Eugene police auditor broke no laws, district attorney finds.

Byline: Edward Russo The Register-Guard

Eugene's Police Auditor Cristina Beamud broke no state law as she monitored complaint allegations against a police officer, Lane County District Attorney Doug Harcleroad has concluded.

Harcleroad investigated allegations by a Eugene police sergeant that Beamud committed official misconduct by using her position for personal gain. The district attorney found that "there is no evidence of any violation of state law," Police Chief Robert Lehner said in a Tuesday memorandum to Interim City Manager Angel Jones.

Lehner's memo was shared with Beamud's boss, the City Council, Tuesday evening.

"That's good news as far as we are concerned, about our employee," Mayor Kitty Piercy said.

Eugene Police Sgt. Ron Swanson alleged that Beamud is biased against the police, inappropriately interjects herself into complaint investigations and does it all for personal gain.

He made his charges in a Feb. 4 memo to the City Council. He alleged that Beamud omitted information during the investigation of an allegation of misconduct against a police officer - one of Swanson's subordinates - in order to influence the police chief's decision on discipline.

Beamud broke no law, according to Harcleroad, but city councilors want to be thorough, so on Tuesday they decided to conduct an administrative investigation into Swanson's non-criminal allegations against Beamud.

He claimed that Beamud "misrepresented" facts in a police department internal affairs document and that she violated the City Charter "through her biased actions and comments leveled at" police department employees.

As part of their inquiry, councilors plan to get statements from Swanson and Beamud. Councilors also said they may hire an independent investigator to look into the claims.

The council was informed about Swanson's allegations last Wednesday, more than a week after the date of Swanson's memo and after Lehner had turned over the claims to Harcleroad to investigate.

The delay upset some councilors, who said they should have been told about the allegations sooner. Councilors on Tuesday said they also need to create procedures to handle complaints about the council's other employees - the city manager and the municipal court judge.

Councilors said they should be notified of complaints against the employees within 24 hours of the allegations being made.

Councilor Mike Clark said he was "still smarting a little bit" from learning about the allegations several days later. "Each one of us (councilors) should have been notified immediately," he said.

Also on Tuesday, councilors heard public comment on zoning changes to allow a commercial and housing development on the former Santa Clara Elementary School site.

Developer Steve Graves is seeking the change, the first step toward building a shopping center and residential development at River Road and Hunsaker Lane.

Several residents supported the development, saying that Santa Clara needs the kind of upscale shops that Graves wants to build.

Other residents, however, opposed the plan, saying River Road already has enough stores, and Graves' plan doesn't go far enough to provide a public place for residents to gather.

Also, south Eugene residents argued about plans to rebuild the badly rutted streets in the hilly Crest Drive area southwest of Morse Ranch.

Many residents who live in the neighborhood support the proposed narrow streets, with no bike lanes and a sidewalk on one side of the streets.

But other residents want the new streets to include a bike lane on the uphill lanes of the streets.

Resident Kathy Saranpa said neighbors want to "retain the character of our neighborhood" by keeping the streets narrow.

A residents' committee that worked on the design for two years included bicyclists, she said. "There is not one member of our committee who has not had to compromise something for the good of the whole," Saranpa said.

But Charles Quinn, a bike commuter, urged the council to include a bike lane. An 8-foot wide bus and a 2-foot wide bike will not fit in a 9-foot wide travel lane, he said. "Please keep safety in the forefront of your mind," Quinn said.

Councilors are scheduled to vote on the Santa Clara and Crest Drive proposals on April 14.