CC Minutes - 07/27/98 Work Session

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At Ms. Swanson Gribskov's request, Mr. Johnson described his experience with organizational change during his eight-year tenure as Lane County Administrator. He recalled that there were layoffs in four of those eight years. Addressing a question from Ms. Nathanson, Mr. Johnson said his general philosophy in dealing with projections and fund balances is to prepare information, i.e., the full range of assumptions and implications, enabling the council to make well-informed decisions. He described his position as middle-of-the-road and said he would likely give his opinion to help the council reach its decision. In response to a follow-up question, Mr. Johnson explained his "wandering around" management and communication style, adding that he believed he should be able to go anywhere in the organization and communicate freely with anyone, and vice versa. With regard to the council, he said any communication from the council to the organization that involves great resources should come to his attention but, otherwise he believed council members should be free to communicate with anyone in the organization. Ms. Nathanson expressed concern with the City's relationship with the State and asked Mr. Johnson how he would increase visibility for the City and improve its relationship with the State Legislature. Mr. Johnson rated his involvement with the State as moderate to medium, saying it was not as critical at the County level to develop those relationships because the elected officials did that themselves. He said he could offer familiarity with the system, issues, and some of the staff. Mr. Laue asked Mr. Johnson how he would reorient the organization toward public service. Mr. Johnson said the focus on public service begins with its adoption as one of the key management philosophies for the City by the City Manager and executive directors. Beyond that, he said, there is standardized training in quality customer service and management of the "moment of truth," which he described as the moment of contact with the citizens. Mr. Johnson said customer surveys throughout the organization have uniformly been very good. Addressing a follow-up question, Mr. Johnson said he was not sure the City was moving closer to community policing because not enough resources were being provided, adding that the council "must get real about what we can do with the resources we have." Mr. Laue cited the increased rate of single vehicle occupancy as a major contributor to the transportation problem and asked Mr. Johnson how the City encouraged alternate modes of transportation. Mr. Johnson said current adopted growth management policies speak to the issue and the policy is clear so what was needed was staff-generated viable alternatives for implementing those policies. He said the likely outcome will be that the council will adopt actions that make it more difficult or expensive for people to drive alone in a vehicle--something that will raise much community discussion. In response to a question from Mr. Farr, Mr. Johnson said that the City's staff would unanimously say that they enjoyed working for him if asked. Answering a follow-up question, Mr. Johnson said that as a department director he provided direct staff support to three committees and since becoming City Manager Pro Tern he has added and would add more meetings to his schedule. Mr. Farr asked Mr. Johnson to elaborate on his relationship with the local school districts. Mr. Johnson indicated that he personally knew all three superintendents and the assistant superintendent for School District 4J. He said the Public Safety Coordinating Council had given him an opportunity to work more closely with the districts and he and their leaders planned to continue meeting. Mr. Johnson said he planned to assign staff as liaisons with each of the school districts. Addressing a question from Mr. Rayor, Mr. Johnson said voters were being asked to approve revenue sources for expanding current services as there is no way of doing it without new money. He observed that the organization was on the right track of becoming a more efficient Minutes--Eugene City Council July 27, 1998 Page 2 5:30 p.m.