CC Minutes - 04/17/06 Process Session

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City Manager Taylor said that he did not know about the e-mail at the time of the incident. He had been referring to another e-mail message when responding to Ms. Bettman the previous week. Ms. Bettman suggested that if City Manager Taylor did not know about the e-mail message, it meant that Assistant City Manager Carlson had not told him. She said that to attempt to keep the discussion at a high level when there were things going on behind the scenes might be comfortable, but it was not adding clarity to the issue. Mr. Papé said he found the incident disturbing. He said that he had been treated disrespectfully at times in the past by staff but acknowledged there were times he had treated staff disrespectfully, and those situations were resolved. He said that if one wanted to elicit respect, one had to treat others respectfully. He hoped he had made the appropriate apologies. He wished he had been more professional and that staff had been more appropriate and respectful with him. Ms. Ortiz said she had not been treated disrespectfully by staff. Speaking to the issue of two-way streets, she said that if she saw something she did not like, she had to go to the manager to address the issue. If she acted inappropriately, she would want to know, and she thought the existing system worsened the situation that occurred. She found the system frustrating and had to take care about what she said, which “went against the grain” because she tended to speak her mind. Mr. Pryor said the situation was very difficult in that the council was discussing both the issue of conduct and how one acted in the real world as well as one’s intent, culture, motivation, and relationship. The latter topics were very subjective and could lead to a slippery slope. In regard to the issue of conduct, human society could only function if people were specific, careful, and deliberate in their conduct. He said the conduct in question was wrong and should be dealt with through City’s progressive disciplinary system by the City Manager. The conduct should not be tolerated. The issue of intent and motivation and culture remained, and Mr. Pryor did not know why people did what they did. Given that he did not know the intent, he suggested the council’s focus be on conduct, that in the future all work to ensure it was professional and acceptable. Mr. Pryor acknowledged that some people did not like or respect him, but he asked only that they conduct themselves in a manner that allows the council to get things done. Ms. Taylor said the reason the issue was so serious was that it involved top management and a lack of respect for the council. She maintained that disrespect among top management opened the way for other employees to feel that a lack of respect toward the council was acceptable. Ms. Taylor said she understood the attitude that the council was “sort of a nuisance,” but the councilors represented the voters, so if staff disrespected the council it, in turn, disrespected citizens. She pointed out that if the citizens did not like what their councilors were doing, they could vote them out. Ms. Taylor did not expect such conduct from top managers who were supervising other City employees. Mr. Poling said he spent many years dealing with people who did not like him because of the uniform he wore. He went about his business and treated people the way he wanted to be treated. He shared an anecdote about someone who came to his assistance at a call because he had treated that individual with respect when they were housed in jail. Mr. Poling said he had never been treated with disrespect by a City staff person in the four years he had served on the council. He did not care if staff liked him as long as he was treated respectfully. He thought it unfortunate a mistake was made, and believed it would be addressed by the manager. He recommended that the council move on. MINUTES—Eugene City Council April 17, 2006 Page 10 Process Session