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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 08/11/08 Work SessionM I N U T E S Eugene City Council Work Session McNutt Room – City Hall 777 Pearl Street—Eugene, Oregon August 11, 2008 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Andrea Ortiz, Chris Pryor, Betty Taylor, Bonny Bettman, George Poling, Mike Clark, Jennifer Solomon, Alan Zelenka. COUNCILORS ABSENT: George Poling Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. A. Committee Reports and Items of Interest from Mayor, City Council and City Manager Ms. Piercy reported on the groundbreaking for Eugene Water & Electric Board’s (EWEB) new facility, her speech at a women’s business network function, the Whiteaker neighborhood block party, the Eugene Pride Celebration and kickoff of the Eye to Eye Campaign to promote safety between bicyclists and motorized vehicles. Mr. Pryor commented on the level of sustainability that would be achieved by EWEB’s facility. Mr. Zelenka announced that he could be reached at his council phone number, 682-8343, or his cell phone number, 337-3713. He encouraged anyone bothered by field burning to call the Lane Regional Air Protection Agency (LRAPA) complaint line. He was pleased that the City had purchased the Joe Green property and thanked City Manager Jon Ruiz for his negotiating efforts. He also commended the sustain- ability features of EWEB’s facility. He reported on attendance at the West University neighborhood board meeting and noted that Amazon and Laurel Hill Valley neighborhoods would each be having picnics. He pointed out the City’s progress on pothole and street repair and on downtown development. Ms. Ortiz stated that there would be a march on August 12, starting at the Human Rights Center, in support of downtown business woman Betty Snowden. She had attended the Pride Celebration and Whiteaker block party, a meeting regarding the feasibility study of Beltline from River Road to Interstate 5 and a multi- cultural fair at Sheldon High School. She said a healthy choices survey of children and parents would be conducted in the Trainsong neighborhood. Ms. Solomon reported that she had attended the EWEB groundbreaking and a meeting of the Housing Policy Board. Mr. Clark thanked Ms. Piercy for attending a one-on-one meeting in Ward 5. He met with residents in the Santa Clara area about issues of concern. As the council’s liaison to the Human Rights Commission, he would be bringing forward a resolution from the commission related to mental health rights. MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 11, 2008 Page 1 Work Session Ms. Taylor also expressed appreciation for the City’s purchase of the Green property and praised Mr. Ruiz’s leadership. She congratulated Ms. Piercy for getting community organizations involved in downtown th safety issues. She mentioned that the Chevron gas station at 29 Avenue and Willamette Street had a policy of not topping off gas tanks. She commended a female police officer for her helpfulness when patrolling the downtown area. Ms. Bettman reported that the Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission (MWMC) met to discuss its preliminary assessment of the impact of the closure of Hynix on revenue. She said it was estimated that MWMC revenue would decrease by $870,000 in the coming fiscal year, which would prevent the capital improvement bond secured by revenue projections from moving forward. She said a public hearing on the issue would be held in September. Mr. Clark said he had heard that the assessment of the Hynix property could change and the large numbers involved could have an adverse affect on the City. Mr. Ruiz said that staff was researching that issue. Ms. Solomon, seconded by Mr. Clark, moved to allocate $25,000 from the General Fund contingency to provide support for the Eugene Celebration. Ms. Solomon commended the community-wide, welcoming nature of the Eugene Celebration. She said it brought people downtown and the City’s support clarified its partnership with downtown businesses and its interest in improving the downtown area. Ms. Ortiz asked if the allocation was in lieu of or in addition to the City’s annual contribution to the celebration for parking. Ms. Solomon said that the celebration typically asked for free parking at meters and in City-owned parking facilities, which amounted to approximately $17,500. She said the allocation could encompass free parking. Renee Grube, Library, Recreation and Cultural Services, explained that in past years the council had authorized free parking for the celebration and the City allocated the cost. She said the allocation proposed by Ms. Solomon could be designated for parking. City Attorney Glenn Klein said the motion did not specify how the $25,000 would be used to support the celebration and one option would be to cover the cost of free parking. Ms. Ortiz noted the large number of volunteer hours the community donated to the celebration and was willing to support the higher allocation as costs were likely higher each year. In response to a question from Mr. Zelenka, Ms. Solomon said the organizers of the celebration had not approached her for support; she had asked them what the City could do to help. Mr. Zelenka, seconded by Ms. Bettman, moved to amend the motion to allocate the funds in part to cover the $17,000 for free parking. Mr. Clark recommended defeating the amendment as staff had not had time to research the question of parking costs and passing the main motion as put forward by Ms. Solomon. In response to questions from Ms. Bettman, Mr. Ruiz said that the General Fund contingency contained approximately $300,000. He said that about $100,000 was unexpended in last year’s contingency. MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 11, 2008 Page 2 Work Session Ms. Bettman stated that it was appropriate for the City to support the celebration in some way, but she would not support writing a $25,000 check. She asked if the celebration reimbursed the City for the additional public safety costs and staff resources that were used. Ms. Grube said the City had contributed $50,000 per year for the past two fiscal years, which had been discontinued. She said staff was working with celebration organizers to provide support through in-kind services worth about $20,000; the celebration reimbursed the City for the cost of public safety services. Ms. Bettman indicated she would support $25,000 if it included the cost of free parking. Mr. Pryor said he was willing to support an allocation of $25,000 with the cost of free parking included and consider any additional requests for financial support. Ms. Piercy commended management of the Eugene Celebration, which had moved from operating at a financial deficit to realizing a small profit. The motion to amend passed, 7:0. The main motion as amended passed, 7:0. Ms. Bettman, seconded by Mr. Zelenka, moved that the council direct that the City Manager shall publish information regarding the Charter Amendment for the Ex- ternal Review of Complaints Involving Police Employees in the same informa- tional tabloid previously authorized for the street repair bond and that the total public information, in the tabloid, regarding the Charter amendment shall be lim- ited to the following specific documentation: ? Ballot title, including caption, question and summary; ? Section 15A(1)(2) of the Eugene City Charter as it is currently worded; ? Section 15A(1)(2) with the specific language changes as adopted per Resolu- tion #4954 in legislative format (and clearly marked as “Existing Charter Section 15A(1)(2) with Measure No ____’s proposed changes in legislative format”); and ? Council Resolution #4954 Tabloid information pertaining to the Charter Amendment shall include no other in- formation, background, narrative, or history of the proposed measure (in order to ensure neutrality). Mr. Ruiz said he thought that additional funds for printing would not be necessary. Mr. Pryor stated he could support the motion as the language was limited. Mr. Zelenka agreed that there were two ballot measures and it was appropriate to have two measures. He said the language was clear and straightforward. The motion passed, 7:0. MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 11, 2008 Page 3 Work Session B. WORK SESSION: Police Auditor Recruitment Process Alana Holmes, Human Resources, introduced Becky Hopkins, also of Human Resources, who would be assisting with the recruitment and selection process. She reviewed the proposed timeline and draft process for recruitment of a police auditor as contained in the agenda packet. She also provided a copy of the brochure from the previous recruitment and the job description. She was available to answer questions about the possibility of using a national recruitment firm. Ms. Piercy pointed out that the draft proposed using the council officers as an ad hoc committee to oversee the recruitment process, but not make decisions on behalf of the council. Ms. Ortiz questioned the need for a national recruitment firm as she felt the City had staff competent to conduct a search. Based on the last two recruitment processes, she was not certain an outside firm would bring value to the process. Ms. Bettman said she would support using a professional recruiter to identify potential candidates with the necessary qualifications. She felt the process used to hire the first police auditor worked well and much of the work had already been done. She was concerned with losing momentum if too much time was spent on certain phases of the timeline, such as the initial screening for minimum qualifications. Mr. Clark said there was little difference between the brochures produced for the police auditor and city manager recruitments. He said that Ms. Holmes had been very helpful during the city manager recruitment and he was pleased with the outcome; he felt that the consultant used during that recruitment at times hindered the process. He preferred to allow staff to manage the process. Mr. Ruiz remarked that a consultant was out in the marketplace recruiting for certain types of positions and would be familiar with potential candidates. He said a consultant could also be helpful in identifying outreach strategies specific to positions related to public safety. Mr. Clark said he was not certain he supported having the council officers act as liaisons between