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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/06/1988 Meeting e e - M I NUT E S Eugene City Council Treehouse Restaurant June 6, 1988 5:30 p.m. PRESENT: Ruth Bascom, Debra Ehrman, Jeff Miller, Roger Rutan, Rob Bennett, Emily Schue, Cynthia Wooten. ABSENT: Freeman Holmer The quarterly process session of the City Council of the City of Eugene was called to order by His Honor Mayor Brian B. Obie. I. FY89 BUDGET Mr. Rutan distributed copies of his proposal for a revised FY89 budget and budget process. He said his motivations behind the proposal are to take a sincere look at the budget and the budget process. He said he drafted the proposal after discovering that he was not the only council member concerned with the budget process. He said he has been care- ful not to conduct something that is outside of the council's normal business functions. He said his suggestions are his own and not a collaborative effort with other councilors. Ms. Schue said she is concerned that staff has been doing a considerable amount of research at Mr. Rutan's request. She said she thought the council had an agreement that councilors would check with other members of the coun- cil before asking staff to conduct a significant amount of work. She said she does not remember Mr. Rutan making such a request of the council. Mr. Rutan said his requests of staff are appropriate because they did not require a significant amount of time. Mr. Obie recalled that the council's last discussion of the budget ended after it was decided that Mr. Holmer and Mr. Rutan were going to make a presentation to the council before June 13. He said perhaps the council needs to spend time discussing the budget process as well. Mr. Miller said he is concerned and would like to see the $141,000 be taken from the General Fund and not out of the Fleet Fund. Ms. Schue said Mr. Miller's concerns were not voiced before the Budget Com- mittee. In addition, she said there was a Budget Committee motion that the MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 6, 1988 Page 1 e Fleet Fund would be reimbursed from the unspent carry-over. She said there was an arrangement to borrow money from the Fleet Fund, but not to take it permanently. Mr. Miller said he made a specific motion at that Budget Committee meeting and said the reason he was voting against the proposed budget was because the money was slated to come from the Fleet Fund. He said that motion did not pass. Mr. Bennett asked if Ms. Schue is saying that the Budget Committee has made its final recommendation and that the council needs to accept it. Ms. Schue said that is her position. However, she said she would like the record to accurately reflect what the Budget Committee did. Ms. Wooten said there has been frustration about the entire budget process among many of the councilors. She said the council was apparently not in agreement about the budget priority-setting meeting when it started the formal budget process. She said all councilors have a responsibility to cut the budget, although they have different philosophies about what should be cut. She said she is committed to not dOing one-time cuts to protect certain programs during a six-year financial planning process. e As the budget process progressed, Ms. Wooten said that the council was not talking to each other about the process and what differences existed, and there was a push from some members of the council to make sure there would be no new revenues. As a result of this, there was an effort to place the budget under a different status. She said she has received a number of questions from the public and the press about what is happening. Mr. Rutan said the issue has been blown out of proportion. He said there has not been an effort on his part or other councilors to maneuver something through. He said he agrees with Ms. Wooten that councilors came out of the six-year financial planning process without a clear understanding of what they had done. Starting with the six-year planning process, Mr. Rutan said the council experienced a number of things that were different from the past. He said the subsequent situation has caused him to not want to rubber-stamp what the Budget Committee has done. Mr. Bennett said he is one of those who was very frustrated with the process. He said the council appeared to reach a reasonable consensus at the end of the financial planning process. He said Ms. Wooten, at that time, said she was not satisfied with the process. However, he said he did not hear that from other councilors. He said the message he received from the process was that all councilors recognized they were facing a crisis situation. Wh~n it came time for the budget process, he said the council caved in and forgot what it had discussed during the six-year planning process. Not only did the council not honor the process, he said the City is now in worse financial shape today than when it started. