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possible for one person to have expertise in all of the areas of the City services. She expressed reluctance to <br />change the charter in this way and suggested that the money it would cost be spent on parks and police. As <br />per the suggestion that an auditor would pay for itself by saving money, she questioned the wisdom of using <br />savings in a department to pay for a position rather than paying for technological improvements or <br />furthering the education of executives. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly was not surprised the City Manager did not support the idea. He predicted that some of the <br />contract auditors for specific departments could be eliminated as the independent auditor could do that work. <br />He opined that when staff wants a project the money is found, but if staff was opposed to something, the <br />council heard that the City was in terrible fiscal shape. He thought staff had the creativity to find funding <br />for such a position, should it be the will of the voters. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly disagreed that the discussion at the present meeting was brief and the suggestion that it was <br />premature to place it on the ballot. He underscored the many hours the CCRC and council had spent in <br />discussion on the item two years earlier. He averred it made fiscal sense to piggyback the item on a ballot <br />that was already underway. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor concurred with Mr. Kelly. She said the CCRC was an %xcellent group of people who worked <br />really hard" and a lot of thought had gone into it. She felt the least the council could do would be to place it <br />on the ballot. Regarding the expenditure of money, she commented that the council had ~just casually spent <br />$70,000," and reiterated that studies of other communities have indicated that such audits saved money in <br />many instances. <br /> <br />Mr. Pap6 opined that the trust issue could ;;go both ways," as the hiring of an independent auditor could <br />suggest to the public that the City was not trustworthy. <br /> <br />Regarding the three police audits, Mr. Pap~ asserted that it was the council's responsibility to be aware of <br />such things and take action. <br /> <br />Mr. Taylor clarified that the council or the manager could, at any time, make a request to initiate a <br />performance audit. He believed there was a role for performance audits. He expressed concern regarding <br />how many employees the legislative body wished to have. He thought erosion of the City council/manager <br />form of government was problematic and would create undue tension without the requisite benefit to the <br />organization and to the community. <br /> <br />Mr. Taylor commented that frequently people said they did not trust the city manager or that they did not <br />receive fair and objective information. He said this was an issue that undermined the whole profession he <br />was part of. He noted he had worked in public service for 30 years. He emphasized that the whole cultural <br />value of a city manager was based on provision of the best professional fair and objective information that <br />he and staff could muster. He averred that, from his experience of the last year, the City had an ~incredibly <br />talented staff" who worked very hard to provide the council with information from which decisions could be <br />made. He recalled the process sessions in which staff and the council had worked to improve the way <br />information was provided. He felt the suggestion that he and staff were not providing fair and objective <br />information and were not trustworthy undermined, more than anything, the confidence the public would have <br />in government. <br /> <br />MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 28, 2004 Page 8 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br /> <br />