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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 3A - Minutes ApprovalEUGENE CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY Approval of City Council Minutes Meeting Date: November 8, 2004 Agenda Item Number: 3A Department: City Manager's Office Staff Contact: Lynda Rose www. cl. eugene, or. us Contact Telephone Number: 682-5017 ISSUE STATEMENT This is a routine item to approve City Council meeting minutes. SUGGESTED MOTION Move to approve the minutes of the October 11, 2004, Work Session, October 11, 2004, City Council Meeting, October 12, 2004, Boards, Commissions and Committees (BCC) Interviews, October 13, 2004, Work Session, October 13, 2004, BCC Interviews, and October 26, 2004 BCC Interviews. ATTACHMENTS A. October 11, 2004, Work Session B. October 11, 2004, City Council Meeting C. October 12, 2004, BCC Interviews D. October 13, 2004, Work Session E. October 13, 2004 BCC Interviews F. October 26, 2004, BCC Interviews FOR MORE INFORMATION Staff Contact: Lynda Rose Telephone: 682-5017 Staff E-Mail: lynda.l.rose~ci.eugene.or.us L:\CMO\2004 Council Agendas\M041108\S0411083A. doc ATTACHMENT A MINUTES Eugene City Council Work Session McNutt Room--Eugene City Hall October 11, 2004 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: George Poling, Bonny Bettman, Nancy Nathanson, Scott Meisner, David Kelly, Betty Taylor, Gary Pap6 Jennifer Solomon. Mayor James D. Torrey called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. He noted that Ms. Nathanson would participate via speakerphone. A. ITEMS FROM MAYOR, COUNCIL, AND CITY MANAGER Ms. Nathanson had no items. Mr. Meisner had no items. Mr. Kelly corrected what he considered an erroneous headline and lead paragraph in an article in the October 10, 2004, edition of The Register-Guard, which indicated the new police headquarters would be built whether or not Ballot Measure 20-88 was passed. While the council would need to discuss next steps if the measure failed, it was not a foregone conclusion that the City would build the police headquarters. At that time, the council would have to discuss next steps for the best use of the money in question and the effect of the failure of the measure in relationship to the overall vision for downtown and the need for a new city hall. There was also the question of whether the council would be perceived as honoring the will of the voters if it proceeded anyway, and if the City would want to build a police station with no expansion space, which would be the case if the measure failed and the council went forward. Ms. Taylor had no items. Mr. Pap6 reported that on October 10 he attended a tree planting event sponsored by the Eugene Tree Foundation at Gillespie Butte, kicking off a historic tree program. He said those interested in having their tree designated as a historic tree should log on to the foundation's Web site, where an application form was available. He expressed appreciation for the cooperation of Urban Forester Mark Snyder and the Public Works Department in putting on the event. Ms. Bettman commended the Lane County Public Health Department for its response to the public health crisis created by the lack of flu vaccine. She said the issue could get worse if no supplies were produced. The health clinic was reprioritizing those eligible for a vaccine shot. She urged those at high risk to get a vaccine, and asked those who were not at high risk to pass on the shot so that more vaccine would be available for those at higher risk. Ms. Bettman said that several City committees had been formed in past years to look at the issue of homelessness in Eugene and each had developed a set &recommendations. She noted the Human Rights Commission planned a presentation on the status ofhomelessness in the community. She asked when that would occur. Ms. Bettman asked if the information from that presentation, in conjunction with a list of MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 11, 2004 Page 1 Work Session past recommendations, could be provided to the council as she wished to determine if there was sufficient council support for a work session on the topic. Ms. Bettman expressed concern about the cost of the City's new cable television program. She termed it a public relations program and said the money could be better spent in other areas. She suggested the funding would be better spent telecasting other advisory committee meetings, such as the Planning Commission and Police Commission meetings. Ms. Bettman alerted the council that on October 15, 2004, the Metropolitan Policy Committee, acting as the local Area Commission on Transportation, was hosting a summit for State metropolitan planning organizations at the Eugene Library. All were welcome to attend. Mr. Poling had no items. City Manager Taylor had no items. B. WORK SESSION: PeaceHealth/West University Area Transportation Planning City Manager Dennis Taylor introduced the item. He said staff had held some conversations with PeaceHealth representatives about transportation issues in the vicinity of the hospital's Hilyard campus. He said that Chris Henry of the Public Works Department was present for the item. Mr. Henry introduced PeaceHealth representatives Alan Yordy, Brian Terrett, and Philip Farrington, who were present to discuss transportation plans for the Hilyard campus area. Mr. Henry said PeaceHealth had been working on plans for the redevelopment of the campus, and some of those plans could have implications for the surrounding transportation system. Ms. Solomon arrived at the meeting. Mr. Yordy introduced the presentation by providing some context, saying that even with PeaceHealth's proposed move to the RiverBend campus, the Hilyard Street campus would remain an integral part of hospital operations. He envisioned a robust campus with 1,500 to 1,800 employees. Planning for that redevelopment was just beginning. Mr. Yordy emphasized the high level of growth in use at the Hilyard campus and said PeaceHealth continued to experience high census days at the Hilyard campus, which meant that patients were moved around and held in various places as staff waited for beds to become available. The community's mental health treatment capacity was a major issue, and PeaceHealth had the only mental health inpatient facility, forcing PeaceHealth to send patients to other facilities where open beds existed. In addition, neonatal patients were also frequently transferred to other facilities. He envisioned that some of the pressure on the Hilyard campus would be absorbed by development at the former Sony facility in Springfield, the RiverBend Annex. Mr. Yordy envisioned that the campus would have a 24-hour urgent care facility. He acknowledged the concern of south Eugene residents about their access to emergency care, and said whatever the outcome of the hospital relocation issue, he pledged to work with the City and other interested parties to ensure that there was adequate emergency access south of the Willamette River. Mr. Yordy noted that the University of Oregon and PeaceHealth, the community's two largest employers, MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 11, 2004 Page 2 Work Session were located within one block of each other. He said that historically, that relationship was underlever- aged, and he believed that over time the council would see increasing efforts at collaboration between the two organizations. He noted the first announced formal collaboration between the two parties, the Oregon Heart and Vascular Institute. Mr. Yordy hoped that effort was the first of many such collaborative efforts between the two entities. Mr. Yordy anticipated that PeaceHealth would spend approximately $60 million, commencing in 2008, on the redevelopment of the Hilyard campus, which would include demolition of some existing buildings and construction of new buildings. He asked the council to consider some of the transportation and infrastruc- ture needs for the area. Mr. Farrington provided a PowerPoint presentation on existing transportation conditions in the area of the Hilyard campus. He used a map of the area to point out structures on the campus not meeting seismic standards that must eventually be replaced but noted the lack of space to accommodate expansion, or what he termed an "empty chair" for growth. Mr. Farrington said that was a continuing problem for Peace- Health. Removal of the oldest portions of the campus provided room for expansion. Mr. Farrington noted the lack of short-term parking to serve the campus area. He said PeaceHealth hoped to include some short-term parking in the short-term. Mr. Farrington described some of the problems that existed in the transportation system, citing as one example the one-way street system, which confused people, particularly those from outside the commu- nity. He said better lighting and better pedestrian access was needed in the area to serve the foot traffic accessing the university and hospital. There was little signage to assist visitors. He said that PeaceHealth hoped to improve access not only to its facilities, but to other institutions, residents, and businesses in the vicinity. All would benefit from the concepts PeaceHealth hoped to explore. Mr. Farrington noted that PeaceHealth hoped to explore whether circulation could be improved by breaking up the street grid and providing multiple access points along 13th Avenue, for example, if only for a single block. He referred to Alder Street and termed it the "street that time forgot" as it did not meet any City standards for a street with its classification and was a challenge in terms of access. He hoped there could be a focus placed on that street. Speaking to the issue of increased access points on 13m Avenue, Mr. Yordy pointed out that currently, ambulances exiting from the emergency area must now turn left onto that street and were forced to navigate a very busy University area. He said that an additional short, one-block westbound lane would minimize the ambulance circulation problem. Mr. Farrington added that whether a second lane was needed for southbound or two-way traffic was something PeaceHealth would like to discuss with its neighbors. Mr. Farrington briefly reviewed PeaceHealth's conceptual plan for the Hilyard campus, emphasizing the tentative nature of the plan. Mr. Farrington reviewed various points of collaboration between the City of Eugene and PeaceHealth, reminding the council that PeaceHealth provided space for the West University Neighborhood police substation at no cost. PeaceHealth had acquired the alleyway between Hilyard and Alder streets and worked with the City on improvements to the alley. He said PeaceHealth would invest considerable money into the campus, helping the community to leverage funding for needed improvements for infrastructure investments. Mr. Farrington said PeaceHealth hoped to work with the City on improved access to and linkages from the campus area and wanted to discuss dedication of the land needed for an MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 11, 2004 Page 3 Work Session additional lane on 13th Avenue and possibly along Alder Street. He said PeaceHealth hoped to propose possible additions to the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) project list to the City for which it could seek County Road Fund dollars. Mayor Torrey solicited council comments and questions. Mr. Kelly thanked PeaceHealth for its presentation. However, he expressed dismay at the lack of information accompanying the Agenda Item Summary (ALS) He said it would have been useful to have the presentation information ahead of time. Mr. Kelly noted his residence in the neighborhood in question and indicated his appreciation of Mr. Farrington's remarks about the existing street system and ambulance access. He agreed it was a challenge to drive in the area the closer one got to the University of Oregon. Mr. Kelly also expressed appreciation that PeaceHealth planned to work with the surrounding property owners and businesses on changes to the transportation system. He said those changes would affect all the surrounding properties. Mr. Kelly said he would be looking for the neighborhood "buy-in" from the Northwest Christian College, University of Oregon, residents, and the retail merchants in the area. Mr. Kelly asked for more information about the concept of altering the pedestrian flow in the area, saying a more detailed diagram illustrating the current and proposed flow would help him to evaluate the proposal. Mr. Kelly expressed concern about the potential use of County Road Funds for the project. He said it would be very hard to argue for funding for new projects after arguing with the County for more funding for road preservation and maintenance funding. Mr. Meisner also expressed appreciation for the presentation. He said it appeared PeaceHealth had looked at what was needed to make the area workable. He agreed that Alder Street was substandard as currently configured and the hospital's suggestions for improvements seemed workable. He said he had witnessed the problems experienced by ambulances as they tried to leave the hospital, so that idea made sense to him as well. Mr. Meisner said that regardless of whether County Road Funds were needed for maintenance and operation, the County had not been forthcoming in providing them, and it seemed perhaps the obvious place to go for funds for the improvements being proposed as several members of the Board of County Commissioners had made clear their preference for funding discrete projects. Mr. Meisner asked about long-term plans for the Oregon Medical Laboratory (OML) building if that building was vacated by the current use. Mr. Yordy said in the short-term, the building would be used for administrative functions that were now housed in space that could be licensed and used for clinical needs. In the long term, the fate of the building was still open. He said PeaceHealth wanted to come before the council tonight to give it a clear picture of some of what was contemplated. The planning process would start in earnest soon, and PeaceHealth wanted to ensure the council was aware of the implications to the transportation infrastructure before that time. Mr. Yordy noted that the OML building was a stick-built wooden structure with a limited useful life. The hospital was considering the building in terms of its proximity to the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) stop located at 11~ Avenue and Hilyard Street and discussing the potential of redevelopment as a small mixed-use area containing a variety of clinical and other uses. He thought the comer would become more robust in terms of activity. Ms. Bettman agreed that circulation and access in the neighborhood was in need of improvement MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 11, 2004 Page 4 Work Session regardless of the existing conditions. She asked to what extent City staff had been thinking about the area and what would work there, and if PeaceHealth had worked with staff on the recommendations. Mr. Yordy said that the concepts presented were preliminary concepts developed by PeaceHealth staff. He did not represent the plans as being agreed to with the City. Referring to PeaceHealth's suggestion for changes to 13th Avenue, Ms. Bettman questioned how long PeaceHealth anticipated ambulances would be accessing that area after the emergency room was moved. Mr. Yordy said there would never be a time when ambulances did not use the entrance off 13th Avenue for something. He anticipated there would be fairly regular traffic between the RiverBend and Hilyard campuses, and the corridor would be continue to be used by ambulances and transport vehicles transport- ing patients. Ms. Bettman determined from Mr. Yordy that some buildings on the site would be demolished and converted to temporary surface parking. Mr. Yordy said the east side of the campus would be the "empty chair" for future development, and he anticipated there would be new buildings on that portion of the property within ten years. Mr. Farrington said the existing parking structure would stay in place. Ms. Bettman applauded PeaceHealth's effort to redevelop the site, as she thought it was needed. However, she believed there was a need for another parking structure that would only increase with the redevelopment in the future. She did not think surface parking was a good use of the land, particularly in the neighborhood in question, and the parking would not meet the need that would exist. In addition, such parking lots could become empty nuisances to the neighborhood after business hours. Ms. Bettman concurred with Mr. Kelly about the availability of County Road Funds and asked what projects would be removed from the City's CIP if new projects were added. Mr. Yordy concurred with Ms. Bettman about the need for structured parking. He said the issue PeaceHealth faced was how to get redevelopment ready so when the next project came along the hospital was ready to go. He suggested that was the context in which to view the presentation. Mr. Yordy said he believed that many area residents and groups would argue that preservation and maintenance funds should be dedicated to Alder Street, which was extremely deteriorated. In response to a question from Mr. Pap6, City Manager Taylor indicated the concepts put forward by PeaceHealth were generally consistent with the concepts contained in the Central Area Transportation Study (CATS). He said the City and PeaceHealth had not reached the point of discussing specific projects. Mr. Pap6 thanked the representatives of PeaceHealth and regretted the City's lack of past cooperation with PeaceHealth, saying the City had the responsibility to work with and reach out to its largest employers about their expansion plans. Mr. Pap6 determined from Mr. Henry that the area in question was included in the CATS area. Mr. Pap6 asked how PeaceHealth's plans fit with CATS. Mr. Henry said staff looked at the area from a conflict and pedestrian access point of view, and had identified no street changes in the area. PeaceHealth representa- tives provided input into CATS, but at that time the two-way strategy for 13th Avenue was not advanced. He agreed with City Manager Taylor that the concepts'were not inconsistent with CATS. Mr. Farrington said that he provided comments regarding CATS on such subjects as the street crossing at 12th Avenue and Patterson Street. However, at that time PeaceHealth had not been far enough along with its planning to provide concrete input about other concepts. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 11, 2004 Page 5 Work Session Mr. Pap6 recommended the City facilitate a study of the area similar to that done for the east campus area to help bring the different parties together. City Manager Taylor said he and Mr. Yordy had discussed the benefits of such joint planning, particularly as the hospital's plans become clearer. He believed there were many opportunities that could be realized in the area, and said that the concepts put forward by Peace- Health in regard to wider sidewalks, improved pedestrian safety, mixed use, improved linkages to other areas of downtown, and increased street level activities were consistent with the City's larger vision for the central area. Mr. Pap6 maintained such a study would benefit everyone. Ms. Taylor determined from Mr. Yordy that the urgent care function now housed at the Willamette Street site would move to the Hilyard campus, and that the number of employees at the Hilyard campus would increase in time to 1,500 to 1,800. Mr. Yordy said of 5,400 PeaceHealth employees in Lane County, approximately 3,000 worked at the Hilyard campus. Ms. Taylor. determined from Mr. Yordy that the employees now working in the buildings to be demolished would be working at the RiverBend campus instead. Ms. Taylor expressed concern about pedestrian and bicycle access in the area and was concerned that wider streets would change the nature of the area and make the area more difficult for pedestrians to cross. She did not foresee the City or County having road funds to expand the streets. Mr. Yordy agreed about the importance of bicycle and pedestrian safety. He pointed out many of the linkages that exist in the area evolved over time without any specific planning, creating many potential conflict points. He said PeaceHealth wanted to plan for those improved linkages. As a cyclist, he believed clearly marked intersections were a key to safe conditions. Mr. Yordy again emphasized that PeaceHealth and the University are the area's largest employers and offered community residents family wage jobs. He hoped that the council, when setting its priorities for expenditures, would consider those economic engines and consider the expenditure of City and County road funds to make conditions in the area safer, more accessible, and more effective, enhancing the ability of those employers to continue to provide good jobs. Ms. Taylor asked how much cafeteria workers and cleaners made working at PeaceHealth. Mr. Yordy said there were set wage scales and it depended on how long an employee worked at PeaceHealth. He said the average for the majority of jobs was well over $15 hour. He added that for lower wage workers, while wages might be somewhat above the general economy, PeaceHealth had special programs where those employees were provided additional benefits, including medical and educational benefits as well as emergency assistance. Ms. Solomon agreed with City Manager Taylor that there was a lot of opportunity in the area. She said it was clear that PeaceHealth spent some time thinking about that and about improvements needed to the corridor. She expressed appreciation to PeaceHealth for its commitment to the community and was happy it was to stay in the Hilyard Street area as she thought the ripple effect would be good for everyone. It appeared to Ms. Solomon that PeaceHealth was ready to do many of the things that Eugene wanted to see happen, including urban revitalization and redevelopment and creating connections to BRT. She hoped the council did what it could to help PeaceHealth realize its plans. Mayor Torrey complimented PeaceHealth on its presentation. He encouraged PeaceHealth to seek Road Fund money from the Lane County for road improvements. He pointed out that the University and PeaceHealth employed people from all over the county, creating a logical nexus to the County Road Fund. He did not want the council to be shortsighted because of its own funding problems. Mayor Torrey said the City needed to make that part of the city work, and an overlay was not sufficient to realize that goal. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 11, 2004 Page 6 Work Session He urged the council to work with PeaceHealth to seek Road Fund dollars from Lane County for the needed transportation improvements. He agreed with Mr. Meisner that the County was often more interested in project funding, and thought the board would say yes to a well-crafted proposal. Mayor Torrey solicited a second round of council comments. Mr. Kelly spoke to the need for an increased connection between Eugene and the University, and suggested that one way to achieve that was through a fixed-rail trolley. Mr. Kelly inquired about PeaceHealth's plans for the former Sony site. Mr. Yordy said that PeaceHealth was still in the process of planning for the site. He said it was possible all medical records would be consolidated at that location. In addition, PeaceHealth planned to do all supply distribution from that site. There were also a series of functions previously planned for location at the RiverBend site that might be potentially located on the Sony site, such as the main production kitchen facility, because the Sony site contained excellent industrial kitchens. Ms. Bettman agreed there were opportunities that existed in the area in question and the area needed better and safer transportation facilities, but pointed out the City had many other outstanding transportation needs, such as its commitment to the transportation improvements associated with the courthouse. She questioned how the projects could be elevated above other priorities at a time when PeaceHealth planned to decrease employment and take down buildings at the site. She suggested that the issue be revisited in the far future when redevelopment occurred and employment was increased. Mr. Meisner also encouraged PeaceHealth to apply for Lane County Road Funds. He hoped the council would support that application. Mr. Meisner said as PeaceHealth refined its vision, he hoped it remembered the City's goal of having off- and on-ramps at the new I-5 bridge; a major consideration in doing so was to make that portion of Franklin Boulevard a major access route to the hospital and downtown. Mr. Meisner determined from Mr. Yordy that PeaceHealth planned for the continued inclusion of space for the police substation at the Hilyard campus. Mr. Pap6 acknowledged the concerns expressed by councilors regarding the Road Fund, and suggested that PeaceHealth employ its political clout to the extent possible to secure funding. Mr. Yordy said he looked forward to partnering with the City in a request for funds. Mayor Torrey said it was important that PeaceHealth, the University, and other interested parties such as Northwest Christian College work out the details of the needed transportation improvements before they approached the City and Lane County for funds. Mayor Torrey solicited a third round of council questions and comments. Ms. Bettman determined from City Manager Taylor that Lane County had committed $1.6 million to the transportation projects associated with the courthouse project. That commitment was in writing. Ms. Bettman asked what Mr. Yordy meant when he discussed providing south Eugene with access to emergency room services. Mr. Yordy said that regardless of where the two hospitals ended up in terms of location or if McKenzie-Willamette/Triad was unable to move to the Eugene Water & Electric Board site as hoped, he pledged that PeaceHealth would work with the community and go through a certificate of MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 11, 2004 Page 7 Work Session need for another campus if necessary to ensure there was an emergency department south of the river. He said that PeaceHealth had clearly heard the concerns of residents. C. WORK SESSION: Economic Development Committee Recommendations on an Enterprise Zone The council was joined for the item by Planning and Development (PDD) Director Tom Coyle and staff member Denny Braud. Mayor Torrey reviewed the motion on the floor, which was: To direct the City Manager to proceed with application to establish an enterprise zone in Eugene jointly sponsored with and supported by Lane County, based on the recommenda- tion of the Mayor's Committee on Economic Development and consistent with Stale of Oregon guidelines. The application package will return to the council for approval in ad- vance of the spring 2005 State of Oregon application deadline. Mayor Torrey noted a friendly amendment to the amendment was accepted, as follows: To amend the motion by striking the single boundary expansion in the area bounded south of 1 st Avenue, west of Jefferson Street, north of the railroad tracks, and east of Van Buren Street. Mayor Torrey noted that an amendment to the motion was offered and remained on the floor: To amend the staff motion so it applies to redevelopment, infill, and brownfield sites only. Mayor Torrey solicited council questions and comments. Ms. Bettman indicated her intent to revise the amendment to the motion in light of the legal opinion provided by the City Attorney's Office. Ms. Bettman moved to amend the staff motion so the boundary encompasses industrially zoned redevelopment, infill, and brownfield sites only. Mayor Torrey deemed Ms. Bettman's motion a substitute for the amendment formerly on the table. There was no objection. Mr. Kelly thanked City Attorney Glenn Klein for his legal clarification and staff for turning Ms. Bettman's concepts into the map reflected in Attachment A. He said his concerns about the council's inability to fine-tune the enterprise zone still existed, but he felt the proposed new boundaries mitigated the council's inability to target the enterprise zone by creating another community good. The acreage in question could benefit from redevelopment and infill. He intended to support the amendment and would support the main motion if the amendment succeeded. Mr. Kelly pointed out the boundaries of the zone had not shrunk much with the elimination of the greenfields. He suggested the exemption would be less necessary to attract a company to a greenfield because there were limited greenfield sites. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 11, 2004 Page 8 Work Session Mr. Pap6 did not support the amendment. He said the committee's recommendation for an enterprise zone was intended to address the need for economic revitalization in Eugene. An enterprise zone could be a useful tool in achieving that goal. He believed the amendment took some important properties "out of play" and he did not think it met the intent of the State program. Mr. Meisner indicated support for the amendment. He thought it made sense, and did not think the amount of property removed from the zone as a result was significant. While he acknowledged Mr. Pap6's comments about the purposes of the zone, he said there were also City purposes and goals to be considered. He thought it appropriate to focus the zone on economic development in a manner consistent with the City's growth management goals. Ms. Solomon opposed the amendment. She thought it undermined the opportunity before the council. She asked why the City would not want to take full advantage of the tool that existed, noting the previous zone had worked well and had been quite active. She did not want to place more restrictions on the zone, undermining its ability to be successful. Ms. Solomon said the advisory committee, which had been very diverse, did not exclude greenfields from a zone in its recommendations. She said the committee had a robust discussion about the issue, and she was comfortable with the recommendation that the council received. Mr. Poling also opposed the amendment. He said there was considerable competition for such enterprise zones from communities around the state. He agreed with the remarks of Mr. Pap6 and Ms. Solomon, and wanted to move forward with the recommendations of the mayor's committee and make the application as simple as possible using State guidelines. Ms. Nathanson said that as the council considered adding restrictions to the zone, it should think about the consequences of those restrictions. She was convinced the community lacked sufficient redevelopment and brownfield sites to meet the needs of local businesses seeking to expand either on-site or in the community in general. Ms. Nathanson recalled the council's discussion regarding nodal development, during which it got so prescriptive about the way development occurred that some areas would have no development at all rather than some development that would be better than what existed. She opposed the amendment. Ms. Taylor supported the amendment as she believed it made the zone less harmful. She said just because greenfields were not in an enterprise zone did not mean that people could not expand or develop on those areas, they merely would not receive a tax exemption. She thought the zone should provide some clear benefit to the community in return for the tax exemption. Ms. Bettman agreed with Ms. Taylor's remarks. She said the last time the City had an enterprise zone it had been very controversial and contentious. She had personally opposed such zones. She said the attitude that the zone must be "all or nothing" had divided the community for a long time. Ms. Bettman said she believed she could support a focused enterprise zone with a demonstrable community benefit. Ms. Bettman said that several councilors believed the community lacked sufficient shovel-ready greenfield sites. There was a demand for such sites, and she questioned why the community should have to pay businesses to develop on such sites in light of the demand and supply. It did not make good economic sense. She believed it made good economic sense to encourage expansion and development on existing, industrially zoned sites that were either underused or needed to be cleaned up. She pointed out that once the council proceeded with the enterprise zone, it had to accept the companies that applied if they met the eligibility requirements. That had been a concern for many residents who opposed the companies that were recruited to Eugene when the last zone existed. Ms. Bettman advocated for a zone MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 11, 2004 Page 9 Work Session that enjoyed broad community support so that new businesses did not create controversy such as occurred in the past. Mayor Torrey did not want the council to limit itself. He asked councilors to stop thinking about the past and consider the future and ask themselves why it was contemplating the zone. It was for the purpose of creating job opportunities for existing and future residents. Mayor Torrey was convinced many residents would benefit from manufacturing jobs. The City had a limited capacity to accomplish its goals without an enterprise zone. Mayor Torrey said the country was losing its ability to compete on an international scale with service jobs, and the council was not going to stop outsourcing because it did not like it. Minor tax adjustments would not solve the problem when citizens of India with college educations can be hired for $120 month. He said the City needed to find where its unique opportunities exist, and one opportunity was the intellectual capacity at the University of Oregon and convert ideas into products. He said he was not talking about big industries; he had been in Korea the previous week and learned that Hynix would not be coming to Eugene for a second factory because it could do so cheaper in China. Mayor Torrey said if Eugene wanted jobs it needed to have space for companies. Mayor Torrey suggested that the council charge the Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations with the task of securing changes in the enterprise zone law to allow the City to focus its zone more narrowly. Mayor Torrey indicated that in the event of a tie, he would oppose the amendment. Mayor Torrey solicited a second round of comments. Ms. Bettman said she reviewed the presentations given the advisory committee and the presenters were clear that manufacturing jobs were not in the community's future. Eugene's competition in that regard was global. One presenter indicated that high-paying, knowledge-based jobs were desirable and viable for Eugene. Medical services were identified as a growing industry. Former City employee Lew Bowers told the committee that the City's strategy should be 90 percent business retention and 10 percent business recruitment. Ms. Bettman considered enterprise zones in general the least effective economic strategy the City had available, but if such zones could be more targeted, perhaps the City could realize a community benefit. Mr. Kelly asked that Ms. Bettman's amendment be revised to read "... as shown in Attachment A." There was no objection. Mr. Kelly suggested councilors were "talking past each other." Some councilors appeared to believe the zone must be adopted as previously presented to the council or it was not a viable tool. Mr. Kelly suggested the council could support the amendment and garner a clear majority support for the main motion and a zone councilors could defend to their constituents, or the council could reject the amend- ment, have a tie vote, and continued friction and "goodness knows what happens after January 1 ." He asked "Why do that?" He was "dumbfounded" by the opposition voiced by other councilors. The amendment did not add to the complexity of the application; it only moved a line on a map "a little bit." Mr. Kelly believed the amendment would leave 80 to 85 percent of the land in the original proposal in the zone. He pointed out the advisory committee forwarded only a conceptual description of what the zone should include to the council, so the council was not rejecting its recommendations or any fundamental precepts offered it by the committee. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 11, 2004 Page 10 Work Session Mr. Pap6 determined from Mr. Braud that staffwas not sure of the precise amount of land that would be eliminated from the zone if the amendment were accepted. Mr. Braud estimated the amount to be eight percent to ten percent. The majority was in industrial zoning. Mr. Pap6 said he was not arguing that Ms. Bettman's amendment offered no benefit to the community. He was interested in what he thought was the best for the community in terms of improving ils economic drivers and creating better jobs. He thought eliminating ten percent of the land in the zone would be a failure to realize the maximum benefit from the tool. Mr. Pap6 said his focus was on business retention as opposed to business recruitment. He was not arguing for business recruitment. He suggested that Eugene would not have lost Symantec to Springfield if it had an enterprise zone for the business to relocate to. He was aware of other businesses in Eugene with a limited ability to expand on site that would like an opportunity to relocate to an enterprise zone. Mr. Meisner concurred with Ms. Bettman's point regarding the future of manufacturing. He said it was not the future. He concurred with Mr. Kelly regarding the relatively small amount of land involved. Mr. Meisner expressed the wish that the "all or nothing" mentality both political spectrums of the council were demonstrating would end. He did not like it, or the unwillingness of councilors to listen or consider something that would gain near-majority support and survive when a new council took office. Ms. Solomon said the committee was not specific in its recommendations to develop brownfields only, so it appeared to her that the committee recognized the need to keep greenfields in the zone. She said that the City was not paying people to locate in the zone. She said the City could not give away money it was not receiving. Speaking to the issue of recruitment versus retention, Ms. Solomon pointed out the majority of companies in the last zone had been small local companies. Ms. Nathanson said the committee may not have drawn a map but it had discussed the issue whether to focus on brownfields only. She thought the committee's work and recommendations regarding the topic were solid and she wanted accept them without much alteration. Ms. Nathanson said the community could not survive on retail while awaiting the development of knowledge-based businesses, which she supported. She said the zone was about business retention, and she agreed with that focus. She pointed to the businesses that left Eugene to relocate in other communities because they had been unable to find a financially viable way to stay in Eugene. Ms. Nathanson asked those in favor of the amendment to reconsider their positions and honor the committee's hard work. Ms. Nathanson said she was disturbed by the distinction made between benefit to the community and benefit to the businesses. The enterprise zone existed because there was a real benefit to the community, that of job retention. Mayor Torrey said he continued to oppose the amendment. He pointed out that developing brownfield sites was very expensive and the cost would not be offset by the tax exemption. Cities the size of Eugene did not generally receive assistance from the federal government in cleaning such sites. Mayor Torrey solicited a third round of council comments. Ms. Bettman said Eugene would have to address the issue ofbrownfield sites. Much of the industrial land in the city's core was contaminated. She thought the City needed to give businesses willing to develop on brownfield sites more benefits than could be provided by an enterprise zone. M1NUTES~Eugene City Council October 11, 2004 Page 11 Work Session Ms. Bettman agreed the majority of businesses in the zone were locally owned and small, but those businesses did not receive the majority of the tax exemption. Speaking to Ms. Solomon's contention that the City could not give tax breaks with money it did not have, Ms. Bettman said the cumulative impact of such zones across the state was significant. Others had to pay more taxes to pay the shortfall. Mr. Kelly acknowledged the mayor's comments regarding the cost of developing on brownfields but pointed out the new boundary did not exclusively contain brownfields. There were also infill and redevelopment areas in the boundary. He noted that Jack Roberts, Director of the Lane Metropolitan Partnership, believed the mitigation costs of brownfields in Eugene could be relatively low. Mr. Kelly agreed with Mr. Meisner's comments about the need to consider the City's other economic development policies, such as the Growth Management Study policies. Mr. Pap6 said that until the City had more information about the amount of industrial land it had, he preferred to keep the boundaries as proposed by the advisory committee. Mayor Torrey solicited a fourth round of council comments. Speaking to the issue of the advisory committee, Ms. Bettman said the committee met about six months but its review had not been very broad. It had essentially analyzed the old tools the City used in the past. She had objected the make-up of the committee when it was formed because it was "so obviously" had a majority of business interests as opposed to a broad range of citizen interests. However, she would have supported it if it would have given the council the recommendations for which it had "consensus minus one." That way the council would have been given recommendations with support from various community factions. That did not happen. Mayor Torrey called for the vote on the amendment. The vote on the amendment was a 4:4 tie; Ms. Taylor, Mr. Kelly, Mr. Meisner, and Ms. Bettman voting yes, and Ms. Nathanson, Mr. Pap6, Mr. Poling, and Ms. Solomon voting. The mayor voted against the amendment and it failed on a final vote of 5:4. Mr. Kelly regretted the vote. He said the council had the chance to have a united front on an important economic development issue but it was unable to achieve that. He was frustrated and angry that a council majority, rather than accepting what he believed to be 85 percent of the pie on which all could agree, instead took 100 percent of the pie, splitting the community down the middle. What happened in January, Mr. Kelly said, "who knows." Ms. Bettman said more importantly, what happened when the first business made an application for the zone, and there was a community uproar that the council was giving away tax dollars to businesses. The council would have no ability to ask for community standards or leverage business siting in a way that fulfilled community objectives and City policies. She said it was a compromise for her to support an enterprise zone to start with because she believed there were other places the City should invest its economic development dollars. She thought her amendment was a modest proposal that could be supported by everybody. Since it was not, she would vote against the main motion. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 11, 2004 Page 12 Work Session Mayor Torrey termed the glass "half full" as opposed to totally empty, and said that was because the City could lobby with other Oregon communities for changes to the State law. Mayor Torrey suggested that it was unrealistic for Ms. Bettman to expect other councilors to automati- cally accept her proposal in light of the fact the council was unsure of the amount of available industrial land and the impact the amendment would have on that supply. Ms. Taylor thought to accept an enterprise zone without knowing what was to be there was unwise. People needed good jobs, but the council needed to talk about what kinds of jobs and to follow up on the recent sustainable development forum. Mr. Meisner indicated reluctant support for the main motion. He said if the issue came back to the council before he left office, he would vote against proceeding with the application. He was very concerned about the lack of understanding of "battle versus war" on the part of councilors. Mr. Pap6 determined from City Manager Taylor the industrial lands study would not be done until the fall of 2005. He determined from Mr. Braud that the parcels deleted as a result of the friendly amendment were small and already developed. Mayor Torrey called for the vote on the main motion. The vote on the final motion was 5:3; Ms. Taylor, Ms. Bettman, and Mr. Kelly voting no. The meeting adjourned at 7:20 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Dennis M. Taylor City Manager (Recorded by Kimberly Young) MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 11, 2004 Page 13 Work Session ATTACHMENT B MINUTES Eugene City Council Regular Session Council Chamber--City Hall October 11, 2004 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Bonny Bettman, George Poling, David Kelly, Betty Taylor, Jennifer Solomon, Scott Meisner, Gary Pap6, Nancy Nathanson (by telephone). Mayor James D. Torrey called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. 1. CEREMONIAL MATTERS - Proclamation for "Breast Cancer Awareness Month" Mayor Torrcy explained that the reading of thc proclamation would be delayed as it had yet to be delivered to him. 2. PUBLIC FORUM Mayor Torrey reviewed the rules of the Public Forum. David Hansen, 2738 Kismet Way, spoke on behalf of the Eugene Citizens for Housing Standards. He thanked and congratulated the council for its willingness to work on housing standards. He appreciated the unanimity of the councilors' support. He felt the council recognized the need for and the improvement to the community that such standards would facilitate. He said he hoped to meet with councilors over the next couple of weeks both to provide information and to answer questions. Jude Hines, 4487 Knoop Avenue, read the first portion of a statement, copies of which were provided to the council, on behalf of the Alliance of Federal, State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 1724. She conveyed the local's commitment to a fair collective bargaining commitment to the City of Eugene. She stressed that the local was asking to be treated equitably. Cindy Clark, 1621 Calistoga Court, read the second portion of the statement on behalf of AFSCME Local 1724. She related that the Union had difficulty deciphering the City's costing figures. She underscored that the City budgeted $33.9 million for AFSCME positions, while actual wage costs were $27.9 million, because the City budgeted for 100 unfilled positions. She asserted this would pay for the total cost of health insurance for every AFSCME employee for the year. Roberta Pupilli, 1790 West 15th Avenue, read the third portion of the statement on behalf of AFSCME Local 1724. She discussed the monthly cost of health insurance for a family and reiterated that this was included in the budget for unfilled positions at approximately $12,000 per year per position. She said the MINUTES-~'Eugene City Council October 11, 2004 Page 1 Regular Session Union understood that the City must budget for positions to meet unexpected needs in the coming year, but wished the staff and council to understand that AFSCME workers were performing the duties of these unfilled positions as well as their own right now. She pointed out that money unused for wages went into the unrestricted fund. She reported that, according to the City's own financial report, the unrestricted fund had accumulated $66 million as of July 2002. Matt McRae, 2584 Friendly Street, recited the fourth segment of the statement on behalf of AFSCME Local 1724. He asserted that there were workers who could not afford to retire. He discussed deferred compensation, a benefit given to managers, supervisors, and exempt employees. He related that the Local had proposed a one-percent deferred compensation package in lieu of a one-percent salary increase, adding that this would save the City $98,000, but the City had dismissed the proposal. Mr. McRae asked AFSCME members to stand and show cards that indicated the number of years worked for the City, ranging from 2 to 28 years. He stressed that people who give dedicated years of service deserved this reliable tool for retirement. Kathy Saranpa, 3015 Friendly Street, thought the meeting held between Public Works Department staff and the Crest Drive neighbors was disappointing. She thought scheduling a design charette at 4 p.m. precluded attendance by people who work until 5 p.m. She said what neighbors wanted, more than an opportunity to design streets, was a follow-up for the questions brought up at the previous meeting. Only one-half hour had been allotted for this at the end of the process. She likened designing a street before it was designated to putting "the cart before the horse." She theorized that the real reason behind the change in designation was to open up the south end of the City for further development. She urged the City Council to explore the real story behind the issues. She asserted that utilizing the local street designation would accomplish the goals of both the City and the neighborhood. Charles Biggs, 540 Antelope Way, reiterated his concerns regarding the sharply rising taxes and inflation in relation to the rate at which incomes were rising. He felt the time was not appropriate for a bond measure to pay for a new public safety facility, especially given that lawsuits against the Eugene Police Department (EPD) were pending. He asserted that the City's liability coverage for the lawsuits was only $5,000 per lawsuit and taxpayers would be saddled with paying the rest. He listed potential expenses the City would be facing in the near future. He submitted his testimony electronically. Martin Brown, 3446 Storey Boulevard, expressed concern about the street classification for the Crest Drive neighborhood. He felt City staff did not understand the traffic flow on Crest Drive. He related that consultants had asserted that the majority of the traffic was on its way to the post office and then, later, on its way to Jefferson Street. He reported that the neighborhood had paid for a detailed traffic study, the results of which had indicated that the majority of the traffic was cut-through traffic to avoid the intersection at 29th Avenue and Willamette Street. It also indicated that 800 cars traversed Storey Boulevard from upper Crest Drive and lower Crest Drive, a lower number than the City's count of 2,100. He thought the reason the City wanted to change the street designation was that it "looked good on the map." Sherie Hawley, 3484 Storey Boulevard, thanked Gary McNeel, Senior Transportation Analyst for the Public Works Department, and Gary Satre of Satre and Associates, for hosting the neighborhood meetings. She related that the majority of the speakers overwhelmingly expressed their desire to keep the street designation local. She conveyed the Crest Drive neighbors' frustration at the "questions only" format of the first meeting. She felt the second meeting also did not meet the needs of neighbors as they MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 11, 2004 Page 2 Regular Session were asked to launch into a design process for which they were ill-prepared. She asserted that the City had not articulated its case for changing the street designation. She related that the neighbors needed confidence that the street would continue to be called "local" in order to continue to work on street design issues. She said City staff stressed that changing the designation was a change in wording only. She averred that if that were so, then there should be no issue in leaving the wording as it stood. Frank Calciano, 975 Crest Drive, echoed the concerns regarding the change in street classification expressed by previous speakers. He thought that a lack of stop signs contributed to the overuse of the neighborhood and allowed vehicles to travel at high speeds with no impediments from Bailey Hill Road to Willamette Street. He related that the design charette had split the group into ten subgroups and every group designed the street similarly, incorporating narrow streets, traffic calming devices, and more stop signs. He underscored that the vast majority of those in attendance wanted the designation to stay the same, with only two people indicating support for the change to the collector designation. He added that the neighborhood was willing to put in the energy and money to support the effort to design a street with which both the City and the neighborhood could live. David Monk, 3720 Emerald Street, urged the council to include a comprehensive public planning process for the rail yard property in the Planning Commission work plan when it held its joint work session with commissioners later in the month. He encouraged the council to assign a staff person to work with Union- Pacific Railroad in order to find out what it intended to do next and plan accordingly. He said attempts by members of the public to gain information had been unsuccessful. He hoped the railroad would realize that there was more money to be made by selling the real estate than by hanging onto it. Zach Vishanoff, Patterson Street, noted that Williams Bakery had sought to remove some of the restrictions on its land. He theorized that this had to do with potential for a new arena. He reiterated that the Fairmount Neighborhood Association was opposed the site review proposal and he intimated there would be a lawsuit. He said citizens were "riled up" and recommended that public input groups be formed. Mr. Vishanoff thought the University of Oregon was discriminating against people by not renting 15 houses it owned, although there was a waiting list to get into the housing. Mr. Vishanoff shared other' concerns regarding economic development zones. He opined that rich people did not need tax breaks. Kevin Matthews, 120 West Broadway Street, said Public Forum testimony indicated the people of the City of Eugene wanted economic justice and environmental quality. He applauded AFSCME for speaking up about their needs. He questioned the wisdom of imposing a change in street designation on a neighborhood so roundly opposed to it. Mr. Matthews asked why the City Council sought to "ram through" approval of an enterprise zone proposal. He alleged that "a chunk" of the City Council represented construction, real estate, and development interests. He thought the City would spend potential tax money to bring in businesses that bring in low wage jobs and create needs for social services and infrastructure paid for by taxpayers and the community stood to lose in this scenario. He felt City staff had not presented a salient argument for the benefits of an Enterprise Zone for the community. Bruce Miller, PO Box 50968, conveyed his displeasure with the Downtown Eugene, Incorporated (DEI). MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 11, 2004 Page 3 Regular Session Mr. Miller announced that Lane Community College had scheduled a candidates' forum for October 21 and that the Lane County Democrats were also meeting that day. He noted that The Oregonian had endorsed John Kerry for President and The Register-Guard had endorsed Don Hampton for County Commissioner. Mr. Miller called attention to the map that was at the election board. He thought the map did "a horrible job" of designating the boundaries of State representatives and senators. Mayor Torrey closed the Public Forum and called for council comments. Councilor Bettman thanked everyone for their testimony. She commended the Eugene Citizens for Housing Standards (ECFH) for their vigilance and for their articulate testimony. Councilor Bettman agreed with the Crest Drive neighbors that the meeting was confusing and difficult. She asked for draft language for an amendment to designate the streets as local and not collectors as the council would be considering street designations soon. City Manager Dennis Taylor said he would work with City Attorney Glenn Klein to craft the intended motion for her. Councilor Bettman apologized to AFSCME members for having to work without a contract since June. She surmised that the sense of insecurity and unpredictability must have an impact on their daily lives. She stated that the council was forbidden from interfering with bargaining. However, she acknowledged that AFSCME members had brought up an interesting issue and asked City Manager Taylor to speak to it. City Manager Taylor said that mediation was set for Wednesday, October 13, and he believed the two bargaining teams would agree to a fair contract. Councilor Bettman asked City Manager Taylor to speak to the allegation that significant sums of money were being budgeted for unfilled positions. City Manager Taylor said he was not prepared to provide an analysis of vacancy savings at the present time. He did not think such an analysis could be completed within the time that a council assignment was limited to. He suggested that the item be brought for consideration during the Budget Committee process. Councilor Bettman asked if there was validity to the claim that there were 100 unfilled positions, budgeted at $6 million. City Manager Taylor responded that the City bargained at the bargaining table and not through the newspaper, rallies, or City Council meetings. He thought Councilor Bettman was trying to get into the bargaining process by asking the budget question. He did not feel he could gather the information prior to the mediation meeting with AFSCME. Councilor Bettman suggested he provide the information on vacancy savings after the mediation meeting. Councilor Pap6 thanked everyone for coming down and speaking. He asked staff to provide the percentage of benefits in relation to the actual wage of employees. Councilor Pap6 commended the work of the Crest Drive neighbors in lobbying for the street designation. He felt some form of consistency was needed and wanted to know if other neighborhoods were exempt from such changes. He thought there were safety issues to consider as well, noting that he and a friend MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 11, 2004 Page 4 Regular Session "biked" through the neighborhood at times and considered Crest Drive to be the least safe street on which to travel. Councilor Taylor thanked everyone for testifying. She acknowledged that the council could not interfere in bargaining, but echoed Councilor Bettman's request for information. Councilor Taylor complimented the lobbying efforts of ECFS. Councilor Taylor opined that the City should listen to the Crest Drive neighbors. She said if people do not want to designate their street to something else, it should not be so designated. She said, though testimony seemed to indicate otherwise, there were likely some neighbors in that area that could not afford to pay for future improvements. Councilor Kelly thanked everyone who took the time to come down and speak up. Regarding the Crest/Storey/Friendly street designation, he noted that the Mayor had spoken at a previous meeting about building bridges. He felt the City was doing exactly the opposite with this issue. He urged staff not to bring the street designation issue before the council until the City was closer to an agreement with the neighbors. Councilor Kelly said, regarding the discussion of vacancies in AFSCME positions, he was open to receiving the information during the budget cycle. He asked if there was data on comparable jurisdictions on how many positions were open during a budget cycle. Additionally, he wished to convey his objection to the suggestion that Councilor Bettman was trying to interfere with bargaining. Regarding the concerns expressed by the Crest Drive neighbors, Mayor Torrey said it was apparent the process had not reached a point where decisive action could occur. Mayor Torrey acknowledged the testimony of AFSCME representatives. He reiterated that the responsibility of negotiating the contracts was assigned to the City Manager. He believed the Union had supporters among the City Council and people who believe strongly that the council should do the best job for the taxpayers and the service provisions required by the City. He recognized that AFSCME workers did a good job. He said it was up to the City, its elected officials, and staff to provide the citizens of Eugene with the best product for the best price. And, he continued, it was the job of AFSCME employees to get the best benefits for themselves and their families. He stressed that he did not hold this against the employees, but held in high regard the responsibility of the challenge and task of City employees to attain these benefits. Mayor Torrey announced that the proclamation for "Breast Cancer Awareness Month" had been delivered to him. He read the proclamation into the record, which declared the month of October 2004, "Breast Cancer Awareness Month." 2. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Approval of City Council Minutes - September 8, 2004, Process Session - September 22, 2004, Work Session B. Approval of Tentative Working Agenda MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 11, 2004 Page 5 Regular Session C. Adoption of Resolution 4813 Authorizing Lane County to Assess Benefiting Properties Under the Jurisdiction of the City for Improvements to North Game Farm Road between Coburg Road and 965 Feet Southeast of Old Coburg Road Councilor Bettman, seconded by Councilor Poling, moved approval of the Consent Calendar. Councilor Kelly noted he had submitted corrections to the minutes electronically. Mayor Torrey deemed them, without objection, approved. Roll call vote; the Consent Calendar was unanimously approved, 8:0. 4. ACTION: Request for Contingency Funds for Police Audit Councilor Bettman, seconded by Councilor Poling, moved to authorize the expenditure of $108,000 for the purpose of hiring an outside professional organization to conduct an external review of relevant police department policies and procedures. City Manager Taylor explained that he and staff had brought together members of the Intemational City/County Management Association and the Police Executive Research Forum to conduct a police inquiry, a comprehensive and independent review that would be forwarded with recommendations to the Police Chief, elected officials, the community, and himself after the first of the coming year. Councilor Taylor regretted that the City did not have a performance auditor that regularly audited all of the City's departments. In this way, she opined, the City would not have to spend this extra money. City Manager Taylor responded that the particular subject matter expertise of these organizations as well as the background and experience of the people who would be conducting these interviews would provide specific information that would help improve training procedures for officers. Councilor Pap6 pointed out that the council had just approved a contingency request from the Police Commission for $70,000. He asked if the commission could be talked into letting this work supercede some of what it was doing and potentially save the City some money. City Manager Taylor said this study would address the specific aspects of internal affairs as they relate to what the practices were at the time the two officers, who were now serving time in prison, were employed by the City of Eugene. He stated that the scope of work had been reduced so that there was no overlap. Councilor Kelly commended the City Manager and Police Chief's interest in conducting a thorough outside review. He averred he would have no qualms about supporting the funding request if it was within the existing department budget authority. He felt a little pressured by the way that it came before the council. He stated that the City Manager informed the press that the study would happen prior to asking for council approval of the contingency request. City Manager Taylor stressed the importance of expedience in addressing the situation. He noted that overtime expenses for the Eugene Police Department (EPD) had been inordinately high due to election MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 11, 2004 Page 6 Regular Session coverage and the loss of officers to retirement, the war, and to being fired due to illegal conduct while in uniform. Councilor Kelly thought the work would be valuable. He asked if half of the costs could be picked up by the EPD budget. He also wondered if the Police Commission had been consulted or provided the scope of work the study hoped to accomplish. City Manager Taylor responded no to both questions. He added that he did not think this particular work fell under the purview of the Police Commission, though the information would be available to both the Police Commission and the City Council for review, once completed. Councilor Solomon appreciated the expertise in terms of the contacts that City Manager Taylor brought into the community and his leadership skills. She asked if it would be possible for the consultants to speak to the Police Commission. City Manager Taylor replied that they had scheduled a series of interviews that included members of the Police Commission. Councilor Bettman indicated she was conflicted. She supported any oversight of the policies and practices of the department so that it could improve. She asked what the duration of the study would be. City Manager Taylor responded that it was hoped it would be completed within 90 days so that recommendations could inform proposals to be included in the fiscal year 2006 budget process, but he thought it could take as long as 120 days. Councilor Bettman conveyed her support for a larger sum of money, should it be deemed necessary, as she believed it would take much time and resources in order to take a comprehensive look at the department. Councilor Bettman also took issue with how the subject had been presented to the council. She believed the Police Commission did play a role as the results would provide a resource for the department and citizens in the community. She noted that some people on the commission read about the decision in the newspaper. Mayor Torrey supported the resolution, contingent upon unanimous support from Police Chief Robert Lehner and the City Manager. They indicated they both supported the resolution. He opined that such a study could not be conducted effectively within the community. He underscored that the report may reflect negatively on EPD. He reminded the council that this study could only be conducted in this way once. He felt the credibility of the City would shine if the City would "clean out its closet and be completely honest about what happened." He suggested that this sort of external activity would help the incoming mayor and would provide credibility for the department. Councilor Pap~ concurred with Councilor Bettman that the process needed to begin. He felt a credible and efficient complaint process would come from it. He asked Chief Lehner to speak to Councilor Kelly's suggestion that half of the cost come from the EPD budget. Chief Lehner called the police budget "grim." He noted that the unrestricted money left from unfilled vacancies had been used to pay for, among other things, extra coverage for political candidates. He also said a set of recruits was undergoing field training and another set of recruits had begun the police academy, all of whom were on the payroll. He said the actual number of real vacancies for the coming year was low, but the fact was that a number of the recruits slated to fill vacancies were not ready to deploy. He likened his situation to "flying the budget plane very close to the ground." He stressed that there were very few areas in which any budgetary flexibility could be found. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 11, 2004 Page 7 Regular Session Chief Lehner pointed out that the scope of work had been narrowed form the original proposal as it had been determined that the Police Commission study could adequately cover some of the proposed scope. Councilor Bettman thought the department should model transparency. She asked how the audit would address community input indicating that there existed a fear of coming forward with information that might cause trouble with the police. She also wondered if the audit would look at resource issues. Chief Lehner felt the interviews with the Police Commission would help the audit address the concerns of the community. He said Eugene was not the only city in the country where people were afraid, in some cases, to come forward and make reports about police officers. He stated that there were best practices for these sorts of situations. He commented that in some cities there was corruption on the police force. He felt certain this was not the case in our City and he looked forward to a comprehensive audit process. City Manager Taylor added that the resource issue would be part of various components of the audit because resources were a part of each component. Chief Lehner expected the audit to address resources more specifically in the areas of supervision of the internal investigations staff, the kinds of work done to process complaints, and the work to supervise officers. He thought it unlikely that the audit would look at resource issues in the area of direct service provision, e.g., the handling of calls. Mayor Torrey called for the vote. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 8:0. The meeting adjourned at 8:54 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Dennis M. Taylor City Manager (Recorded by Ruth Atcherson) MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 11, 2004 Page 8 Regular Session ATTACHMENT C MINUTES Eugene City Council Interviews for Boards and Commissions McNutt Room--Eugene City Hall October 12, 2004 $:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Bonny Bettman, George Poling, Scott Meisner, David Kelly, Betty Taylor, Gary Pap6. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Nancy Nathanson, Jennifer Solomon. Council President Bonny Bettman called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. A. INTERVIEWS FOR BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS The council interviewed candidates for positions on the Budget Committee, Planning Commission, and Toxics Board. Candidates for the Budget Committee positions included John Demboski, Phillip Hudspeth, Adrian Amen, and David Driskill. Candidates for the Planning Commission included Daniel Herbert, Randall Hledik, and David Driskill. Candidates for the Toxics Board included Jennifer Gleason and Dean Bautz. Ms. Bettman greeted each candidate in turn and informed them that the councilors who were unable to attend the meeting would listen to tapes of the interviews. All candidates for the Budget Committee positions were asked the following questions: 1. In your opinion, which issues shouM be given highest priority by the Budget Committee over the next four years? Which of these do you consider to be the most important issue, and why? 2. In the past few years, the Budget Committee has been required to make difficult funding choices that have resulted in the loss of services to citizens and the loss of jobs to employees. What fac- tors most influence you when faced with a difficult financial decision? 3. Do you have suggestions for ways to improve citizen understanding of the City 's financial condi- tions, budget priorities, and process? 4. Do you have any questions of us? Is there anything you 'd like to add? All candidates for the Planning Commission positions were asked the following questions: 1. Why did you apply for the Planning Commission and what do you hope to contribute? Do you see yourself as representing any particular point of view or group? MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 26, 2004 Page 1 Boards and Commissions Interviews 2. What is your experience working with a group effectively and especially with regard to long processes? Have you had prior experience working with groups in a collective manner? 3. In your opinion, which issue should be given the highest priority by the Planning Commission over the next four years? Why do you consider this the most important issue? 4. The Planning Commission must often balance competing interests when developing planning documents and making land use decisions. In your opinion, what are the most important factors for the Planning Commission to consider in its decision making? 5. Please share your views on how the Planning Commission can foster involvement of the whole community in long-range planning projects. All candidates for the Toxics Board positions were asked the following questions: 1. To be a member on the business side, you must be employed by or be an agent of a company required to report. For the right-to-know side, you must have a demonstrable record of advocat- ing for the public 's.right-to-know. Please tell us how you qualify for board membership. 2. What is your understanding of the purposes of the City's Toxics Right-to-Know Program? 3. What is your understanding of how the program functions? . 4. As a member of the Toxics Board, what improvements would you like to make? What problems wouM you like to solve? 5. Do you feel that you can work effectively with the other members of the board, some of whose viewpoints on certain issues may be diametrically opposed to yours? Why? At the conclusion of each interview, Ms. Bettman informed candidates that the council would make its appointments at the council meetings of October 25 and November 8, 2004. The meeting adjourned at 8 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Dennis M. Taylor City Manager (Recorded by Ruth Atcherson) MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 26, 2004 Page 2 Boards and Commissions Interviews M I N U T E S ATTACHMENT D Eugene City Council Work Session McNutt Room--Eugene City Hall October 13, 2004 Noon COUNCILORS PRESENT: George Poling, Scott Meisner, Nancy Nathanson, David Kelly, Betty Taylor, Bonny Bettman, Gary Pap~, Jennifer Solomon. Mayor James D. Torrey called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. A. WORK SESSION: Health and Benefits Fund (Fund 623) Update City Manager Dennis Taylor introduced Risk and Benefits Manager Myrnie Daut, who was present to discuss Fund 623, the Health and Benefits Fund. He emphasized the importance of the topic to the City's budget-setting process. Ms. Daut introduced benefits consultants Del Johnson and Greg O'Hanlon of Willis of Oregon, Inc., who were present to answer questions. Ms. Daut provided a PowerPoint presentation regarding the fund. She provided an overview of the fund, and the programs it supported. She briefly described the rates-setting process and noted the executive managers' role in overseeing that process. Ms. Daut overviewed the benefits programs offered by the City to its employees and noted the role played by the bargaining process in establishing those benefits. Ms. Daut reported the City was advised in health care benefits issues by Willis of Oregon, Inc., an insurance broker/consultant, and AON Risk Services, an actuary/consultant. Ms. Daut provided the council with details and trend data regarding the City's Self-Insured Plan, observing that comparisons with other communities indicated Eugene was about in the middle in terms of costs. Ms. Daut identified the following issues regarding the fund: Rising Medical/RX costs--medical trend · Large claims · Rate volatility · Accuracy of rate projections · Aging workforce · Retiree continuation Ms. Daut expanded on the issue of retiree continuation, sharing two graphs with the council to demon- strate the cost impact of the retirees on the self-insured and managed care plans. The graphs indicated much higher costs for the retirees, who State law mandates must be allowed to purchase health insurance through the City. Ms. Daut reviewed the City's cost containment strategies, which included an employee committee established to advise the City on benefits issues, the Benefit Study Group; employee premium cost MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 13, 2004 Page 1 Work Session sharing; pharmacy management; prevention; and disease management. Ms. Daut noted the Benefit Study Group's role in reviewing costs/utilization, employee education, and in reviewing plan design options. She provided additional detail on the City's cost containment strategies. Ms. Daut called attention to the levels of premium cost sharing for all employee groups. Ms. Daut noted the availability of further information at http://www.ci.eugene.or.us/HRRS/RISK, htm. Mayor Torrey called for council questions and comments regarding the presenlation. Ms. Taylor said she had recently returned from a National League of Cities Human Development Steering Committee meeting and learned that Eugene was not alone in facing rising medical costs. She noted the league's support for a single-payer system. She understood that advertising