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 6, 1988 Page 2 e Ms. Wooten said she remembers Mr. Obie saying after the planning process, "Now the budget process begins." She said there was no agreement among the council that it would be bound to the planning process. With the exception of a $140,000 shift, she said the council has been successful in adhering to goals discussed in the financial planning process. She said the council has not violated its own integrity. She added that the cuts proposed by Mr. Rutan are the same as ones she tried to pass in her budget subcommittee. Ms. Schue said the financial planning process was a set of instructions to staff in preparation of the budget. She said the process was a planning tool for staff and not a final determination of what the budget is going to look like. She said the changes to the budget are relatively minor. Mr. Bennett asked about the $850,000 in unfunded capital. Ms. Wooten said that money is listed under new revenues. Mr. Miller said part of the confusion of the process is that the council worked alone in trying to reach a budget recommendation. He said the problem seems to be that some councilors are saying the council had made policy decisions before the budget went to the Budget Committee, and now there are efforts to try and change those decisions. In the future, he said the coun- cil should have a public process during the strategy session before the budget is sent to the Budget Committee. Mr. Bennett said he is amazed that some people think the financial planning process was a simple exercise prior to the Budget Committee's deliberations. e Mr. Obie said he shares the frustrations of the council. He said there were some decisions by the council that did not make it through the budget pro- cess. He said the council should not delegate policy decisions to the Budget Committee. He said he thinks the council did a good job of deciding policy and then leaving the implementation of those policies to the Budget Commit- tee. He said the council does not have $850,000 in new revenues, but rather $550,000 in capital cuts. He said there is a need now for the council to decide what it will do with the Budget Committee's recommendations. He said he is in favor of having the June 13 meeting as originally planned. Ms. Wooten said she is not certain that the council should limit itself to discussing only Mr. Rutan's proposal at its June 13 meeting. She said the council needs to also address the issue of new revenue sources. Mr. Rutan said he has a very hard time considering new revenue sources when the current budget has allocated money for areas that should not be funded. Ms. Wooten asked why that was not dealt with during the budget, process. Mr. Rutan said he was unsuccessful in several ways in the budget process. He said business affairs forced him to miss two important budget sessions. Ms. Wooten asked Mr. Rutan why there wasn1t support for his suggestions at the Budget Committee level. Mr. Obie said the council made a mistake in not e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 6, 1988 Page 3 e considering items such as workshops, travel, and training at the council 1 eve 1 . Mr. Rutan said he saw the council as asking the Budget Committee to consider program cuts. He said there was a substantial deviation in the public pro- cess by the Budget Committee because it took on the role of policy-making. Mr. Bennett called the council's attention to an audit completed for the Hult Center that showed the center as operating efficiently. He suggested the council consider having various City departments undergo a similar procedure. He said the council needs to first agree on the severity of the problem. If the council agrees it has a severe problem, he said the various departments need to gain credibility on the efficiency of their operations. He said he thinks the City is, in general, an efficient operation. Ms. Schue suggested that councilors review Mr. Rutan's memo and discuss the issue at the June 13 meeting. Mr. Obie said the council will review the budget, make any necessary changes, and forward it as a recommendation for the public hearing June 27. Ms. Wooten said the discussion June 13 should also include new revenues. Ms. Schue said councilors need to remember that the City Manager's recommen- dation came after the council said it was looking at new revenue sources. e Ms. Ehrman asked Mr. Rutan how he envisioned the public input part of the process at the time of the balloting. Mr. Rutan said public input is an attempt to get the sentiment of the community. He said his experience has been that the council recommends certain cuts, after which the affected constituency shows up at the hearing and gives testimony. He said there were more people testifying this year because of the number of program cuts being proposed. However, he said those people represented a narrow set of issues. He said the council has a responsibility to listen to the testimony, but then make judgments as to how the programs relate to the larger community. Mr. Gleason said Mr. Rutan asked staff to review different ways to deal with the $140,000 projected deficit. He said it has been difficult for staff to remain consistent when it is comparing a line item budget and program ap- proach at the same time. II. ESTABLISH AGENDA ITEMS Mr. Obie said he will be giving an update on the Soviet Sister City project. Mr. Miller said he would like to discuss an issue involving cable access and KLSR 25. He said he would also like to discuss an issue rf marketing City- owned property. Ms. Schue said she would like more information about what is occurring on the Willamette Street issue. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 6, 1988 Page 4 e Ms. Wooten said she would like to discuss a resolution to support Lane Coun- ty's request for a serial levy. She said she would also like to review how the nuclear free zone public hearing is scheduled to proceed. Mr. Rutan said the council should review its 1988 goals and what has been accomplished so far. III. COMMITTEE REPORTS Ms. Ehrman said the Eugene/Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau has been discussing the possible restaurant tax. Ms. Ehrman said the Joint Social Services Budget Committee has gone through its allocation process. She said several agencies this year either lost funding or received greatly reduced funds. She said Food For Lane County is short of funds and will be the subject of a memo from Ms. Bascom to the council at the June 8 meeting. Ms. Ehrman said the Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority is having discus- sions about whether its volunteer compliance program should be mandatory. She said the Lane County Shelton-McMurphey House Committee would like to hold a major fund-raiser that would tie in with the Eugene Celebration. She said the committee has come up with a second plan for providing handicapped access to the house. e Ms. Schue said the Joint Parks Committee met recently with the Commission on the Rights of Minorities to discuss Monroe Park. She said Ms. Wooten, Ken Tollenaar) and the Joint Parks Committee did a good job of drafting a compro- mise to the situation. She said a Friends of Monroe Park committee is being formed and the tables and benches will be put back. Ms. Schue said the Oregon Association of Regional Councils met recently and is reaching the point where it has a good group with good discussions. She said the Lane Council of Governments is also starting to work together as a group. Ms. Ehrman said she recently had a discussion with P.T. Smith, president of the Florence City Council, who is interested in having the two councils meet at some time in the future. Ms. Wooten said the council received a memo recently that the Cops in the Schools program is scheduled to continue. She said she would like to know what significance that program may have without Eugene School District 4J as a partner. Ms. Wooten said the Social Concern Committee has decided to focus the coun- cil's efforts in FY89 on housing) especially low-income, homeless, and tran- sitional housing. She said she is concerned about the Food for Lane County program and how it is administered. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 6) 1988 Page 5 e Ms. Wooten said the Council Committee on Economic Diversification is about to begin translating its strategic plan into a work plan. She said the commit- tee recently met with Lynn Youngbar of the State's Economic Development Department and discussed the State's job retention program. Mr. Miller recalled his request to staff on whether the committee's Lincoln School report can be refined for use as a Request For Proposal (RFP). Ms. Wooten asked if other councilors have seen a copy of the Laurel Hill letter regarding their space needs and eligibility for grants and loans. She said the SWEEP program at Laurel Hill School has to evacuate a 17,000 to 20,000 square-foot area and is interested in using Lincoln School as a site for training programs for mentally and physically handicapped individuals. Mr. Gleason said the Friends of Lincoln School groups came up with a request for staff to bring back a written proposal describing an RFP. Once that is completed, he said the council will be able to instruct staff on how it wants to proceed. Mr. Rutan said the Airport Committee continues to make progress in its work. He reviewed that the County Room Tax Committee was formed by the Lane County Commissioners to determine how best to use money that two years from now will not be needed to pay bonds for the fair grounds. He said the Fair Board has hired a national expert on convention facilities to study the best ways to expand the fairgrounds. He said the committee has established criteria by which to judge potential expansion projects. He said the committee is next scheduled to meet with the County Commissioners to discuss the issue. e On the Hayward Field Restoration, Mr. Rutan said there is still a great deal of work left to be done. He said he recently testified before Congressmen Peter DeFazio and Ron Wyden on the methamphetamine problem in the community. He said both Congressmen are sponsoring bills to curb production and use of the drug. Ms. Schue asked if there was anything included in the bills to reimburse the City's Police Services for extra expenses incurred in combating the drug. Mr. Rutan said there was not. He added that there is no legisla- tion that addresses the hazards to police