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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 2C - Ratif.of IGR Comm.MinEUGENE CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY Ratification of Intergovernmental Relations Committee Actions of August 31, November 10, 2004 Meeting Date: January 24, 2005 Agenda Item Number: 2C Department: City Manager's Office Staff Contact: Lisa Klemp www. cl. eugene, or. us Contact Telephone Number: 682-5619 ISSUE STATEMENT This is an action item to ratify the recommendations of the Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) Committee. BACKGROUND As a matter of procedure, the City Council is routinely asked to ratify the actions taken by the Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) Committee. This is done by submitting the minutes of each committee to the council. Actions on which the committee is not unanimous are brought before the full council for consideration. There were no actions on which the committee was not unanimous. During the January 4, 2005, IGR Committee meeting, Councilor Gary Pap~ tentatively approved the minutes but asked that they be sent to Scott Meisner and David Kelly, former members of the IGR Committee, for final approval. Both Scott Meisner and David Kelly approved the minutes. RELATED CITY POLICIES Ratification of IGR Committee actions is the making or affirming of the City of Eugene's policy with respect to Federal and State legislative issues or such other matters as may come to the council from the committee. COUNCIL OPTIONS The council may ratify or decline to ratify the IGR Committee's actions as set forth in the minutes of the committee's meeting. CITY MANAGER'S RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends ratification of the IGR Committee's actions as set forth in the minutes of the committee's meeting. L:\CMO\2005 Council Agendas\M050124\S0501242C.doc SUGGESTED MOTION Move to ratify the IGR Committee's actions as set forth in the minutes of the committee's meeting. ATTACHMENTS A. IGR Committee Minutes of August 31, 2004 B. IGR Committee Minutes of November 10, 2004 FOR MORE INFORMATION Staff Contact: Lisa Klemp Telephone: 682-5619 Staff E-Mail: lisa.t.klemp~ci.eugene.or.us L:\CMO\2005 Council Agendas\M050124\S0501242C.doc ATTACHMENT A MINUTES Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations McNutt Room, City Hall August 31, 2004 12~00 Noon PRESENT~ Scott Meisner, Chair; David Kelly, Gary Pap6, members; Jason Heuser, Karen Hyatt, Greg Rikhoff, City Manager's Office; Moses S. Rodriguez, Intern 1. Call to Order and Review Agenda Mr. Meisner called the meeting of the Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations (CCIGR) to order. With permission of the committee, he moved Item 4, Resolutions on Ballot Measures, to Item 2 on the agenda. 2. Resolutions on Ballot Measures Mr. Heuser introduced the item by explaining that City staff are not allowed to be involved in drafting resolutions on ballot measures. Mr. Meisner then asked Mr. Rikhoffto explain a recent policy change on ballot measure resolutions that affects appointed commission members' ability to consider them. Mr. Rikhoff said City and County Attorneys have confirmed that appointed commissioners are now considered to be employees for the purposes of involving themselves in legislation, and are unable to participate in any process that would create a position on a ballot measure. Mr. Meisner noted that in the past appointed commissions had taken positions on pending legislation and ballot measures, and that, for example, on Ballot Measure 36, the normal process would have been for the CCIGR to ask the Human Rights Commis- sion (HRC) to look at the measure and give the committee its advice. Now, he said, the HRC cannot do so. Any recommendations to the City Council on legislation or ballot measures must come from the CCIGR. Mr. Pap6 asked if commissions could be asked in general about their positions on issues. Mr. Heuser answered he had not consulted the City Attorney on that point. Mr. Meisner added that councilors did have the wisdom of commissions' prior positions on similar legislation, such as the Planning Commission's position on Ballot Measure 37's predecessor, Measure 7. Since Measure 36 is a new issue, he said, the best the CCIGR can do is decide whether it wants to make a recommendation to the City Council to take a position on the ballot measure. He reminded the members that if the City Council does choose to take a position on a ballot measure, City staff can not be involved at work in campaigning for or against the measure. Mr. Kelly asked if City staff could be involved