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Ms. Solomon noted that discussion of the city manager recruitment had replaced a scheduled process <br />session. She questioned whether 2.5 hours were required for that discussion. Ms. Holmes replied that Mr. <br />Neher had a number of topics to discuss, including the strategic approach to take on the search, identifica- <br />tion of stakeholders to provide feedback, scope of advertisements, details of the recruitment and interview <br />process, and a refined timeline. <br /> <br />Mr. Clark said while he understood the need to expedite the recruitment process, he hoped the process <br />session would be rescheduled as soon as possible. Mayor Piercy said it had been rescheduled for October <br />31, 2007. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy asked if a date had been set for a community panel. Ms. Holmes said the panel would meet <br />on September 18, but she did not have a specific time yet. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy said the council would need to determine who would be invited to be on the panel. She hoped <br />that would happen quickly so invitations could be issued and schedules arranged for September 18. She said <br />that the list of people developed during the police auditor recruitment process had been provided as a <br />starting point. <br /> <br />Ms. Solomon said she favored community input, but was not certain about the need for input at that point in <br />the process. She preferred to have community input on candidates. <br /> <br />Mr. Clark was also concerned about becoming mired in details during the preliminary part of the process <br />and preferred to have a community dialogue once candidates had been identified. He expressed some <br />concern about the composition of the list of potential community stakeholders. He hoped that the commu- <br />nity panel would represent a balanced perspective. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman commented that the intent of community involvement at the beginning of the process was to <br />ensure that when candidates were identified, they reflected those qualities the community desired in a city <br />manager. She agreed that the panel should be balanced and said that the qualities listed would be reviewed <br />to identify trends. She said if the council felt that the community forum, along with discussions with City <br />employees would be sufficient to obtain the necessary input, she was agreeable to that approach. <br /> <br />Mr. Poling said the subcommittee agreed it was important to have community input on desirable qualities <br />for a city manager to guide the council's decision. He said he felt the last city manager recruitment process <br />that used an internal department panel and a citizen panel was a well-balanced approach. He said it was <br />important to emphasize to panelists that the council was looking for help and guidance, but it was ultimately <br />the council's decision. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor felt that the public forum would be sufficient with the understanding that people were free to <br />contact councilors with their thoughts on the process. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy suggested inviting specific individuals to participate in the forum to assure a broad range of <br />perspectives. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman concurred with Mayor Piercy's suggestion to invite people to participate. She said that could <br />be an effective strategy combined with an aggressive media campaign. She thought the city manager's job <br />duties and qualifications should be updated and suggested making that available for public comment. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 10, 2007 Page 6 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />