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Ms. Ortiz wanted to address this topic and the next two, meeting minutes and use of new tools and <br />technology, at the same time. She had liked that one previous meeting had been broken into a 20-minute <br />item and a longer item for discussion. She related that a very large packet of information had been provided <br />to councilors related to the Joint Elected Officials meeting of the previous night. She appreciated receiving <br />smaller updates on issues to remain current. She noted that information related to planning was dense and <br />detail-oriented and sometimes hard to digest, but was very relevant to the community. She liked the public <br />record and the way the minutes were being processed and provided to the councilors. Regarding an email <br />distribution list, she wondered if the City Council could create a council newsletter. She thought this would <br />be one way to call out the contributions of members of the community as well. <br /> <br />Mr. Zelenka also liked having shorter items mixed into the agenda. He agreed with Ms. Ortiz about <br />receiving smaller updates. He said he would like more short meetings with the various commissions and <br />committees that worked on City issues. He pointed out that the councilors all served on committees and <br />commissions as well. He thought it would be beneficial if the councilors could provide some sort of report <br />or update from them at work sessions. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy suggested that this could be integrated into the regular council meeting. She observed that the <br />committees often worked on things having to do with big policy issues in the community. She thought a <br />portion of the regular meeting could be set aside for such updates. <br /> <br />Mr. Brown had been frustrated by the lengthy Powerpoint presentations that had been made regarding urban <br />renewal and the police facility. He felt that not enough time had been left for discussion. He believed that <br />all of the councilors came prepared and that by the time an item was brought back for the second time <br />another Powerpoint presentation would not be necessary. He agreed that it was good to bring the public up <br />to speed on the background information, but he thought that unless a Powerpoint presentation was <br />significantly different from its first iteration they should curtail them. <br /> <br />Mr. Ruiz commented that one reason for giving a Powerpoint presentation that had been basically provided <br />at a previous meeting was to review information. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy remarked that it was a difficult balance. <br /> <br />Ms. Solomon cited the transportation issues they had been working through and observed that every <br />presentation had been similar but the councilors were still “asking the same questions.” She had no problem <br />with seeing a Powerpoint presentation more than once. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy said the challenge lay in allowing enough time for the council to have a real conversation <br />about an issue in addition to the information portion of the meeting. <br /> <br />Mr. Brown remarked that he wished they could engage in more process sessions. He said when a meeting <br />was 90 minutes long and the Powerpoint took 20 minutes of it, and councilors were only allowed to speak in <br />three-minute bites, it impacted the time for discussion. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—City Council September 23, 2009 Page 8 <br /> <br />