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to landlords on unpaid rental fees was harassment and no interest should be charged once the late fee was <br />paid. <br /> <br />Ms. Solomon thanked those who participated in the tour of Golden Gardens Park and hoped all councilors <br />could eventually visit the park. <br /> <br />City Manager Taylor conveyed his thanks to the Budget Committee for its hard work and difficult decisions <br />and to Kitty Murdoch, DeeAnn Hardt and Finance staff for their efforts. <br /> <br />With reference to the candidate statements in the Cal Young newsletter, Mr. Papé pointed out that all <br /> <br />candidates for all offices in the area were invited to provide statements. <br /> <br /> <br />B. WORK SESSION: Judicial Evaluation Committee Report <br /> <br />City Manager Taylor introduced Court Administrator Marilyn Nelson to present the Judicial Evaluation <br />Committee’s report on Municipal Court Judge Wayne Allen. <br /> <br />Ms. Nelson stated that a formal evaluation process was conducted once every four years and involved a <br />committee of citizens appointed by the council. She described the evaluation process steps as set forth in the <br />code and introduced Lane County Circuit Court Judge Kip Leonard to present the results of the evaluation <br />on behalf of the committee. <br /> <br />Judge Leonard provided an overview of the evaluation process. He said the Municipal Court was a very <br />high volume court and handled about 31,000 case filings, exclusive of parking citations, annually. It was a <br />very efficient court and handled issues of great significance to the community, both from the aspect of <br />criminal behavior and the aspect of quality of life, requiring a very human touch. He said the evaluation <br />instrument was sent to users of the Municipal Court, including defense attorneys, prosecutors, police traffic <br />officers, interpreters, advocates, other judges of the court and court staff. He said the response rate was 24 <br />percent and appeared to be representative of those surveyed. He said the survey and tabulated results were <br />provided in the agenda packet and Judge Allen was rated highly overall by users of Municipal Court. He <br />read some of the compliments from respondents and noted one comment regarding lack of community <br />outreach efforts. He commented that judges faced restrictions on community outreach activities because of <br />the need to appear impartial on all issues, which prevented them from taking a position on an issue. Despite <br />those limitations, Judge Allen was a strong advocate for bilingual services and establishing a mental health <br />court. He concluded by stating that Judge Allen saw a number of issues on the horizon and planned for the <br />future of the court to effectively manage change; the committee recommended that Judge Allen be appointed <br />to another four-year term. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy called on the council for questions and comments regarding the report. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly thanked Judge Leonard and the committee members for their work. He asked about a comment <br />from a defense attorney in the evaluation that court staff obstructed access to case files. Ms. Nelson replied <br />that court staff followed the City’s public information policy; it was not the practice to deny attorneys <br />access to case files and requests were routinely honored. She was not certain what had occurred in the <br />situation that was cited. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 22, 2006 Page 2 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />