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<br />Mr. Zelenka left the meeting for another obligation. <br /> <br />Mr. Poling also felt “left out in the cold” in regard to the situation. He hoped any process the council <br />developed included a section on how the council or its employee made comments to the press. He had been <br />unaware of the press conference that had been called until it happened and thought the council should have <br />been informed of it. <br /> <br />Mr. Poling cautioned the council against taking sides on the issue and suggested it limit its comments so as <br />to not favor one side over another. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor called for immediate council notification of such situations by both telephone and e-mail. She <br />said that staff should make sure the councilors received notification by requesting call-backs. She did not <br />think it was too much effort for staff to contact nine people. <br /> <br />Speaking to Mr. Zelenka’s remarks regarding abuse of the process, Mr. Clark cautioned the council against <br />making such statements. Any employee of the City had the right to complain if they thought they were <br />treated unfairly, and the council was obliged to address those complaints fairly and equitably. He hoped the <br />council could do so in this case. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy said it appeared the council was interested in using the current code section related to the code <br />of ethics as a model for proceeding. Assistant City Manager Luell said that staff would use that section as a <br />basis and attempt to craft some different options as suggested by Mr. Zelenka, incorporating a communica- <br />tion element. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy said that since the police auditor was the council’s employee, she thought it incumbent on the <br />auditor to inform the council of the situation since she did not report to the manager. Mr. Clark questioned <br />whether that was the best procedure. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman said Mayor Piercy’s remarks highlighted why the council needed to know the chain of custody <br />of the complaint, which was dated February 4, but which was not seen by the council until February 12. If <br />the complaint was against the auditor, the auditor might not see it as fast as the council. For that reason, she <br />wanted to look at the past chain of custody and where the gaps existed. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman said the council lacked time to explore the nuances of the bifurcated process she foresaw as it <br />related to criminal and administrative complaints and verifying the reality of the complaint. She envisioned <br />a variety of complaints and conflicts that could exist and suggested the council might wish to categorize <br />those. <br /> <br />Ms. Ortiz, seconded by Mr. Poling, moved to direct the council officers to develop a sug- <br />gested process for how the council will respond to complaints that are filed with the City in- <br />volving the City Manager, the Municipal Court Judge, or the Police Auditor. <br /> <br />When queried by Mayor Piercy as to the nature of the process, Ms. Ortiz envisioned a group exercise with <br />legal input. She accepted a friendly amendment from Ms. Bettman that the officers’ recommendations <br />would come back to the council. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 19, 2008 Page 3 <br /> Special Session <br /> <br />