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MINUTES Eugene City Council Work Session McNutt Room--Eugene City Hall November 10, 2004 Noon COUNCILORS PRESENT: Bonny Bettman, Nancy Nathanson, Scott Meisner, David Kelly, Betty Taylor, Gary Papd, Jennifer Solomon. COUNCILORS ABSENT: George Poling. Mayor James D. Torrey called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. A. ACTION: Appointments to the Planning Commission Ms. Bettman, seconded by Ms. Nathanson, moved to appoint Randy Hledik to Position 2 on the Planning Commission for a four-year term beginning November 1, 2004, and ending October 31, 2008. Ms. Bettman opined that appointing Mr. Hledik to the Planning Commission would put it "disturbingly out of balance." She felt his position with Wildish Companies and the company's contracts with the City would hinder his impartiality. She termed Mr. Hledik "very, very one-sided in his approach to issues." She recalled that the council had blocked the president of 1,000 Friends of Eugene and the Southeast Neighbors from being on the commission, someone she felt was well-qualified to fill the position. She preferred appointing Greg Ringer, who she felt would better reflect community values. She noted he had run for a seat on the Lane Board of County Commissioners and had netted 30 percent of the vote. Mr. Kelly, though he felt Mr. Hledik had interviewed well and was a "bright individual with a lot of contact with the planning process," opposed the motion because of Mr. Hledik's employment. He called the development community a critical part of the City and commented that there was nothing wrong with being a part of it. However, he asserted that the Planning Commission needed to have representation by a diversity of interests and the appointment of Mr. Hledik would not fill this need. Mr. Kelly indicated his concern also lay with a portion of the Eugene Code which dictated that no more than two members of the Planning Commission should be engaged in the purchase, sale, or development of real property. He opined that while John Lawless and Rick Duncan were both "excellent members" of the commission, both owed their livelihoods to development. He said Mr. Hledik's appointment would not be in keeping with the spirit of the code. Mr. Pap~ believed the code provision indicated that a person should be principally engaged in development. He pointed out that neither Mr. Duncan nor Mr. Lawless was principally involved with development as one was an architect and the other was an appraiser. He contended that they would not consider their livelihoods to be directly attributable to development. MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 10, 2004 Page 1 Work Session