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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 02/06/99 Goals MINUTES Eugene City Council Goals Process Work Session Eugene Hotel Meeting Room, Mezzanine Level, 222 East Broadway February 6, 1999 9:30 a.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Scott Meisner, Pat Fart, David Kelly, Bobby Lee, Nancy Nathanson, Gary Pap~, Gary Rayor, Betty Taylor. I. CALL TO ORDER The February 6, 1999, Eugene City Council work session was called to order at 9:30 a.m.; His Honor Mayor dames D. Torrey presiding. Facilitator Margot Helphand reviewed the agenda and led the council in a continued discussion of this item from yesterday's session. II. TEAM BUILDING, VISION, AND VALUES D. Council Purpose and Councilor Role The council generated lists of roles of the council as a whole and those of individual members. Council Councilor policy maker problem solver hold city manager accountable respond to public contact monitor policy make suggestions hire and review the performance share information of the city manager be knowledgeable (staff structure, responsi- evaluate results bilities, etc.) fiscal responsibility give feedback about how an issue was handled Mayor Torrey suggested creating a better format for letter responses to the public which are more personal. Mr. Kelly added that the name of a contact person and telephone number should always be included. Mr. Meisner raised the issue of ward advocacy versus inappropriate councilor behavior, saying clarification was needed. Mr. Lee pointed out that sometimes the simple rules do not apply and council members may be forced to step outside their usual roles. Minutes--Eugene City Council February 6, 1999 Page 1 9:30 a.m. Ms. Nathanson expressed trust in the council process and said she often refers contacts to a council liaison, committee, or point person. III. COUNCIL GROUND RULES A. Review Council Ground Rules and Operational Issues Mr. Pap~ wondered why council ground rules were necessary. Several councilors expressed support for the rules, saying they were very helpful and deciding they should be called "operational" instead of ground rules. There was agreement that some rules are more important than others and they should be reviewed every two years and tailored for the specific council at the time. The council reviewed each ground rule individually and suggested the following changes. I. Meeting Requirements Work Sessions. The second sentence was changed to read: "Other work sessions may be held on the second, third, fourth, and fifth Wednesday of the month." There was no decision on changing the time to 5:3 0 p.m., although the majority was amenable, with Ms. Taylor and Mr. Meisner opposed. Ms. Taylor felt strongly that changing the meeting time precluded participation and/or observation by people who could not go out after dark and those who chose to spend evening time at home with their children. Mr. Meisner urged the council to consider that many in the community set their schedules around the council's meeting schedule. Mayor Torrey said the meeting duration must be held to two hours even if the time of the meeting is changed. Mr. Kelly suggested that any changes in the meeting time be effective in April. The issue of voting at meetings held outside the city limits was raised and those votes will be considered on an ad hoc basis. Notice of Meetings, Special Meetings, Emergency Meetings. Mayor Torrey asked that votes during work sessions be taken only on items that have been listed in public notices as "action items." The council did not make a formal decision on votes at work sessions but agreed that votes informing/directing staff were appropriate. Staff was asked to clarify that the mayor and/or the city manager or three councilors may request a special meeting of the council. Public Forum. The council voted on the following changes as follows: No time limit on overall forum--1:8; Ms. Taylor in favor. Set the public speaker time limit at three minutes, regardless of the number of people wishing to speak--3:6; councilors Kelly, Pap~, and Taylor in favor. Should there be a council response period at the end of the forum--8:1; Mr. Rayor opposed. Minutes--Eugene City Council February 6, 1999 Page 2 9:30 a.m. Optional council member response after the overall forum limited to two minutes per coun- cilor-unanimous support. City Manager Jim Johnson cautioned the council against entering into a debate or full discussion in responding to issues raised at the public forum. Public Hearings. Mr. Kelly called attention to the changes he submitted earlier in writing, which Mr. Meisner pointed out, were, in fact, not changes. Mr. Johnson said the ground rules will be made available to the public to avoid confusion. Executive Sessions. There were no changes but Ms. Nathanson addressed the popular notion that "Eugene does not hold executive sessions," saying they were necessary to avoid "innuendo, conjecture, and rumor." Mayor Torrey asked staff to provide a distillation of the pertinent laws. Minutes. There were no changes. Mayor Torrey urged the council to submit changes in writing whenever possible. Annotated corrected minutes are appreciated. It was clarified that corrections are to be verified if someone objects to the corrections. Mr. Farr opined that "the minutes were at an all-time high," specifically with accuracy and timeliness. Voting. This was changed by adding the following phrase at the end: "...unlessa conflict is declared." II. Placing Items on Council Agenda Mr. Kelly asked that staff clarify subsection 3 to state that the City Manager will place any councilor item request on the Council Consent Calendar. Mr. Rayor suggested that the last sentence in this section ("If an item is of an urgent nature, the councilor may request a waiver of these guidelines at any council meeting or work session and must receive six affirmative votes to waive these guidelines.") be deleted, and that item 1 be revised by indicating the original text was subsection (a) and with the addition of a clause (b) saying that three councilors may place an item on a council agenda. There was unanimous support for the suggestion with the clarification elicited by Mr. Torrey that the purpose of placing an item on the agenda was for initial discussion of the topic. Mr. Johnson noted his concern that three councilors could initiate a considerable amount of staff work before the full council had the opportunity to discuss the topic. Ms. Helphand summarized the discussion, saying that Mr. Rayor's suggestion appeared to provide a third alternative for placing items on the agenda and addressed some of the concerns expressed by councilors regarding public perception about the council's agenda setting. Mr. Johnson asked members needing help with explaining their items for the consent calendar to seek assistance from staff. The council agreed that "ceremonial matters" requests should be forwarded to the mayor. III. Order of Items on the Agenda The following changes were suggested: Paragraph 2--meeting minutes corrections will be dealt with before voting on the Council Consent Calendar; paragraph 3 will be amended proposing the Minutes--Eugene City Council February 6, 1999 Page 3 9:30 a.m. opposite, i.e., items expected to draw a large number of speakers will be placed later on the agenda within that meeting. IV. Council Action on Agenda Items The council deleted the second paragraph and paragraph 1 was changed by deleting the second and third sentence and adding: "The council may, by a two-thirds vote, take action." V. Postponing Agenda Items Mayor Torrey asked to have requests to postpone items sent to staff in writing (E-mail acceptable), barring emergencies. VI. Committees of the Council Mr. Pap~ asked for a staff report on the current council committee system before discussing this item. Discussion on the remaining agenda items was postponed due to time constraints. The council expressed appreciation for the last two sessions and agreed to hold a special meeting to complete the remaining process session items. The meeting adjourned at 12:35 p.m. Respectfully submitted, James R. Johnson City Manager (Recorded by Yolanda Paule) Minutes--Eugene City Council February 6, 1999 Page 4 9:30 a.m.