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<br />Mayor Piercy said she was back from an Alaskan tour that focused on climate changes. <br /> <br /> <br />7. Action at Council Work Sessions <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy stated that her reason for bringing this item up was that she wanted work sessions to be <br />focused on work as much as possible. She was concerned that being driven toward taking action interfered <br />with this. She proposed that action at work sessions be taken only if imperative. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor supported the idea of using work sessions for information and discussion only. She said <br />councilors could then go away and think about things. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly felt that the council wanted deliberation but it did not want to take time for it. When he had been <br />a new councilor, work sessions had not included suggested motions. He thought the only way to resolve this <br />issue would be if the council decided as a body that certain larger issues deserved a different format. <br /> <br />Ms. Solomon commented that not taking action at the work sessions felt like a waste of time to her. She <br />said she was not elected to just sit and talk. She averred that if the council needed a second work session on <br />an issue, councilors could ask for one and have it put onto the schedule. <br /> <br />Mr. Pryor observed that regular meetings included public comment but work sessions did not. He advocated <br />for including public input at work sessions in which action would occur. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy did not believe the discussion at the work session table was a waste of time. She underscored <br />that what she envisioned was real deliberation, perhaps a couple of suggestions for action, and then the <br />action brought back to a regular meeting. This would provide the opportunity to review everything that <br />came out of a work session discussion for consideration. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman thought traditionally work sessions were used for deliberations. She averred that oftentimes <br />action was necessary to refine the work and provide staff with the appropriate direction. She felt this should <br />come back in the form of motions. She said previously councilor suggestions came back to the council in <br />the form of options, but now it seemed that unless there was a motion “nothing sticks” and these suggestions <br />“went into the ozone.” <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor asserted that the purpose of the work session was to hear what others had to say, even though <br />the councilors had read the material. She thought the members of the public were able to listen and watch <br />and then could think about whether they wished to address an item in the Public Forum, a hearing, or by <br />communicating directly with the councilors. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly thought the challenge was trying to think globally in order to determine when to elevate certain <br />topics to a level of greater study and discussion. He suggested staff look at other elected bodies for a model <br />of how action was addressed or not addressed in work sessions. <br /> <br />City Manager Taylor reported that he had worked in jurisdictions where no action was taken during work <br />sessions. He thought moving all public hearings to a single night per month could set the council up for <br />deferring action in a work session. He said ultimately if the council was uncomfortable taking action on a <br />particular item, the council could vote to postpone to a time/date certain. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—City Council September 18, 2006 Page 9 <br /> Process Session <br /> <br />