ESTACADA CITY HALL, COUNCIL CHAMBERS
475 SE MAIN STREET, ESTACADA, OREGON
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2005 – 5:30 PM
CALL TO ORDER BY PRESIDING
OFFICER
The meeting was called to order at 5:30 pm. Mayor Austin led in the pledge of allegiance.
Present: Cr.
Marli Stauffacher, Cr. Michele Conditt, Cr. Richard Hartwig, Cr. Becky Arnold,
Cr. Kay Nelson, Cr. Ben Erickson, Mayor Bob Austin, CM Randy Ealy, CR Denise
Carey.
COUNCIL
BUSINESS
Clackamas
County Sheriff’s Contract – Mayor Austin stated that the Council was provided
with a transcript of the part of the Public Safety Task Force that Cr. Hartwig
was concerned about. Cr. Hartwig stated
that a paragraph was missing so the Council listened to the tape while
following the written transcript. Cr.
Hartwig then stated that this was what he wanted them to hear. The portion of the meeting was regarding Lt.
Slaney’s answer to a question regarding where traffic tickets were being cited.
Cr. Hartwig pointed out that some traffic tickets
were not cited to the city that should have been and there is a problem with
someone siphoning the money out of the City.
He stated that he had been blaming CM Ealy for something that he didn’t
do. He stated this is an example of a
fleecing of America.
The Council discussed Cr. Hartwig’s
accusations. Cr. Hartwig stated that he
had attended the last 7 courts held by Judge Kushner and he only had 2 or 3
people show up. Cr. Stauffacher asked CR
Carey if there was a violations bureau in place to take care of tickets
now. CR Carey stated that Judge Kushner
had implemented a violations bureau and that this drastically reduced the
number of people that actually see the judge.
CR Carey stated that the judge is not even coming to court next
Wednesday because there are no tickets for her to see – they have all been
taken care of at the violations window.
Cr. Erickson stated that none of this discussion has
anything to do with the contract and there should be no problems with approving
it. He is concerned with the present
and the future and wants to improve things from the past. Cr. Arnold also does not feel this issue has
anything to do with the current contract.
Cr. Nelson has a problem with the contract and why
the City Manager did not pick up on the fact that tickets were not being cited
correctly.
Mayor Austin stated that the violations bureau has taken
away from tickets seen at the judge level.
He also stated that we have had the highest amount of revenues from
tickets last year. He stated that the
police are here to enforce laws and change the behavior to abide by the laws,
not just to make money. Mayor Austin
stated that the City would watch the ticket writing closely.
Cr. Conditt stated that this issue is concerning but
it is in the past and it seems that it has been corrected. The Council just needs to be sure that things
are happening correctly today and in the future. She also stated that staff has done a great
job collecting old fines.
Cr. Arnold moved to rescind the motion at the last
meeting to approve the Sheriff’s contract.
Cr. Erickson seconded the motion.
Roll call vote: Cr. Stauffacher-yes,
Cr. Conditt-yes, Cr. Hartwig-no, Cr. Arnold-yes, Cr. Nelson-yes, Cr.
Erickson-yes, Mayor Austin-yes. The
motion passed with 6 yes and 1 no (this motion needed 2/3 vote to pass).
Cr. Hartwig moved to not approve the Sheriff’s
contract as long as it contains Lt. Slaney as the lieutenant in the
contract. Cr. Nelson seconded the
motion. Cr. Erickson stated that the
Council would need to find another means of revenue or get it from another area
of the budget if the contract is not passed unless there is a vote to have no
service at all. He definitely does not
want to vote for no service. Cr. Conditt
agreed that we need to have a contract and that the more time that is wasted,
the more money it will cost the city.
Cr. Hartwig stated that his argument is that there was an officer that
came into town and made a decision to do something that should not have been
his decision. Cr. Arnold feels Lt.
Slaney has done a wonderful job in our community and that he works well with
the community.
Roll call vote:
Cr. Stauffacher-no, Cr. Conditt-no, Cr. Hartwig-yes, Cr. Arnold-no, Cr.
Nelson-yes, Cr. Erickson-no, Mayor Austin-no.
The motion failed with 2 yes and 5 no.
Cr. Conditt moved to approve the Sheriff’s contract
for police services. Cr. Arnold seconded
the motion. Roll call vote: Cr. Stauffacher-yes, Cr. Conditt-yes, Cr.
Hartwig-no, Cr. Arnold-yes, Cr. Nelson-no, Cr. Erickson-yes, Mayor Austin-yes. The motion passed with 5 yes and 2 no.
ADJOURNMENT
OF MEETING
The meeting was adjourned at 6:00 pm.