11/01/1977 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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~ . . . . the City should depart from that policy. If Council were going to take that e posture, he felt it seemed at a minimum, Council should advise in advance that is what is going to happen. He said he had no reason to believe one was more qualified, but Luckman Partnership had spent considerable time and money to visit and present their qualifications, being led to believe they were being seriously considered for the job. He felt if Council were going to change the rules at this point, that was no light matter. He felt such a decision by Council to consider only local firms would create many ill feelings. In request- ing responses from national firms, using their time and money to come to Eugene for interviews, and then changing the rules and saying only local firms will be considered, was not a recognized, accepted, appreciated process in business, and he hoped Council did not do it. Dorie McGillivary, member of the Commission, noted Scott Lieuallen, as Chair- person of the subcommittee, was 45 minutes late at the last meeting and missed the entire discussion that centered around this issue. She noted all of these issues had come up in those previous 45 minutes. In response to Mr. Obie's question regarding the prioritizing of recommenda- tions, Mr. Baumgartner said the list was a priority list. It was presented in the exact order of the motion made at the meeting. Mr. Delay agreed with the elements of everything everyone was saying. However, he noted Council could prejudice a subcommittee by asking them to look only at local firms. By the same token, the Commission had carried out its charge. It had made a recommendation to Council in saying two firms are equally suitable. He said City Council could now objectively screen those two, and wondered why e Council could not select a local firm that was tied to the community, knows the community, and would lead to more citizen involvement. He said the subcommittee had done an excellent job, and he felt it perfectly reasonable to take other considerations into Council deliberations. He was in favor of either returning the matter to the Commission to have them recommend whether a local firm do the job, or move to accept Amundson at this time. Mr. Smith cautioned Council whether it should change the rules of the game at this stage. He said the Commission had fulfilled its obligation. He also noted if Council decided to consider only local firms, there might be other firms who would like to have the opportunity to participate and apply, and Council should consider that consequence. Mr. Delay thought in fact, not preprejudicing it that way so that people just competed on the basis of their own perception, of how well they could compete for that kind of job is to establish an objective framework. To turn around and say only local firms would be considred would be a disservice to the process. Mr. Anderson disagreed with Mr. Delay's statement. He said the posture of a lot of local firms would definitely change if City Council were to confine its selection to only local firms. Most local firms were aware national firms were competing, and many felt they should be a part of the process but did not think e Council--ll/l/77 - 5 82b