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<br /> - <br />" <br />. Paget Engen reviewed the process in which the need was identified by <br /> Council at its work session in June, a memo had been sent to Council <br /> August 11, stating what the problems looked like and the criteria and som~ <br /> solutions. Subsequent to that, Councilors were interviewed and that <br /> information was now being used regarding the problems, criteria, and <br /> solutions. <br /> Mr. Lieuallen said he felt there was a conflict in the August 31 memo <br /> under number one--exploring alternatives and implications, "the Council <br /> often does not get the benefit of staff's consideration of alternatives <br /> other than the final recommendation.1I He felt there was a conflict <br /> between that statement and item three at the bottom of the page saying <br /> there is little need to formalize a process for exploring minority opinions. <br /> Ms. Engen replied the question was, do we need more time given to decisions <br /> on minor opinions, is there a need to work back in the process to make <br /> sure minority opinions are presented. Mr. Delay wondered if the question <br /> was whether or not the City as a whole should be working on minority <br /> problems or whether City Council should be developing its own minority <br /> opinions. Mr. Lieuallen wondered if it were a good idea to use staff to <br /> develop minority opinions of one Councilor, saying he felt providing <br /> assistants was a good idea. <br /> Mayor Keller questioned Counci10rs as to whether they felt they were <br /> spending less hours in Council work at this time than they were three <br /> months ago. Mr. Delay expressed feeling a very tight time crunch. He <br /> felt he should be doing more background and research, as there were <br />e major issues coming before the Council. He felt he was not doing an <br /> adequate job and was not as advised and prepared as he would like to be. <br /> He did not like the feeling of just reacting to issues but would rather <br /> have a basic understanding of the issues in order to make good decisions. <br /> Ms. Smith said in regard to staff aides, that kind of assistance would be <br /> important for Councilors' briefing on major issues like updating the 1990 <br /> Plan. However, she felt a personal problem with having one person assigned <br /> to her, noting she felt as an elected official she was responsible to her <br /> ward to perform certain duties and attend certain meetings. Mr. Delay <br /> responded that different Council members would have different needs and do <br /> have different amounts of time available to them for research and background <br /> ma te ria 1 . He felt a staff assistant which would enable a Councilor to be <br /> more effective to be a good idea, noting it would not be forced on anyone <br /> Councilor but the Councilor could use the aide in whatever way the Councilor <br /> felt it important to him/her. <br /> Mr. Lieuallen said the reasons he felt assistants would be important were <br /> that there were fairly complicated issues coming up in the next few months <br /> and it takes him some time to understand the full implications of the <br /> decisions required of him. He needed time to talk to people and to study <br /> the background material to develop clarity. He felt if Councilors knew of <br /> issues coming up ahead of time, noting a two-month period, he would feel <br /> more comfortable in moving toward that decision. He said a Councilor <br /> should not ask the aide to make decisions but the aide could be used to do <br />e research, set up meetings, and various other possibilities. <br /> Minutes 9/7/77--11 <br /> loBS <br />