01/26/1983 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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. e . Mr. Gleason introduced Carol Cogswell, chairperson of the Eugene Citizen Involvement Committee (CIC). Ms. Cogswell said that at its December 2, 19~2, meeting the CIC had recommended approval of the model charter and guidelines for the Neighborhood Organization Recognition Policy. She reviewed several sections of the model charter. Referring to page 3, Article IV, Section 2b, Ms. Cogswell said that the CIC wanted to ensure that non-resident property owners and busi- nesses would be given a chance to participate in neighborhood discussions even though it was recognized that neighborhood associations would preserve the right to decide on the granting of voting privileges to these groups. Referring to page 8, Article VI, Section 8, Ms. Cogswell said that the CIC was recommending that advisory opinions presented by neighborhoods to pUblic bodies specify whose decision it was to take the position presented; in other words, was the decision that of the neighborhood associationls general membership or of the advisory board, and was there a strong minority opinion that should also be discussed in testimony? Ms. Cogswell then referred to page 12, Article VIII Section 4, C. She said the CIC had felt that all resident and non-resident property owners and businesses should be notified of at least one neighborhood meeting per year, preferably the associationls annual meeting. She noted that the CIC had recog- nized that for neighborhoods with large numbers of non-resident property owners this could be extremely costly and that the CIC had therefore left it up to the discretion of the individual neighborhood associations as to how to provide that notice, whether by mail or by other means, such as placing a legal advertisement in a newspaper of general circulation. Ms. Cogswell then discussed page 14, Article IX, Section 5. She said that the CIC had discussed the issue of neighborhood newsletters at length and had expressed concern that there be an editor or editorial board to take respon- sibility for the contents of each newsletter. She said that Section 6 included a suggestion that the members of the association's executive board be identified in each issue of the newsletter and that anonymous material not be permitted in newsletters. Ms. Cogswell then referred to page 18, Article XII, and noted that there was a ~pographical error in the title of this section: the word "character" should be replaced with the word "charter". She said the CIC hoped that neighbor- hood associations would review their charters in light of the guidelines and model charter and would continue to conduct such reviews on a regular basis. Ms. Cogswell noted that the CIC was recommending that the council approve the guidelines but was not recommending any changes to the Neighborhood Organization Recognition Policy. Councilor Lindberg referred to page 12, item b, regarding provision of notice of meetings to members who had signed the organization's membership list. He asked whether this requirement was for direct mail or personal contact notification. Ms. Cogswell responded that the CIC had generally felt that direct mail was preferable if it was financially feasible for the neighborhood but that, if not, notice in a newspaper of general circulation was sufficient. Responding to further questions from Councilor Lindberg, Ms. Cogswell and Councilor Wooten, the council member serving on the CIC, said that the material in the left-hand column of the model charter was explanatory and that the council would continue to review and approve the charters of individual neighborhood groups. They said that the starred items in the model charter were requirements for all charters, but that the neighborhood organizations could determine on an individual basis how they would meet these requirements. MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 26, 1983 Page 5