Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/28/1991 Meeting ; e M I NUT E S Eugene City Council McNutt Room--Eugene City Hall October 28, 1991 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Roger Rutan, Shawn Boles, Ruth Bascom, Bobby Green (after 5:45 p.m.), Randy MacDonald, Paul Nicholson, Kaye Robinette, Debra Ehrman (after 7 p.m.) City Manager Mike Gleason asked to discuss an issue concerning the transition in the downtown parking program. In order to make the transition as easy as possible, Downtown Eugene, Inc. (DEI) plans to advertise the new validation program in the newspapers. It would like to include a coupon good for one hour of parking as a part of the ads. DEI is asking the City to accept up to $5,000 worth of these coupons between now and the end of the year. The City would be waiving the parking fee for these coupons to encourage parkers to try the new arrangements. He asked the council if it had any objections to this idea. e Mayor Miller asked how persons with disabled parking permits would be treated at each site under the new validated parking plan. He also asked if disabled parking would be free. Mr. Gleason said he would obtain this information for the Mayor. Mayor Miller said it should be free and that the experimental parking plan should be advertised immediately. Mr. Gleason asked the council whether to proceed with a proposal to buy half of the parking lot adjacent to Sears. The City owns the other half of the lot. The size of the proposed library at the Sears site would make it necessary to build on part of the parking lot. He said Sears wants to sell its portion of the lot by January 1. He added that owning the entire lot would be necessary if the library is to be relocated in the Sears building. In response to the council's questions, Mr. Gleason stated that the site would need to be appraised. An estimated appraisal value for the property would be in the range of $200,000. There was council consenus that the City Manager should proceed with a proposal to buy the lot. Mr. Green arrived at 5:45 p.m. Mayor Miller requested that the council discuss issues concerning the preliminary balloting of boards and commissions applicants prior to the Citizen Involvement Committee agenda item. Ms. Bascom requested discussion regarding the reappointment process. She believes the policy was to reappoint those who haven't yet served six years. e MINUTES--City Council October 28, 1991 Page 1 7 . e Mr. Rutan said he understood that reappointment of individuals was never automatic. Ms. Young of the City Manager's Office confirmed that if a councilor wants to vote for reappointment of an individual, he or she must indicate that name on a ballot. Concerning appointments to the Human Rights Commission, Ms. Bascom said she sought information about qualified individuals from the community. Mayor Miller stated that three members of the Human Rights Commission were reapplying for three of the five positions that need to be filled. There was consensus among the council that all three incumbents should be reappointed. Mr. Rutan said individuals should be interviewed for Budget Committee seats but said it was not necessary to interview existing members. Mr. MacDonald said Budget Committee members were doing a good job and therefore it was not necessary to put others through the interview process. Mr. Rutan said even though members may be reappointed, it was important to interview other community members before deciding. Mayor Miller, in responding to councilors questions, said that reappointment was not automatic, but that committee members can reapply and be interviewed. He added that members should not have to go through the process if the council does not want to reappoint them. Mr. Nicholson said a consistent method should be developed for reappointing committee members. Mayor Miller said to resolve the issue, councilors could put names on ballots privately. e Mr. Robinette said Ed Aster had applied for a committee seat but that he did not qualify for an interview. Bill Gary, City Attorney, said City Code states that board or commission applicants must reside within the urban growth boundary. He cited code statutes 2.013 (6) and 2.157. Mr. Gary added that a majority vote can waive this requirement if there are no other qualified applicants. In response to council's questions, Mr. Gary said the aforementioned code defines the qualifications, and the council must decide which applicants best meet the qualifications as well as the City's needs. He added that the recruitment process would have to be reopened if the qualified applicants were not acceptable to council. Mayor Miller said it would not be necessary to reopen recruitment at this time since two qualified individuals have applied. Mr. Gary added that the codes allow a board or commission member who has moved out of the urban growth boundary to serve out his or her term. Mayor Miller said the council could revisit the issue at a later time if there was interest in changing the ordinance. Mr. Boles said he is concerned that this information is not available for those who apply for positions. He said Mr. Aster should have been notified immediately that he was not qualified. Mr. Rutan said a letter should be sent to Mr. Aster telling him of the requirement and apologizing for the delay in noticing the problem. Mr. Boles said the letter should be sent by the Mayor and the council. Mr. MacDonald concurred. e MINUTES--City Council October 28, 1991 Page 2 . e Staff said two other applicants were qualified. Mr. Rutan asked staff to check on another applicant and add that name to the list of qualified applications. Mayor Miller asked councilors to write the names on their ballots. He then requested that the council move to the scheduled agenda