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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 01/09/08 Work Session M I N U T E S Eugene City Council Work Session McNutt Room – City Hall 777 Pearl Street—Eugene, Oregon January 9, 2008 Noon COUNCILORS PRESENT: Andrea Ortiz, Chris Pryor, Betty Taylor, Bonny Bettman, George Poling, Mike Clark, Alan Zelenka, Jennifer Solomon. A. EXECUTIVE SESSION: The City Council held an executive session pursuant to Oregon Revised Statutes 192.660(2)(a). Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the meeting of the Eugene City Council into public session at 2:07 p.m. B. WORK SESSION: City Manager Recruitment Mr. Zelenka said the list of panelists was too long. He suggested that each councilor select three or four people and then see if the panel “covered everyone.” Mr. Zelenka, seconded by Mr. Clark, moved to have the City Councilors and Mayor each select four panelists for the City Manager candidate interview panel. Mayor Piercy agreed that this was a reasonable number of people. Ms. Bettman objected. She did not come prepared for this. She believed this would just multiply council majority influence on the panel. She had been willing to support having one person from each of the organizations on the existing list with no overlap. In response to a question from Ms. Taylor, Mr. Zelenka clarified that his motion would reduce the number of panelists from 54 to 36. Mr. Pryor liked the idea of using the voting process. He did not think the process would work if they only selected four people. He suggested that each councilor selected 20 from the list of organizations and then the council would vote on them. He thought this would provide for the best representation. He added that he did not know the people who served on the different organizations. Mr. Pryor, seconded by Mr. Clark, moved to substitute a motion to direct each councilor to select their top 20 out of the organizations and then the council would vote to determine the top 30 out of that list. MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 9, 2008 Page 1 Work Session Ms. Taylor asked if a person could still submit the name of an individual. Mr. Pryor responded that the submission of an individual would be one selection out of a councilor’s list of 20. Mr. Zelenka explained that his reasoning for suggesting that they select people was that when listing organizations one did not know who exactly they were selecting. Human Resources Division Director, Lauren Chouinard, said the practical application for selecting individuals was problematic. He recommended coming up with the list of organizations rather than individuals. Ms. Bettman offered a friendly amendment to include the Neighborhood Leadership Council on the list. The maker accepted the friendly amendment. Mayor Piercy ascertained from Mr. Pryor that it was not his intent to limit selections to the existing list. Mr. Pryor said all elections allowed write-ins. Mr. Clark supported Mr. Pryor’s revision of the motion. He said he would likely write in people that were not on the list and urge his colleagues to vote for them. Ms. Bettman asked if the councilors would be polled with the list. Mr. Chouinard affirmed that this would be the process given council approval. Ms. Bettman said the panel would be external and would interview the candidates in a “formatted way” and write down their impressions. Ms. Ortiz preferred submitting names to submitting organizations to the list. She felt that people who work for the organizations would come to the panel as part of their jobs. Ms. Taylor expressed a preference for individuals with an active interest in government rather than groups with a “vested interest.” Mr. Clark agreed with Ms. Ortiz. He wanted to know the individuals’ judgments of the candidates. This was why he had wanted the clarification that the councilors could place any name they chose on the list. Ms. Bettman remarked that her opposition to Mr. Zelenka’s motion had been because it was a surprise. Having listened to Ms. Ortiz, she now felt that the councilors could select four people each. She asked how long the councilors would have to identify the four people. Mr. Chouinard stated that the Human Resources Division needed this information by January 14. Mr. Zelenka reiterated his support for inviting the “working person” in as panelists as well as representa- tives of the different interest groups and sectors. Mr. Pryor appreciated the sentiment of wanting to broaden the representation of who gets to ask the questions. However, he felt the councilors were moving from an institution list to a “friends and acquaint- ances” list. He did not believe this would be a representative list of the community nor would it be diverse. MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 9, 2008 Page 2 Work Session The vote on the substitute motion was a tie, 4:4; Ms. Solomon, Mr. Pryor, Mr. Clark, and Mr. Poling voting in favor, and Mr. Zelenka, Ms. Ortiz, Ms. Bettman, and Ms. Taylor vot- ing in opposition. The Mayor voted in opposition and the motion failed. Mr. Zelenka clarified that he did not intend to preclude the selection of an organization along with a request that organization staff select someone. He said his intention had been that the council would review the list and ensure that all of the sectors were represented once all the names had been submitted. Mr. Clark indicated that he had not seconded the latter portion of the motion Mr. Clark rescinded his second. Ms. Bettman provided a second. Ms. Solomon observed that before she could invite people to the panel she would need to know what time the interviews would be held. Alana Holmes, Recruitment and Selection Manager, responded that the results of the poll on which weekend of February it would happen had indicated that six of the councilors were amenable to either the first or second weekend. Mayor Piercy called for the vote. The motion passed, 5:3; Mr. Poling, Mr. Pryor, and Ms. Solomon voting in opposition. Mr. Clark, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to release the names of the three candidates for the position of City Manager at 5 p.m. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. Ms. Solomon left the meeting at 2:32 p.m. Ms. Bettman, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to hold the interviews for the three City Manager candidates for February 1 and 2. The motion passed unanimously, 7:0. The meeting adjourned at 2:32 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Angel Jones City Manager pro tem (Recorded by Ruth Atcherson) MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 9, 2008 Page 3 Work Session