the council and the recruitment process, but was willing to listen to reasons in favor of that strategy. Mr. Pryor said the ad hoc committee for the city manager recruitment process included the officers and two additional councilors and that was also an option for this process. He agreed with Mr. Ruiz that a recruiter might be able to provide more access to potential candidates. Ms. Solomon asked if a recruiter had been used in the last police auditor recruitment. Ms. Holmes said one was not used, which was why she did not address that in the proposed timeline. She said that other police auditors did assist with certain parts of the process on a pro bono basis. Ms. Solomon said she appreciated the assistance of a recruiter during the city manager recruitment and would support using one for the police auditor hiring process. Mr. Zelenka said he was also in favor of hiring a recruiter because of the experience and national connec- tions one would bring to the process. He felt that any recruiter being considered should be asked how many MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 11, 2008 Page 4 Work Session other cases he or she was handling. He concurred with having council officers manage the day-to-day aspects of the process. Ms. Taylor stated that she did not support hiring a recruiter and felt the proposed timeline was too long. She did not object to the council officers managing the process, but wanted to see copies of all the applications that were received. Ms. Bettman observed that much of the preliminary work had been done during the last recruitment process and some steps, such as the public forum to identify qualifications for the positions, did not need to be repeated and the current job description was good, but a law degree should be made a requirement. She felt that a community interview committee for candidates should be retained as part of the process. She reiterated her concern that the timeline was too generous. She asked if the council officers should select a recruiter from the City’s list of qualified vendors. Mr. Clark said that he had been persuaded that hiring a recruiter would benefit the process and suggested that he and Mr. Zelenka could be added to the ad hoc committee, since it was likely that they would be council officers in the next calendar year. Mr. Pryor, seconded by Ms. Bettman, moved to hire a recruiter to assist with the recruitment and selection of a police auditor and create a timeline. Ms. Solomon preferred to have the entire council take responsibility for selecting a recruiter. Ms. Ortiz suggested the subcommittee could develop a list of three or four recruiters from which the full council could make a selection. A friendly amendment to have a council subcommittee winnow down a list of po- tential recruiters to three or four and bring back a recommendation to the full coun- cil on September 10 was accepted by Mr. Pryor and Ms. Bettman. The motion as amended passed, 6:1; Ms. Taylor voting no. Mr. Pryor, seconded by Ms. Bettman, moved to designate the council officers as the subcommittee. In response to a question from Ms. Solomon, Ms. Piercy explained that the subcommittee would work with staff during the council break to develop a list of three or four potential recruiters for the council’s consideration on September 10. Mr. Clark felt that a larger subcommittee could provide continuity if the recruitment process continued into the next year. Mr. Clark, seconded by Ms. Solomon, moved to add Mr. Zelenka and himself to the subcommittee. The motion failed, 4:3; Mr. Pryor, Mr. Clark and Ms. Solomon voting yes. The main motion passed, 6:2; Mr. Clark voting no. MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 11, 2008 Page 5 Work Session MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 11, 2008 Page 6 Work Session C. ACTION: Adoption of 2009 League of Oregon Cities Legislative Recommendations Intergovernmental Relations Manager Brenda Wilson explained that the League of Oregon Cities (LOC) had recently revised its legislative policy process, which had resulted in a proactive legislative agenda. She described the process used to determine priority legislative outcomes and said the LOC wanted cities to name their top four issues from a list of 24 items. She said the list was reviewed by the Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) Committee, which identified the follow five priorities for Eugene: ? Changes to the property tax system ? Increased regulation on metal theft ? Transportation funding package ? Climate change legislation ? Oregon wireless interoperability network Ms. Wilson said the council could submit all five items to the LOC, prioritize the items or substitute items from the full list. She noted that the issue of ethics reform was not on the list because the legislature had recognized the need to revise the law and was working on changes for the next session. Mr. Clark asked for further explanation of Item C on the list, which was related to legislation to ensure cities could collect franchise fees from all electricity providers that utilized City-owned right-of-way. He wondered whether that would apply to new ways of generating electricity that might