Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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Ms. Rose suggested that staff could revise the sign-up sheet to make the process clearer to the public. Responding to a question from Mr. Poling, Mr. Kelly reiterated his suggestion for one hour for the forum as a canonical time and to give the president flexibility in making a motion. Ms. Taylor preferred that 90 minutes be allocated to the public forum as a maximum, pointing out that sometimes few people spoke. Mr. Pryor thought that for the sake of agenda construction, the council should establish a maximum. He said that staff would not know how to construct agendas with uncertainty about the time. Ms. Shepard polled councilors on their preference for a time limit, either 60 minutes or 90 minutes. Mr. Kelly suggested that staff return with a recommendation that the council could vote up or down. IV. Criteria for Canceling Council Meetings/Work Sessions Mr. Papé believed that the council should have canceled the March 10 meeting since the majority of the agenda had been deferred due to council absences and it contained only the Consent Calendar and Public Forum. He characterized the meeting as a waste of time. Mr. Kelly said that because council agendas were so full, he did not understand why the council did not always have a meeting at the usual time; for example, next Monday there was a Budget Committee meeting that ended at 7:20 p.m. that could have been followed by a regular council meeting. The meeting could be canceled if not needed. There was brief discussion of why the March 10 meeting had been canceled. Mr. Pryor suggested that the question at hand was more relevant for discussion. City Manager Taylor indicated he did not cancel meetings or schedule additional meetings unless asked to do so by the Mayor and City Council. Mr. Pryor suggested that there were only a few instances where a meeting should be canceled; for example, if there was nothing to discuss. He suggested that in some cases, only the regular meeting might be needed. The council did not need to meet in work session if there was no need, but regular meetings should occur if only for the Public Forum and Consent Calendar. Ms. Ortiz agreed with Mr. Pryor, and said she would err on the side of holding meetings as opposed to canceling them. City Manager Taylor had no objection to holding a council meeting after Budget Committee meetings, but pointed out there were some logistical issues involved and it was difficult to predict the length of committee meetings. Ms. Shepard determined the council operating agreements did not address the issue. She further determined that the council was not suggesting any changes. Councilors briefly discussed how items were postponed. Mr. Kelly noted the current language in the operating agreements, which stipulated that councilors could requests items be postponed or a vote not be taken. MINUTES—Eugene City Council April 17, 2006 Page 7 Process Session