CC Minutes - 09/18/06 Process Session

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Mr. Pryor said he had another board meeting on Wednesday evenings that prevented him from participating in process sessions on that night. Ms. Ortiz indicated her willingness to be somewhat flexible. She felt it was important to try and accommo- date each other’s schedules. She suggested that the council pass on the process session scheduled for after the goal-setting retreat. Ms. Taylor opined that one process session was enough. Mayor Piercy said she was back from an Alaskan tour that focused on climate changes. 7. Action at Council Work Sessions Mayor Piercy stated that her reason for bringing this item up was that she wanted work sessions to be focused on work as much as possible. She was concerned that being driven toward taking action interfered with this. She proposed that action at work sessions be taken only if imperative. Ms. Taylor supported the idea of using work sessions for information and discussion only. She said councilors could then go away and think about things. Mr. Kelly felt that the council wanted deliberation but it did not want to take time for it. When he had been a new councilor, work sessions had not included suggested motions. He thought the only way to resolve this issue would be if the council decided as a body that certain larger issues deserved a different format. Ms. Solomon commented that not taking action at the work sessions felt like a waste of time to her. She said she was not elected to just sit and talk. She averred that if the council needed a second work session on an issue, councilors could ask for one and have it put onto the schedule. Mr. Pryor observed that regular meetings included public comment but work sessions did not. He advocated for including public input at work sessions in which action would occur. Mayor Piercy did not believe the discussion at the work session table was a waste of time. She underscored that what she envisioned was real deliberation, perhaps a couple of suggestions for action, and then the action brought back to a regular meeting. This would provide the opportunity to review everything that came out of a work session discussion for consideration. Ms. Bettman thought traditionally work sessions were used for deliberations. She averred that oftentimes action was necessary to refine the work and provide staff with the appropriate direction. She felt this should come back in the form of motions. She said previously councilor suggestions came back to the council in the form of options, but now it seemed that unless there was a motion “nothing sticks” and these suggestions “went into the ozone.” Ms. Taylor asserted that the purpose of the work session was to hear what others had to say, even though the councilors had read the material. She thought the members of the public were able to listen and watch and then could think about whether they wished to address an item in the Public Forum, a hearing, or by communicating directly with the councilors. MINUTES—City Council September 18, 2006 Page 9 Process Session