CC Minutes - 03/11/02 Work Session

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Mr. Kelly said he read the criteria for when the CIC got involved, and he could not figure out why the CIC was not involved in the social service dispersal issue. Mr. Hinkley said that at this time, the policy dictates that the committee looks at department advisory committees only. He thought it would be appropriate if the CIC had an opportunity to comment on all advisory committees, including the ones that the council formed. Mr. Pap~ expressed appreciation that the committee had considered whether or not the CIC should exist. He said that the CIC performed a great service to the community. He agreed with Mayor Torrey about the level of public involvement and the need for greater involvement. He asked the CIC to continue to brainstorm ideas. Mr. Pap~ asked Ms. Bettman if the matrix developed in the past was used and if it could be a first step toward accomplishing Mr. Kelly's desire. Ms. Bettman reiterated that the matrix updates were essentially shelved. It was intended to get people involved early on and to communicate to them the impacts of what was being proposed and how it actually affected them. She asked that when the CIC brought back the suggestions for services to implement, that include implementing the updated matrix. She suggested a council resolution directed at staff calling for its support of the matrix, the CIC, and the interest/controversy processes. Mr. Meisner was not interested in strengthening the hand of the CIC; he wanted to strengthen citizen involvement. He said he would agree with Mr. Hinkley about the CIC's role in reviewing committees and citizen involvement plans if it resulted in a different outcome. It did not; there was still a public hearing at the end of the process that included people who claim they had not heard of the issue. He wanted the CIC to find out what really worked. He acknowledged the difficulty of finding volunteers and getting people involved. He called for new ideas. Ms. Sindi said that citizens were frustrated with the current processes because they seemed inflexible and people did not get satisfaction. Ms. Donahue drew a parallel between those who did not register to vote and those who did not pay attention to an issue until it was too late; they were often misinformed or ignorant of the circumstances. She said that the CIC had struggled with the issue, and would like to find creative, innovative outreach techniques. Mr. Meisner suggested that the City place a controversy ad in the newspaper to attract attention. He asked the CIC to think about that approach. Ms. Rich said that the CIC had discussed its charge, what it was supposed to be doing, and what it would like to do if it had staff support. Currently the CIC met once a month for one hour, which was not sufficient time to take on more tasks. She had encouraged the CIC to be realistic in its work plan. She said that she would like to see the CIC present its list of ideas to the council and determine if resources were forthcoming. MINUTES--Eugene City Council March 11, 2002 Page 6 Work Session