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specific direction, he should include a suggested motion in the Agenda Item Summary (AIS); otherwise, in <br />the case of update items, motions should not be included. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy advocated for more work sessions devoted to thoughtful discussion. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor did not think the council should take action at work sessions. She preferred not to have City <br />Manager-recommended motions and suggested that options for the council’s consideration be prepared <br />instead. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman concurred with the remarks of Mr. Kelly. <br /> <br />Mr. Pryor expressed interest in seeing the City Manager’s recommendation on issues where staff believed <br />there was a preferred course of action. Specific motion text that conformed to State law would be valuable. <br />He said the recommendations could come forward in the form of two or three options, accompanied by the <br />same number of motions. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly pointed out that the AIS almost always included a City Manager-recommended motion. He <br />thought the situation in which a motion would be inappropriate would be infrequent. As an example, he <br />suggested that, had the West Eugene Parkway issue not been accompanied by a motion, the council’s <br />discussion would not have been so divisive. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy suggested that there was council tension about City Manager-recommended motions. She <br />agreed with the remarks of Mr. Pryor, but did not want the council to feel that staff was “trying to make the <br />council move in a particular direction.” The council was the decision-maker. <br /> <br />Mr. Poling noted that frequently, the council had more than one option to consider, as well as the City <br />Manager-recommended motion, and that the motion could always be amended. He agreed with Mr. Kelly <br />that the situation did not occur often. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman thought the Mayor’s remark about council tension over City Manager-prepared motions was <br />very valid. She maintained that frequently, the council heard only about the option the staff preferred rather <br />than being provided with the full range of information needed to make a decision. If the Mayor was <br />suggesting that the City Manager’s recommendation not be so prescriptive and that a motion only be made <br />after all councilors had spoken, she felt that was a better approach to governing. She suggested that the City <br />Manager put forth motions that would unite the council rather than potentially divide it. <br /> <br />Mr. Pryor said that the council could direct the City Manager to prepare motions after council discussion to <br />cover the small number of items involved. He agreed that motions were not needed for every item. <br /> <br />City Manager Taylor indicated understanding of the discussion and recalled the council’s past discussion of <br />the topic and its expressed desire for multiple options. <br /> <br />Mr. Papé asked the manager to let the council know when it had not provided adequate direction. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman said if direction was required, it should be expressed in the form of a motion. In cases where <br />motions were not prepared by the City Manager, she did not want that to preclude the council from making <br />motions. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council April 17, 2006 Page 2 <br /> Process Session <br /> <br />