item. I. CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT COMMITTEE (CIC) ANNUAL REPORT Ann Morrow, Chair of the CIC, presented its annual report to the council. She thanked the council for supporting the CIC, especially through Mr. Boles' involvement on the committee. Ms. Morrow referred to the "Land Use Planning Activities" section listed in the CIC Annual Report. She said the eIC spent a considerable amount of time in determining what kind of public information process needed to be followed in relation to the listed activities. She said the processes used in the past were evaluated to see how they were employed and how well they worked. She said more time was spent on issues with increased public interest. Ms. Morrow said some format changes were made to existing planning documents. Much time was spent to provide recommendations and improve the current process. Ms. Morrow then referred to the "Other Activities" section of the report. e She said the CIC wanted to be sure it was doing a good job in relation to the CIC's goals. The CIC analyzed the citizen involvement process and looked for ways to make it more effective. She said committee members tried to identify audiences who need to be sought out. Ms. Morrow said a workshop was held February 9, 1991, to examine the committee's goals and vision for the future and to discuss the merits of various techniques for involving citizens. One of the activities at the session was a stakeholder analysis. As a result of the workshop and stakeholder analysis, Ms. Morrow was asked to make a presentation to the Oregon Planning Institute. Ms. Morrow said the Planning Commission has suggested to the Citizen Involvement Committee that it explore the utilization of the public access channel for public meetings. She added that as a member of the committee, she would encourage this. Ms. Morrow said Ellen Wojahn will replace Greg Evans as a Planning Commission representative on the committee. In answering council's questions, Ms. Morrow said that determining whether an issue will become high-interest or low-interest public involvement is determined case by case. Ms. Morrow said that if citizens feel their rights concerning involvement have been denied, they can work with staff on getting remediation. e MINUTES--City Council October 28, 1991 Page 3 . e Mr. Boles said the council should be notified of any violations or negligence by staff in regard to citizen involvement. In response to council questions, City Manager Mike Gleason said any such complaint can be filed and find remedy with the State statutes. Concerning the request for proposal process, Ms. Morrow stated that when businesses are involved, sometimes it is not the public's right to be informed. Mr. Nicholson questioned whether this would compromise citizen involvement. Mayor Miller said the public need not be informed if that is contrary to prudent business practice. In answer to council's questions, Ms. Morrow said the CIC would examine past practices to help the council decide if an issue requires high or low-level involvement. She added that the CIC is not able to examine the public information process concerning every City issue. Mr. Boles said there were several ways staff could encounter problems in their public involvement process: 1) by omission, when an issue is not brought to staff or the CIC, 2) if an issue is thought to be low-intensity and turns out to be high-intensity, and 3) if a citizen involvement component is drafted and then not acted on. He added that staff procedures must be reviewed. Mayor Miller said a routine needs to be developed by staff. He added that the council should be part of the public process and also have a routine to follow in regard to issues concerning citizen involvement. Mr. Boles said departmental staff should be asked whether the CIe is a valuable part of the information process. Ms. Morrow stated that the eIe is at a e different level of the process than the council. Ms. Ehrman arrived at 7:15 p.m. Ms. Bascom asked whether the council was doing its job regarding involving the public and identifying problems before they evolve. Ms. Morrow said the CIC has debated whether its role should be expanded. Mr. Boles said that presently the council chooses which issues are sent to the CIe for evaluation. Mr. MacDonald said the CIC guidelines serve to provide back-up for staff and council members. Mayor Miller said since public hearings have not been an effective means of involving citizens, it is necessary to have a routine that can be followed so that certain citizen groups are not neglected. Ms. Morrow said it is difficult to guess the scale of public involvement necessary for certain issues. City Manager Mike Gleason said the eIe creates a democratic response. He said it is important for the council to process issues of controversy in order to avoid the public's anger. He added that the eIe offers a good communication service that reflects the citizens views. He said staff and the CIC could be more effective if they had more resources. Mr. Boles said citizens should be involved early in any process to avoid anger. Mr. Nicholson said desired outcomes should not become rooted before the public becomes involved. e MINUTES--City Council October 28, 1991 Page 4 ~ . e Ms. Morrow said that while the CIe wants to move forward, the committee does not try to decide if a process was successful based on its outcome. Mayor Miller thanked Ms. Morrow for her presentation of the annual report. Mayor Miller moved, seconded by Mr. Boles to adopt the IIGeneral Guidelines for Development of eitizen Involvement Plans for Major City Issues.1I The motion passed unanimously (8:0). The meeting adjourned at 7:20 p.m. (Recorded by Tracey Ludvik mnCC 102891 e e MINUTES--City eouncil October 28, 1991 Page 5