Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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Manager Carlson due to the expectation of employee confidentiality in regard to personnel issues. Ms. Bettman said that information reinforced her initial commitment to bring up the issue publicly. If the manager disciplined Assistant Manager Carlson privately, no one in the organization would know that he dealt with the issue, leaving the impression it was okay and had the tacit approval of those at the top. Ms. Shepard summarized some of the issues that had been raised during the discussion: elected offi- cials/staff divide; concerns about respect—both ways; issues of honesty/trust; inability to deal directly with people; unprofessional conducts and behaviors; intent/culture; top management and councilor modeling; people feeling marginalized; inconsistency with how different officials interact with staff; not a level playing field; undermining the work of officials; and asymmetry between elected officials and staff. Ms. Shepard offered a list of expectations and hopes: partnership; two-way street of respect; clear conduct/line of command; professional behavior; “golden rule”; hope for a significant initiative about the issue; hope for modeling respect from the top; clear communication; equitable treatment of all officials; and improve culture through trust, respect, teamwork, and communication. She suggested that the council needed to discuss the topic at greater length and asked about next steps. Mayor Piercy acknowledged the City Manager’s responsibility for personnel issues and said she wanted him to reinforce the appropriate use of e-mail and the need for respect for elected officials with staff. She hoped something positive came out of the situation. Mr. Papé thought many of the issues listed by Ms. Shepard applied to both the council and staff, particu- larly in regard to feeling marginalized. He wanted a council session where issues were put on the table. He thought that would be healthy. Mr. Kelly hoped that a next step would be for the City Manager Taylor to send out a written communication on the issue to the organization. Mr. Kelly agreed with Mr. Papé that respect was a two-way street and the council needed to model the same respectful behavior it expected from staff. However, he perceived an “inevitable asymmetry” between the role of the council and the role of staff, and was concerned that such statements diluted the seriousness of the issue. Ms. Bettman said that if the e-mail had come from a low-level staff member she would have “blown it off” and it would not have registered it at all. The fact that it was sent by Assistant City Manager Carlson, who had headed the organization for a year as acting city manager, concerned her because he should have known better. She agreed with Mr. Kelly that the council continued to move forward with its business. Ms. Bettman said it would be important to her if the actions the manager took were a significant step in reestablishing credibility, accountability, and trust. She reiterated the need for “zero tolerance” of such situations. The meeting adjourned at 8:35 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Dennis M. Taylor City Manager MINUTES—Eugene City Council April 17, 2006 Page 12 Process Session