Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout7.10.2019 City Council Work Session MinutesMINUTES Eugene City Council Harris Hall, 125 East 8th Avenue Eugene, Oregon 97401 July 10, 2019 12:00 p.m. Councilors Present: Emily Semple, Betty Taylor, Alan Zelenka, Jennifer Yeh, Mike Clark, Chris Pryor, Greg Evans Councilors Absent: Claire Syrett Councilor Taylor opened the July 10, 2019, work session of the Eugene City Council in Mayor Vinis' absence. EXECUTIVE SESSION: Pursuant to ORS 192.660(2) (a) The City Council met in executive session pursuant to Oregon Revised Statue 192.660(2) (a). Following the executive session, Councilor Taylor led a discussion of a salary range for the presiding judge of the municipal court. Council Discussion: o Councilor Semple - expressed support for hiring Judge Gill as a presiding judge and making him an employee of the City rather than a contractor; supported providing a salary commensurate with his corresponding level of skill and experience within the City. o Councilor Clark- agreed that the presiding judge position should be an employee of the City; supported the salary range to be set at the division manager range. o Councilor Zelenka - supported hiring the position as an employee with similar contract and communication requirements as the independent police auditor position; asked for clarification about the proposed salary range and compensation package. o Councilor Pryor - expressed interest in negotiating a salary at the high end of the range. o Councilor Semple - supported a salary range beginning at a higher number. o Councilor Clark- asked for clarification about how the salary range might change over time. MOTION AND VOTE (including friendly amendments): Councilor Semple, seconded by Councilor Evans, moved to hire Greg Gill as a municipal employee for the presiding judge position and authorize the council president to negotiate and execute an employment contract with Judge Gill that includes a salary range starting at $130,000 and going to the top of the range for division managers within the City. VOTE: PASSED 7:0. 2. EXECUTIVE SESSION: Pursuant to ORS 192.660(2) (i) The City Council met in executive session pursuant to Oregon Revised Statue 192.660(2) (i). MINUTES - Eugene City July 10, 2019 Page 1 Council Work Session 3. WORK SESSION: Police Auditor Annual Performance Review Council Discussion o Councilor Zelenka - lauded the Police Auditor's work, especially as it related to the onboarding of the new Police Chief in the past year. o Councilor Yeh - appreciated that the Police Auditor and his office are constantly trying to improve their work and their communication efforts; praised the work to work positively with the Police Department. o Councilor Pryor - thought the increase of the internally submitted complaints were a testament to the Police Department's trust in his office; rated his work as excellent. o Councilor Clark- recalled more divisive times between the community and the police department; said the creation of the Office of the Police Auditor was done with hope for more cooperation and positive relationships and the current Police Auditor made that hope a reality. o Councilor Taylor - pointed out that the creation of the office was borne out of a citizen initiative; said that the current Auditor is benefiting from the hard work of those who previously held the position; noted that the role was especially challenging for the first Auditor - a woman - noting that such a role is still more difficult for a woman today. o Councilor Clark- disagreed with Councilor Taylor, noting that it diminished the current Auditor's work, said he felt the current Auditor was simply better at the job; asked for clarification about merit increases being tied to the score and supported aligning them with the process used for the City Manager. o Councilor Zelenka - supported having the same contract requirements for all three council employees (the city manager, police auditor and municipal court presiding judge); asked for clarification on how the point system for performance reviews was tied to the merit increases; said he would prefer the Mayor's score not be included in any merit increases. o Councilor Clark- did not want to see practices develop that were not supported by the Charter. o Councilor Semple - felt strongly that the Mayor's score should not be included in the merit increases; did not feel that scoring for the Police Auditor should be translated into a corresponding compensation range during the meeting without councilors knowing that was the case when they chose their scores. o Councilor Pryor - wanted to create a structure for a more reliable system with fewer surprises; wanted to implement the changes for the coming evaluation rather than the current one. o Councilor Clark- shared his intention to offer an amendment to give the Auditor a five percent merit pay increase rather than three percent raise. MOTION: Councilor Semple, seconded by Councilor Zelenka, moved that council award the Police Auditor a three percent merit salary increase effective July 7, 2019, and authorize the Council President to execute a contract consistent with this motion. o Councilor Zelenka - asked staff for language to amend that indicates future pay increases would be linked to a score by council and that the mayor's score would not be included. o Councilor Clark- spoke to the Police Auditor's excellence; felt additional merit pay was warranted. o Councilor Zelenka - asked for clarification about what the Police Auditor originally asked for in terms of his merit increase. MINUTES - Eugene City July 10, 2019 Page 2 Council Work Session MOTION TO AMEND: Councilor Clark, seconded by Councilor Yeh, moved to amend to change three percent to five percent plus an additional five days of vacation. o Councilor Taylor - felt complex motions should always be split into parts so that councilors can individually vote for the parts they wanted. o Councilor Clark - said he planned to vote against the motion to divide because he felt there was enough of a consensus at the table that the main motion would pass as amended. MOTION TO AMEND AND VOTE: Councilor Semple, seconded by Councilor Taylor, moved to divide the motion into three parts: (1) five percent merit increase, (2) the additional five vacation days, and (3) changing the contract so that merit pay was linked to the average performance score of councilors. FAILED: 2:5, Councilors Pryor, Evans, Zelenka, Yeh, and Clark opposed. o Councilor Taylor - disapproved of tying the merit increase to the performance evaluation. o Councilor Semple - reiterated that changing the contract regarding the merit pay was a surprise and would have liked more time to hear from constituents about it; preferred to give the Police Auditor what he asked for and not any more than that. o Councilor Taylor - said she would have preferred a work session to discuss any changes to the contract. VOTE ON MOTION TO AMEND: PASSED: 5:2, Councilors Semple and Taylor opposed. VOTE ON MAIN MOTION AS AMENDED (including friendly amendments): Councilor Semple, seconded by Councilor Zelenka, moved that council award the Police Auditor a five percent merit salary increase as well as five additional vacation days effective July 7, 2019, and authorize the Council President to execute a contract consistent with this motion, and that amends the contract to establish a merit increase structure identical to the city manager's moving forward and that explicitly excludes the mayor's ranking in the average score. PASSED: 5:2, Councilors Taylor and Semple opposed. The meeting adjourned at 1:26 p.m. Respectfully submitted, 16W JAZLIt Beth Forrest City Recorder (Recorded by Cas Casados) Link to the webcast of this City Council meeting here. MINUTES - Eugene City July 10, 2019 Page 3 Council Work Session