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should have some role. He expressed concern about the requirement for a unanimous council <br />vote to repeal a protected ordinance and suggested that the council discuss a different threshold. <br />Mr. Meisner concluded by expressing concern about the citizen participation clause, saying from a <br />legal point of view the language used was both vague and ambiguous and could open the council <br />to legal challenges. <br /> <br />Mr. Pap6 said if the council was going to give the city manager responsibility, it needed to give him <br />authority, and for that reason he questioned the committee's recommendation regarding the <br />council's involvement in the hiring and firing process. He thought it removed accountability from <br />the city manager. He agreed with Mr. Meisner that the provision regarding citizen involvement <br />was vague. He did not know what the City could force on the citizens of Eugene in terms of <br />citizen involvement. Regarding conflict of interest, Mr. Pap6 noted the continuing inclusion of the <br />word "pecuniary" and hoped that section could be defined in a way that was more clear to the <br />public. Regarding the performance auditor, he said if such a position was created, the auditor <br />should report to an audit committee. He said that such a position required independence for <br />Success. <br /> <br />Mr. Farr thanked the committee for its work and commended Mr. Tollenaar on his ability to see all <br />sides of the issues. He supported the housekeeping and streamlining clarifications. However, he <br />was concerned about the recommendation regarding council approval of contracts, the <br />performance auditor, in-house legal counsel, the council's role in the hiring and dismissal of <br />department directors, and council-initiated ordinances. Mr. Farr's major concern was because of <br />the time many of the recommendations would require on the part of the council, which he thought <br />already spent too much time in meetings. Each recommendation would add more time to the <br />council's work load and further preclude the "moms and dads and workers" in the community from <br />serving on the council. Mr. Farr said that increasing council involvement in administrative <br />decision-making lead to part-time lay people taking over from professional staff people hired for <br />their skill sets. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey supported Mr. Rayor's request for city manager input. Regarding the <br />recommendation for a performance auditor, he indicated he would make available to the council <br />some material he had requested from a former City Manager who had served in San Diego with an <br />auditor with terrible results. He urged the council to consider trying the approach without putting <br />it in the charter. He thought the same thing could be accomplished through the budgeting process. <br /> He added he would evaluate all the recommendations on the basis of whether they could be <br />accomplished otherwise. Mayor Torrey thanked the committee for its work. <br /> <br /> Ms. Taylor, seconded by Mr. Kelly, moved to accept the final report of the <br /> Citizen Charter Review Committee. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey adjourned the meeting at 7:53 p.m. <br /> <br />Respectfully submitted, <br /> <br /> MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 14, 2002 Page 12 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br /> <br />