07/27/1988 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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solved" and must be addressed over a long period of time. Mr. Holmer said e the council also needs to discuss what the staff perceives to be shortages in revenue necessary to continue services. He said if the council does not tell the City Manager how to approach this issue, they may be abdicating their responsibility by letting him make the solution. III. GROUND RULES Ms. Thorne suggested that the council now discuss ground rules for the pro- cess proposal. Mr. Miller said the regular council ground rules should be sufficient. Ms. Wooten said the council is generally civil, but it is real- istic to expect disagreements. Ms. Ehrman said a major difference this year is a shift in council dynamics that will change some budget committee deci- sions. Mr. Miller remarked that all of the council was not present on sever- al occasions. Mr. Rutan suggested that the council conduct this business in the same manner as it does the rest of its business. Ms. Thorne summarized the council.s informal agreements which include having everyone present for key decisions, clarifying assumptions before moving on, and conducting this business like other typical council business. Mr. Holmer remarked that he would like the mayor to be present at the August 11 meeting. Mr. Miller agreed that he could help in the process. Ms. Ehrman said it is not essential that the mayor be there. Ms. Schue pointed out that any discussion about the appropriate role of e public input has been omitted. Ms. Wooten said that future councilor Shawn Boles has said that he is in favor of sampling the public and using the results as a guide. Ms. Bascom said it does not seem necessary to bring the public in too soon. Mr. Rutan said it is appropriate to have public input, but a major question is at what point. Mr. Miller said it is important to differentiate between the public and special interests. Ms. Bascom said that in a City Manager form of government, 'the management should have a level of expertise and elected officials should have a working knowledge of what the public wants. She said it is not necessary to check with the public at every point along the way. The council took a 30 minute dinner break at 6:30 p.m. Ms. Thorne said the rationale behind the new proposed financial planning process is to keep the council in its role of setting policies for the City's service areas. She said the frameworks established by the City Council provide the City Manager with a direction to work from. The process also leaves open the possibility of managing financial issues in a variety of ways. The process proposed by Ms. Thorne is as follows: 1. Council determines list of key service areas; 2. City Manager prepares policy framework ideas for each area; e MINUTES--City Council July 27, 1988 Page 4