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Mr. Fart, seconded by Mr. Pap~, moved to extend the time allowed for the <br /> item by ten minutes. The motion passed, 5:3; Ms. Bettman, Ms. Taylor, and <br /> Mr. Rayor voting in opposition. <br /> <br />Mr. Rayor expressed his strong belief in the ward system of elections. He stressed that citywide <br />elections separated councilors from their wards. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey said he had previously suggested an idea of four wards for the city with each ward <br />having a ward elected councilor and a citywide elected councilor. He noted that there had not <br />been a lot of support for the idea but noted that it worked well in many cities. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey opined that the council discussion was inconsistent. He noted that the council had <br />voted to put instant run-off voting on the ballot when there had not been overwhelming voter <br />support for the idea. He questioned the reason why the council was afraid to put the matter <br />before the voters. He noted that the school board was elected citywide. He added that the <br />councilors would still represent specific geographic ward boundaries if they were elected citywide. <br /> He said the council did a disservice to the city by not putting the matter on the ballot. <br /> <br /> Ms. Nathanson, seconded by Mr. Meisner, moved to direct the City Manager <br /> to bring back for council consideration a process for routine periodic <br /> evaluation of ward populations and a trigger to automatically initiate a ward <br /> boundary change process where the ward populations have exceeded a <br /> specified variance. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman said she would not support the motion since it was a new motion that preempted the <br />current discussion. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly said the motion asked staff to come back with ideas that could be worked on in a work <br />session. He said he would support the motion. <br /> <br />Mr. Pap~ said he was in favor of the motion. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor said the motion needed to be discussed more before dedicating staff time to the idea. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey said Ms. Nathanson's motion was a legitimate idea. He stressed that the City had <br />the technical know-how to accomplish the task and went on to say that if the council did not <br />approve the idea the citizens of under-represented wards should take legal action to force the City <br />to implement the idea. <br /> <br /> The motion passed, 6:2; Ms. Taylor and Ms. Bettman voting in opposition. <br /> <br /> Mr. Fart, seconded by Mr. Pap~, moved to place citywide election of <br /> councilors on the November 2002 ballot. <br /> <br />Mr. Rayor indicated opposition to the motion. <br /> <br /> Mr. Pap~, seconded by Mr. Meisner, moved to table the motion. The vote <br /> resulted in a tie. Mayor Torrey voted in support of the motion to table, which <br /> <br />MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 13, 2002 Page 5 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br /> <br />