CC Minutes - 09/17/07 Community Forum

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there had been a “little bit of slippage” between the council’s policy decisions and implementation. He felt it would be better if the council had more sway with “some of the implementation” of policy. Betty Snowden , P.O. Box 5166, related that she had received many phone calls from the community. She shared that some of the phone calls included input that the City Council was a “hard body to work with” and that no matter who was hired “it would probably be for naught.” She had heard input that some had lost faith in the local government. She said it seemed there were more people who were concerned with development than with who would be leading the City. Ms. Snowden said what she was looking for in a City Manager was someone who showed leadership, who knew the community, who had integrity, and who did not run from adversity. She averred that a City Manager needed to know the community in order to provide good leadership. She stated that any leader had to be able to stand and make tough decisions through adverse conditions. She felt the City Manager should be someone who believed in including all citizens in the process. She declared that everyone in the community needed to part of the process. She thought the City Manager should be someone who could work with anyone regardless of a person’s belief, of how they feel or look or “what color they are.” Lastly, she said, the next City Manager should be someone who understood the “bottom line” and the intricacies of the city budgets. Councilor Solomon arrived. Lisa Warnes , 5020 Nectar Way, indicated her agreement with the previous speakers. She believed that there needed to be more balance in the City Manager’s position. She opined that she had seen things in the past be “heavily slanted” toward development interests. She wanted more of a focus on community and environmental issues. She averred that a City Manager should, when given a task by the City Council, do it regardless of whether he or she agrees with it. She advised the City Council not to tolerate it if the City Manager did not follow through. Majeska Seese-Green , P.O. Box 1214, hoped the City would find a City Manager who was willing to have a city government that was “really” a City Manager/City Council form of government. She recalled hearing about that structure of government at a City Club meeting at which Ken Tolenaar spoke. She understood MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 17, 2007 Page 2 Community Forum