in the mechanical processing of legislative resolutions, such as typing and recording. Mr. Heuser and Mr. Meisner confirmed that such "scrivener's work" was permissible. MINUTES--Council Committee on August 31, 2004 Page 1 Intergovernmental Relations Mr. Pap6 asked how this legal opinion originated. Mr. Rikhoff said the State Attorney General's Office issued the opinion, and Mr. Rikhoff believed it was as a result of a state-wide challenge. Ballot Measure 36 Regarding Ballot Measure 36, the constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, Mr. Kelly said he thought it was consistent with the City of Eugene's human rights code for the City Council to oppose the constitutional amendment. He invited the other committee members' opinions and volunteered to draft a resolution opposing the measure for City Council consideration. To focus the discussion, Mr. Meisner asked for a motion. Mr. Kelly moved, seconded by Mr. Meisner, that a resolution be brought to the City Council to oppose Ballot Measure 36. Mr. Meisner said he hoped for a brief discussion of the motion at this meeting so that the committee could simply make a referral to the City Council and let the council take up the question. He said he was more than willing to support referral to the City Council, and would likely support the resolution at council level, as well. Mr. Pap~ said he had not seen the actual language of the ballot measure, but he wondered if governments should be forming a legal definition of marriage when religions have already done so. Mr. Meisner said he believed the question before the CCIGR was not the merits of the ballot measure, but whether to refer it to the City Council for a resolution and provide an opportunity for public discussion. Answering a question from Mr. Pap~, he said Council could also be given a resolution supporting Measure 36, but the motion on the floor was to oppose it. Mr. Pap~ requested a vote on the motion. He said he would abstain for now and study the measure more before it came to Council. The motion passed, 2:0:1, Mr. Pap~ abstaining. Mr. Meisner asked Mr. Kelly to draft the resolution and work with Mr. Heuser and Mary Walson to prepare it for the City Council to consider. Ballot Measure 37 Mr. Kelly moved, seconded by Mr. Meisner, that the City Council on Intergovern- mental Relations refer to the City Council a resolution opposing Ballot Measure 37 which would be modeled on the City Council's prior resolution opposing Ballot Measure 7. The motion passed, 3:0. At Mr. Meisner's request, Mr. Kelly agreed to draft the resolution and work with staff to prepare it for council consideration. MINUTES--Council Committee on August 31, 2004 Page 2 Intergovernmental Relations 3. Campaign Update Mr. Heuser reviewed upcoming legislative and congressional races and answered questions. Mr. Kelly asked if there were potentially a significant budget impact to the City of Eugene if the ballot measure ending the State Accident and Insurance Fund (SAIF) Corporation should pass. Mr. Heuser answered that he did not know, but could attempt to find out. Mr. Pap~ said he believed it would have a heavy negative effect on Eugene businesses, and that the Association of Oregon Industries (AOI) had taken a stance against the measure. Mr. Heuser added that staff assessment at the City of Eugene, League of Oregon Cities (LOC), and AOI was that SAIF was structurally sound and its performance optimum, but its management transparency was less than ideal. Mr. Pap~ and Mr. Heuser expressed confidence in Linda Rockland, recently appointed as SAIF Director. At Mr. Kelly's request, Mr. Heuser agreed to continue monitoring the SAIF ballot measure for any financial impact on the City. 4. Preview of 2005 Legislative Session Mr. Meisner said he had reviewed the Legislative Policy Document and believed it was broad enough to stand as a policy statement for the 2005 Oregon legislative session. He said he hoped the council could start working with their legislative delegation on the question of private security contracts under the state contracting law. He said this question had been brought up at the Police Commission recently, in that the law provides for an automatic grant of contracts to qualified rehabilitation facility (QRF) vendors. The result in downtown Eugene was that a rehabilitation agency based in Portland has the contract for parking garage security for much more money than the City was previously paying, with less security. Mr. Kelly added that his understanding was the QRF need not employ its clients who are in rehabilitation under the contract, so the original noble goal of the law is not