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expressed reluctance to change the charter in this way and suggested that the money it would cost be spent on parks and police. As per the suggestion that an auditor would pay for itself by saving money, she questioned the wisdom of using savings in a department to pay for a position rather than paying for technological improvements or furthering the education of executives. Mr. Kelly was not surprised the City Manager did not support the idea. He predicted that some of the contract auditors for specific departments could be eliminated as the independent auditor could do that work. He opined that when staff wants a project the money is found, but if staff was opposed to something, the council heard that the City was in terrible fiscal shape. He thought staff had the creativity to find funding for such a position, should it be the will of the voters. Mr. Kelly disagreed that the discussion at the present meeting was brief and the suggestion it be placed on the ballot was premature. He underscored the many hours the CCRC and council had spent in discussion on the item two years earlier. He averred it made fiscal sense to piggyback the item on a ballot that was already underway. Ms. Taylor concurred with Mr. Kelly. She said the CCRC was an "excellent group of people who worked really hard" and a lot of thought had gone into it. She felt the least the council could do would be to place it on the ballot. Regarding the expenditure of money, she commented that the council had "just casually spent $70,000," and reiterated that studies of other communities have indicated that such audits saved money in many instances. Mr. Pap~ opined that the trust issue could "go both ways," as the hiring of an independent auditor could suggest to the public that the City was not trustworthy. Regarding the three police audits, Mr. Pap~ asserted that it was the council's responsibility to be aware of such things and take action. Mr. Taylor clarified that the council or the manager could, at any time, make a request to initiate a performance audit. He believed there was a role for performance audits. He expressed concern regarding how many employees the legislative body wished to have. He thought erosion of the City council/manager form of government was problematic and would create undue tension without the requisite benefit to the organization and to the community. Mr. Taylor commented that frequently people said they did not trust the city manager or that they did not receive fair and objective information. He said this was an issue that undermined the whole profession he was part of. He noted he had worked in public service for 30 years. He emphasized that the whole cultural value of a city manager was based on provision of the best professional fair and objective information that he and staff could muster. He averred that, from his experience of the last year, the City had an "incredibly talented staff" who worked very hard to provide the council with information from which decisions could be made. He recalled the process sessions in which staff and the council had worked to improve the way information was provided. He felt the suggestion that he and staff were not providing fair and objective information and were not trustworthy undermined, more than anything, the confidence the public would have in government. Mayor Torrey pointed out that there would be a ballot in 2005 regardless of the outcome of this discus- sion, as enough signatures had been gathered to bring a tax issue before the voters. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 28, 2004 Page 8 Work Session