Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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Everyone Is Telling a Story : I ask 6 to 8 people who are seated together in the circle to stand and move one step into the circle. I walk out into the center of the circle and act as the director of this story. “I have learned, over time, that every conflict has a community of interest, that it brings together those who are influenced or impacted by the decision. I am asking these people to represent a community of interest. Another thing I learned is that each community that is brought together around a conflict has a community story to tell, but the individual members do not understand that. They each come to the gathering believing that they have the entire story in themselves, and they are there to con- vince the others of the “truth” of what they know. To demonstrate this, I am going to ask this group to tell a story. They are going to do this like we did when we were in kindergarten, and the teacher asked us to each tell a part of the story. We begin with Rob, who will repeat the first sentence that I give him. This is the beginning of the sto- ry. Then, Kathy will add her sentence to the story, followed by Laura adding a sentence, and so on, until Crista, the last person in the line, will create an ending for the story. I state for Rob the first sentence for the story: “A porcupine walked into the meadow.” Rob: A porcupine walked into the meadow.” Kathy: (Thinking first) It was a warm and sunny day.” Laura: “He saw another animal in the meadow.” Jon: “It was a bear, an angry bear just waking up from a winter nap.” Debbie: The bear growled at the porcupine when he approached.” Dawn: “This frightened the porcupine, so he climbed a tree to get away from the bear. Crista: There he met a female porcupine who became his mate for life.” With the ending of this story the large group will normally laugh and applaud. The members of the story group are often nervous about speaking and really think, trying to come up with the “right” sentence that makes sense. I repeat the learning I have had about communities of interest. “I have learned that every conflict has a community of interest, and that community which is drawn together has a community story to tell. But, they don’t know that. They each think they have the full story.” Everyone thinks they have the whole story: I have Rob and Crista step out in front of the story tellers, turning to face each other. I encourage them to repeat their sentence to each other, to let the other know what the “true” story is. Rob: “The porcupine walked into the meadow.” MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 6-7, 2009 Page 20 Goals Setting Session