Item 6: Ratification of IGR Minutes and Direction on Legislative Policy

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ATTACHMENT D M I N U T E S Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations McNutt Room—Eugene City Hall—777 Pearl Street Eugene, Oregon March 16, 2007 Noon PRESENT: Bonny Bettman, Chair; Betty Taylor, Mayor Kitty Piercy for Chris Pryor, members; Mayor Kitty Piercy; Mary Walston, Greg Rikhoff, Brenda Wilson, Jessica Cross, Randi Zimmer, City Manager's Office; Glen Svendsen, Jeff Perry, Central Services; Ellwood Cushman, Eugene Police Department; Eric Jones, Eric Wold, Steve Gallup, Kevin Finney, Public Works Department; Steve Nystrom, Kurt Yeiter, Stuart Ramsing, Planning and Development De- partment; Larry Hill, Central Services Department; Jerome Lidz, City Attorney’s Office. 1. Call to Order and Review Agenda Ms. Bettman called the meeting of the Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations (CCIGR) to order and reviewed the agenda. She determined there were no changes to the agenda. 2. Review Pending Legislation SB 671 In response to a request from Ms. Bettman, Mr. Lidz explained that the bill would eliminate attorney/client privilege for communications between public officials and their attorneys except to the extent that it involved the attorney delivering legal advice. He said being unable to assure confidentiality would prevent a public official from being able to disclose facts in confidence to the attorney, which could result in the attorney being unaware of facts he or she needed to know. He said that attorney/client privilege could always be waived; it was a question of whether or not it could be claimed. Mr. Lidz said the bill was prompted by a situation in Klamath County in which someone complained to the county commissioners about alleged misconduct by a county official; the commissioners hired an attorney to investigate, who in turn hired a private investigator. He said that someone made a public records request for the investigator’s report to the attorney and the courts held that was protected by privilege and should not be disclosed. He said the court’s decision was a bad result, but the Department of Justice, League of Oregon Cities and Association of Oregon Counties thought the bill was not the right fix because it was undoing vast amounts of law in order to achieve its purpose. Ms. Wilson said the bill would receive its first hearing next week. Ms. Bettman said her interpretation of the bill was different and she thought it would pertain to a public body, not individual councilors. Mr. Lidz said that a “public body” under the public records law would include individuals, just as councilors’ emails and notes were records of the public body. He said that oral MINUTES—Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations March 16, 2007 Page 1