Item 3D: Ratification of Intergovernmental Relations Committee Minutes

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if the text needed to be in the document. Mr. Schoening did not think the text was needed as the City already had that authority. The committee deleted the section from the document. Youth There were no comments regarding this section. Environmental Issues Ms. Bettman questioned the first recommendation under the section entitled Market Development of Recovered Materials, asking why the City would not want the haulers to provide a certain level of education and outreach. Mr. Cuyler said that the City currently did require that. The issue of concern was unfunded State mandates. However, he did not think there was an issue coming up in the next legislature related to the policy. Mr. Pryor recommended its deletion, and the committee concurred. Referring to the text under the section entitled Rate Review, Ms. Bettman asked why the City would not welcome the Public Utility Commission (PUC) involvement in evaluating local solid waste collection rates requests. She was not opposed to getting an opinion from the PUC. There was agreement to delete the text in question. Ms. Bettman proposed eliminating the section entitled Recycling Users Fee given that what was discussed in that section was already being done. There was general concurrence. Ms. Taylor referred to the section entitled Innovative Approaches to Water Quality Management on page 52, which discussed pollutant trading. She said that was a concern for her as she did not perceive such credits as reducing water pollution. Ms. Bettman suggested that the committee include a recommendation that the City supported any efforts, legislative or regulatory, to improve water quality and decrease pollution as a partial means of addressing Ms. Taylor’s concerns. She did not think pollutant trading and green credits were always bad. The committee agreed to Ms. Bettman’s suggestion. Referring to page 55, Ms. Bettman suggested that the word “holistic” be changed to “comprehensive.” General Government Referring to the section entitled Contracting, Ms. Bettman flagged as an issue for the council the concept of buying more products locally, and the need for a new legislative policy that addressed both that and the new State-adopted purchasing standards. Referring to the section entitled Employee, Judge and Contractor Records, Ms. Bettman asked if legislation that protected the privacy of employees, judges, and contractors would preclude the public release of the wages of those who worked on the contract. Mr. Pryor believed the reference was to personal service contracts and personnel records so wages would not be included. Ms. Bettman suggested the word “including” be changed to the phrase “as it pertains” to be specific the text referred to personnel records. There was no objection. Referring to the section entitled Use of the Initiative Process, Election Reform, Ms. Bettman asked if the council had ever taken a policy stance on the concept of creating more obstacles to the initiative process. Ms. Walston recalled that the council had taken a position on an earlier bill with the provisions similar to MINUTES—Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations October 26, 2006 Page 4