CC Minutes - 02/08/05 PS - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Pryor said the principle was fine because the councilors were part of a larger representative body. Mr. Papd suggested the following change to the second sentence of the second paragraph of Section 9.03: ~The Mayor or councilors should inform the other members of the City Council of the matters being considered by the abe~ve ne~ted intergovernmental bodies, and to the greatest extent possible, seek direction from the City Council on issues directly pertaining to the City of Eugene,,, ..... ~,,.o,,~:~*:~ and adopted city policy." Mr. Papd also recommended making the following change to the fourth sentence of the third paragraph: ~Ifthere is existing City or Council policy, the voting delegate should ~vill vote in accordance with that policy." Mr. Kelly noted that the council needed to adopt the revised agreements via resolution in a regular session, but suggested the council move to approve the revision. Mr. Kelly, seconded by Mr. Poling, moved approval of the revisions, as discussed. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. Continuing, Mr. Pap6 underscored that microphone time continued to be an issue. He hoped the council would be judicious with its time. He recalled a recent meeting at which members of the public who made time to testify at a public hearing were turned away because the preceding items on the agenda took too long due to copious discussion. Ms. Ortiz said she did not feel compelled to weigh in on agenda items all of the time. She declared that respect for public speakers was very important. Mayor Piercy commented that a tight schedule meant she should monitor and shorten comment time after the Public Forum. Ms. Taylor reiterated her objection to ending meetings at 10 p.m. She thought this rushed some items, adding that it was always better to postpone than to push something through without adequate discussion. She preferred to shorten the council's response time to the Public Forum than the speaker's time to testify. Mr. Kelly agreed that the problem arose sometimes but did not think it was as ubiquitous as some people thought it was. He pointed out that everyone was given an opportunity to speak in every round, should they so choose. He felt that a new rule regarding microphone time was not needed, rather he thought a combination of self-discipline and peer pressure, i.e., an after-meeting comment, would work to curtail microphone abuse. He asserted the meeting cited by Mr. Pap6 had an over-full agenda. Mr. Pryor said self-discipline would take care of the problem. He noted that most questions to staff could be dealt with prior to meetings and then meetings could be solely for the purpose of deliberation and comments. He remarked that he was unprepared to change the current system with time limits until he saw how long some comments were and also how focused they were utilizing a greater degree of self-discipline. Ms. Bettman opined that more expository material in agenda packets would reduce the need for council questions. She also wished that staff would limit its comments to its presentations. She said it had gotten to the point where staff was participating in the decision-making process and did not have a timer. She underscored her feelings that staff should be there to answer questions and not to exposit or rebut issues. MINUTES-- Eugene City Council February 8, 2005 Page 4 Process Session