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Ms. Taylor felt that a twelve-member commission was too large and preferred seven members. She thought <br />appointments should be made similar to the process used for the Charter Review Committee, with each <br />councilor submitting two recommendations from among applicants and the council making the final choice. <br />She said the ordinance should proceed and not wait for staff to be hired. <br /> <br />Mr. Poling agreed with Ms. Taylor regarding a seven-member commission as the most effective size. <br />Regarding the selection process, he was agreeable with the recommendation that the mayor nominate and the <br />council appoint members as the mayor had taken the lead and accomplished her goals with little dissent <br />among councilors. He was confident the recommended process would result in good appointments and if the <br />nominees were not acceptable to the council, it could request more names. He asked why the council should <br />wait until after the sustainability manager was hired to hold another work session and public hearing on the <br />ordinance. <br /> <br />City Manager Taylor said it seemed the logical process was to have the person who would lead the City’s <br />sustainability effort involved in creation of the commission and determining expectations and scope of work. <br />It would also synchronize efforts with the availability of resources in the FY08 budget to support the <br />commission’s activities. <br /> <br />Mr. Poling said the commission could be appointed but not meet until staff support was available. <br /> <br />Ms. Solomon favored a smaller commission of seven or nine members. She asked why the Police Commis- <br />sion appointment process was different from some other boards and commissions. Ms. Walston said that <br />was how the ordinance establishing the Police Commission was written in 1998. She thought it might be <br />based on the idea that appointment by the mayor could be a more stable model and less prone to politics. <br /> <br />Ms. Solomon preferred that the council nominate and appoint commission members. She agreed with Mr. <br />Poling that Mayor Piercy had done an excellent job of shepherding the sustainability issue to this point, but <br />there would be different mayors in the future and it would be the council’s responsibility to move forward. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman said she was willing to send the ordinance as written, with the amendment suggested by Mayor <br />Piercy, forward to a public hearing. She supported a 12-member commission because it would fulfill a very <br />different role than other commissions; it required a broad range of expertise and members with access to <br />resources regarding sustainability strategies used successfully in other jurisdictions. She could accept a 9- <br />member commission with each councilor and the mayor appointing members but thought the ordinance <br />language was the best approach. She saw no reason to delay the public hearing and adoption of the <br />ordinance until the sustainability manager was hired. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman, seconded by Mr. Zelenka, moved to take the ordinance forward to a pub- <br />lic hearing with the Mayor Piercy’s suggested amendment. <br /> <br />Mr. Zelenka said the issue was consistent with the sustainability goal the council had just adopted and he <br />agreed that there should not be a delay in moving forward. He disagreed with a statement in the agenda item <br />summary that there had not been substantial debate or discussion on the number of commission members or <br />appointment process. He said an amended motion proposed by former councilor David Kelly at an earlier <br />work session specifically outlined a 12-member body with City Council appointment. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council – Work Session January 24, 2007 Page 2 <br /> <br />