CC Minutes - 01/10/07 Process Session

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at current process sessions. She underscored that over the years the focus of the agreements had not changed very much. Ms. Walston related that the public hearing process had evolved over the years to include time limits. She noted that the Public Forum was created in 1997. Ms. Walston stated that she had an archive of old council process agendas that were available for council review. Ms. Taylor asked why the three-minute time limit had been imposed. Ms. Walston replied that the Wednesday sessions used to have a two-hour limit and the very first item had been the Items from the Mayor and Council. She said this item would sometimes take as long as 45 minutes; so, in order to control that portion of the meeting, the council voted in a time limit. 2. Future Council Meeting Schedules: Work Sessions, Council Meetings, Workshops, Etc. Ms. Shepard said the first issue had to do with timing and any issues councilors wished to bring up related to timing and schedule. Ms. Ortiz had an item that did not relate to schedules. She recalled the discussion the council had regarding the councilor notification of issues. She wanted to be told in advance of press reports on large issues in the community. She said it was hard to advocate for the City and to assure citizens that staff members were doing their jobs when one did not know what was going on. City Manager Taylor said any time there was contact between staff and the media, staff tried to provide the information through the council newsletter and regular memoranda. He asked what sorts of events she wished further notification for. Ms. Ortiz replied that she would want advanced notification when staff members were arrested, when someone was shot by the police, or when high ranking personnel were fired for reasons the press considered newsworthy. In response to a question from City Manager Taylor, Ms. Ortiz clarified that she was referring specifically to fire personnel who were fired. She wanted to be able to say to people that the City did not certain types of behavior. She felt the councilors should know the behaviors for which personnel were being fired. City Manager Taylor stressed that this was a delicate issue because many of the things that would be part of a disciplinary action were part of a personnel record that was between the individual and his or her supervisor, and was therefore not releasable. He stated that it would take a determination by the District Attorney or an Oregon Court of Law to make the records available. Ms. Taylor agreed that councilors should be apprized of anything that would hit the newspapers. She thought that not only should the councilors receive a message, but there should be staff follow-up to ensure they received the message. She related that she had first heard about a large real estate deal in the downtown area by reading the paper. She believed if something was going to attract interest, all nine elected officials should know about it. City Manager Taylor responded that in the example she cited he had sent all councilors and the Mayor a memorandum either by fax or by courier before there was a press contact and MINUTES—City Council January 10, 2007 Page 2 Process Session