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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/09/1991 Meeting e M I NUT E S Eugene City Council McNutt Room--Eugene City Hall September 9, 1991 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Shawn Boles, Ruth Bascom, Debra Ehrman, Bobby Green, Randy MacDonald, Paul Nicholson, Kaye Robinette. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Roger Rutan The regular meeting of September 9, 1991, ~f the Eugene City Council was called to order by His Honor Mayor Jeff Miller. I.. EUGENE DECISIONS A. Review' of Report Ms. Bellamy said the next two major tasks in the Eugene Decisions process are: 1) develop and analyze preliminary strategies; and 2} design the next e round of public input activities, scheduled for November. She reviewed the time line, saying the council will build preliminary strategies at its meet- ing on September 16. The Citizen Involvement Committee (CIC) will review the process at checkpoints on September 9 and October 3. She reminded councilors that there will be a Eugene Decisions display in the Washburne Building dur- . ing the Eugene Celebration. Ms. Carmichael presented the results of citizen input gathered during the summer via public workshops, newspaper Questionnaires, and a telephone sur- vey. The City's purpose for gathering data was to: generate ideas about solutions to the service funding shortfall, capture any themes regarding preferred solutions, gauge awareness of services and the funding challenge, and seek guidance for the Eugene Decisions process. The data collected was coded and entered on a computer data base and the report was organized by themes, although the information is also available by instrument used or by group. Ms. Carmichael said that only the phone survey is statistically val- id. Ms. Ehrman wondered if more attention should be paid to one group of respon- dents over another. In response, Ms. Carmichael said that both workshop participants and newspaper respondents were self-chosen; however, telephone survey participants were chosen by random and therefore provided more statis- tically valid information. Mr. Boles suggested the results of this survey be validated through a second, larger survey scheduled for November. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 9, 1991 Page 1 Dinner Work Session . Mr. MacDonald asked how staff had dealt with single ideas that did not fit ',/ !) e into any of the reported themes. Ms. Carmichael said that single-concept ideas are not represented in the report. Mr. Gleason added that those ideas were captured and it is possible to retrieve them. Several councilors ex- pressed interest in seeing a listing of those ideas. Ms. Carmichael reviewed findings to guide strategy development, saying the following are the major themes: '* Hainta1nhlg serviCes by . exploring' new ways' to provide 'services (throughinterg6vernmental conso1idation~ privatization/contracting out, use of volunteers, internal management efficiencies, and re- duced hours of service); * reducing services or increasing taxes were suggested as a second preference; .. first' prererenc'e'for 'new revenues are "user feesn (sales fax, res-" taurant tax also mentioned, but less frequently); * reducing services is less preferred than alternative ways of,doing' business; * Cultural Services and Development Division were most frequently mentioned with regard to service reductions; and e * significant interest in expanding Library (Public Safety, social services, and affordable housing also mentioned). ) When the concept of user fees goes before the council for discussion, Mr. Boles asked that the council consider devising a plan to reduce/eliminate fees for low-income individuals. Mr. Nicholson suggested the council also discuss a payroll tax. Mr. Gleason said he was surprised to find there is no support in the communi- ty for service cuts. Hr. Boles noted that there is nothing to show that the larger population favors one category over another because the percentage points between categories are not significant enough. Ms. Bellamy cautioned against applying the results to the entire population and suggested these be used as ideas for developing strategies. She said the results seemed to point out that more education needs to be done. Ms. Carmichael reviewed findings to guide process design, saying the follow- ing are major themes: * 9 in 10 residents responding in the phone survey could name at least one City service; * 96 percent of phone survey respondents were unaware of Eugene Deci- e MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 9, 1991 Page 2 Dinner Work Session -- sions (this survey was done~~rior to the City's public information e program) ; * only one third of phone survey respondents believe that the City does not have enough money to continue services; * City government is considered the "best value" (school districts came in first with What's Happening respondents); * 50 percent of newspaper respondents are happy with opportunities for input in City decisions (70 percent for workshop and phone survey respondents); and * 85 percent of workshop participants thought the materials were at least moderately clear and most agreed that the workshops allowed for effective input. Ms. Carmichael said suggestions for improving the Eugene Decisions process included: distributing information earlier in the process, having more dis: cussion, and having more widespread citizen involvement. Many said they liked the process. B. Development of Preliminary Strategies Ms. Bellamy said the council should decide how many preliminary strategies to present to the public. After the next round of public input, the council e should be able to narrow the number of strategies for further consideration. She presented examples of strategies that staff has devised, including reduc- tion, enhancement, and maintenance of current services. Mr. Green said that people have expressed interest in knowing in advance the implications of their choices. Staff will address that in general terms in its presentation to the council on September 16. Several councilors felt that people are inclined to reduce services they are not cl ear about. Ms. Bascom felt that Cultural/leisure Services has a nega- tive connotation that may have something to do with that department being the prime target of cuts by the public. She suggested the department be referred to as Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services. Ms. Bellamy said the council may want to pursue some of the long-term strate- gies, such as privatization, consolidation, and volunteerism; but it is dif- ficult to estimate savings at this time. She said council needs to decide how to present these for public input in November. Ms. Ehrman felt the City had a responsibility to respond to public sugges- tions, adding it is part of the education process. Mr. Robinette said that public education would be enhanced when strategies are presented to them. After a brief discussion, the council decided to develop six strategies (two of each for service reduction, enhancement, and maintenance). Mr. Nicholson e MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 9, 1991 Page 3 Dinner Work Session asked for the full spectrum of possibilities for all three categories, saying e they can be used to justify the choices and respond to public inquiry. Ms. Ehrman suggested the distribution of an information mailing. Staff was .directed to research the option. Mr. Nicholson suggested that the public be presented with a list of services that are likely candidates for reductions with funding figures attached so that people have an opportunity to choose cuts to equal the projected short- fall. Responding to a question from Mr. MacDonald, Mr. Gleason said cutting servic- es also cuts building maintenance but the numbers are difficult to figure. In response to Ms. Bascom's inquiry about an across-the-board cut in servic- es, Mr. Gleason explained that it was not a sustainable intervention. He said that such strategies in California had resulted is disintegration and costly suits. Summarizing the discussion, Mayor Miller said staff would provide councilors with the following information for the council's meeting on September 16: * An information-sharing program; .~ six scenarios, with supporting documentation (councilors will present any of their own); and e * lists of services and revenues. Noting that the Budget Committee had no meeting scheduled this month, Ms. Bellamy suggested council may want to meet with the lay members after strate- gies have been developed. , , .. ., , .~ , . (Recorded by Yolanda Paule) MNCC 090991-530 e MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 9, 1991 Page 4 Dinner Work Session