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of Oregon counties he had frequently found resistance to merging educational service districts even when <br />there were efficiencies to be gained. He urged the council to keep unintended consequences in mind. For <br />example, if the three local school districts were merged, their compensation would be tied to the district that <br />paid the highest salaries, eliminating all the savings that would have otherwise been realized. <br /> <br />Speaking to Mr. Kelly's earlier remarks about the new for tax reform, Mayor Torrey said that either Oregon <br />must get new revenues or prioritize the services it could afford to deliver and be honest with the citizens <br />about what government could do. <br /> <br /> Mr. Kelly, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to extend time for the item by <br /> five minutes. The motion passed. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly indicated his support for Option 1, to table the issue for the time being. He felt he had sufficient <br />information at this point and was very concerned about the potential of compression. Until some way could <br />be found around compression, he could not support such a district. He also expressed concern about the <br />peer-to-peer relationship that would exist between the council and a district's board, as the council would <br />continue to hear about any service problems that arose and would be expected to solve them but would lack <br />the power to do so. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly wanted to see continued exploration of opportunities for collaboration between the local fire and <br />emergency medical services agencies, but pointed out that did not require the formation of a special district. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman said Mr. Kelly's points were well-taken but she wanted to see information about other <br />approaches, such as a single-purpose EMS district. <br /> <br /> Ms. Bettman, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved adoption of Option 3. <br /> <br />Mr. Meisner expressed support for the motion. He pointed out to Mr. Kelly that he had not raised similar <br />objections when the council contemplated the formation of a library district, which also would have included <br />an independent, elected library board, and the City would have been handing over property to the new <br />district. Mr. Meisner did not interpret the motion as dictating an outcome, that is, formation of a district. <br />Ms. Bettman concurred. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor also wanted more information and to hear from more of the public as well. <br /> <br />Ms. Nathanson indicated she did not expect a report within the next two to three months, but sometime in <br />the next calendar year. <br /> <br />Mr. Carlson recommended that the council provide more input to the staff on the types of information it <br />would like to see in a future report. Mr. Pap~ asked councilors to summarize their thoughts and provide <br />them to the City Manager via e-mail. <br /> <br /> The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. <br /> <br />MINUTES--Eugene City Council December 3, 2003 Page 8 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br /> <br />