NE W S
POLICE COMMISSION
CHANGES ITS FOCUS
“What do people like to see in police policies?” asks
Kaitlyn Lange, former Eugene Police Commission chair.
She says this question, and trying to allow for more fl ex-
ibility and greater effi ciency, led to recent changes in the
commission’s work plan, which alterations the commis-
sion’s focus from reviewing policy to examining issues it
has determined the community is most interested in. City
Council approved the plan July 22. “We’re trying to get
away from wordsmithing policies and really get at the meat
of what concerns people,” she says.
The commission will fi rst examine the topic of services
and public safety issues related to homelessness. A panel
of EPD offi cers will explain how they enforce laws within
the homeless community and how the EPD interacts with
social service agencies, Police Commission member and
City Councilor Claire Syrett says. The commission will
also check in with the St. Vincent de Paul car camping
manager. Police sometimes ask the car camping program
to intervene in cases of illegal car camping and connect
homeless campers with services.
Lange and Syrett say that creating policy around emerg-
ing police technologies such as license plate scanners and
aerial drones is also a Police Commission priority, includ-
ing limiting how long data from license plate scanners can
be kept. “We don’t want to be creating databases of people
who aren’t under suspicion of doing anything wrong,”
Syrett says.
COUNTY TEMPESTS
CONTINUE UNRESOLVED
Recent allegations that County Administrator Liane Rich-
ardson was asking employees to alter how she added money
to her paycheck in a way not authorized by her employment
contract came to light thanks to a county employee whistle-
blower, backed by the AFSCME union. An “outside investi-
gation” was launched into this incident, overseen by County
Counsel Stephen Dingle, but county documents appear to in-
dicate Richardson should have been aware that what she was
doing was improper.
As a result of the whistleblowing the county administrator
placed herself on paid administrative leave. In a July 26 letter
to the board, the AFSCME union questioned Dingle’s abil-
ity to impartially oversee the investigation, given that Dingle
and Richardson worked closely together in the past, that
Richardson consulted with Dingle on her payments and that
Dingle asked for a 14 percent raise at the same time Richard-
son asked for her $20,000 raise.
In a statement, Dingle defended his overseeing of the out-
side investigation and said that it would be “inappropriate
to disclose facts specifi c to any investigation before the in-
vestigation is completed, potentially compromising the in-
vestigation itself or calling into question the integrity of the
investigation once completed.”
It is not clear why Richardson, whose base salary is more
than $150,000 a year, sought such a large wage increase.
County records show that Liane Inkster Richardson and
Mark A. Richardson fi led for dissolution of marriage on May
2, 2013.
When former commissioner Rob Handy was investigated
for ethics violations that were later deemed unfounded, he
was locked out of his offi ce and from his county emails. EW
asked if Richardson has similarly been locked out. County
spokesperson Anne Marie Levis says, “For anyone on admin-
istrative leave, the practice of the county is to restrict access
to county resources such as email and offi ce space.”
8
A ugust 1, 2013 • eugeneweekly.com
Critics of the Police Commission say that it lacks the
authority to infl uence real change. Former Copwatch activ-
ist, videographer and longtime EPD critic Tim Lewis says
that while focusing on issues seems to be a better path, he’s
skeptical that it will make a difference. “I don’t think that
they have any teeth anyway,” he says. Shedding light upon
police activity through activism gets results, he says.
Syrett says it wouldn’t be appropriate for an unelected
body like the Police Commission to have direct authority
over EPD. “The purpose of the Police Commission and its
charter is to advise the chief on policy and to provide the
community’s perspective,” she says. If there were a major
disconnect between the community and chief, she says, it
may be appropriate for the commission to turn to the City
Council.
The Police Commission is on summer break and will
meet again Sept. 12 at EPD headquarters on Country Club
Road. Meeting information is at wkly.ws/1iu, and the re-
vised work plan with the list of community issues of con-
cern is at wkly.ws/1iv. — Shannon Finnell
MUPTE SUSPENSION
EXTENDED AGAIN
The Eugene City Council has extended the suspension
of the controversial Multiple-Unit Property Tax Exemp-
tion (MUPTE) for a second time, which means it might not
grant more tax breaks for as long as a year. MUPTE allows
City Council to grant 10-year property tax waivers to hous-
ing developers in the downtown area. It has come under
increasing public scrutiny since granting large property tax
waivers to student housing companies Capstone and Core
Campus. Under the new suspension ordinance, MUPTE
could remain dormant until July 31, 2014.
In anticipation of the Aug. 31, 2013, date when the
suspension was set to expire, neighborhood advocate and
MUPTE critic Paul Conte began work on the initiative pro-
cess to craft a 2014 ballot measure terminating the MUPTE
program. Opponents of MUPTE say that the program isn’t
being used to spur the type of development that Eugeneans
want, and concerns of the public are ignored.
Conte says that whether he moves forward with the ini-
tiative depends on what Eugeneans think should happen.
“With that ballot measure ready for signature collection at
any time, and the MUPTE program suspended for almost
another year, I’ll work this fall to organize a community-
based discussion of what should be done,” he says. At their
July 24 work session, city councilors echoed the desire to
include stakeholders in the decision.
If the MUPTE program is to remain in place, Conte
says, the community should determine for what kinds of
projects these tax breaks are granted. “One thing is certain,
decisions on these important taxation and housing policies
should not remain in the hands of Jon Ruiz and his pro-
developer staff,” he says. “If necessary, the potential ballot
initiative can make sure of that.”
Some councilors, most vocally Mike Clark and George
Poling, expressed concern at the work session that MUPTE
reforms wouldn’t be made in time to grant more tax
breaks by the summer 2014 construction season. Coun-
cilor George Brown wanted to set the sunset date of the
Not only does the administrator’s contract not appear to
allow for the changes she made to her pay without board ap-
proval, the most recent changes to the county’s Administrative
Procedures Manual, dated Oct. 4, 2012, are signed by Richard-
son, which implies she was aware of the county’s rules.
The manual says the maximum hours of time management
an employee can “sell back” for cash compensation is 80. Thus
far the documents and emails related to the pay controversy
EW has accessed have concentrated on deferred compensation
and “time management” leave-with-pay hours. The AFSCME
union and EW separately have made a public records request
for emails and documents related to Richardson’s pay, gross
wages, deferred compensation, PERS, time management or
bonuses.
Jim Steiner of AFSCME says the union inquired into the
compensation and related issues for Dingle as well as Richard-
son because they are related to collective bargaining for union
employees. “They say there’s no money, so how is someone
personally enriching themselves?” he asks.
The county has been underfunded for years, and during the
time Richardson was allegedly making changes to the money
she was taking home and asking for a 15 percent raise, the
county was asking voters to pass a jail levy and making cuts
to social programs. All rules, policies and procedures should
be applied equitably, Steiner says, pointing out that union
members have made personal sacrifi ces in offering “to cut cer-
tain wages and benefi ts because it best serves the county as a
whole, and our members are taxpayers.”
The identity of the whistleblowing county employee who
alerted the union to the pay issue has not been publicly dis-
closed. The employee was so worried, or the atmosphere at
county offi ces is so strained, that more than half of the Lane
County Commission’s statement to the media on the Richard-
son issue was devoted to explaining that “we will protect the
employee’s rights to bring matters of concern to our attention
without any retribution.”
The investigation is expected to wrap up in the near fu-
ture, but EW has not been given a release date for its results.
— Camilla Mortensen
‘They say there’s no
money, so how is
someone personally
enriching themselves?’
JIM STEINER, AFSCME
COUNTY
ADMINISTRATOR
LIANE RICHARDSON