Laserfiche WebLink
<br />Discussion of this item was deferred. <br /> <br /> <br />rd <br />Topic: Review effectiveness of 3 Monday meetings dedicated to public hearings <br /> <br />rd <br />Ms. Bettman suggested that if there was only one item scheduled for the public hearing on the 3 Monday <br />night it be shifted to a regular meeting if there was space on the agenda. <br /> <br />rd <br />Ms. Taylor stated she preferred to stay later on a regular meeting night than to have a 3 Monday night <br />dedicated to a public hearing. <br /> <br />Mr. Clark said he was in favor of rescheduling an item to a regular meeting agenda unless the item was <br />controversial and a significant amount of testimony was anticipated. <br /> <br />rd <br />Ms. Ortiz was not opposed to a 3 Monday meeting for the purpose of a public hearing to avoid extremely <br />long regular meetings, but was comfortable with granting the mayor the discretion to move an item to a <br />regular meeting agenda as long as consistency in the council’s calendar was not jeopardized. <br /> <br />Mr. Pryor preferred to have more frequent and shorter meetings, but agreed that an item could be shifted to <br />rd <br />a regular meeting agenda if it did not cause that meeting to be too long. He said the 3 Monday public <br />hearing could be considered optional. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman agreed with granting the city manager and mayor the authority to shift an item to a regular <br />meeting agenda, depending on the topic and expected amount of public testimony. <br /> <br /> <br />Topic: Use of laptops during City Council meetings <br /> <br />Ms. Ortiz said she initially objected to the use of laptops and had heard from constituents that they thought <br />councilors might be paying more attention to their computers than to the meeting discussion. She could now <br />accept their use during meetings. <br /> <br />Mr. Pryor agreed that Ms. Ortiz that there could be a perception that a laptop was distracting the user’s <br />attention from the meeting and suggested that the council establish a protocol that laptops be used only as a <br />resource for reviewing the agenda and related materials. He noted that laptop use promoted sustainability <br />by eliminating a very large volume of paper. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman thought the council should formalize a policy and not rely on the honor system with respect to <br />laptop use. She said the idea that a councilor could be receiving emails from constituents, lobbyists or <br />others viewing the webcast was disturbing and that would constitute inappropriate contact during a council <br />discussion. She if the council did not want to formalize a policy to allow laptop use then there should not be <br />any Internet access during the meeting. <br /> <br />Mr. Zelenka said he used his laptop to make meeting notes, organize materials by topic and eliminate paper. <br />He said the electronic filing cabinet provided easy reference to information. He did not feel laptops should <br />be used to communicate during a meeting, but Internet access was important to retrieving materials related <br />to the meeting. <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council October 15, 2008 Page 10 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />