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Mayor Torrey related that he was recently asked by the chair of an Oregon Senate Committee on Telecom- munication to participate in negotiations relating to telecommunications. He said that the City wanted a two-percent tax and the negotiations were directed toward precluding other communities from imposing such a tax. He said he wanted to be able to participate in the negotiations and represent the best interests of the community and not be "handcuffed" by a requirement to only discuss the City's position with no flexibility to explore other options. Mr. Meisner said he understood Mayor Torrey's point but his comments raised concerns because the City had adopted an ordinance imposing a telecommunications tax, and before every legislative session the council adopted a legislative policies document and instructed the City's lobbyist to work from that document. He asked how the City's lobbyist and CCIGR could have credibility if a single member of the council represented the City in legislative negotiations and expressed a different point of view. He felt that council members and the mayor should be guided by policy documents. Responding to Mr. Meisner's question, Mayor Torrey replied that he would not negotiate to eliminate the telecommunications tax without discussing it with the council. Ms. Bettman opined that there was an obvious difference between serving on a departmental advisory body and participating in LOC activities as LOC took lobbying policy positions that could be consistent with or in opposition to adopted City policies and the City's best interests. She said that elected officials and the council as the deliberative body made the decisions and those who represented them should reflect those decisions. She said the City should examine the LOC legislative agenda and consider whether it might not be better served by hiring its own lobbyist instead of giving money to the LOC. Referring to the Mayor's example of telecommunications negotiations, she said that the problem was that the processes were not inclusive and any elected official who participated should be careful to represent adopted City policy and not his or her own agenda. Mayor Torrey said he would support whatever decision the council made with respect to representation; however, he felt it would be a mistake for the City to "go it alone" with its own lobbyist. Mr. Kelly restated his motion to reinstate the current Section 9. 03 Attending Con- ferences, Other Meetings and direct staff, with consultation with the council offi- cers, to develop new language regarding representatives voting adopted council pol- icy, if there is one, and staff will consider intergovernmental bodies such as MPC as well as organizations such as LOC and NLC, with language to be taken up at the next council process session in January 2005. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. Crafting Motions During Meetings City Manager Taylor stated that the purpose of the discussion was to address the inordinate amount of time it took to craft a specific motion at the table during a meeting and asked City Attorney Glenn Klein to elaborate on an alternative approach that would be more precise and take less time. Mr. Klein identified an instance in which the council was considering an ordinance and suggested that instead of trying to craft a motion to amend "on the fly," the council could pass a motion to adopt the MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 8, 2004 Page 6 Process Session