CC Minutes - 07/23/03 Process - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Pap8 said that he heard feedback from the public that the camera dictated how the City Council was perceived. He said that he heard Mr. Taylor asking councilors not to vilify staff. Mr. Taylor agreed with this, stating that should councilors not be happy with a specific person, they should speak directly to him. Mr. Pap8 asserted that prior to a goal-setting session, the process needed to be determined. Mr. Pap8 moved to utilize the proposal set forth by City Manager Dennis Taylor for City Council process work. Ms. Nathanson provided the second. Mr. Kelly raised some points of contention. He reiterated a need to know the cost of a facilitator prior to making a decision on hiring one. He expressed that a retreat should build from common ground, rather than from the majority vote. Mr. Kelly offered the following friendly amendment to the motion, that it move forward with the proviso that goals and objectives set in such an activity be approved of by at least seven of the nine participants. Mr. Pap8 and Ms. Nathanson accepted the friendly amendment. Ms. Nathanson expressed skepticism that seven people would vote in unison. She suggested that the council adopt just the first part of Mr. Taylor's proposal and then, at the September meeting, the council could consider accepting the rest of the proposed schedule. She offered this as a substitute motion. Ms. Bettman said that she wanted the vote to be without the Mayor, as he did not routinely vote unless it was to break a tie. She reiterated her opposition to team-building exercises. Mr. Taylor summarized the discussion thus far, as follows: · the council had reservations regarding the hiring of a facilitator for the process; · should a facilitator be hired, staff should look locally first; and · a retreat held once a year after the break process was acceptable. Mr. Taylor asked the council how it would like to proceed. Mr. Kelly supported the motion, as modified by the friendly amendment. He surmised that the idea was to find what the council could agree on and move from there. Mr. Meisner registered his opposition to the motion. Ms. Taylor left the meeting. Ms. Bettman offered a friendly amendment to the motion to replace "team-building" with language referring to the formulation of mutual expectations. Mr. Pap8 and Ms. Nathanson accepted the friendly amendment. The motion carried, 5:1; Mr. Meisner voting in opposition. Mayor Torrey declared a break. The council reconvened, after eight minutes, at 7:34 p.m. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 23, 2003 Page 5 Work Session- Process Session