officers entering meth labs. Mr. Miller said the Citizen Involvement Committee is exploring the structure of the neighborhood groups to determine if there are ways to save money in those programs. Ms. Wooten asked whether the Community Development Committee CCDC) can shape priorities in a way that would increase those funds to be spent on social concerns. Mr. Miller said the law limits how much funding can be given to the Joint Social Services fund in certain categories; other limitations are created by the large number of demanr.s on the limited funds. Ms. Wooten asked if the CDC has the ability to set lending priorities for the Business Development Loan Fund. She said members of the CDC have told her they do not have this ability and are not satisfied with the way the loan process works. Mr. Miller said the majority of CDC members felt the process worked fine. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 6, 1988 Page 6 e e e Mr. Bennett said he is on the Downtown Marketing Committee which met regular- ly early in the year to deal with funding for advertising and promotion which had previously gone to the Eugene Downtown Association (EDA) through a con- tract with the Downtown Commission. Mr. Bennett said he is continuing his effort to form a new privately-based group to represent the downtown business interest and to work in conjunction with the Eugene Development Department (EDD) and the Downtown Commission. This group met its funding criteria and has received good response not only from building owners, but also from the stronger retailers in the downtown area. In response to a question from Mayor Obie, Mr. Bennett said Downtown Eugene Incorporated (DEI) currently does not have a procedure for centralized retail management although this will be a primary focus of the group. Ms. Wooten asked whether DEI would get the contract from the City to provide marketing services for the downtown area. Mr. Bennett said this is not certain although DEI will actively pursue the contract which is worth approx- imately $125,000. Mr. Bennett said Russ Brink will probably serve as staff person for the group initially and will be part of the administrative costs of DEI if the Downtown Commission supports the proposal. Ms. Ehrman asked whether Mr. Bennett is representing the City Councilor his own private interests as a member of DEI. Mr. Bennett said he is represent- ing private interests and asked if other councilors felt this was a conflict of interest. Ms. Wooten did not think it was. She said it might look like a conflict to others though, because DEI will be trying to lobby and influence the way large amounts of City money is spent downtown. Mayor Obie felt it would not be a conflict if Mr. Bennett was careful to identify his involve- ment in DEI when related issues come before the council. Mr. Gleason said DEI is currently a non-profit organization and has no connection to the City; when there is a connection, Mr. Bennett will be advised of the legal ramifi- cations associated with his participation in DEI. Reporting on his involvement with the Metro Partnership, Mayor Obie said the focus of the Metropolitan Partnership is stronger this year because it is focusing on one-on-one marketing. On another subject, he said the charge of the Maurie Jacobs Memorial Committee is to develop a concept for a fitting memorial and to find funding for it. IV. AGENDA ITEMS A. Cable Access Mr. Miller said a representative from KLSR talked to him about the possibili- ty of getting onto Channel 36 with the understanding that any government program would be run when necess3ry. Mr. Miller felt it is important to find ways to form a public-private partnership in dealing with cable access so that the service can still be provided while some of the public cost can be eliminated. MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 6, 1988 Page 7 e e e Ms. Schue said Randy Kolb, Information Services Director, felt there would be some problems with leasing a portion of Channel 36 to KLSR. Mr. Kolb said under a franchise the City is not allowed to share a channel with a commer- cial enterprise. He also felt it would not be a satisfactory arrangement for consumers who would probably not like the mix of programming. Ms. Ehrman said KLSR approached MPC about the same issue a couple of years ago, but at that time MPC was neither willing nor able to help them. She added that KLSR was aware that it did not have a cable channel when it start- ed. Mr. Bennett asked what benefit the City would receive if such an ar- rangement were possible. Mr. Miller said KLSR is willing to pay money for the use of a portion of Channel 36. Mayor Obie asked staff to report back to the council with more information about whether it is possible for the City to participate in such an arrange- ment if the council decided it was desirable. Mr. Bennett said he would like to get more information about whether there is a way for the City to support or make way for another cable provider. Ms. Wooten agreed saying cable access is a basic City service. She said this is an opportunity for the City to pursue cable access in behalf of the people who live in the metropolitan area. Ms. Wooten said the City could make more money this way than through franchise fees and that staff time should be devoted to pursuing this. Ms. Schue and Mr. Rutan said they would like to keep informed of the work SUB is doing. Mr. Miller asked about the possibility of planning a public-private partner- ship in cable-access and removing the large public expenditure involved. Ms. Schue said the 4J School District, Lane Community College, and the cur- rent cable access channel have been discussing this. B. Marketing City Property Mr. Miller said there are approximately 156 lots in the Bethel area which some realtors would like to market. He said the realtors feel there are constraints which prevent the lots from being marketed and he wondered if the City can facilitate the marketing. Ms. Wooten felt it would be a good idea for the City to aggressively market the lots for development but felt the proposal put forth by these realtors was not a good one. Mr. Gleason said the council adopted a marketing plan for Bancroft lots which staff feels has been working well so far. He said staff has been working with realtors to market the lots and sales have been doing fairly well. C. Willamette Street Opening Mayor Obie said he had attended a meeting with Ruth Miller and Betty Niven to hear about their concerns on the opening of Willamette Street. He said the meeting involved an exchange of views on how to ensure the viability of downtown Eugene. He said there was no relationship between that meeting and the decision the council had already made to place the issue on the ballot. MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 6, 1988 Page 8 e D. World Veterans Games In response to a question from Mayor Obie, Ms. Ehrman said the Budget Commit- tee gave $12,000 in funding to the World Veterans Games Committee. Mr. Gleason said staff also recommended putting $100,000 of room tax money into a contingency account for the Games. Mr. Rutan said he had asked the organiz- ers of the World Veterans Games to prepare a total anticipated budget and make a formal request to the Budget Committee; he had not heard that they had ever put together a request for City assistance. Mr. Rutan said he would request a proposal from them again. E. Futuring Ms. Wooten said the council discussed futuring at its annual goal-setting session and wanted to pursue visualization of what kind of a city Eugene could be and what the long-term goals for the city should be. Ms. Wooten said she is still interested in having the council pursue this issue. Mr. Rutan recommended that this issue be set aside. He did not feel the council is being short-sighted and said the council has a full agenda. F. Nuclear Free Process e Mayor Obie said the public will be asked to comment on options A and B of the Nuclear Free Zone Ordinance at the public hearing. He said after the hear- ing, the council will have to rely on the public input to decide which option or combination of options should be adopted. Ms. Schue said she would like to look at the material that has been compiled on a compromise option. G. Riverfront Research Project Mr. Rutan felt the council needs to receive a report from Cathy Briner on the status of the Riverfront Research Park. He said if the research park is going to be successful, it is going to rely on recruiting businesses in the community as tenants. Mr. Gleason said the Carley Capital Group is not impeding progress on the research park. He said the check and designation as a regional strategy has not yet been issued by the State. Mayor Obie said the next step will be to convince the State to give $7 to $9 million in funding for the research park. Ms. Wooten said the council needs to have an ad hoc representative on the Riverfront Research Park Commission. Mr. Rutan agreed that the council needs a strong official advocate for the research park. H. Joint Social Services Ms. Wooten said t~e council should find a way to take more leadership in shaping the funding priorities of the Joint Social Services Budget Committee (JSSBC). She felt the council should discuss ways the joint social services fund could be administered more efficiently. Ms. Ehrman said there is cur- rently a 21-person advisory group which reviews all proposals and makes recommendations regarding funding; this advisory group is mandatory. She e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 6, 1988 Page 9 - e e felt the program is probably best administered through the County. Mr. Bennett agreed that the issue was not important enough for the council to pursue. Mayor Obie suggested that the council ask for a recommendation from the three Eugene representatives who serve as contract monitors for the JSSBC if they want the council to evaluate the administration of the program. Ms. Ehrman said the JSSBC is waiting for the results of a needs assessment which should help the group set its priorities. Mayor Obie adjourned the meeting to June 8, 1988. Respectfully submitted, ~~~.., Micheal Gleason City Manager (Recorded by Todd Nissen and Tanya Northman) mncc 060688 MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 6, 1988 Page 10