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A.WORK SESSION: Appeal of Two Charter Amendment Ballot Titles Concerning Department <br /> Head Hiring/Firing and City Attorney, as Prepared for the November 5, 2002 General <br /> Election <br /> <br />City Manager Carlson noted that a charter appeal had been made by Ken Tollenaar. He said the <br />City Attorneys and outside counsel he had retained were present to answer questions about the <br />issue. He said the choice before the council was to consider the two appeals and decide how to <br />proceed. <br /> <br />Ken Tollenaar said the ballot title was the most important thing in informing the voters about an <br />issue. He said his appeals were based on the belief that the proposed explanations drafted by the <br />City Attorney did not clearly summarize the measures. <br /> <br /> Mr. Kelly, seconded by Councilor Pap~ moved to modify the ballot titles and <br /> explanations according to Mr. Tollenaar's recommendation. <br /> <br />In response to a question from Ms. Nathanson regarding whether the new language caused legal <br />problems, Jerry Lidz said legal staff had no objections to the suggested language additions. <br /> <br /> The motion passed unanimously. <br /> <br />B.WORK SESSION: Council Process Session <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey said the purpose of the discussion was to address ways to work more efficiently or <br />think of ways to do things differently. He started the discussion by asking Mr. Meisner to talk <br />about his idea of ending City Council meeting times at 10 p.m. <br /> <br /> Mr. Meisner, seconded by Mr. Pap~, moved to amend the City Council <br /> operating agreements Section 1, Time of Meetings, by revising the second <br /> sentence to read: "These meetings shall begin at 8 p.m. and shall end at 10 <br /> p.m." <br /> <br />Mr. Meisner said he had staff review the times the meetings lasted until and expressed concern <br />that discussion went on and on. He said the council had a habit of having more and longer <br />meetings than any other city he had ever seen. He opined that the council was not effective after <br />10 p.m. especially since the work sessions began at 5:30 p.m. on the same evenings. He said <br />that the council did not use self-control or self-discipline, and said that staff should design <br />agendas for Monday meetings to end at 10 p.m. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly raised concern that the motion would not make the council more efficient. He opined <br />that councilors would not alter their speaking patterns. He noted that the motion did not suggest <br />ways to make up time lost from cutting meetings shorter. He noted that the motion did not <br />suggest any means to make up the time needed to complete council work. <br /> <br />Mr. Fart noted that the beginning of the current meeting was an example of how the council <br />needed to discipline itself. He said that council members tended to restate their opinions over and <br />over again. He said the council did not use any form of personal discipline when speaking and <br />tended to reiterate points already mentioned by other councilors rather than just agreeing. He <br /> <br /> MINUTES--Eugene City Council August 14, 2002 Page 4 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br /> <br />