HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 09/18/2013 Work SessionMINUTES
Eugene City Council
Harris Hall, 125 East 8 1 h Avenue
Eugene, Oregon 97401
September 18, 2013
12:00 p.m.
Councilors Present: George Brown, Betty Taylor, Alan Zelenka, Mike Clark, Chris Pryor,
Claire Syrett
Councilors Absent: George Poling, Greg Evans
Mayor Kitty Piercy opened the September 18, 2013, City Council work session.
A. COUNCIL VISION, GOALS AND OUTCOMES AND PROCESS SESSION
City Manager Jon Ruiz introduced the item and outlined how the council goals would be
used in the Budget process.
Council Discussion /Questions:
• An update on Eugene Counts and where we are with the budget process would be
helpful.
• The City should communicate to the community what our current economic status
is and how can we grow in the future.
• It is important to clearly identify aspirational goals and stay rooted in realistic
budget allocations.
• Focus on areas that can use economic development; less emphasis on downtown
needed.
• Place more emphasis on equity; consider adding safe and healthy community as
another value in goals and outcomes.
• Arts and culture are important, small business loans have helped revitalize
downtown.
• Add to "Effective, accountable municipal government" goal to include innovative
solutions to long- standing problems.
• Improve efforts to communicate to the public what the council goals are and
encourage involvement in the goal- setting and budget process?
• Balance benefits to the community with benefits to the individual.
• Consideration of the triple bottom line is critical.
Councilor Clark requested a work session poll to gauge council interest in discussing
MINUTES — Eugene City Council September 18, 2013 Page 1
Work Session
how Budget Committee members are appointed.
Process Session - Work Sessions
• The council's operating agreement to require the approval of the full council for a
request that will take more than two hours of staff time was discussed.
• There is a need for staff to do better job of tracking work assignments and
communicating the status of these assignments to the council.
• There is a need to improve the process for tracking agenda items that are in the
queue, particularly ones that come before Council and require further council
deliberation or action. A suggestion was made to make more of the council's work
available on the website.
• A suggestion was made to include a list of work session polls and their status in
the council newsletter.
• A suggestion was made to update the work session poll template to include a
mechanism for councilors to indicate whether a requested item is time - sensitive.
• A non - response to a work session poll may indicate intentional abstention.
The meeting adjourned at 1:15 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Michelle Mortensen
Deputy City Recorder
MINUTES - Eugene City Council September 18, 2013 Page 2
Work Session