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<br />M I N U T E S <br /> <br /> <br />Eugene City Council <br />Process Session <br />Bascom Room—Eugene Public Library <br /> <br /> November 21, 2005 <br /> 5:30 p.m. <br /> <br />COUNCILORS PRESENT: Jennifer Solomon, Bonny Bettman, David Kelly, Betty Taylor, Gary Papé, <br />George Poling, Andrea Ortiz, Chris Pryor. <br /> <br />Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the November 21, 2005, process session of the Eugene City Council <br />to order. The council was joined by executive management staff, including City Manager Dennis Taylor, <br />Assistant City Manager Jim Carlson, Angel Jones, Lauren Chouinard, Kurt Corey, Susan Muir, and Matt <br />Shuler, and City Manager’s Office staff members Mary Walston, Mary Feldman, and Lynda Rose. <br /> <br /> <br />1. PROCESS SESSION <br /> <br />Public Meetings Law: Permitted Discussions among Elected Officials <br /> <br />The council was joined for the discussion by City Attorney Glenn Klein. Mr. Klein explained that Public <br />Meetings Law stipulated that any time a quorum of the council got together it constituted a meeting, <br />including electronic meetings. The law did not address e-mail or chat rooms. He advised councilors that a <br />quorum of the council in a chat room discussing public business constituted a violation of the law. <br />Conversely, back-and-forth e-mail communications, including deliberation, do not violate the law. Mr. <br />Klein noted the City’s system for sharing council e-mail with the public. He asked that the council avoid the <br />use of private e-mail accounts when dealing with City business to ensure that proper records are kept, and <br />reminded the council to alert Councilor Coordinator Lynda Rose when a confidential communication was <br />sent so she can delete it from the public record. <br /> <br />January 2006 Retreat <br /> <br />City Manager Dennis Taylor anticipated the retreat would occur in January and asked councilors’ <br />preference about scheduling the retreat on a weekend and their preferences for a location. He indicated that <br />with council concurrence, he would check with,Julia Novak, the previous retreat facilitator, to see if she was <br />available. The councilors generally favored holding the retreat on a Friday, although several indicated a <br />willingness to attend on a Saturday or Sunday. Councilors did not object to Ms. Novak as a facilitator, <br />although Ms. Taylor questioned the need for having a facilitator. Councilors had no particular location to <br />suggest, although Mr. Kelly encouraged a location with the greatest public access, such as the Bascom- <br />Tykeson Room at the Library. <br /> <br />The council agreed that it would focus on progress review at the January retreat. City Manager Taylor <br />indicated that a quarterly progress report on the council’s priority issues was available on the Web site. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council November 21, 2005 Page 1 <br /> Process Session <br /> <br />