CC Minutes - 01/21/98 Work Session

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MINUTES Eugene City Council Council Chamber--City Hall January 21, 1998 11:30 a.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Pat Farr, Nancy Nathanson, Tim Laue, Scott Meisner, Bobby Lee, Betty Taylor, Laurie Swanson Gribskov, Ken Tollenaar. The January 21, 1998, meeting of the Eugene City Council was called to order at 11:30 a.m.; Mayor Jim Torrey presiding. I. ITEMS FROM MAYOR, COUNCIL, AND CITY MANAGER Mr. Torrey reminded the City Council and the public of City Charter restrictions on the council's ability to address personnel matters. He said that personnel matters were the purview of the City Manager. The City Council had the authority to hire and fire only the City Manager. Mr. Torrey asked City Manager Vicki Elmer to respond to the following three requests: 1) report to the council on January 28 about her long-term objectives for the Police Department and her anticipated outcomes for the department; 2) what steps the manager was taking on a short-term basis to deal with the absence of the Chief of Police through his resignation, particularly in terms of its impact on existing programs and several issues under discussion, such as external review; and 3) to determine whether she had any comments she would like to discuss with the council regarding personnel issues. Mr. Tollenaar said that a regularly scheduled evaluation of manager will take place in February, and he hoped the council would reserve judgment and place the situation in the context of an overall evaluation of performance. Ms. Nathanson indicated her appreciation for Mr. Torrey's requests. She said that when she heard Ms. Elmer's response to Mr. Torrey's requests, she would be interested in hearing how the council can expect actions and activities, whether they are personnel changes or organizational changes or program changes, help it achieve its goals and the community's goals, and whether the manager perceived the events occurring in the last few weeks or few months as helping or hindering or making progress toward those goals. Ms. Nathanson noted she had received an invitation to the ceremony recognizing the separation of the Police Department and Fire Department on January 23, but could not attend because she was out of town on business that day. Sbe regretted missing the event. Mr. Meisner concurred with the comments made by Mr. Tollenaar and Ms. Nathanson. He said that it was a challege to back away from each crisis and have perspective on issue. He said that the Human Rights Commission had passed a motion the previous night regarding the situation, which he distributed to the council. He said that the manager should consider both the council's MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 21, 1998 Page 1 11:30 a.m.