emerge in the future. Ms. Wilson explained that Eugene did not currently collect franchise fees from electricity providers that utilized right-of-way. She said the Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) collected six percent of sales in lieu of taxes (SILT) in lieu of right-of-way fees. She said LOC was pursuing the item on behalf of cities not now able to collect right-of-way fees and had not considered the impact of new technology. She said that amendment could be proposed if a bill was actually introduced. Mr. Clark said if the IGR list was narrowed to four items, his lowest priority would be changes to the property tax system. Ms. Bettman stated that the $78,000 the City paid for LOC dues was a total waste of money and rural entities had the same vote as the City. She said there was no equity or balance in the LOC structure and she bemoaned the development of a specific legislative agenda on which the influence of small cities and rural areas was unknown. She recommended listing the item related to changes in the property tax system four times as it was a concern to all jurisdictions across the state and the other items on the IGR list were being addressed in other ways. Mr. Pryor thanked the IGR for its work. He concurred with the recommended list, but if it was narrowed to four items he would be willing to include the interoperability network to the three items that received unanimous support from the committee and perhaps substitute another item for increased regulation on metal theft. Mr. Zelenka agreed with the IRG’s five recommendations and thought they should not be in any priority order. He asked if the wireless interoperability network was a statewide or local issue. Ms. Wilson said it was a local issue because local governments were not convinced the State had the ability or the will to work with local governments in developing a system. She said developing a network was essential as the federal MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 11, 2008 Page 7 Work Session government was switching to a new band and the priority would ask the LOC to urge the governor to pressure state agencies to work with local governments. Mr. Zelenka said he was surprised there was no gas tax increase on the list. He asked if the industry was proposing anything. Ms. Wilson said the proposal was for a $0.14 tax, with preemption of local taxes, which was unacceptable. She said a gas tax was only part of the solution to transportation funding. Mr. Zelenka suggested adding a gas tax increase to the list. He also liked the item on LOC’s list related to a statewide drug takeback program intended to reduce the amount of pharmaceuticals entering the waste stream. Ms. Bettman asked when the council would discuss the City’s legislative agenda. Ms. Wilson said the IGR was reviewing the City’s legislative policy document and she would be meeting with executives to identify priorities for the City’s proactive legislative agenda. Ms. Bettman said two items were of significance to her: removal of the prohibition on charging system development charges (SDC) for public safety capacity (fire and police) and adjustment of the interest paid on property tax appeals as 12 percent was an outrageous rate. She said issues on the LOC list such as the statewide drug takeback program should also be considered. She noted that Item X would oppose legislative attempts to require end of pipe standards for wastewater discharges, when those standards should be supported. She regretted that legislature was backpedaling on ethics reform. She would not support a list of priorities for the LOC because it was not appropriate for the LOC to lobby on behalf of the City when the only item of common interest among jurisdictions was a fair and equitable property tax system. Ms. Solomon stated that the LOC provided value to the City and helped to identify common ground among cities across the state. She pointed out that Eugene was not at the mercy of the LOC and could still advance its own legislative agenda and priorities. She would support the IGR’s recommendations. Ms. Piercy encouraged councilors to identify those issues that they felt should be considered for the City’s legislative priorities. She noted that metal theft was a major problem in the community. Mr. Zelenka commented that water filtration systems could not cost-effectively eliminate pharmaceuticals and the drug takeback program was important to water quality. Mr. Pryor, seconded by Ms. Bettman, moved to adopt the Intergovernmental Com- mittee’s five recommendations to the 2009 League of Oregon Cities (LOC) legisla- tive recommendations list. Mr. Clark stressed the value that the City received from its participation in LOC, which brought partners together to create a stronger voice. Ms. Taylor clarified that the IGR was only recommending support of five items from the LOC list. The motion passed, 6:1; Ms. Bettman voting no. The meeting was adjourned at 7:10 p.m. MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 11, 2008 Page 8 Work Session Respectfully submitted, Jon Ruiz City Manager (Recorded by Lynn Taylor) MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 11, 2008 Page 9 Work Session