02/11/1991 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e e e It was decided that the council would continue to have an agenda for process sessions, but that it was appropriate to discuss items not initially on the agenda. It was further decided that phone interviews would be avoided if possible. c. Methods to Facilitate Good Working Relationships Ms. Ehrman said she agreed that the councilors needed to socialize in order to get to know one another, but said she felt it was important that they continue to hold structured meetings such as the process sessions in order to discuss issues. Mr. Green said it was helpful if councilors not only counseled new members, but continued to instruct one another in areas where one person might be more informed than others. Mayor Miller said it was important for the councilors to communicate concerns in a timely manner, rather than keeping these concerns to themselves. He said councilors should be frank and direct. Ms. Bascom noted that Mayor Miller had taken the criticism'he received at the last process session very well. Mr. Boles said councilors should attempt to avoid unnecessary criticism of one another, but should also be able to accept criticism. Mr. MacDonald said councilors should not assume that they knew how the other councilors felt about given issues, but should listen to what the others had to say about these issues. Ms. Bascom said a City Council meeting was not the appropriate place for councilors to expound on issues. She said this kind of discussion should take place at the process sessions. Mr. MacDonald said his point was that councilors should not assume they knew one an others positions on issues without first allowing the councilors to state their opinions. D. City Council Goals for 1991 Mr. MacDonald said the council should make it clear that emergency housing would have to be an intergovernmental effort. Mr. Green said the council needed to shift its focus to permanent housing. He said the council had already done a great deal of work on emergency shelter. Ms. Ehrman said that because housing was expensive, the council could not afford to work on both emergency shelter and permanent housing. Mr. Boles said the Social Goals Committee had identified both emergency shel- ter and long-range housing as goals. He said Ms. Bascom was working on the issue of permanent housing and emergency shelter was on lithe back burner," although the City has sponsored emergency shelter programs. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 11, 1991 Page 5