01/21/1985 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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M I NUT E S e Eugene City Council Eugene Hilton Hotel -- Board Room January 21, 1985 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Cynthia Wooten, Richard Hansen, Ruth Bascom, Freeman Holmer, Jeff Miller, Roger Rutan, Emily Schue. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Debra Ehrman. Adjourned meeting of the City Council of the City of Eugene of January 16, 1985, was called to order by His Honor Mayor Brian B. Obie. I. QUARTERLY PROCESS SESSION e A. City Board and Commission Assignments for 1985 Councilors reviewed the assignments that had been discussed at the January 14 City Council meeting and made some changes. Mayor Obie announced that Coun- cilor Erhman will be asked to serve as the alternate representative on the L-COG Board of Directors. Councilor Bascom will serve on the Metropolitan Area Transportation Committee. Councilor Schue and Councilor Rutan will serve on the Joint Parks Committee. Councilor Wooten noted her interest in serving on the permanent Community Development Committee. B. Overview of Process Session e Mayor Obie said that both general and specific reports, requests, and sugges- tions would be discussed. He asked each councilor to suggest subjects. He asked Mr. Gleason to participate in the discussion. C. Rules by Which the Council Operates The councilors talked about the written and unwritten rules under which they operate. Concerning the public hearing format, Councilor Wooten said there are legal rules for abstentions, but sometimes she would like to abstain although it is not a legal requirement. The councilors discussed the ques- tioning versus discussing parts of the agenda format and noted that there is a period when councilors gather information. It was agreed that technical questions may be asked of those testifying, but that those questions should be channeled through the mayor. Questions involving philosophy are not appropriate during the questioning part of the meeting. Some councilors indicated an interest in asking people questions directly. It was noted that councilors usually do not ask questions of the staff if they know the answers, but occasionally this is necessary to explain something to the public. Councilors agreed that stating one's position should occur during the discussion period as opposed to the question period. They agreed, how- ever, that it is difficult to change from information gathering to discussion. MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 21, 1985 Page 1