Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/26/1977 Meeting M I NUT E S . EUGENE CITY COUNCIL September 26,1977 A special meeting of the City Council of the City of Eugene, Oregon was called to order by His Honor Mayor R. A. "Gus" Keller at 6:30 p.m. on September 26, 1977 at the Eugene Hotel, Empire Room, with the following council members present: Eric Haws, D. W. Hamel, Tom Williams, Ray Bradley, Jack Delay, Scott Lieuallen, Brian Obie~ and Betty Smith. I - City Council Assistants A memorandum containing the manager's recommendation and other in- formation had been distributed to the council members before the meeting. The manager noted that the memorandum put forth three alternatives. He stated there was broad general agreement on the need for assist- ance to the Council as the volume of business for the council had burgeoned with the growth of the city. The staff had developed three options: (A) Would provide increased assistance from the existing staff, with staff persons available to explore in-depth alternatives for the council before decisions were made. The manager's office and the departments would make more people available to provide better and more complete briefing papers and briefing sessions. (B) Would provide for appointment of a pool of aides e selected by the manager and assigned to councilors for a project. The administrative assistant would be available to attend meetings on request of councilors, to review problems, and to analyze policy alternatives put forth by the staff. (C) Would necessitate a charter amendment revising the section of the charter pertaining to appoint- ments by the manager of staff persons so that councilOrs could them- selves appoint assistants to be paid from public funds. Manager noted that in any of the options not much time would be saved for the council members. The focus of additional assistance to the council is to enable council members do a better job, to pro- vide better access to information. Under any of the options there would be a need to achieve co-ordination so as not to duplicate work or engender competition or conflict within the staff. The potential for conflict was greater in option (C) than in (A) or (B) . The manager stated that option (C) would be more difficult to handle as the potential for conflict was greater and it would be more costly. The manager stated that option (A) would be better probably as a first step. He recommended adopting option (A) , and then as need existed adopting option (B), making more people available to assist councilors on an optional basis. Mr. Delay presented a memo to the council which he had prepared. He stated that the idea of council assistants was proposed not because of dissatisfaction with the current council/manager form of govern- ment or dissatisfaction with the staff but to provide help for the e councilors in their individual duties. He stated that the council/ manager system was adopted to avoid patronage. In options (A) or (B) a problem would be presented in the councilors' dealing directly Special Meeting 9/26/77 - 1 ia,o with the staff. Option (C) distinguished between the staff serving the council and the staff serving the city in general. He reiter- . ated that the staff is now doing an excellent job for the city. If the councilors went directly to the staff it might muddy the dis- tinction between the staff and the council more than if councilors had direct individual assistants responsible to them. He noted that providing a pool of council aides would better serve those council members with time already available. Those with less time available would receive less service. In the pool concept the pressures on the staff would be great to work on things other than serving the council. Mrs. Smith asked if she was correct in assuming that options (A) or (B) would not require a revision of the charter. The manager stated that that was correct. Mrs. Smith noted that having an individual aide assigned to her would not help her, therefore she would support either option (A) or option (B) . She felt a need for technical assistance. She had had excellent assistance from personnel and public works and from the manager's office. She said she was not prepared to support individual aides for each councilor. Mr. Obie asked how many people would be added to the staff. under option (B) . Manager indicated that at least two members would be added to the staff with a possible third if the need arose. He pointed out that Paget Engen, staff member, had talked to a number of cities and could provide additional information. Paget Engen discussed the information received from Salem, Sacra- - mento, San Jose, Boulder, Berkeley, Bellevue, and Modesto. Mr. Obie asked if Mr. Williams and Mr. Haws would speak to the issue based on their experience as councilors for a number of years. Mr. Williams stated that the basic question was how to accomplish more and make more time available. He expressed support for op- tion (A) and, to a lesser extent, option (B) . He was rather strongly opposed to option (C) . He supported anything which would increase the councilor contribution to the council body. He was concerned with possible abuse as to option (C) . He felt there was substan- tial potential for reintroduction of the patronage system with possible use of council assistants as campaign assistants. Based on his years in the federal government, personal aides turned into campaign aides during campaign time. He also saw a possible risk in that eight individual aides digging around would have a potential for mischief and would increase the risk of damaging the city and the system. Mr. Haws stated that he did not see it as a question of the council/ manager form of government. He believed the city manager form of government worked very well with the staff doing an excellent job. The present system left unfulfilled needs which were difficult to articulate. He stated that 'sometimes the roie of the councilor became that of the judge. He believed that the role should be other than an executive one where decisions are made based on e evidence submitted. He saw a strong need for assistants for councilors. Under the present system, only ten percent of the councilors' resources were being tapped. The system did not let the councilors do everything they could in being creative and meet- Speci~l Meeting 9/26/77 - 2 l~l I , ing the needs of the citizens, resulting in his dissatisfaction e with service on the council. He needed more aid and help to meet his concept of the role of city councilor. He was happy with the system from the manager's point on down but was dissatisfied with the system as it affected the council. Mrs. Smith asked whether Mr. Haws was supporting option (A) , (B) , or (C) . Mr. Haws stated he was not strongly supportive of or op- posed to any of them, that any of the systems would need the test of time. He expressed the belief that the council could work under any alternative. Mr. Obie stated that his views differed somewhat from those of Mr. Williams and Mr. Haws, but not broadly. He had been having difficulty with the issue. Option (C) concerned him because of the dramatic change. His needs varied as a councilor from finding someone to provide a briefing on the agenda to setting up a meeting with three different parties. He would appreciate assistance in the manager's office. Option (A), he noted, could prove as diffi- cult as (C) . Option (A) would promulgate the status quo. There- fore, he expressed the belief that option (B) would best meet the needs. He did not desire an aide to help further his political career nor was he saying anybody did desire such an aide. He ex- pressed the wish for an aide to develop position papers. He thought (B) would be a step ahead for the council, (A) would be too small a step, and (C) would be a major change in the system. tit Mrs. Smith asked whether recommendation (B) could mean the addi- tion of two or three University students or staff members and in- quired what kind of assistance they would be able to give. Manager stated that such assistance could provide in-depth research, speeches, attendance at certain meetings, and an extension of the "flak catching" role. In trying to determine Mr. Haws' need, he inquired whether Mr. Haws felt service to the community was inadequate because he could not respond to the neighborhood needs. Mr. Haws noted that it would help if he didn't have to run down town to do it. It was not a major problem, but councilors could be more creative in reaching out to the community. Mr. Hamel felt that the idea of a lack of time for people in the area missed the point of the present system. The people of his area elected him to represent them and decide on issues affecting the whole city, not just the neighborhood. He stated that he could live with either option (A) or (B) . He noted that the city manager had been chosen by the council, and the council could change the system by changing the manager any time they wanted to. Mr. Lieuallen noted that he could live with any of the three op- tions, although he preferred option (C) . He pointed out that an ideal solution for him would be pay on a part-time basis. He be- lieved that a charter amendment to provide assistants to the council would pass. The people around town had expressed concern - that the council did not carry out the increasingly complex tasks before it. He noted that he generally felt not well enough in- formed and that the task took an incredible amount of energy and time. He would welcome any assistance that could be arranged to help him as councilor. ,u Special Meeting 9/26/77 - 3 " Mr. Delay pointed out that he would agree with Mr. Obie's state- ment that option (A) would not be effective. He stated that he e could support either option (B) or (C), but he personally pre- ferred (C) . He thought criticisms of it came from a different perception of the council as a board of directors. He believed the council was more than a board of directors - that the council should be in a position to overcome institutional inertia and as new data came in, the council should be in a position to make changes. He used as examples the air quality problems, ESATS, and the 1990 Plan. He pointed out that some of the criticism of option (C) is on the basis of improper use. He stated the council needs professional help, not students, if the council adopts option (B) . Mayor Keller commended the council for its participation and dis- cussion and a promotion of the issue of assistants for the council by those who felt strongly that a change is needed in order for the council to excel. He believed it was difficult to cram activi- ties into the limited hours available to councilors. The need for additional support to councilors was there. Alternative option (A) might pose a problem as other members of the council had pointed out - it might mean eight responses would be required from a de- partment head. He thought the charter amendment route would be traumatic and divisive. He hoped the council would consider al- ternative (B) rather strongly - that it would be a beginning and one which could be changed later if that alternative did not de- velop. He drew the discussion to a close, asking if there were motions to take action at this meeting. e Mrs. Smith moved second by Mr. Hamel to accept reconunendation (B) - appointment of a pool of aides selected by the manager and assigned to councilors. Motion carried unanimously. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned upon motion duly made, seconded, and carried. ~ HIh Charles T. City Manager CTH:JHB:d77/cc~%*&~&$#~ e Special Meeting 9/26/77 - 4 .17..3