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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 07/13/98 Work Session MINUTES Eugene City Council McNutt Room--City Hall July 13, 1998 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Pat Farr, Ken Tollenaar, Nancy Nathanson, Bobby Lee, Betty Taylor, Laurie Swanson Gribskov, Tim Laue. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Scott Meisner. I. CITY COUNCIL DINNER WORK SESSION A. Work Session: Final Recommendations from the Mayor's Parks and Open Space Committee Ms. Nathanson provided the report. She said that the committee had developed a balanced, reasonable proposal that would make a noticeable difference in the community. The committee "took to heart" the comments of the council and mayor regarding the final package's affordability and political acceptability. Ms. Nathanson said that the committee considered the proposal in terms of the way it balanced the community's needs for recreation, aesthetic concerns, environment, public safety, "play," open space, and developed space. The committee also spent considerable time discussing balance in terms of geographic equity. Ms. Nathanson said the committee discussed what it meant by balance at length during its last meeting: was it trying to allocate the same dollars to all categories of uses, attempting to establish a balanced program that achieved results that were fairly equal in all areas, or attempting to create a balance that did not now exist in the system. Ms. Nathanson reported that the committee learned that, of 12 Oregon communities, Eugene was next to last in the number of athletic fields and next to last in the number of neighborhood parks. The committee discussed what was needed to achieve the goals in the Parks and Recreation Master Plan, and what was needed to achieve at least a median position in the ranking of what communities in Oregon provided to citizens. Ms. Nathanson said that the committee's proposal was focused on bringing some geographic equity and balance toward service delivery to move the community to the median of communities in terms of area served and in number of facilities. Ms. Nathanson said that the committee had discussed the size of the package at great length and members had felt that they were "pushing the limit" on the size of the package in terms of affordability, but felt it was needed to propose a plan with real vision for the future and that made a difference. The committee also wanted the plan to contribute to the City's realization of its goals for public safety and growth management. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 13, 1998 Page 1 5:30 p.m. Ms. Nathanson said that plan made tradeoffs between different uses and facilities, and between the shod-term and long-term. The plan took into consideration increased maintenance demand and attempted to address that demand by maximizing the use of current facilities where possible. The plan also relied on continued and improved collaboration with both the school districts. Terry Smith, Acting Library, Recreation, and Cultural Services Department Director, provided the council with details of the proposal forwarded by the Mayor's Committee on Parks and Open Space. Mr. Smith discussed the impact of the proposal, saying that for the average house worth $115,520, the first year's tax impact would be $47. He described how the list of projects would be implemented, terming the list a 'first cut' and saying that the list could be adjusted in the future as a result of citizen input or for other reasons. Ms. Nathanson acknowledged the members of the committee present at the work session: Gary Pape and Charles Warren, and committee staff John Etter. Ms. Swanson Gribskov asked when the City last purchased park land. Mr. Smith said that the last time the citizens voted on a parks measure was 1976. The measure passed handily. The City had been purchasing lands with system development charge revenues since 1990. The City had not built a new park for more than ten years. The Babe Ruth Park in Bethel was the first facility since then. He concurred that the population had continued to grow from 1976 to now without new park space. Ms. Swanson Gribskov asked what the City purchased in 1976. Ms. Nathanson said that the City had added to the ridgeline park system; added to the Willamette Greenway park system; acquired land for neighborhood park sites such as Mangan, Candlelight, Scobert, and Crescent; and improved other parks. Mr. Smith observed that the land for Mangan Park was purchased using money authorized by the taxpayers in 1976, and only last week the City awarded the contract for its development. Mr. Fart asked if park lands were always rezoned PL Public Land. Mr. Smith said that it depended on the location and the origin of the park, because sometimes the land was already zoned PL through a comprehensive or neighborhood refinement planning effort. Mr. Farr asked if the proposal included funding for improved maintenance of existing parks. Mr. Smith responded that State finance law did not allow the use of bond proceeds for maintenance. The proposal, because the committee chose the path of redevelopment of existing public assets, minimized future maintenance costs. He said there would still be a maintenance need of $410,000/year after all the facilities were constructed that a future council would have to consider how to fund. Mr. Fart suggested that some of the City's parks were difficult to maintain because of their physical structure and lack of past maintenance. He asked if the proposal included funding to upgrade parks such as Irwin Park. Mr. Etter indicated the park was on the projects list for improvement. Mr. Smith cautioned the council that some of the proposed improvements would require additional maintenance; for example, the addition of ballfields at a site would require periodic replenishment of the sand used for drainage as well as ongoing watering. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 13, 1998 Page 2 5:30 p.m. Mr. Fart commended the work done by the committee. Responding to a question from Ms. Taylor, Mr. Smith said that the committee proposed to acquire new parkland throughout the community, but the majority of new purchases would be in north and west Eugene. He pointed out potential sites on a map. Ms. Nathanson said that the committee focused on improvements to facilities in areas with an adequate number of parks per capita, and on new parkland acquisition and development of land already in public ownership in those areas without adequate parks. Ms. Taylor asked why more ballfields were proposed to be added to Amazon Park given the proximity of ballfields at Kincaid Park. Mr. Smith responded that Amazon Park had a ballfield that was currently underused because of drainage problems; adjacent to that was another area not used for many activities now that would be converted to a ballfield. He said that currently the community had a very inadequate supply of ballfields. Those that were available were heavily used. Mr. Johnson added that the Amazon Park Master Plan also contemplated the ballfields. Ms. Taylor did not believe that there was actually much parkland left at Amazon Park. Ms. Taylor was disappointed that the committee did not recommend more open space acquisition. Ms. Taylor said that she had been contacted by a committee member unhappy with the final plan. She asked if other committee members were unhappy with the plan. Mr. Smith clarified that the communication Ms. Taylor received was not from a member of the committee but from an outreach coordinator who had assisted with the citizen involvement for the process. That individual wanted a significantly larger package than that supported by the committee. Ms. Swanson Gribskov asked what conversations had taken place regarding potential partnerships with the schools and with such private entities as the Rotary Club or manufacturers of athletic equipment. Ms. Nathanson noted the mayor's receipt of a letter from George Russell, Interim Superintendent of School District 4J, expressing appreciation for the committee's efforts and offering the school district's cooperation and interest in collaboration with the City. She said that most of the committee's discussion focused on maintenance as it related to programming activities. Mr. Smith said that the major focus of current volunteer and collaborative efforts was on programming. He cited Kidsports as an example of such an effort. He noted that Option 2 for the Amazon Pool replacement pool did not cover the entire cost of the improvements envisioned in that option because the City anticipated it would seek donations to pay those costs through a "challenge grant" approach. Mr. Smith said that it was more difficult for a government entity than for a nonprofit to seek donations for operating activities. Responding to a question from Mr. Torrey regarding the remaining life span of Amazon Pool, Mr. Smith said that in three to five years it would become impractical to continue to maintain the pool. Mr. Torrey thanked Ms. Nathanson and the committee for the work they had done to produce the report, and acknowledged the unanimous vote that brought the proposal to the council. He said that the council will need to consider operating costs and maintenance for the enhanced system. He anticipated that some revenue would be produced by additional residential growth and by the expiration of Hyundai's property tax exception. Mr. Torrey also believed there were community MINUTES-Eugene City Council July 13, 1998 Page 3 5:30 p.m. organizations who would assist the City. In response to community concerns that there would be too many proposals on the ballot and citizens would reject them, he pointed out that the next general election was two years away, and he believed the public was able to make intelligent choices. Mr. Torrey said that the proposal gave the council the opportunity to offer the voters a positive choice. At this time, many parts of the community were not well-served by the existing parks system. B. Work Session: Council Expectations of City Manager Position Mr. Tollenaar facilitated the discussion. He introduced incoming councilors Gary Rayor and Gary Pap~, and council candidates David Kelly and Mike Lewis. Administrative Services Department Director Warren Wong referred the council to the agenda materials, which included the position description and position criteria developed by the previous council for the most recent city manager recruitment, and the performance evaluation dimensions. Mr. Tollenaar reviewed the process time line. He said today's meeting was focused on the expectations councilors had of new incoming city manager. On July 22, 1998, a public session would be held for input from citizens about their expectations. The council officers would meet on July 14 to discuss the format of that meeting. On July 27, City Manager Pro Tern Jim Johnson, who had expressed his intent to seek the job on a permanent basis, would provide a presentation to the council and respond to the councilors' expectations and public comment. On July 29, the council would decide if it wished to appoint Mr. Johnson or broaden the search. Ms. Taylor expressed concern that the time line was established and decision to hold a forum was made by the council officers without input from the council. Mr. Lee clarified that the Human Rights Commission had developed the proposal for a public forum. The council received a memorandum regarding the proposal the previous week, but the council had run out of meeting time before it could discuss the issue. That was why the proposal was under consideration today. Ms. Taylor pointed out that notice of the meeting had already been mailed. Mr. Tollenaar said that the notice was in error and its contents would be clarified when the officers met. Mr. Laue moved, seconded by Mr. Lee, to hold a public meeting on July 22 to provide the public with an opportunity to give input to the recruitment process. Mr. Lee advocated for the motion, saying the public should be given the opportunity to provide input to the hiring process. Ms. Swanson Gribskov agreed. She clarified that the meeting would not be a council meeting. Mr. Torrey suggested that the meeting not be sponsored by the Human Rights Commission, but that the council acknowledged the Human Rights Commission recommended there be such a meeting. He was in support of having such a meeting, and said that councilors should attend the meeting if possible and if they were not able to attend they could later listen to a tape of the meeting. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 13, 1998 Page 4 5:30 p.m. Responding to a question from Ms. Nathanson regarding the motion, Mr. Laue suggested it be clarified with a friendly amendment that the council would sponsor the forum, and Councilor Tollenaar would preside. Mr. Lee concurred. Ms. Taylor said that the forum seemed premature and she did not understand "what the rush is." Roll call vote; the motion passed, 6:1; Ms. Taylor voting no. Next, councilors, the council candidates, and councilor-elect Pape discussed their expectations of the city manager. Mr. Tollenaar cited several years of experience as a chief executive officer (CEO) of a general purpose government or assistant CEO, and management style as the most important items on his list. He referred the council to the memorandum he had prepared outlining his expectations and said that the other traits were about equally important. He said that the manager should have good council relations, provide adequate information and professional analysis, provide the pros and cons of policy choices, have a good sense of the relative roles of the councilors and manager, good community relations, should be accessible to the community but avoid close identification with any particular segment of the community, function as the agent of the council, be good at intergovernmental relations, be collegial, and must see the intergovernmental aspects of each problem facing the council. He stressed the importance of professionalism and appropriate education. Mr. Tollenaar said that the manager should be commited to public service as a career and as a way to achieve social and personal goals. The manager should be an active member and participant in professional organizations and activities. Mr. Lee referred those present to a memorandum outlining his expectations. Ms. Taylor said that she believed the council needed time to determine group expectations. She said she hoped the council got a chance to question more candidates. Ms. Taylor said her expectations were that the manager provided the council with a menu of options and alternatives and the pros and cons of each, and avoided limiting the council's options. She wanted a manager who did not assume that the staff always knew best and who was not overconcerned about being liked. Ms. Taylor said that the manager should make himself or herself available to citizens as time permitted. The manager should present his or her own ideas and not ideas synthesized with staff. She wanted a manager with a focus on planning and who would separate planning from development. She said that the new manager should have knowledge of community policing. The council should be in charge and the manager should carry out the wishes of the council. Ms. Taylor said that the manager should consult the council when making decisions that affect the community's quality of life. She said the manager should encourage a sense of community and reopen community centers. Ms. Taylor said that the manager should be willing to reconsider in-house legal services. She believed a city manager should have a term of three to seven years, and no less than three years to ensure that the individual had time to master the job. After seven years the person was probably too entrenched in the position and too much a "part of the establishment." Mr. Lewis wanted the city manager to be able to do strategic planning that was based on input from the council. He said that the city manager should be somewhat creative. He wanted a manager who was familiar with planning and the core services of the City. He concurred with the memorandums prepared by Mr. Tollenaar and Mr. Torrey outlining their expectations. Mr. Lewis MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 13, 1998 Page 5 5:30 p.m. said that the council should deal with policy while the manager administered the organization and implements policy. He said that scenarios should be given to the prospective manager regarding general issues such as the long-range financial forecast, policing, and union contracts, as well as other emerging upcoming issues. He also wanted the manager to discuss streets and maintenance, transportation planning, and density and infill. Mr. Pap8 endorsed Mr. Tollenaar's comments and added the following expectations: the manager should have a proven record of honesty and should be a good planner with the ability to develop both a long-range and an annual plan based on council policy. Ms. Nathanson also endorsed Mr. Tollenaar's remarks. She said that Mr. Lee's comments also seemed to be appropriate. She said that the manager should have integrity, should be able to inspire, should inspire confidence, motivate people, have a good "antenna" for upcoming issues, have political acumen, sensitivity to external and internal events and developments, and be able to delegate yet know when it was appropriate to "step in." Ms. Nathanson said that the manager should also have a thorough knowledge of the issues coming to the council. Ms. Swanson Gribskov said that Mr. Tollenaar's memorandum was an excellent template and she concurred with his comments. She said that she believed the council's city manager performance dimensions had been too detailed and had "missed the forest for the trees." Ms. Swanson Gribskov said the job of the manager was to assist the council in making effective and informed decisions and to be a strategic thinker. The manager should have politcal acumen and experience in working with an elected body. Ms. Swanson Gribskov said the manager should be a'ble to engage the council in group thinking. She said that the manager should have operated a complex, mul'ti-faceted organization, should have experience in working with public unions, and demonstate the ability to make and implement difficult decisions. Mr. Laue said the manager should demonstrate leadership, have experience, and have a strong commitment to public service. He said that the council tended to think the manager existed to serve it and help it in its decision making, but while that was part of the job, the manager's major task was to provide services to the community and facilitate communication with the community. That required a strong commitment to public service. Mr. Farr said that Mr. Tollenaar's memorandum included many of the items most important to him. He agreed with Ms. Nathanson that it was necessary for the manager to have an antenna for emerging issues. He said that the manager should demonstrate an understanding of Eugene and its uniqueness, complexity, and diversity. Mr Farr said that the manager must juggle the responsibility of running the City while at the same time understanding the sensitivity of the council and its demonstrated desire to "micromanage" the City. He said the manager also needed to understand the specific issues the council was and would be dealing with in the future. Mr. Rayor said that the successful candidate must have the proper qualifications, experience, and education to be the city manager. The city manager should also provide a human face for the City. He said that citizens want improvements and stability in City government. Mr. Rayor said that citizens' trust was often measured by "whose hand was on the tiller," so he was interested in personality traits more that education and experience as he believed a search would provide candidates with those qualifications. He said that he expected the manager to be responsive to citizen input, particularly in relationship to how things were being done. Mr. Rayor said that the manager should lead by example, and if the manager were open staff would be MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 13, 1998 Page 6 5:30 p.m. open. He expected the city manager to support reasonable environmental policies. Mr. Rayor said that the city manager should be continually looking for ways to improve the efficiency of service delivery and be flexible and responsible to change. The manager should be able to take risks to achieve innovative solutions. Mr. Rayor said the manager should support development that does not impact livability in Eugene and that pays its own way. He said that the manager should work to ensure that police were more responsive to minorities and peaceful demonstrators. Mr. Torrey said that the city manager should be prepared to serve from the first day that the individual walked through the door. He said that the organization should not have to train a city manager. The manager needed to be a quick study, with the ability to analyze the current organization and propose operational changes without that stimulus coming from the elected officials. The manager should seek creative new solutions. Mr. Torrey said that the manager should be able to command respect from those around him or her. He said the manager must represent the interests of the entire city, not just those who speak most often or yell the loudest. Mr. Torrey