Agenda Packet 3-9-20 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES – Eugene City Council Work Session January 13, 2020 Page 4 •Councilor Clark – asked for clarification on process; requested work sessions not be held at theend of a meeting. •Councilor Evans – thought the current process for resolutions worked fine. VOTE: PASSED 7:1, Councilor Evans opposed. Council Discussion – Public Forum •Councilor Syrett – thought the presiding official should have discretion to decide the length oftime people could speak at Public Forum; did not support having a lot of items on the agendafollowing Public Forum and did not support work session items at that time. •Councilor Clark – supported administrative changes; noted Wards 4, 5, or 6 were frequentlyunderrepresented and many from Ward 5 did not feel welcome; said there are many peoplewho speak frequently and on the same topic; said limiting constituents to 15 minutes of totaltestimony time per year would save time and allow for different forums. •Councilor Zelenka – thought the purpose of public forum was for the public to bring newinformation and/or complaints—one of many communication tools citizens have access to;thought limits on time and frequency were warranted for council’s time management; said thefirst-come, first-served format was also problematic. •Councilor Taylor – thought public forum was one of the most valuable things council did;opposed to limiting total time for the Public Forum; said she wanted constituents to be able torely on the amount of time they’d have for testimony; said she did not find people repeatingtheir comments to be a problem and thought groups should get more time than individuals. •Councilor Syrett – thought public forum should be used for people to express their opinions oncommunity matters; wanted to explore what role staff could play in facilitating peacekeepingand creating a culture welcoming to all community members; thought staff and security shouldbe prepared to uphold standards of behavior set for the audience; thought there was a need formore respectful speech; supported limiting each speaker to two minutes, limiting total time ofPublic Forum on the agenda, and randomizing speakers. •Councilor Pryor – supported reducing speaking time to two minutes; thought the purpose ofpublic forum was for people to have an opportunity to be heard by council on matters relevantto the city; supported randomizing speaking order; supported a maximum total time of onehour; thought council should maintain an expectation of respectful speech. •Councilor Yeh – said that establishing rules with clear consequences was needed; supportedtwo minutes as long as the time was not reduced to one minute; supported randomization ofspeakers; asked for someone with expertise in equity issues to review proposed rules. •Councilor Evans – supported shortening the forum to two minutes as well as randomization ofspeaking order; thought holding meetings at other venues would be valuable, especially forresidents of wards that were further away from downtown; supported limiting overall time to45 minutes or an hour. •Councilor Semple – supported two-minute comment time; was interested in randomizing;expressed concern about limiting overall length. •Mayor Vinis – noted that randomizing and limiting overall time might work well together. MOTION: Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to limit testimony to two minutes, to limit the times to two times a month for one hour, and to randomize the order of people speaking once they’ve signed up. •Councilor Syrett – supported the motion and thought the public would adapt to a new system ifcouncil adopted one. •Councilor Clark – thought there should be clear consequences for abuse of the rules. March 9, 2020, Meeting - Item 2ACC Agenda - Page 6