The ASUO Executive offered City Council its own draft of a proposed ordinance, which would require renters to pay the cost of repeated police response to disorderly parties, Tuesday night at City Hall.
The Executive’s proposal would make the ordinance more lenient and would shift fine-issuing jurisdiction from the city manager’s office to the city’s court system.
The current draft of the ordinance would force renters to foot the bill for repeated police action to out-of-control parties where more than 10 people are gathered. On the first police response, tenants would receive a warning. If police return to the address to break-up another party within 90 days, the renters would repay the city up to $1,500 of the cost of the police action, taking the financial burden off taxpayers.
The Executive proposed applying the fee to parties where more than 30 people, rather than 10 people, are present and to addresses to police respond twice within 21 days, rather than 90 days. The proposal also included an exemption from the fine for renters who call police to break-up disorderly parties at their own addresses.
A handful of Executive members that the current ordinance would unfairly target small parties and worsen relations between students and the EPD. They said the proposed revisions would better target those who regularly throw out-of-control parties.
But Eugene Police Department Lt. Carolyn McDermed, who helped write the original ordinance, said that the current draft before the Council would be an effective deterrent against raucous partying but wasn’t intended to discourage responsible partying.
“The goal isn’t that nobody can have a party in Eugene any more,” McDermed said. “The goal is to reduce the number of disorderly parties and police responses.”
The ordinance, drafted by the EPD, is part of the department’s larger effort to curb raucous parties and underage drinking. That effort also includes a “zero-tolerance” policy toward underage drinking and the formation of a “Party Patrol,” which consists of six officers trained to handle out-of-control parties.
McDermed said that disorderly parties are just as common this year as they were last year. Last weekend, the EPD responded to 26 alcohol-related complaints, she said.
“I understand that partying in this area is an issue that needs to be addressed,” Christa Shively, ASUO community outreach director, said of the current draft of the ordinance. “But I don’t feel this is the best solution.”
After receiving the Executive’s draft, several city councilors said they would consider the suggestions.
“We’re looking for partnerships to better the relationships that have eroded between students and the police department,” ASUO President Jay Breslow said. “[The current ordinance] will tear down relations and hurt relations between the student body and the police department.”
A handful of University students also spoke against the ordinance, including sophomore journalism major Joel Weber, who said he “despises” the proposal.
“If you fine me $1,000, I will transfer to another school and leave Eugene,” he said. “We would rather you help us and the community as a whole and come up with something other than a financial burden.”
Three property managers supported the current draft of the ordinance at the hearing.
“This ordinance will be an effective tool for Eugene and for property managers to control the ever-increasing cost of responding to large gatherings,” property manager Bob Siegmund said.
City Council will vote on the ordinance Oct. 23. A vote was originally scheduled in June but was postponed, at the request of the Executive, until this fall so students returning from summer break could offer input.
Students suggest amending ‘Party Patrol’
Daily Emerald
October 10, 2000
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