CC Minutes - 04/18/01 Work Session

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Mr. Kelly noted that, while the population shifts in 1990 were not as significant and the issue not as controversial, the population shifts 10 years previous to that had been as dramatic as now but nobody testified at the public hearing the council held at that time. He said that council had not gone through an extensive public process and "the republic still stands." Mr. Fart thought the council should make the decision using input from the public and staff. He said the council must ensure the process was reasonable and nonpolitical. The redistricting criteria must make sense for the community, and must be established using public input prior to the council's direction to staff regarding the boundaries. He believed the nature of the process in 1990 made the 2000 process a more political one because it ignored natural boundaries. Mr. Fart wanted to have something in place prior to January 1, 2002. Mr. Pap~ preferred to form a task force to develop a recommendation regarding redistricting for council review, although the final decision would be made by the council. The task force could include two or three councilors, a representative of the University of Oregon, and other community members, perhaps from the League of Women Voters or City Club, to overcome some of the politics about the issue that were building among citizens. He thought the time line looked acceptable. Mr. Pap~ questioned if other legislative processes affected the issue, asking if precincts needed to redrawn before wards were redrawn. Mr. Croteau said the time line was predicated in part on the fact the County Elections Clerk needed to redraw the precinct boundaries by early 2002. Mr. Pap~ asked how much growth occurred in Eugene between 1980 and 1990. Mr. Croteau said he would provide that information to the council. Mr. Meisner favored the council making the decision regarding redistricting without the assistance of a task force or a council subcommittee. He did not think those tools would save time. He thought it would be difficult to make such a committee representative of the community. Mr. Meisner liked Mr. Kelly's suggestion to compress the time line. Mr. Meisner did not think the redistricting issue had been controversial until later in the decade when the predictions of those doing the redistricting proved to be wrong. He said the council's responsibility was to correct those errors as well as predict growth over the next ten years using the best information it had. Ms. Bettman did not think there was anything inherently unfair about the current wards, saying the changes were due to population growth rather than anyone's intent to create an inherently inequitable system. She commended the staff materials as well-done, and supported the staff recommendation that the council make the decision on redistricting. Ms. Bettman thought the time line supported that approach. She did not favor an advisory committee because it would create redundancy and take more time. She thought the public information proposal was comprehensive and that it would result in a lot of public input. Mr. Rayor supported the staff recommendation for the decision-making process and time line. He also agreed with the public input process recommended to the council for the criteria and boundaries. Regarding the public information effort, he did not support the complete list of proposed activities. Mr. Rayor favored putting information on the Web site and making it available at City offices. There would be no speakers bureau, interested parties list, informational sessions, or e-mail communication about the process. If people wanted to know more, they could be referred to the City Web site, or be invited to contact the City Manager's Office for information. Mr. Rayor said that the press should also publicize the information. He wanted to save money and did not think his suggestions "shorted" the public. MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 18, 2001 Page 8 Work Session