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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 09/23/02 Meeting MINUTES Eugene City Council Regular Session Harris Ha11-125 East 8th Avenue, Eugene September 23, 2002 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Betty Taylor, David Kelly, Pat Farr, Nancy Nathanson, Scott Meisner, Gary Rayor, Gary PapS, Bonny Bettman. CITY COUNCIL MEETING Mayor James D. Torrey called the meeting to order. 1.PUBLIC FORUM Nick Urhausen, 2858 Warren Street, thanked Mayor Torrey and Councilor Pap8 for their donations to the Veteran's Day Parade. He raised concern over the lack of advocacy for veterans in the community by others associated with the City of Eugene. He asserted that there were hundreds of homeless veterans in the community and said he had never heard anyone from the Human Rights Commission advocate for an American veteran. He noted that $50,000 had been recently allocated to studying sustainability and said opined that the council should consider how veterans had helped sustain the American way of life. He said the veterans had earned the right to have a free parade. He said veterans had already paid for the parade three times, serving their country in the armed forces, paying taxes as a working citizen, and paying the fees for the parade. Judith Greig, 2043 Smith Oaks Street, thanked Mayor Torrey and Councilor Pap8 for their donations to the Veteran's Day parade. Speaking for Laurel Lang, she read a statement regarding the definition of a veteran. She noted that Lane County alone was home to 38,000 veterans who would support the idea of taxes paying the fees for a Veteran's Day parade. Betty Porter, 155 Corliss Lane, spoke about what a veteran was and how veterans had served the United States. Timothy Thompson, Gateway Street, Springfield, completed Ms. Porter's statement defining a veteran. Phillip Williams, 5335 Daisy Street, Springfield, Oregon, stressed that veterans had taken an oath to protect the country without and within. He said that oath did not go away when a person was discharged from the service. He read a prepared statement regarding missing-in-action veterans which stressed the importance of remembering those who had not yet been accounted for. Mark English, 1279 Olympic Street, Springfield, noted that a veteran could not be identified by the way he or she looked. He stressed that they had distinguished themselves beyond the call of MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 23, 2002 Page 1 Regular Meeting duty. He noted the accomplishments of veterans that had been ignored by reporters during a previous parade. He noted that suffering did not end when veterans came home. He stressed the importance of educating children about the cost of freedom. Allen Truesdale, 30630 Lone Pine Road, Junction City, said veterans had fought and made the country what it was today. He said that making veterans pay for police fees for their parade did not respect the freedoms won by the veterans of the United States for all of its citizens. Kitty Piercy, 1371 West 4th Avenue, representing the Commission on Children and Families, complimented the council for taking up the living wage issue. She raised concern that the council had extended the timeline for a living wage ordinance. Dennis Gilbert, 1875 Jefferson Street, representing the Eugene Springfield Solidarity Network, raised concern over extending the timeline for developing a living wage standard in the community. He urged passage of an effective standard by the time line set out in the August meeting. George Kramer, 538 Honeysuckle Street, complained about a property owned by the Antone family. He said there were holes in the roof of the property. He called for City action. He questioned how the City dealt with those kind of issues. He said he had contacted various councilors and City staff and had yet to receive an answer as to when the property could be condemned and the hazards removed. He noted that the City gave notice to properties with grass over ten inches tall and yet would not take action on a property with a roof that was falling down. Mayor Torrey called for council comments and questions. Councilor Farr noted that he expected an answer on why the time line for a living wage work session had been extended. Councilor Kelly indicated he had not had an answer from staff on when a building became unhabitable. Councilor Kelly said noone on the council felt that veterans had not done an outstanding job. He urged Mr. Urhausen not to denigrate others while he was complimenting veterans. Councilor Rayor said he had a sense of history, but said the council was an elected body. He expressed his satisfaction that George Kramer had come to the meeting that evening but noted that there were many other issues that the council had to deal with. Councilor Taylor thanked the veterans for a very moving presentation. She said no one on the council lacked respect for veterans. Councilor Taylor expressed a hope that the time line for a work session on a living wage ordinance would be shortened rather than extended. Councilor Taylor noted that she had heard about the Antone property for the entire six years she had been on the council. She acknowledged that the problem was more important than grass that was ten inches tall. MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 23, 2002 Page 2 Regular Meeting Councilor Bettman stressed that the council highly valued the contributions made by veterans for the United States. She noted that the council had eliminated its discretionary fund to pay for things like the parade and expressed her support for basic services like public safety, roads, etc. Councilor Bettman agreed with Mr. Kramer that a housing policy was needed. She said the item had been put on a future work program and had been stalled due to the number of amendments to the code and litigation that had been generated by the development community. She added that there were also not enough resources to enforce the existing policy. Councilor Meisner noted that Honeysuckle Lane was not the only problem property in the City. He noted that there were constitutional reasons why the City could not deal with a person who refused to communicate or respond. He expressed a desire to see a solution that did not place the entire financial responsibility of the situation on the City of Eugene. II.CONSENT CALENDAR A. Approval of City Council Minutes: August 12, 2002, Work Session August 12, 2002, Regular Session August 14, 2002, Work Session B. Approval of Tentative Working Agenda C. Approval of Community Development Block Grant/HOME Investment Partnerships Program Funding for Home Ownership Housing Councilor Farr, seconded by Councilor Nathanson, moved to approve funding up to $800 to pay for police services during the 2002 Veteran's Day Parade. Councilor Rayor offered a friendly amendment, which was accepted, to reduce the amount to $650 and he would make up the difference with a personal donation. In response to a question from Councilor Kelly regarding how requests for contingency money would be handled when the Budget Committee had voted to eliminate the nonprofit contingency fund, City Manager pro tern Carlson noted that there was now a single contingency fund that the council could do with as it wished. City Attorney Glenn Klein added that unless there was something in the budget that specifically limited how the contingency funds could be used, the council could bring forward motions to use contingency funds. Councilor Kelly stressed there should be a process/policy for nonprofit agencies to apply for contingency funds from the City. Councilor Meisner suggested simply transferring the funds within the City. MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 23, 2002 Page 3 Regular Meeting In response to a question from Councilor Meisner regarding how much of the allotted contingency fund had been spent for FY03, City Manager Carlson said approximately $82,000 out of $340,000 had been spent. Councilor Nathanson expressed concern over the amount of the time the motion was taking. She expressed a desire for the City Manager find a legal and expeditious way to just "make it so." Councilor Bettman noted that there were two members of the council that had already made personal donations to cover the cost of the parade. She went on to note that Councilor Fart's motion did not ask for ongoing funding for the parade. She questioned why there was still discussion on the matter. She stressed the need for a fair and consistent policy on how to allocate contingency money to nonprofit causes and opined that it was bad public policy and bad government to make policy "on the fly." She said she would oppose the motion. Councilor Pap~ said he would also oppose the motion. He noted that he already made a personal donation to pay for the police services during the parade. Councilor Taylor said she would oppose the motion for the same reasons. Councilor Kelly said he would oppose the motion for the same reasons. Councilor Rayor said, no matter the outcome of the vote, he would still make a personal donation to the cause for the amount specified in his friendly amendment. Roll call vote; the motion failed, 5:3; councilors Fart, Rayor and Nathanson voting in support. Councilor Kelly, seconded by Councilor Pap~, moved to approve the items on the Consent Calendar. Councilor Kelly pulled items A and B. Councilor Kelly noted that he had submitted his corrections to the minutes via e-mail before the meeting. Mayor Torrey determined there were no objections to Councilor Kelly's suggested corrections. Councilor Nathanson proposed a rewrite to page 1 of the August 12 work session minutes. She suggested the following: She said she had recently attended a Federal Communications Commission LSGAC meeting where the FCC discussed rate policy and stated that it could only talk about rates and not programming. She maintained that rates and programming were related, as channels were moved into more expensive or premium tiers and the value of the basic service declined while the rate stayed the same .... The program, because of its cost to local government, for providers simply maintaining a list of key or essential services to restore in an emergency. Councilor Taylor asked that consideration of the August 12, 2002, regular session minutes be pulled while further research was done on a change she wished to make. MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 23, 2002 Page 4 Regular Meeting Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Kelly, moved to pull the August 12, 2002 regular session minutes from the Consent Calendar. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 8:0. Ms. Bettman noted that she had also forwarded minutes corrections vie e-mail. Mayor Torrey determined there were no objections to Councilor Bettman's suggested corrections. Roll call vote; the remaining items on the consent calendar passed unanimously, 8:0. Regarding Item B (the living wage issue), Councilor Kelly said there was an important principal at stake. He said the council had given clear direction in a unanimous motion at the August 12, meeting and the direction was not being followed. He said the motion was worded to echo wording in the agenda item summary addressing the timing for a living wage ordinance and calling for a thorough impact study, in the next few months, which would affect the building of the FY04 budget. Councilor Kelly said that his original motion called for the City Manager to return with draft options for a living wage ordinance in time for inclusion in fiscal year 2004 budget building. Councilor Kelly, seconded by Councilor Bettman, moved to amend the tentative working agenda to reiterate the intent of the council's motion of August 12, 2002, by including a work session for further consideration of living wage options this November. Councilor Rayor said he would support the motion and called for a list of impacts to the City of such an ordinance to be available at that work session. Councilor Meisner noted that, with the additional work session called for by the motion, there would be five additional meetings for the citizen subcommittee. Councilor Kelly said the motion should not even be necessary. He said the motion simply reiterated the earlier motion. Councilor Nathanson said she wanted answers to other questions as well as budget impacts such as unintended consequences and comparisons with other cities. She said she could not make an informed vote without answers to some of those other questions as well. Councilor Pap~ clarified that he did not need to recuse himself from the current discussion, noting that he had recused himself from the last vote. City Attorney Glenn Klein said he did not even need to declare a potential conflict of interest at the current time. Councilor Pap~ stressed the importance taking the time to do the job right. He said it was a complex issue that was not part of the original council goals and noted that the time of City staff was already stretched. He said if City staff said it needed more time to work on the issue, he would respect that. Councilor Bettman commented on the irony of the council limiting its deliberation time at a previous work session and was now re-deliberating an issue already voted on. She said she would support the motion. MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 23, 2002 Page 5 Regular Meeting Mayor Torrey said he did not believe that the City Manager was not trying to stall the process. He said he had severe reservations on the issue. As an example, he cited the characterization that the ordinance was for those least compensated in the City staff. He believed the underlying concern behind the proposal was fears of privatization. He said it was a desire on the part of people in various unions that the City make things so expensive that private organizations would not be able to provide a service to the City. He stressed his desire to have that topic discussed before the final decision was made. He opined that it could be one of the unintended consequences that Councilor Nathanson had mentioned could occur. He added that the question was not so easy that a report could be completed in a month that would completely explain the matter. City Manager Carlson stressed that he had gone to budget/finance staff to make decisions on a time line for decisions on a living wage ordinance that could be included in the fiscal year 2004 budget. He said staff came back with a list of things the budget committee was expected to do such as setting service priorities, public safety funding, capital improvement plans, etc. He said staff had proposed a work session on December 11, and another in January if necessary, and had proposed putting the matter before the Budget Committee in January. He said this would give the City Council time to continue to provide direction in February. He noted that the council did not need to finally adopt an ordinance prior to the budget process. He said the idea was to influence the budget-building process. City Manager Carlson suggested that the difference of opinion was around what the critical date for the budget-building process was. He acknowledged that Councilor Kelly perceived that date as November 18, 2002, whereas budget staff had proposed a time line that allowed for time to develop the data, take the matter to the Budget Citizen Subcommittee, and return the matter to the City Council/Budget Committee. He said there would be time, through February, to incorporate those changes/elements into the proposed budget. Councilor Farr stressed the importance of going through a thoroughly deliberative process. He expressed his agreement with the City Manager. He said he believed that the City Manager would get back to the council in time for the matter to be considered in the next budget cycle. He said he would vote against the motion. Councilor Meisner said he would vote against the motion for the same reasons stated by Councilor Farr. He added that it was important not to consider the issue outside of the context of the service prioritization annually done by the budget subcommittee. Councilor Kelly said the motion was a simple timing matter. He reiterated that he thought the council had already settled the matter unanimously in a previous motion. He said he never meant to imply that the City Manager was stalling the issue but noted that there was a difference in interpretation. He said his intent on the original motion was to have policy direction ready by November 18. Councilor Bettman said she would support the motion. Ms. Taylor said there was no need to send the matter before the citizen members of the Budget Committee and expressed her belief that to do so was a delaying action. She said she would support the motion. City Manager Carlson said August 12 was the first time there had been any discussion about the living wage. He noted that the issue was not on the council work plan and was not a council goal. He said staff had no indication until August 12 what the interest of the council was in pursuing the MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 23, 2002 Page 6 Regular Meeting issue. He stressed the complexity of the issue and noted that council direction had been to provide options dealing with what other jurisdictions had done, triggers, and phasing. He reiterated the complexity of the new issue and stressed that staff needed time to get the required analysis on the matter. Councilor Taylor said it was not a new issue. She said she had discussed the matter with the former City Manager and noted that he had discussions with community groups on the issue. Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Bettman, moved to amend the motion by not sending the matter to Budget Citizen Subcommittee. Councilor Bettman said it would be premature to send the matter to the Budget Citizen Subcommittee before staff had the opportunity to collect enough data on the issue. Roll call vote; the amendment failed, 6:2; councilors Taylor and Bettman voting in favor. Roll call vote; the vote on the main motion was a 4:4 tie, councilors Kelly, Taylor, Bettman and Rayor voting in favor, and councilors Nathanson, Meisner, Farr, and Pap~ voting in opposition. Mayor Torrey cast a vote in opposition to the motion, and the motion failed on a final vote of 5:4. Roll call vote; Item B of the Consent Calendar passed, 5:3; councilors Bettman, Kelly, and Taylor voting in opposition. III.PUBLIC HEARING AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Resolution 4740 Adopting Amended Systems Development Charge Methodologies and Repealing Resolution No. 4717 In response to a question from Councilor Rayor regarding a change in methodology at the regional level and how it should be addressed, Engineering Data Services Manager Fred McVey said the resolution before the council related to local systems development charges (SDCs), excluding the regional Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission SDC. Mayor Torrey opened the public hearing. Seeing no one wishing to speak, he closed the public hearing and called for comments/questions from council. Councilor Kelly, seconded by Councilor Pap~, moved to approve Resolution 4740 adopting amended systems development charge methodologies and repealing Resolution 4717. Councilor Meisner said he would support the motion. He said that he still remained concerned over using the same methodology and same percentage for all SDCs without looking at parks or other topics individually to see how the construction costs related to increases in various areas. He said that he would still support the motion. He expressed a hope that, in the future, such things would be looked at more carefully. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 8:0. MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 23, 2002 Page 7 Regular Meeting City Manager Carlson clarified SDC exemptions for Iow-income housing. He said the council adopted an exemption for Iow income housing projects in 1997. He noted that, prior to that time, the council funded them from the council contingency fund on a case-by-case basis. He noted that there was a capped amount of $115,000 per year that rolled over any unused portion, and he went on to say that the entire allotment for a single year had never been entirely used, which meant that there was a significant amount of funding being rolled over every year. He said this exemption resulted in under-collection of SDCs for those developments. The meeting adjourned at 9:20 p.m. Respectfully submitted, James R. Carlson City Manager pro rem (Recorded by Joe Sams) MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 23, 2002 Page 8 Regular Meeting