CC Minutes - 07/20/11 Work Session

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Mr. Pryor credited City Manager Ruiz with giving his staff the freedom to be creative and innovative and for not being a micro - manager. He said the council gave the manager freedom to be creative and innovative, leading to an unprecedented nexus that the council needed to take advantage of because it was "here, it's now, and you're in place and we're in place and they're in place and we can get things done." He found that incredibly exciting and assured the manager the degree to which he was in the center of that was a real value not only to the council but to the community as a whole. He termed the manager a "gift to Eugene," and said he deserved the merit increase but City Manager Ruiz was a great enough leader to recognize what the community needed. Mr. Brown expressed appreciation that the manager and his staff had been able to balance the budget and the City continued to deliver an acceptable level of services. He thought it admirable that City Manager Ruiz rejected his merit increase, which set a tone for the organization, including its bargaining units. Mr. Brown said his only criticism was what he considered the manager's over - reliance on the mediation services of Bob Chadwick in association with Envision Eugene. However, he acknowledged that the City was in unchartered waters in that regard. Mr. Brown believed that eventually the issues would be sorted out and the City would reach the solution it needed. Ms. Ortiz agreed with much of what had been said by other councilors. She agreed the manager had set the tone for the organization, which was a powerful thing. She believed staff had risen to the challenge set by the manager. She agreed about the manager's leadership ability. Speaking to staff development, Ms. Ortiz said that the manager encouraged staff to "try it on" and sometimes a new role fit and sometimes it did not, but it was always a good thing for people to have those experiences. She also recognized the manager's volunteerism, as evidence by the PSA he did for veterans' services. Ms. Ortiz suggested if the manager took criticism personally it was because he was only human, and she identified with that trait. She suggested it was part of the overall experience that the council and manager were having. Ms. Ortiz also appreciated that the manager had declined the merit increase. Mayor Piercy acknowledged past successes and anticipated future challenges that would require the council to work together. She said the fact the manager seemed to like Eugene and liked living in Eugene meant a lot to her. She interpreted that to mean that he cared about the community, which was also important to her. Speaking to future challenges, Mayor Piercy believed the City needed to continue to work on homelessness and providing youth with positive things to do. Mr. Zelenka said health care costs continued to be out of control and he challenged the manager to reduce costs in that area without reducing the services received by employees or forcing them to pay higher costs. He appreciated that the manager had maintained an organizational focus on the Climate & Energy Action Plan and his funding of a Climate and Energy Specialist. Mr. Zelenka expressed appreciation for City Manager Ruiz's staff empowerment efforts and for his relationship building with the council and the City's strategic partners. He also commended the manager's efforts in fostering downtown development and helping to bring several development efforts to fruition. Ms. Taylor commended the manager's work with the Arts and Business Alliance. Ms. Taylor, seconded by Mr. a five percent merit increase. having arrived at the meeting. Poling, moved to accept the City Manager's offer to forego The motion passed unanimously, 6:0; Mr. Clark not yet MINUTES— Eugene City Council July 20, 2011 Page 3 Work Session