and repackaging of drugs with new names was leading to higher health care costs. Ms. Taylor asked why medical trends were projected to go down. Mr. Johnson responded that trends were turning down because most carriers were experiencing growth in their surpluses and the contracts negotiated with provider groups were more favorable to them. He also believed that carriers who had resisted in investing in disease management and chronic care were starting to become more involved in those areas, and that also affected trends favorably. He pointed out that trends tended to be cyclical and carriers sometimes overreacted when costs went up by increasing premiums. Ms. Taylor was happy to hear about the wellness program and asked about the potential of giving participating employees half-days or days off to reward them for being healthy and to help them manage stress and reduce disease. Ms. Taylor said the City appeared to encourage early retirement but it also appeared that it cost more money to ensure those individuals. Ms. Daut agreed. The early retirees were increasing the City's health care costs because of the subsidy involved. She noted that the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) reforms had increased the retirement age. Ms. Taylor was surprised to hear older employees cost more because of her experience that older employees tended to take less sick time. Mr. Johnson said it was true that older employees had higher health care costs, particularly with regard to prescription drug utilization and the average cost per script. The curve was particularly dramatic in that area. Mr. Pap6 asked when the City could reduce its administration to one plan. Ms. Daut said the City was securing a quote from ODS on the costs of administering the managed care plan. Mr. O'Hanlon anticipated ODS would evaluate the option during the upcoming winter. Mr. Pap6 determined from Ms. Daut that all employees had the choice of two plans and enrollment in the plans was about evenly split. The Pacific Source Plan had fixed co-payments for office visits and the City's self-insured plan was a preferred provider plan with an 80/20 cost split for most services. In the past, the City had attempted to get agreement from the employees about one plan but was unable to do so. Ms. Daut said the City hoped to have one plan but collective bargaining had an impact on that issue. Mr. Pap6 asked where the market was on co-pays and deductibles. Ms. Daut said the public sector lagged behind the private sector, where deductibles were higher. She noted that there were some public sector agencies with less than $100 deductibles. She said the City negotiates its benefits with its unions, and over time, health insurance had become a more important bargaining issue because health care costs had MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 13, 2004 Page 2 Work Session increased. The City negotiated changes in the plan but generally negotiated three-year contracts with its unions that could not be changed for three years. She said all the unions agreed to implement tiered pharmacy costs and to pay for a portion of their insurance premiums in the last round of bargaining, and now the City was attempting to negotiate plan designs with the unions, including increased deductibles and co-pays. Mr. Pap6 believed that the way to manage health care costs was through wellness programs. He said he heard about the City programs but it was his perception the program had not reached out to the employ- ment base. He asked how the City was progressing in this area. Ms. Daut said the City's program was very comprehensive. The City offered health risk appraisals to all employees and the cost of regular physical exams were covered by the City's health plans. Family members could receive the appraisals for a small fee. Mr. Pap6 asked what percentage of employees took the health risk appraisals. The health and wellness program also had targeted health and fitness programs within department. Health and Fitness Director Steve Auferoth worked with each department to create their own tailor-made incentive programs for employees. For example, the Police Department worked very closely with Mr. Auferoth on creating health and fitness programs for police employees. Responding to a desire expressed by Mr. Pap6 for measurements to indicate how well the programs were working, Ms. Daut indicated the City had data in the risk report that would provide the council with data on information such as sick leave utilization factors and health risk appraisal participation. She empha- sized the City wished employees to understand that managing their own health risks were key to reducing health care costs. Mr. Kelly complained about the lack of information accompanying the agenda item summary, suggesting a copy of the presentation should have been included so the council could be better prepared with its questions. Mr. Kelly asked what benefits-related issues the City should be prepared to lobby at the State legislature. Ms. Daut said the City reviewed the health insurance bills as they were introduced in every session. She worked with the League of Oregon Cities and LPGI to put forward agendas relating to health insurance. Mr. Kelly noted that the mayor and city councilors, if they wished to participate in the City's plans, pay 100 percent of the cost. Ms. Bettman asked about the nature of the large claims, and if there were trends involved. Ms. Daut said the the most common type of large claim involved premature births. Those events cost around $500,000 apiece. Ms. Nathanson arrived at the meeting. Ms. Bettman asked if there was a way for the City to avoid hiring individuals with preexisting voluntary health factors, such as smoking, to reduce the City's health care costs. She asked if there were legal issues involved. Human Resource and Risk Services Director Lauren Chouinard indicated that was difficult for the City to do for most job categories. Such a prohibition must represent a bona fide occupational requirement. He said the City had stipulated for many years that firefighters could not be smokers because of the cardiovascular risks to the employee. Mayor Torrey noted the short time remaining for the item and called for a motion to extend time for the item. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 13, 2004 Page 3 Work Session Mr. Poling, seconded by Ms. Solomon, moved to extend time for the item by three minutes. The motion passed unanimously. Mayor Torrey expressed appreciation for the presentation. He said that the unions and the public all needed to hear Ms. Daut's message about the increasing costs of health care. The public did not understand the issue and why the costs of government were exploding. He suggested it would be in Eugene's best interest to identify the gross costs of employees, including salaries, benefits, and other costs over a five-period to demonstrate for the public the disparate impact of health insurance on the cost of personnel. He thought until the City successfully conveyed that message to the public, people would merely "throw up their hands and say no" to City initiatives. B. WORK SESSION: Discussion of the Eugene/Springfield Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan City Manager Taylor introduced the item, saying mitigation had an important role to play in reducing the costs and tragedy resulting from emergencies and disasters. He said that Emergency Program Manager Chuck Solin of Human Resources and Risk Services was present to present the Eugene/Springfield Multi- Hazard Mitigation Plan. Mr. Solin provided a PowerPoint presentation on the plan. He said three years ago, the Federal Emer- gency Management Agency (FEMA) provided the City with grant funding to begin work on a pre-disaster mitigation plan. Communities were being encouraged to develop such plans by the federal government. Mitigation was the steps taken to reduce damages, economic losses, or loss of life from potential emergencies. Examples of mitigation projects included elevation or acquisition of flood-prone structures and seismic retrofits of buildings. Mr. Solin said because emergencies know no boundaries, he had solicited Springfield's involvement in the planning effort, and that city had provided staff support for the effort. He anticipated that the two cities would adopt the plan independently. The plan encompassed all land within the Eugene-Springfield metropolitan area. A technical advisory committee made up of representatives from local utilities, the Army Corps of Engineers, and other agencies that would be impacted by a local disaster was formed. The technical advisory team reviewed hazards that pose risks to the community, evaluated the frequency and severity of potential emergencies, and identify goals, objectives, priorities, and actions for reducing community risk. Mr. Solin emphasized the plan was a guide, not a regulatory document. Mr. Solin briefly reviewed FEMA's requirements for mitigation plans. He noted that the plan must be in place for the community to be eligible for pre- and post-mitigation funding. The plan must be approved by FEMA, but first it must be adopted by the City Council. Mr. Solin noted that the plan was on the City's Web site and public meetings had been held to gather input. Mr. Solin briefly noted some of the hazards that had been evaluated, which included floods, winter storms, landslides, and volcanic hazards. Mayor Torrey called for council comments and questions. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 13, 2004 Page 4 Work Session Mr. Kelly expressed appreciation for the work done by Mr. Solin and for his effort in involving the City of Springfield. He said he had been looking at the Risk Services Web page and had noticed the link to the full plan, which he had then reviewed. His questions were based on that review. Mr. Kelly said it would be useful if the plan was clear about its relationship to the City's Emergency Plan and the section of the Eugene City Code related to emergencies and the declaration of emergencies. He suggested that the Emergency Plan was more focused on response/recovery to emergencies as opposed to management and mitigation, the focus of this plan. Mr. Solin concurred. He added that some communi- ties blend the two efforts together, but Eugene staff decided to keep Eugene's Emergency Plan focused on the implementation of the incident command system and response/recovery actions. Mr. Kelly suggested the two plans be cross-referenced. Mr. Kelly asked for more information about the public meetings held in conjunction with the plan. Mr. Solin said the meetings were announced on the City's Web site and noticed to the media. Those meetings occurred the second week of September 2004, and he acknowledged they were very lightly attended. Mr. Kelly did not think there was anything controversial in the plan but he questioned the adequacy of the notice that occurred regarding the meetings. He determined from Mr. Solin that notice of the meetings had gone to many parties, including the neighborhood associations, the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce, and Lane County Homebuilders. Mr. Solin concurred that the topic was not controversial. Mr. Kelly referred to the chapter in the plan on terrorism, which referred repeatedly to "eco-terrorist," a phrase which many people objected to as propagandistic. He noted that it was also the only type of terrorism specifically called out in the plan, and suggested the reference be revised. Mr. Poling determined from Mr. Solin that counties as well as cities were doing similar plans. Mr. Solin said the City had worked with Lane County to determine the boundaries for the planning efforts. Ms. Nathanson shared Mr. Kelly's interest in knowing more about the public outreach associated with the plan, acknowledging that many would find such information dry. She asked if staff received any comments. Mr. Solin said the most useful comments staff received were from representatives of other public agencies, such as the staff responsible for wellhead protection at the Springfield Utility Board. He noted that Eugene Water & Electric Board staff had provided a critique of the information on power lines. Ms. Nathanson noted her continuing interest in the issue of adequate security for communications lines. She did not think the City had done enough to evaluate its risks as they regarded the inclusion of redundancy into systems and ensuring that switching stations were secured from disaster. She encouraged additional thought be given to that issue. Ms. Nathanson also thanked Mr. Solin for involving Springfield in the plan. She said that his efforts around the plan were an example of where the council needed to recognize the impact of the additional demands it frequently placed on the organization'. She said staff was involved in normal work and responding to changes in the law, and there was only so much organizational capacity. She suggested that staff keep the council apprised of what it was working on so the council did not add to the work load beyond what could be handled. Ms. Taylor asked about the difference between prevention and mitigation. She thought prevention was very important. She asked if the City was issuing building permits for construction on steep slopes without proper precautions. She believed there were buildings in south Eugene subject to slippage. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 13, 2004 Page 5 Work Session Ms. Taylor said she continued to wonder why the City did not do a seismic upgrade to City Hall given that it would not be replaced anytime very soon and it was impossible to predict when an earthquake occurred. She suggested that something be done that saved lives at a minimum, even if the building itself could not be preserved. Mr. Pap6 also expressed appreciation that staff reached out to Springfield. He noted the disasters he had seen in the community and said the Thurston shooting was the most costly in terms of lives. Thinking of that made him wonder if the City was planning with its health providers for such situations. Mr. Solin said that after the meeting he would attend an exercise of the Lane County Emergency Preparedness Group, which included hospitals, and which in this instance was focused on how the community would respond to a pandemic flu epidemic. The City was working with the hospitals on a number of related issues. Mr. Pap6 asked if the FEMA program should be extended to encompass that effort. Mr. Solin said staff discussed the issue, but the plan did not generally reach to that level of specificity, although he acknowledged the plan got specific in terms of some of its actions, such as its mention of the leaf pick-up program and its relationship to flood control. Ms. Bettman requested a hard copy of the draft plan. She took note of the non-regulatory nature of the language in the plan and asked if the plan included any mitigation activities that would reduce damages and cost following an emergency event. Mr. Solin said the City was a member of the National Flood Insurance program and the City did not allow development in certain flood-prone areas unless the development met the program's standards. That was referenced in the plan as it was an example of a mitigation strategy. Ms. Bettman referred to the Earthquake Mitigation Project/City Hall and noted it was not included in the draft. She asked why, and if an analysis was available or would be available. Mr. Solin indicated the seismic benefit cost analysis for City Hall was an attachment to the plan. Ms. Bettman asked for information about what the analysis contained. Mr. Solin first noted the benefit cost-analysis was a FEMA requirement for funding; there was a complicated methodology one must go through to getthe FEMA dollars. He said when the City did a benefit cost analysis on City Hall including the fire station, it did not rank high enough to get funding in Oregon. City Manager Taylor indicated the City had other facilities, such as fire stations, that ranked higher and that staffwas likely to seek funding for. Ms. Bettman determined from Mr. Solin that the City had identified other key critical facilities such as fire stations that would rank better in the benefit cost analysis than City Hall because their purpose was to provide a direct emergency response. He said fire and medical response were considered more important than police response. The number of staff on site was also a consideration, and police staff did not get as many points for loss of life because they were frequently out of the building. Responding to a follow-up question from Ms. Bettman, Mr. Solin did not know if the benefit cost analysis was on line, but he would ensure that it was soon. Mayor Torrey suggested the report be bound in red rather than white so it was easier to find on a shelf. Mayor Torrey urged Mr. Solin to follow-up on Mr. Kelly's comments regarding the use of the phrase "eco-terrorism" before the council considered the plan for adoption. Terrorism stood on its own and needed no qualifiers. Mayor Torrey complimented Mr. Solin on his ongoing efforts on behalf of the City of Eugene. He said his work made it possible for the City to receive grants from the federal government. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 13, 2004 Page 6 Work Session City Manager Taylor said that the benefit of the work the City had done in mitigation planning had been demonstrated when the City had to deal with the January 2004 ice storm. Mayor Torrey solicited a second round of comments. Ms. Taylor referred to the City's leaf pickup program and suggested that leaves were more likely to be a hazard if moved into the street rather than left on lawns. She suggested staff consider that issue. Mr. Kelly suggested that the final draft document be placed online before the council was asked to adopt it. Mr. Kelly suggested the wording of the resolution indicate that the City aspired to the goals of the plan but did not commit the City to any expenditure of funds. The meeting adjourned at 1:26 p.m. (Recorded by Kimberly Young) Respectfully submitted, Dennis M. Taylor City Manager (Recorded by Kimberly Young) MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 13, 2004 Page 7 Work Session ATTACHMENT E MINUTES Eugene City Council Interviews for Boards and Commissions McNutt Room--Eugene City Hall October 13, 2004 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Bonny Bettman, George Poling, Nancy Nathanson, Scott Meisner, David Kelly, Betty Taylor, Gary Pap~, Jennifer Solomon. Council President Bonny Bettman called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. A. INTERVIEWS FOR BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS The council interviewed candidates for positions on the Planning Commission, Budget Committee, and the Toxics Board. The candidate for the Planning Commission was Justin Wright. The candidates for the Budget Committee included Robert Cassidy, Kate O'Donnell, and Mike Clark. David Doll and Douglas Brooke were interviewed for positions on the Toxics Board. Ms. Bettman greeted each candidate in turn and informed them that the councilors who were unable to attend the meeting would listen to tapes of the interviews. All candidates for the Planning Commission positions were asked the following questions: 1. Why did you apply for the Planning Commission and what do you hope to contribute? Do you see yourself as representing any particular point of view or group ? 2. What is your experience working with a group effectively and especially with regard to long processes? Have you had prior experience working with groups in a collective manner? 3. In your opinion, which issue should be given the highest priority by the Planning Commission over the next four years? Why do you consider this the most important issue? 4. The Planning Commission must often balance competing interests when developing planning documents and making land use decisions. In your opinion, what are the most important factors for the Planning Commission to consider in its decision making? 5. Please share your views on how the Planning Commission can foster involvement of the whole community in long-range planning projects. All candidates for the Budget Committee positions were asked the following questions: 1. In your opinion, which issues should be given highest priority by the Budget Committee over the next four years? Which of these do you consider to be most important, and why? MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 13, 2004 Page 1 Boards and Commissions Interviews 2. In the past few years, the Budget Committee has been required to make difficult funding choices that have resulted in the loss of services to citizens and the loss ofjobs to employees. What fac- tors most influence you when faced with a difficult financial decision? 3. Do you have suggestions for ways to improve citizen understanding of the City 's financial condi- tion& budget priorities, and process?. 4. Do you have any questions of us? Is there anythingyou would like to add?. All candidates for the positions on the Toxics Board were asked the following questions: 1. Which position or type of position on the board are you applying for? 2. To be a member of the business side, you must be employed or be an agent of a company required to report. For the right-to-know side, you must have a demonstrable record of advocating for the public's right to know. Please tell us how you qualify for board membership. 3. What is your understanding of the purposes of the City's Toxics Right-to-Know Program ? 4. What is your understanding of how the program functions? 5. As a member of the Toxics Board, what improvements would you like to make? What problems wouM you like to solve? 6. Do you feel that you can work effectively with the other members of the board, some of whose viewpoints on certain issues may be diametrically opposed to yours? Why? At the conclusion of each interview, Mr. Poling informed candidates that the council would make its appointments at the council meeting of November 8, 2004. The meeting adjourned at 7:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Dennis M. Taylor City Manager (Recorded by Kimberly Young) MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 13, 2004 Page 2 Boards and Commissions Interviews ATTACHMENT F MINUTES Eugene City Council Interviews for Boards and Commissions McNutt Room--Eugene City Hall October 26, 2004 5 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: George Poling, Scott Meisner, David Kelly, Betty Taylor, Gary Pap& COUNCILORS ABSENT: Nancy Nathanson, Bonny Bettman, Jennifer Solomon. Council Vice President George Poling called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. A. INTERVIEWS FOR BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS The council interviewed candidates for positions on the Planning Commission and Human Rights Commission. Candidates for the Planning Commission positions included Greg Ringer and Phillip Hudspeth. Candidates £or the Human Rights Commission included Juan Monjaras, Ibrahim Hamide, Misa Joo, David Lawrence, Andrea Smith, Anne Johnston-Diaz, Andy Rodrigues, Judith Castro, Azra Khalidi, and Elizabeth Aydelott. Mr. Poling greeted each candidate in turn and informed them that the councilors who were unable to attend the meeting would listen to tapes of the interviews. All candidates for the Planning Commission positions were asked the following questions: 1. Why did you apply for the Planning Commission and what do you hope to contribute? Do you see yourself as representing any particular point of view or group? 2. What is your experience working with a group effectively and especially with regard to long processes? Have you had prior experience working with groups in a collective manner? 3. In your opinion, which issue should be given the highest priority by the Planning Commission over the next four years? Why do you consider this the most important issue? 4. The Planning Commission must often balance competing interests when developing planning documents and maMng land use decisions. In your opinion, what are the most important factors for the Planning Commission to consider in its decision making? 5. Please share your views on how the Planning Commission can foster involvement of the whole community in long-range planning projects. All candidates for the Human Rights Commission positions were asked the following questions: 1. What, in your opinion, is City government's role in addressing human rights? MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 26, 2004 Page 1 Boards and Commissions Interviews 2. Who do you consider to be the most vulnerable communities in Eugene and why? What do you feel are the most important issues facing members of those vulnerable communities and what are your ideas for addressing those issues? 3. Please give an example of a conflict situation you've been in and how you resolved it. 4. We recognize that many people apply to serve on the Human Rights Commission because they are passionate for a particular group or a specific issue. It's important that commissioners have the ability to work on a range of human rights issues. Assess your ability to work with others on is- sues that may not be your top concern. 5. What's the one thing you appreciate about Eugene and what's one thing youfind irritating and wouM like to change and why? At the conclusion of each interview, Mr. Poling informed candidates that the council would make its appointments at the council meeting of November 8, 2004. The meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Dennis M. Taylor City Manager (Recorded by Kimberly Young) MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 26, 2004 Page 2 Boards and Commissions Interviews