committee determine action plao to community interests, address economic especially regarding development issues economic development ~ f!41~ tI'f 1}#!1 ~f3 tl Boulevard Citizen 2002? Study/recommend Multi-stakeholders Design Committee & design criteria with "Group 66" (Ashland consultant Street ad hoc committee) Ad Hoc Living Wage February 20, 2001 Study and recommend Chamber of Commerce, Advisory on Living wage nonprofit agency; ordinance contractor to City; Oregon Action reps, council liaison, Parks rep Ad Hoc Committee for 2000 review the Watershed Ashland Watershed Protection Plan EIS Protection Proiect Ad Hoc transportation 2000 Address transportation Committee related problems near Community Hospital, SOU, downtown, High School Ad Hoc Citizen @ 1996 Communication Committee Ad Hoc LID Committee early 1998 Review options for improvement Ad Hoc Water 1998 Study options to meet Multi-stakeholders Advisory Group future water demand estimates Ad Hoc Space Needs 1993 identify and defme Committee concerns with City Facilitv locations Ad Hoc AFN Strategic @1997 Analyze/recommend Reps from business, Steering Committee Strategic Plan for the technical, industry, Ashland Fiber Network financial & public Ad Hoc Transportation, 1996 Assess & recommend Transit, and Parking strategies to relieve Committee downtown parking issues . '. April 5, 2011 F'NA L VERSl'D\-J Cate Hartzell 892 Garden Way Ashland, Oregon City Council 20 East Main Street Ashland, Oregon City Conncilors, Police Chief Holderness was kind enough to answer my questions about the problems that he was trying to resolve in suggesting the Exclusion Zone. Several times, he stated that he welcomed alternatives. In our last conversation, he explained that this issue grew to the current proportion after the City Council reclassified offenses. His mini-lesson in offense classification helped immensely in how I was able to think about the problem we are trying to solve as a community. I am grateful to the Chief for that. Council unknowinelv contribnted to the Droblem that the Dolice deDartment is havine with reoeat offenders in the downtown area. In 2010, the Ashland City Council made changes to the classification of offenses. In this process, it reclassified some offenses from being misdemeanors to violations. What this did was to change those offenses from being punishable by imprisonment to only being punishable by fines, ORS 161.545 "Misdemeanor" described. A crime is a misdemeanor ifit is so designated in any statute of this state or if a person convicted thereof may be sentenced to a maximum term of imprisonment of not more than one year. [1971 c.743 ~69] ORS 153.008 ViolatioDS described. (I) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, an offense is a violation if any of the following apply: (b) The statute prescribing the penalty for the offense provides that the offense is punishable by a fine but does not provide that the offense is punishable by a term of imprisonment. The statute may provide for punishment in addition to a fme as long as the punishment does not include a term of imprisonment. Societies establish legal consequences for behavior it deems negative based on what it believes are disincentives. By classirying offenses as violations for which fmes must be paid, we failed to understand that offenders who don't have money (or much) don't experience fines as a disincentive. Rather than to of advocate for increased jail exposure for poor people, I encourage the Council to have a work crew alternative to fines, like many cities, including Eugene have created. A person 'earns' $101hr to payoff his/her fine and contributes to the community by performing labor. In cash-strapped municipal budgets these programs can really fill gaps and require very little money because there are already county road crew programs, or city works crews that already have the tools, etc. This is an issue of due Drocess. Due Drocess is imoortant to Drevent an abuse of Dower. such as discrimination bv Dolice. The problem with this unintended consequence of the offenses reclassification is that it invites the abridgement of due process as a 'remedy.' "Due process: The idea that laws and legal proceedings must be fair. The Constitution guarantees that the government cannot take away a person's basic rights to 'life, liberty or property, without due process oflaw.' Courts have issued numerous rulings about what this means in particular cases. . .... The Fourteenth Amendment prohibits the deprivation of liberty or property without due process of law." "Due process is best defined in one word--fairness." The 'Lectric Law Library; http://www.lectlaw.comldef/d080.htrn The Oregon ACLU addresses this issue in a statement it prepared for the debate over Eugene's Exclusion Zone: "The exclusion program circumvents due process by allowing exclusion based solely on a of preponderance of evidence in a civil process that does not require an attorney be provided for those who cannot afford one. In spite of the efforts by our municipal court judges to provide a fair process they cannot represent or advise the people who come before them. Without access to a lawyer, many people do not fully understand how quickly and what they must do to protect their rights to challenge an exclusion order. Many of the people who receive these orders might not be as well equipped as all of us to understand what the exclusion order says, what it means and how to access and understand the system to defend themselves. Some have little or no education, some have serious disabilities or mental health hurdles that have nothing to do with any criminal activity - we need to understand that many may not fully understand what they need to do with no one to help them." Offenses classified as violations allow a police officer to allege a crime or to base a citation on a citizen's allegation and to authorize that officer to exclude a person from a whole geographical area before the accused has any opportunity to defend themselves removes their due process. Misdemeanors require a venue for the accused to provide and hear evidence because they can result in imprisonment. Judl!es alreadv have the option of decidinl! to exclude specific people from specific areas. From the Jf Oregon ACLU's statement, again: "The ACLU of Oregon believes that we can have exclusion orders that uphold these due process principles. Instead of an ordinance, we can use the current judicial system. Under our system, if a person is suspected of a drug or prostitution crime, they can be arrested or cited and then must appear before ajudge. At that time, if the person is going to remain or be released from custody before going to trial, the District Attorney can request the judge to issue an exclusion order as part of the release conditions. And if the person pleads guilty or goes to trial and is found guilty then at the time of sentencing, the judge can order the person excluded as part of the sentence. In order to address the potential law suit and in response to Civil Liberties Defense Center's constitutional #I challenge to the Exclusion Zone, the City of Eugene is now in the process of hiring an "exclusion zone advocate" to address the very real issue of folks who can't afford legal representation. This will be an additional cost to the city, in addition to the money they spend on extra police. The Eugene Exclusion Zone has not been effective in reducing the amount of scruflY non-shoppers in their downtown zone. What is has done is disgusted many who view the ordinance as selective enforcement against 'undesirables.' The City Council has the option to resolve this issue without imposing a law that promises to generate much social opposition and potential financial loss, to both businesses and to the city through legal challenges. I encourage the City Council to pursue the path of least resistance first. Exclusion zones are unnecessary and redundant, and seek to criminalize marginalized populations without due process The image that we present to those who visit our city speaks to our capacity to resolve difficult issues without building walls, virtual or brick. Respectfully, Cate Hartzell