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Mr. Poling thanked City Manager Ruiz for declining his merit increase. He believed his action spoke to <br />the manager's caliber and demonstrated his dedication to saving the organization money. <br />Mr. Poling said City Manager Ruiz did a good job keeping the council informed of emerging issues. He <br />appreciated the manager's ability to work with the leadership of other jurisdictions and emphasized its <br />value to the organization. Mr. Poling noted that City Manager Ruiz had recently led the Budget <br />Committee through a challenging budget process and had worked with committee members and staff to <br />develop creative solutions to budget shortfalls. <br />Mr. Poling believed that City Manager Ruiz had proved repeatedly he was an organizational leader. The <br />manager continually challenged staff to come up with creative way to deliver services and save money. <br />Mr. Poling suggested that sometimes the manager took constructive criticism too personally but he <br />always managed to continue on and carry out the council's direction in a positive way. <br />Mr. Poling concluded by saying Eugene was fortunate to have City Manager Ruiz. He could not say <br />enough about the work that City Manager Ruiz had done for the council. He thanked him for his work. <br />Mr. Zelenka also thanked City Manager Ruiz for declining his merit increase. He deserved the increase <br />but Mr. Zelenka respected his decision. He agreed with Mr. Poling that Eugene was fortunate to have <br />City Manager Ruiz. He said the manager had established a good, competent management team, and Mr. <br />Zelenka appreciated his calm, can -do attitude, which had permeated throughout the organization. The <br />manager had created an organizational expectation related to problem- solving and success that Mr. <br />Zelenka considered the hallmark of his accomplishments. <br />Mr. Zelenka emphasized the manager's excellent leadership, particularly in regard to the budget and the <br />Envision Eugene planning process. He believed the manager had led the City toward budget stability and <br />improved customer service while cutting the budget dramatically. He believed that Eugene was heading <br />in the right direction in regard to the Envision Eugene process. <br />Mr. Zelenka suggested the manager needed to continue to work on improved EPD- community relations, <br />where some progress had been made but more work remained to be done. He also believed more work <br />was needed on the management - AFSCME relationship. <br />Mr. Zelenka emphasized the importance of infrastructure development, job creation, and business <br />development facilitation, and said those issues would be his focus over the course of the coming year. <br />Ms. Taylor believed one of the manager's best attributes was his ability to take criticism, which had not <br />been an attribute of past managers. She indicated her major focus was on protecting neighborhood <br />livability and the rights of individuals. She did not think the City could create jobs but it could make it <br />possible for other people to create jobs. Ms. Taylor recalled that the City had worked to relocate Oregon <br />Research Institute in the Sears pit several years ago, and she believed that had City Manager Ruiz been <br />manager at that time the effort would have succeeded. She hoped the City Council's decisions regarding <br />a future city hall did not result in a pit on the site of the current City Hall. <br />Mr. Pryor believed that City Manager Ruiz was the right person in the right place at the right time. He <br />believed that City Manager Ruiz understood the community quickly and grasped its need for collaborative <br />interaction. That made it easier for the manager to get things done and helped him to interact with the <br />council. Mr. Pryor suggested the City was accomplishing things it could not before, such as filling the <br />downtown pits with new construction and its street preservation efforts. He said the council could take <br />some credit but it could only be as effective as its staff. <br />MINUTES— Eugene City Council, July 20, 2011 Page 2 <br />Work Session <br />