Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/29/1992 Meeting e M I NUT E S Eugene City Council McNutt Room--Eugene City Hall April 29, 1992 11:30 a.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Bobby Green, Ruth Bascom, Debra Ehrman, Randy MacDonald, Paul Nicholson, Kaye Robinette. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Shawn Boles, Roger Rutan. The adjourned meeting of April 27, 1992, of the Eugene City Council was called to order by His Honor Mayor Jeff Miller. I. ITEMS FROM THE MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL, AND CITY MANAGER A. Centro Latino Americano Ms. Ehrman called attention to correspondence from Centro Latino Americano (formerly Chicano Affairs Center) requesting that the City donate old ~ equipment that is usually auctioned off. City Manager Mike Gleason said that the City cannot give things away, unless the council has a policy of doing so as a public service. Staff will follow up. B. Barrier Awareness Day Mr. Green announced Barrier Awareness Day, May 7. C. Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program Mr. Green reported on the Human Rights Committee on Accessibility's public hearing on the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program. He noted that the committee held small, informal meetings with interested parties prior to the hearing. A summary of the testimony is forthcoming for the council's deliberation on May 14. D. Interaction Forum Mr. MacDonald announced that Fred Miller, State Executive Department Director, has scheduled a forum on May 13 as the State goes through its down-sizing. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council 11:30 a.m. April 29, 1992 Page 1 e e - E. Forum Of Cooperative Urban Services Mr. MacDonald said a Forum of Cooperative Urban Services (FOCUS) has formed in the Portland area and is working to coordinate with each other in the metropolitan area, and also to coordinate the area governments' lobbying effort. He said the Governor met with the group and indicated that services the State funds through local governments are going to take much greater funding cuts than State agencies. He asked the council to flag the issue as it impacts Eugene Decisions. F. Citizen Inquiry Ms. Ehrman said she and other councilors had received a phone call from Mr. Barba of the Whiteaker neighborhood, and she felt there should be an official response to his inquiry regarding the neighborhood council. Staff will follow up. Mayor Miller asked to reverse the order of Items II and III on the agenda. II. EUGENE BICYCLE COMMITTEE ANNUAL REPORT Brian Churchill, Bicycle Committee Chair, called attention to the committee's written annual report included in the meeting packet and reviewed the following accomplishments: downtown bicycle access and parking (with specific recommendations to the Central Area Transportation Study); advisory on the Beltline project; brochure with coordination from the Public Safety Advisory Committee to educate new riders in the area; and a bicycle map update with the help of Dave Imus, a local mapmaker. Mr. Churchill reviewed the committee's work plan for the upcoming year, saying there are new Federal regulations regarding alternate modes of transportation that may provide funding sources. He said the committee hopes to advise the City on those regualtions and the TransPlan update due this year. Mr. Churchill said one of the priority goals is recommending a change in the committee's composition by increasing citizen participation and decreasing staff support. Another focus will be upgrading and maintaining existing bike paths. Mr. Churchill distributed brochures announcing Bicycle Commute Week beginning May 16 and highlighted the ride City Council members will lead on May 19. Responding to a question from Ms. Ehrman, Mr. Churchill said that there is a committee representative on the Central Area Transportation Study (CATS) and the group is working on solutions to help alleviate the problem with bicycles on 13th Avenue. Responding to other questions, Mr.Churchill said the committee is recommending additional parking and facilities, some of which include lockers, for the downtown area. He also said television public service announcements paid for by a private individual have been donated to the MINUTES--Eugene City Council 11:30 a.m. April 29, 1992 Page 2 e e e committee and are being aired. The City's Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Department has taken over coordination of the committee's "Smart Cycling Program." III. WORK SESSION: 1990-91 UPDATE TO EUGENE BIKEWAYS MASTER PLAN Diane Bishop, Public Works Transportation, reviewed the committee's recommendations for changes to the Bikeways Master Plan for 1990 and 1991, saying they have been reviewed by the Planning Commission which recommends adoption of the update. She noted the council's public hearing on the update is scheduled for May 11. Ms. Bishop said that the recommendations were developed after consulting with the affected neighborhood and soliciting staff input. She noted that no public testimony was offered at the Planning Commission's public hearing. Responding to a question from Ms. Ehrman, Ms. Bishop said there have been no complaints as a result of the reconfiguring around Eugene Hospital and Clinic. Mr. Nicholson wondered if there was any way to encourage better enforcement of illegal parking in bike lanes, particularly on Hilyard Street next to Sacred Heart Hospital. Ms. Bishop said Parking Officers have been very cooperative with the Bicycle Committee. Mr. Gleason recalled that the City had previously