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“many, many people” had said to her that the council did not deliberate enough and that the council seemed <br />to come to the table with a preconceived answer. She also thought the public should have time to be heard. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly said there were certain issues where one could predict how the votes would go and who would <br />vote which way. He thought it would be good to be able to take two strong ideas of outcomes and wait for a <br />week prior to voting. He suggested that someone draft a “straw man” formalization of what this would look <br />like. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />8. Legal Opinions <br /> <br />Mr. Papé related that Ms. Bettman and Mr. Kelly had obtained a legal opinion that was a de facto second <br />opinion without consulting the rest of the council. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman did not believe this was a process issue. She called it inappropriate to bring this up at the last <br />minute of the process session. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly asked if Mr. Papé was trying to raise the general issue of how the council could get a second legal <br />opinion or if he trying to raise the specific issue of the Police Auditor and the second legal opinion that had <br />been provided regarding hiring practices. Mr. Papé replied that he wanted to address the process. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly stated that the council could not engage in a contract and had no way to elect to appropriate <br />another legal opinion as a body. He thought it would be nice to have a mechanism to do so. He remarked <br />that a separate issue in this was that he sometimes consulted his constituents. He cited, as an example, a <br />time when he called an engineer he knew regarding a construction issue. He said in the case of the Police <br />Auditor, the attorney with the second legal opinion had contacted Ms. Bettman and him. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman asserted that the City Attorney represented the City Manager and not the council or the public. <br />She felt with a question of public policy, she would want to get an outside opinion. She recommended that <br />the council put this item on the agenda for the next process session and, in the mean time, that staff should <br />find out what other cities did in regard to this issue. <br /> <br />Mr. Papé said he also utilized the knowledge of constituents. <br /> <br />In response to a question from Mr. Papé, Mayor Piercy acknowledged that she had invited this outside <br />attorney to meet with the City Manager. She said she had asked staff, including the City Manager, to meet <br />with various people and discuss certain things many times. She did not think it was in her purview to ask <br />him to take action on a legal issue in which the City of Eugene was involved. She added that City Attorney <br />Glenn Klein, when representing the City, took the stance that best represented the City; and when the council <br />asked for legal opinions, Mr. Klein gave his best opinion to the council based on his legal knowledge. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman thought it would be beneficial to have another attorney at the next process session. <br /> <br />City Manager Taylor underscored that the City Attorney represented the City and the council as the <br />governing body of the City. He stated that the City Attorney was not an agent of the administration. He <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—City Council September 18, 2006 Page 11 <br /> Process Session <br /> <br />