CC Minutes - 08/14/02 Work Session

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Ms. Taylor said agenda planning was important but noted that it was impossible to predict what issue would be important to the public. She said limiting meeting time would be destructive to the public input process. Ms. Bettman agreed with the idea of prioritizing public forum speakers according to residence in the City limits. She noted that the first 30 minutes of the current meeting had been spent on items that were not listed on the agenda. She stressed that council discipline meant sticking to the agenda items that were listed. She said that limiting meeting times would undermine deliberation and encourage "sound bites" but would not help those councilors who were really trying to serve their constituents. Ms. Nathanson said she would support moving the start time for Monday meetings back to 7:30 p.m. City Manager Carlson said staff would support moving the start time back to 7:30 p.m. if the number of work sessions could be limited. He noted that the council had shown discipline in keeping the Public Forum to 30 minutes but added that the action and comments resulting from the forum were taking a lot of meeting time. Regarding agenda management, City Manager Carlson noted that staff had tried putting a number of items on the Consent Calendar and observed that items that seemed noncontroversial kept getting pulled from the calendar for discussion. The vote on the motion was a 4:4 tie; Mr. Kelly, Ms. Taylor, Mr. Rayor, and Ms. Bettman voting no, and Ms. Nathanson, Mr. Meisner, Mr. Farr, and Mr. Pap8 voting yes. Mayor Torrey voted in support of the motion, and it passed on a final vote of 5:4. Mayor Torrey moved the discussion on to City Council committee term limits. He said there would be a one minute limit on speaking as there were only five minutes left for that particular agenda item. Mr. Kelly, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to appeal the Mayor's decision on the one-minute time limit. Mr. Kelly said that if the fundamental way the council did business was being discussed then three minutes for a speaker was more appropriate. The motion failed, 6:2; Mr. Kelly and Ms. Taylor voting in favor. Mr. PapS, seconded by Mr. Farr, moved for a maximum two-year span on council committees. Mr. Pap8 said it would serve the community better if there were a two-year maximum on service on council committees so more councilors could gain more experience in different areas. Ms. Bettman supported the motion. She noted, however, that the longer a councilor was on a committee the more knowledgeable and effective that councilor became on those particular issues. MINUTES--Eugene City Council August 14, 2002 Page 6 Work Session