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meetings and public notice provided sufficient opportunities for public input and noted that all <br />council decisions were debated and made in public. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor suggested that Mr. Tollenaar defended the structure because he heads the most <br />powerful committee (Finance) and said it was a waste of resources to have so many staff at <br />committee meetings. <br /> <br />Mr. Fart noted that the committees have no power at all by City Charter. He said he did not <br />understand Ms. Taylor's distrust of staff and said he had no problem with "staff running the City <br />because that is what they are paid to do." <br /> <br />Mr. Meisner agreed with Mr. Fart that staff should be trusted and respected, although he shared <br />Mr. Tollenaar's concern with the number of staff who attend meetings. He said he favored a full <br />accounting from committees, not just recommendations, adding that if an issue was not worthy of <br />council discussion it may not be worthy enough for a committee to discuss. Mr. Meisner said it <br />was unclear to him who runs some committees, council or staff. He said he was not sure if the <br />five committees convened at the same time should be standing rather that ad hoc committees. <br />Mr. Meisner said he shared a little of Ms. Taylor's concern with the Council Committee on <br />Finance because everything with a "price tag" on it ("just about everything") was referred to that <br />committee and it was becoming a "mini council." <br /> <br />Mr. Tollenaar noted that the committee structure allowed the Mayor to be a member and give <br />input. <br /> <br />Mr. Laue said he has no problem with the committee structure, although he was concerned with <br />the clarity of charges. He suggested reevaluating the charges of the committees and asking <br />them to develop a work plan for the council's review, and then sunset those committees as their <br />work is completed. <br /> <br />Ms. Nathanson recalled that the former City Manager created the committees to advise her or <br />staff on preparing materials on issues that were scheduled for council discussion. She said that <br />was quite different than a council committee created to work on a new or changed policy. It the <br />committees were used the way they were designed, she said, they might actually work. She <br />advised distinguishing those committees created as advisory by the City Manager from the other <br />committees and if that were not possible then committees should be done another way. <br />Addressing the issue of how many staff are present at meetings, Ms. Nathanson noted that each <br />time the council makes a decision, it sets into motion an expenditure of much resources so it was <br />not surprising to her to see several staff from several different departments present tied to a <br />particular issue. If that is too many staff, she said, then the manager or assistant manager must <br />attend every meeting. Ms. Nathanson said there either has to be enough staff people at these <br />meetings or there has to be a different level of involvement at a higher level. <br /> <br />Ms. Swanson Gribskov said this was not an ideal time to change the structure or the charges to <br />committees given that a new council will be seated in six months. She called this the first of a <br />series of conversations on the topic. <br /> <br />Mr. Smith summarized the discussion and addressed the committee staffing issue, noting that <br />the dialogue in committees among members, staff, and the public has been much more detailed <br />and have resulted in the staff having less control over the information that reaches the council. <br />Mr. Smith said the council ws moving into what has traditionally been staff work, which has been <br /> <br />MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 10, 1998 Page 3 <br /> 11:30 a.m. <br /> <br /> <br />