necessarily being realized except indirectly, in that the agency receives more revenue to serve more clients. Mr. Meisner said there were exemptions in the state contract law for other areas, and he believed security was another area that needed to be looked at for exemption. Mr. Heuser agreed, and said the City of Portland was also interested in the issue, and he could work with their staff on it. Mr. Kelly brought up the issue of ~awkward preemption" being used as a major argument to promote legislative changes to the transportation planning rule as a result of the Jaqua decision, significantly restricting allowed appellants of land use decisions. He said LOC has intervened with an amicus brief in two cases in which the Community Development Committee was notified after the fact, rather than being brought into the discussion. He said he was looking for general guidance in situations when the City of Eugene was taking one position and LOC was taking another, and noted an innate conflict between state land use laws and local control. He was concerned that Eugene policy of preemption could be used as a lever to dramatically change state land use law. Mr. Meisner said he doubted that would occur, but he was basing his opinion on experience with previous Planning Manager Jan Childs, who always made it very clear as the City Council considered bills to consider them in the light of the state system of land use planning, and the council has very consistently backed Senate. Bill 1. He asked Mr. Heuser to look at the language on preemption in the policy document and make sure there is a statement on land use planning arguing against preemption. Mr. Heuser said he MINUTES--Council Committee on August 31, 2004 Page 3 Intergovernmental Relations would consult with current Planning Manager Susan Muir. On the Jacqua decision, Mr. Pap6 said his understanding was that LOC was worried not about the process of state law, but what impact the decision would have if it set precedent across the board for development decisions. Mr. Kelly said that concern now seemed to be segueing into a likelihood of LOC advocacy in the next legislative session for changes to the transportation planning review. Mr. Meisner observed he thought it should be made clear that Eugene's agenda was not the same as LOC's, citing the League's lack of support in the last two legislative sessions for Eugene's transportation agenda on rail. He said it would be dangerous to assume LOC would take care of Eugene's issues, and he hoped the City Council would remember it is not enough to support rail; it would take advocacy. Mr. Kelly and Mr. Pap6 agreed. Mr. Meisner suggested scheduling a CCIGR meeting shortly after the November election and said he would work with IGR staff to look at dates. Mr. Heuser said before the election LOC is planning to do a City Day for candidates to come to City Hall for a roundtable discussion and questions about local government issues. He said he would provide more information about the event as soon as the League makes it available. Answering a question from Mr. Meisner, Mr. Heuser said staff are tracking deficiencies in state law mentioned in City Council meetings. Mr. Kelly and Mr. Meisner flagged local enterprise zone criteria and local regulation of pesticides as issues in this category where state law precludes local action or makes it more difficult. Mr. Pap6 said he liked the legislative policy document as it was, but wondered if, with two new city councilors and a new mayor, a work session on it ought to be scheduled. Mr. Kelly agreed he would like Ms. Ortiz and Mr. Pryor to have an opportunity to review the document after the November election. Mr. Pap6 suggested sending the existing document now to the new councilors and mayor and asking them for any comments or suggested changes. The group then agreed to schedule a CCIGR review of the legislative policy document immediately after the November election and a full council review later in November. At Mr. Kelly's and Mr. Meisner's suggestion, Mr. Heuser said he would review the legislative policy document with the three new elected officials together during their scheduled IGR orientation and would also invite all three to the post-election CCIGR meeting as observers. 5. IGR Process Check-in All three councilors praised Mr. Heuser's work and the process used for the last legislative session. Specific benefits mentioned were: · Smooth, coordinated, easy-to-follow paperwork · Timely updates · Helpful triage · Set, scheduled, short meetings · Specific requests to CCIGR members for action · IGR staff take direction well · Staff from other departments can leave when not needed Mr. Heuser thanked the councilors for their clarity and focused direction on the will of the City Council. He said he planned to use the same structure and process for the coming legislative session, with perhaps some fine tuning. MINUTES--Council Committee on August 31, 2004 Page 4 INtergovernmental Relations Mr. Papd said he hoped IGR staff would have a reception for elected legislators after the election, and before the session starts, as was done two years ago, so that City Councilors, the City Manager, and staff could get to meet and know their legislators before the session. Mr. Heuser said he would contact Lane County and Springfield staff to arrange a joint reception for sometime in the week of November 15-19, 2004. The committee agreed to schedule the next CCIGR meeting for Wednesday, November 5, 2004, 1:30-3:00 p.m, for a post-election and legislative policy draft review. Mr. Meisner announced that the Eugene Depot dedication is at 10:00 a.m. on September 20, 2004, and he hoped all councilors could attend. In conjunction with the dedication, he said the ODOT State Passenger Rail Council has agreed to hold its monthly meeting in Eugene that day at noon in the McNutt Room. Mr. Papd said he would like to emphasize Eugene's rail agenda when he attends the LOC Legislative Committee agenda. Mr. Meisner agreed, saying it takes advocacy just to keep service at the current, significantly subsidized level. He said if the legislature would fund the capital to create a separate line, the State could readily fund more trains and lower the subsidy. He added that ODOT needs to make rail a partner in the panoply of transportation options for any progress to be made. Mr. Heuser said he hoped Portland's new mayor, Tom Potter, would get more involved in passenger rail service issues. All three councilors expressed disappointment in Portland's lack of stated support for rail service. Mr. Pap6 summarized the other issues he would take to the LOC Legislative Committee meeting as preemption in regards to the Jaqua decision and local pesticide regulation. The meeting adjourned at 1:10 p.m. (Recorded by Marjorie Beck) M.. 120041Central Services DepartmentlCouncil Committee on Inter-Governmental RelationslccigrO40831.doc MINUTES--Council Committee on August 31, 2004 Page 5 Intergovernmental Relations ATTACHMENT B MINUTES Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations Human Resource and Risk Services Conference Room--Eugene City Hall November 10, 2004 1~30 p.m. PRESENT~ Scott Meisner, Chair; David Kelly, Gary Pap6, members; Jason Heuser, Mary Walston, City Manager's Office; Eric Jones, Public Works Department. 1. Call to Order and Review Agenda Mr. Meisner called the meeting of the Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations to order. 2. Review Draft of 2005 Legislative Policies Mr. Heuser reported that staff anticipated a divisive legislative session. A State budget shortfall of $800 million to $1.5 billion was expected. That was largely due to the fact the last budget was balanced using one-time revenues, shifting hard decisions into this biennium. He was not optimistic about the budget situation, anticipating deeper cuts and threats to State shared revenue. However, he did not anticipate a long session, given the length of the last session and the lack of available dollars. He suggested that the City would want to have a louder and more consistent message about how it wished to see the legislature address cuts. Without prodding, he did not anticipate the legislature taking up the issue of new revenue. Mr. Kelly reviewed a list of suggested changes and clarifications he wished to make to the legislative policies document. Members considered the list and agreed to Mr. Kelly's suggestion to reduce the length of the document by reviewing it for items that could be dropped because they were unlikely to be raised; agreed to a proposed revision to introduction to clarify the nature of local elected officials' offices; agreed to reword the executive summary to read "Eugene's recently renovated train depot is the southern terminus for the proposed high-speed rail corridor"; agreed to revise the Home Rule and the Region section by indicating Eugene "generally" supported the Oregon Municipal Policy; agreed to revise the section on urban renewal by clarifying that the downtown district revenues were no longer dedicated to the library; agreed to strike the first recommendation in the section on Public Employees Retirement System and replace it with the following: "Oppose efforts to undo or undermine existing PERS reforms, such as those instituted