asked Lane County to construct shoulders on roads outside the city limits in order to accommodate bicycles. He felt it would be more effective were the policy expressed to the County by the Bicycle Committee in a general constructive way. Mr. MacDonald suggested the Bicycle Committee's communication include a letter from the Mayor and council, under the Mayor's signature, outlining the City's policy and touching on the County's tourism program and economic development. IV. WORK SESSION: COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS Assistant City Manager Linda Norris said that the council received feedback related to City salaries and benefits during the Eugene Decisions process. The purpose of this item is to provide information about the City's current compensation market position; discuss steps the City is taking to contain benefit costs; review recommendations made in the Coopers & Lybrand audit and by the Chamber of Commerce Task Force; and to receive council direction for pursuing this issue. Ms. Norris presented information on how much City employees earn, saying salaries start at about $15,000 and go to a high of $84,900 (City Manager) annually. Most employees earn $20,000-$40,000. MINUTES--Eugene City Council 11:30 a.m. April 29, 1992 Page 3 e Mr. MacDonald wondered how much the chief executive officer of a $220 million corporation in the private sector would earn. Ms. Norris replied that it would be considerably more. Mr. Gleason said it is difficult to compare senior positions such as that of the Public Works Director to positions in private industry, so it must be compared to the internal structure of the organization. He also noted that the City's organizational structure is compressed, resulting in lower compensation for senior positions. Ms. Norris said the City work force is composed of 1,128 full-time employees in several job categories (skilled labor, trades, crafts, clerical, administrative, police and fire, technical, professional, supervisors, and managers). She noted that some City positions are unique to the public sector. Other positions are found in the private sector, but it is difficult to find them in sufficient numbers locally. Ms. Norris described wages and benefits and where the City stands in the market. Police and Fire employees are the largest in the General Fund groups. They are in market with similar Oregon cities (Gresham, Salem, Corvallis, lane County, and Springfield) and fire districts. In some years, the market is set in the arbitration process. General service employees (clerks, maintenance workers, skilled trades, and labor positions) are the next largest group and found to be in market with the local public and private sector. In collective bargaining negotiation, the City agrees on which market data to use, which is typically public and private sector organizations in the mid-Willamette valley. Outside of negotiations, the City routinely checks the local market to make sure compensation for the ~ group is in line with the private sector. Responding to questions about participants in compensation and benefits surveys, Ms. Norris said many more organizations were invited to participate in the last private sector survey, but many declined. Mr. Gleason added that most organizations simply refuse to release salary information. Mr. Norris said comparisons are difficult with small firms because they do not have formal personnel systems and may compensate employees in other ways, such as bonuses, trips, or profit-sharing. Mr. Gleason emphasized that the City's goal with compensation is to maximize productivity at the market wage at the local level, getting within plus or minus five percent. He said the business question is whether this is the appropriate way to allocate the resource to purchase skill. Mr. Gleason said tenure has much to do with skill capacity and investment in training, something difficult to rebuild. He explained that the relationship between the work performed and the people who have to oversee the work is also an important issue. A productive system requires a pay differential of at least ten percent between supervisors and those they supervise. Ms. Bascom said there is a perception that the public work force has additional benefits and job security, adding to the hostility. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council 11:30 a.m. April 29, 1992 Page 4 e e e Mr. Gleason noted that the City does not have civil service positions, that he has personally been involved in employee lay-offs, and that security is based only on performance. Responding to a question from Ms. Bascom, Mr. Gleason said that the City's work force had increased only slightly during his tenure, while at the same time there has been an increase in programs outside the General Fund (ambulance service, sewage treatment plant, regional storm water system, airport, consolidated 9-1-1). He noted that the accomplishment reflected great productivity. In response to Ms. Ehrman, Mr. Gleason said that he avoids lay-offs by moving employees elsewhere because it is a productivity decision. The "bumping" process that would otherwise be activated is costly in terms of morale and money. Continuing her report, Ms. Norris said that many positions eligible for overtime in the private sector are not eligible for overtime in the City. She said wages for many positions are driven largely by union settlements, with supervisors earning from five to ten percent more. Mr. Norris said that the City makes an effort to ensure that positions doing similar work receive similar pay. The category of professional and technical employees, typically found in both public and private sectors, is surveyed periodically and a few positions are surveyed regionally (14 cities in 7 western states). The last category is positions found primarily in the pUblic sector. This group is within public market locally but about ten percent below the market regionally. Ms. Norris said the City has received feedback about doing more comparisons with the local private sector, something it is very willing do do. She described a survey that is currently being done involving Albany General Hospital, Hewlet-Packard, John laBatts Food (lane County), Mantech Environmental, Oregon Freeze Dried, Pope & Talbot, PW Pipe, Soltec Silicon, Spectra Physics, and Teledyne Wah Chang. She reiterated that many more organizations were asked to participate. Responding to comments from council, Mr. Gleason said he has responded to hard economic conditions with layoffs and wage freezes, even though the volume of work remains the same and, in most cases, increases. As an example, he noted the reduction in service hours in the library resulted in the same number of patrons coming in during the reduced hours, forcing the hiring of more people during those hours to serve them. In response to Mr. Nicholson, Mr. Gleason said the problem of distance in setting wages is a serious question, noting that his salary is set by the council. MINUTES--Eugene City Council 11:30 a.m. April 29, 1992 Page 5 e e e Saying the City is about five percent above markets in benefits, Ms. Norris described the City's benefit package and outlined the following ways under study in which it is trying to reduce costs: * employee premium co-payments; * hospital contracts locally; * mental health preferred provider organizations; * chronic care management programs; * dental plan cost review; and * investigate charging retirees for the full cost of their monthly insurance premium since their usage is higher than that of City employees. Ms. Norris reminded the council that its current policy is that employee compensation will be comparable to the public and private sector compensation paid in a relevant recruitment area. She asked for council direction in pursuing the issue. Citing time constraints, the council decided to defer further discussion of the issue. V. SOLID WASTE TASK TEAM REPORT Greta Utecht, Planning Development Department, said this was a response to the council's request to develop a long-range waste reduction strategy to meet local and State goals and to define a way of reviewing the City's collection system in light of those goals and strategies. She noted that both Councilors Green and Nicholson are on the task team and Chair Craig Starr was present to answer questions. Ms. Utecht noted that the team has not conducted a comprehensive overview of universal collection systems. She said, however, that with council's approval, the department has the staff and time to conduct a study this summer. Ms. Utecht said that with recent ordinance changes, the program can be initiated with little cost to the General Fund (approximately $15,000). Mr. MacDonald reviewed the council's charge to the task team and said he did not see why the survey was required to pursue the City's solid waste reduction goals. He said he was also willing to look at the equity issue around rates but questioned the need to redesign the City's solid waste collection system. Mr. Starr said the survey was not a rate study, although it would look at the different regulatory roles that cities play. The intent is to examine other communities' choices in terms of how providing collection services can facilitate better waste reduction and whether Eugene can take components of those systems and mesh them with what is done now to accomplish waste reduction goals. He noted that Goal A is the driving force behind the rest of the effort in the work program and was supported by the task team 5:1, with one abstention. MINUTES--Eugene City Council 11:30 a.m. April 29, 1992 Page 6 e Ms. Bascom noted there was an interjurisdictional focus on this issue and wondered how the survey fit in. Mr. Starr responded that it provided another piece of important information on how to accomplish waste reduction in this area. Mr. Green said that the council's charge was to bring back a work plan and the task team has done so. He said he considered the team's work done. He also said he agreed with Mr. Rutan's position outlined in his memorandum dated April 27, 1992, opposing the survey. Although he had voted against the plan in the task team decision, he was prepared to support the task team's recommendation now. Responding to Mr. Robinette, Ms. Utecht said the $14,000 General Fund comes from her division's budget and includes conducting the survey, not implementing the plan. Mr. Green moved, seconded by Ms. Ehrman, to adopt the work plan of the Solid Waste Task Team. The motion passed, 5:1, Mr. MacDonald opposed. Mr. MacDonald expressed the opinion that there were a number of other sources without going through a comprehensive study of other communities, many of which highlight successful programs. Mr. Robinette cited total quality management as his reason for supporting the motion. e Ms. Ehrman supported the motion because she felt the information is needed, even if the program is implemented later. There was agreement that the work of the Solid Waste Task Team is completed. The council meeting adjourned at 1:50 p.m. Resp~ _ ~leas?- City Manager (Recorded by Yolanda Paule) MNCC 042992-1130 e MINUTES--Eugene City Council 11 :30 a.m. Apri 1 29, 1992 Page 7