CC Minutes - 04/17/06 Process Session

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Mr. Pryor said the organizational culture was nothing the council could impact directly and it could not direct everyone to get along. However, culture could be influenced by respect, trust, communication, and team work. If one worked on those four elements, one could begin to change a culture. He was concerned that, currently, the culture between elected officials and staff was suffering. He attributed that to a lack of respect, teamwork, communication, and trust. Mr. Pryor did not know where that came from, nor did he care, but believed something needed to be done immediately to improve those four elements, which would lead to improved relationships. He was concerned that the trust level between elected officials and staff was not as good as it could be, and that second-guessing was going on. City Manager Taylor recalled that in an earlier process session, the council reviewed the staff contact question, and it was his expectation that the council would generally communicate through the manager, the assistant manager, the executive managers, and the staff responsible for an agenda item summary. With regard to councilors communicating with other staff, that was perfectly acceptable and it was his expecta- tion that the staff involved in the contact would let him and the executive manager know of it. He said he would be happy to clarify that for the council in writing. Ms. Bettman shared Mr. Kelly’s recollection about council-staff communications. Ms. Bettman asked City Manager Taylor what happened when someone violated the City’s respectful work environment policy. City Manager Taylor said that he would coach and counsel the individual, who may be subject to discipline. He noted that there was an ongoing investigation into the incident. Ms. Bettman asked if there would be a point at which City Manager Taylor could talk about the incident. City Manager Taylor said yes, but he would not be able to discuss any disciplinary actions he took with regard to Assistant City Manager Carlson due to the expectation of employee confidentiality in regard to personnel issues. Ms. Bettman said that information reinforced her initial commitment to bring up the issue publicly. If the manager disciplined Assistant Manager Carlson privately, no one in the organization would know that he dealt with the issue, leaving the impression it was okay and had the tacit approval of those at the top. Ms. Shepard summarized some of the issues that had been raised during the discussion: elected offi- cials/staff divide; concerns about respect—both ways; issues of honesty/trust; inability to deal directly with people; unprofessional conducts and behaviors; intent/culture; top management and councilor modeling; people feeling marginalized; inconsistency with how different officials interact with staff; not a level playing field; undermining the work of officials; and asymmetry between elected officials and staff. Ms. Shepard offered a list of expectations and hopes: partnership; two-way street of respect; clear conduct/line of command; professional behavior; “golden rule”; hope for a significant initiative about the issue; hope for modeling respect from the top; clear communication; equitable treatment of all officials; and improve culture through trust, respect, teamwork, and communication. She suggested that the council needed to discuss the topic at greater length and asked about next steps. Mayor Piercy acknowledged the City Manager’s responsibility for personnel issues and said she wanted him to reinforce the appropriate use of e-mail and the need for respect for elected officials with staff. She hoped something positive came out of the situation. Mr. Papé thought many of the issues listed by Ms. Shepard applied to both the council and staff, particu- larly in regard to feeling marginalized. He wanted a council session where issues were put on the table. He thought that would be healthy. MINUTES—Eugene City Council April 17, 2006 Page 12 Process Session