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Medford revisits emergency law City Council to review toned-down version of controversial ordinance By JIM DAVIS Council meeting Who : Medford City Council What : Emergency-management ordinance When : Noon Thursday Where : Council chambers of Medford City Hall, 411 W. Eighth St. A revised emergency management ordinance will go before the Medford City Council Thursday. The new ordinance, however, makes no mention of curfews, prohibiting public gatherings or preventing the carrying of guns, issues that had made the earlier version controversial. Medford Fire Chief Dave Bierwiler said the new version of the ordinance addresses citizens' questions. "What we tried to do is accommodate all of our needs, plus we wanted to make it so as to assure the public that we're not doing anything dramatic," Bierwiler said. Bill Mansfield, an attorney and former Medford city councilman, had raised questions about the earlier version of the ordinance. After reviewing the new draft Tuesday, Mansfield said most of his concerns have been addressed. "Basically I think they've done a pretty good job of cleaning it up," he said. As originally written, the law would have allowed the city manager to declare a "state of emergency" in times of crisis such as -- but not limited to -- floods, fires, terrorism, earthquakes and hazardous-waste spills. The old version of the law also would have given the city manager broad powers, including the authority to prohibit public gatherings, to order evacuations, to ban the sale of alcohol and gasoline and the sale or carrying of weapons. One of the primary changes in the new ordinance is that it gives the power to declare an emergency to the mayor or to the city council officers if the mayor is unavailable. The new draft allows the city to move funds around and to circumvent financing issues such as the bid process during an emergency. So, if the city needed 25 dump trucks, the city could rent the trucks without going to a bid system during the emergency, said Medford City Attorney Ron Doyle. It also allows the city to request and receive aid from state and federal agencies. But the new draft avoids mention of the hot-button issues such as curfews or prohibiting public gatherings. The ordinance also omits "blight" as an emergency situation. The original ordinance had listed that as a possible emergency. The only one of these issues that remains is that the ordinance allows the city manager to order evacuations. Mansfield, who said he is meeting with City Manager Michael Dyal this morning to discuss the ordinance, said that the city "cleaned up things a whole lot" in this new version. He said the older version had been too broad. "Even though they meant something less, when you're evaluating legislation you evaluate it as to what it can do, not what the parties intend it to do," Mansfield said. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA