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the whole council's attention. He said a councilor should not sanction an ~ issue without the support of the entire council. It was decided that the ground rules on this issue would stand as written. B. Methods for More Effectively Processing Issues Ms. Ehrman said that the purpose of the facilitator's contact with the coun- cilors prior to a work session should be to compile a comprehensive list of concerns. Mr. Green said the last process session had been a good meeting, but agreed with Ms. Ehrman that he would like the issues raised in interviews with the facilitator to be part of an initial list of issues. Mr. Boles said the council should hold social events which allow the council- ors and their families the opportunity to get to know one another. He said the task force assigned to work on the last process session had approved a list of items compiled by facilitator Sharon Thorne based on her interviews with the councilors. He agreed that the next process session should consider a more comprehensive list. Mayor Miller suggested a round or square table should be used for process sessions because everyone would be equidistant from one another which facili- tates open communication. e Mr. Robinette said there was great value in the councilors getting to know one another. He said this helped them understand each others opinions. He suggested that council seating should change regularly so that councilors would have a chance to get to know one another. He said it should be possi- ble for the council to raise six votes for all significant issues. Ms. Bascom said the last process session had seemed less successful than the prior such meeting to her personally because: 1) it followed a very success- ful fall session; 2) a long, narrow table was used; and 3) and she had been fatigued by personal events at the time of the session. Mr. MacDonald said that at the last process session Ms. Thorne should have intervened more when discussion became difficult. Mr. Nicholson said interviews of the councilors by the facilitator prior to the process session should have been conducted in-person, not by phone. He said he did not feel that a more comprehensive list of issues would have helped, and might have had the opposite effect--by creating a combative situ- ation in which councilors defended their topics. Ms. Bascom said phone interviews have been helpful in the past. Mr. Miller said he felt it was useful to have initial lists of topics and Mr. Green agreed. Ms. Bascom added that the process session had provided a good orien- tation session for new councilors. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 11, 1991 Page 4