Laserfiche WebLink
The council took a brief recess. <br /> <br />The council moved onto discussion of the process issues previously identified in interviews <br />conducted by Ms. Helphand. Ms. Helphand reviewed the issues: <br /> <br />Process Issues <br /> <br /> · Committee assignments <br /> · Time limits- three-minute rule <br /> · Agendas-length and density <br /> · Joint meetings with other jurisdictions <br /> · Hearings and taking action <br /> · City Council development <br /> · Howwe communicate <br /> · Drafting motion language "on the fly" <br /> · Role of president/vice president <br /> · Request for postponement <br /> · Request to separate pads of a motion <br /> <br />The council continued its discussion of inefficient use of time by discussing its use of time at <br />council meetings, in particular the use of the three-minute rule. Councilors discussed the amount <br />of time needed for adequate discussion of the issues and the appropriate amount of time to <br />allocate to agenda items on a crowded agenda. Councilors considered suggestions for managing <br />meetings, including suggestions to allot a cumulative speaking time limit for councilors for each <br />agenda item, to allot councilors speaking time in three rounds, with declining time in each round, <br />to approve agendas on council Consent Calendars, to extend Wednesday meetings, to ask <br />questions of staff prior to meetings when possible, to limit staff comments and ensure staff does <br />not read the packet material to the council, to reconstitute the Council Officers Committee to <br />oversee agendas, to charge the officers and mayor to work with staff on a process to handle <br />unwieldy agenda items, to get the packet more quickly, and to rely on the mayor to adjust <br />speaking times when necessary. <br /> <br />Mr. Fart left the meeting at 7:40 p.m. <br /> <br />After discussion, the council agreed that staff should be concise when making presentations, that <br />the agenda time should match the agenda item complexity, and Wednesday noon meetings would <br />not be extended unless there was unanimous support. <br /> <br />Speaking to the suggestion for reconstituting the Council Officers Committee, Ms. Walston <br />recalled that the committee had been eliminated because so many councilors attended meetings, <br />creating quorum issues. <br /> <br />Speaking to the suggestion for getting agenda packets sooner, Mr. Carlson noted the <br />complications created by emerging issues, legal deadlines, and the council's already crowded <br />agendas. <br /> <br />Responding to a request for direction from Ms. Rowles, the council agreed that the speaker's <br />timer would be shut off when staff was responding to questions. <br /> <br /> MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 4, 2002 Page 3 <br /> Process Session <br /> <br /> <br />