CC Minutes - 06/12/06 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Councilor Pryor apologized for not being at the Budget Committee meeting at which this issue was discussed. He had financial, logistical, and philosophical concerns about the amendment. He remarked that it was obvious that $70,000 was not an enormous amount of money in the overall City budget but it was real money from the taxpayers. He did not plan to use the office. He said he had a desk and a phone and the phone was paid for by the City. He preferred to use this money to fix a play structure in a park or buy asphalt for a road that needed repair. As for administrative support, Councilor Pryor was uncertain. He suggested the council review this proposal and determine how much need there was for such support, but it did not need to be part of this budget. With regard to space for an office, Councilor Pryor reiterated that there already was an office that was not frequently used. He commented that when he needed to meet with people there were numerous choices of where to meet, including the office or other rooms at City Hall. He shared his greatest concern which was that policy makers who started to spend too much time at the operational location might be tempted to become more involved in operations and to try to direct them. He did not wish to cross that line. He said he was not accusing anyone of doing so, but if temptation was put in front of people, it could sometimes be difficult to refrain. He indicated he would vote for the amendment. Councilor Ortiz said she would oppose the amendment. She said she was the only councilor with a “blue collar” job. She felt a support person could triage whether she would have to attend to a matter immedi- ately or whether she could prioritize her family time over it. She did not have a vision of what an office space would look like. She said it could be three shared cubicles. She emphasized that she wanted a little staff support. She added that she did not mean that the council was not getting support from the current staff, she just needed a “little bit more support.” Councilor Bettman commented that she would not want to preclude a person from running for office because they did not have the resources to serve the public. She said one of the reasons the existing office was not used was because it was “as big as a closet” and did not have a phone or computer. She averred that councilors could not do City Council and constituency work while waiting there. She did not think an office was a luxury and believed that most people thought councilors already had a downtown office. She felt the councilors should be able to post on their office hours on the Web site so that people who could not meet them “at home or on the golf course” could have access to them. She envisioned a room with cubicles and an administrative assistant who would serve all eight of them. Councilor Taylor agreed that the council needed support. She said she would like to have a filing cabinet. She had served on three national committees and met a lot of city councilors from other cities. She asserted that in many places city councilors had a full-time assistant who did things only for that councilor such as research, driving him or her places, making appointments, and being at “their beck and call.” She found it “impossible” to do everything herself and to also connect with her constituents. She opposed the amendment. Councilor Poling said he would support the amendment. He thought the money could be better spent somewhere else. He maintained that it was easier to meet with his constituents in his ward as the majority of them did not live anywhere near the downtown area. He reiterated that councilors were reimbursed for phones, fax, and computers. He noted that he carried a cell phone everywhere he went and had even answered phone calls from constituents on a mountaintop in Eastern Oregon during deer season. He opined that to spend $140,000 was not the best message to be sending out to the public at this time. He acknowl- MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 12, 2006 Page 11 Regular Meeting