in the 2003 Legislative Session"; agreed to strike the phrase "any new" in the last sentence of the first paragraph of the section on the Highway Trust Fund to reflect a previous City Council action; agreed to add a historic narrative regarding the Multi-Unit Property Tax Exemption (MUPTE) to the Housing section; and agreed to add to the document a recommendation to modify State enterprise zone statutes to allow sponsoring jurisdictions to impose local criteria on companies in the zone receiving tax credits. The committee accepted a suggestion from Mr. Meisner to add a recommendation to the Environmental Issues chapter to amend Oregon Revised Statute 634.057 to allow local governments to regulate notice of pesticide spraying. MINUTES--Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relation November 10, 2004 Page 1 Responding to a suggestion from Mr. Pap~ that the general precepts be listed first rather than placed in boxes, Mr. Meisner suggested that the precepts be highlighted in a consistent manner from chapter to chapter, even if they appeared in boxes. Mr. Kelly likened the precepts to an executive summary that appeared in each chapter. There was general agreement. Mr. Pap~ recommended that metropolitan population numbers used in the Introduction be updated. He also asked that paragraph 3 in the Introduction be modified to reflect current budget conditions, identify the reasons for recent City budget cuts, and highlight major budget issues, such as the City's road maintenance backlog. Mr. Pap~ suggested that some of the points in the executive summary related to Home Rule were duplicative of points in the Introduction. He recommended that the first bullet in that section related to the City's smoking ban be deleted. Mr. Meisner shared that concern regarding the fourth bullet, related to reading readiness, which was also addressed on page 57 of the document. He urged Mr. Heuser to be strategic in selecting issues for inclusion in the Executive Summary. Members agreed that text on Ballot Measure 37 should be included in the summary. Mr. Meisner suggested that the item related to high-speed rail on the second page of the summary be revised for clarity. There was no objection. Referring to the recommendation on page 17 related to State fines and fees, Mr. Pap~ suggested that it be clarified or deleted. Responding to a suggestion from Mr. Pap~, the committee agreed not to include any statement of support for Governor Ted Kulongoski's potential transportation funding proposal in the document. Mr. Pap~ recommended that Section E, Local Government Certification, on page 28 be deleted as he expected little activity in that area. Mr. Jones indicated that staff was attempting to approach that more on a relationship basis with local Oregon Department of Transportation staff, as opposed to through legislation. There was no objection. Mr. Pap~ proposed deleting Section 2, Hazardous Materials, on page 51 of the draft document. The committee accepted a suggestion from Mr. Kelly to retain item c, Household Hazardous Waste, in that section. Responding to a request for direction from Mr. Jones, the committee agreed that staff would distill the text further for the section on Salmon Recovery on page 57. Mr. Kelly noted the council's standing policy about integrated, proactive, salmon recovery that went beyond mere survival of the species. Members reviewed a list of possible legislative clarifications to be made to Ballot Measure 37 developed by Planning Director Susan Muir. Mr. Kelly suggested the list be modified with a statement suggesting the changes included, but were not limited to the following. He asked what Ms. Muir meant when she referred to a Measure 5 type classification process. Mr. Heuser did not know. He agreed to follow-up with Ms. Muir. MINUTES--Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relation November 10, 2004 Page 2 Responding to a question from Mr. Meisner, Mr. Heuser agreed to follow-up on the question of Measure 37 exemptions for the City from State requirements and mandates. The committee briefly discussed a suggestion from Mr. Pap6 to modify the list by deleting the reference to a real estate transfer tax and agreed to include that reference in the Finance section. The committee agreed that Mr. Heuser would circulate the revised document via e-mail to members. If there were no changes generating the need for an additional meeting, the document would be placed on the council's December 6 Consent Calendar. The meeting adjourned at 2:35 p.m. (Recorded by Kimberly Young) MINUTES--Council Committee on INtergovernmental Relation November 10, 2004 Page 3