said the manager should be upfront with the council and mayor. The manager should be able to offer the council menus of options. The manager should not shrink from stating disagreement with the council. He said that the manager should be able to say no without creating antagonism in the community. He said that the manager must be committed to finding ways to get a full cross-section of citizen involvement. Mr. Torrey said that the manager should demonstrate good commonsense and not be easily flustered. Mr. Kelly noted his concurrence with Mr. Tollenaar's memorandum. Mr. Kelly said he was unacquainted with Mr. Johnson and his comments did not imply that any particular candidate did or did not meet his expectations. He wanted to look locally for a manager familiar with Eugene, but not one who said "we've always done it this way." Mr. Kelly wanted the council to be presented with a range of candidates rather than a single candidate. He suggested the job could be posted internally to determine the interest of other senior managers, and if there were no candidates from that source the council could embark on a limited statewide search. Mr. Kelly said that the council needed to return to the civics class notion of the council-manager form of government, and distinguish between legislative and executive roles. He said that the current job description called for the manager to develop, plan, and implement, with council participation, goals and objectives for the City. Mr. Kelly believed the role of developing and planning goals was the council's job and it was the manager's job to implement those goals with council participation. He said that the description also indicated the manager receive administrative direction from the council; he suggested it be revised to read "receives policy and administrative direction..." Mr. Kelly said that the current job profile lacked any mention of the council's role, and it should be highlighted in the document. He suggested it quote Section 11-4(1) related to the council's role. Mr. Kelly said that the manager must let the council know when a policy decision was required, and the council must take the policy initiative. Mr. Kelly believed that the relationship between the council and manager should be similar to the ideal relationship between a supervisor and employee in that direction, policy, and goals were established by the supervisor, but the supervisor does not micromanage the employee; the MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 13, 1998 Page 7 5:30 p.m. employee had skills and experience the supervisor lacked, and communication was open and proactive between both parties. Mr. Kelly said that the 1989 job description, if revised as he suggested, seemed like a thorough and appropriate description. He said the criteria in the 1996 job profile appeared to be a reasonable basis on which to evaluate candidates. He suggested the addition of two items under "Management Style:" 1) when working on a local issue, examines other communities and organizations for proven solutions; and 2) able and eager to communicate the rationale behid major decisions to the council, staff, and public. Mr. Kelly said that a cooperative approach, proactive outreach to the council and community, and commitment to a central role for citizen involvement in all aspects of city business, particularly in the early stages of projects, were chief among his expectations. At the suggestion of Mr. Tollenaar, the councilors, council-elect, and council candidates identified the most important of the expectations they had previously cited. Mr. Tollenaar cited experience as a chief executive of a general purpose local government who had accomplished something as his most important expectation. Mr. Lee said that his chief expectation was trust. Ms. Taylor said that her chief expectation was that the City Manager would carry out the policies of the council. Mr. Lewis' chief expectation was a background in planning and ability to project into the future the result of planning today for evaluation by the council in a noncompromising reasoned way. Mr. Papa's chief expectation was that a new manager would not only have experience as a chief executive, but experience with a council/manager form of government in a city of more than 100,000 that has public unions. Ms. Nathanson cited knowing how to work smart as encompassing some of her priorities. She defined working smart as delegating, presenting options, understanding, and political sensitivity. She said that all were important traits and were interrelated. Ms. Swanson Gribskov cited experience and track record as her chief priorities. Mr. Laue's chief expectation was assertive leadership. Mr. Farr's top priority was a demonstrated collaborative leadership style, which implied experience. Mr. Rayor said that integrity to public service and recognition of the citizen, not the City Council, as the manager's client. Mr. Torrey's chief expectation was a manager who had a proven leadership style in a city organization. MINUTES-Eugene City Council July 13, 1998 Page 8 5:30 p.m. Mr. Kelly agreed with previous speakers and cited communication between the manager, council, and public as his chief expectation. Mr. Tollenaar thanked Mr. Lewis, Mr. Kelly, Mr. Pap~, and Mr. Rayor for their participation. C. Reconsideration of the Motion on Options for Memorial on Skinner Butte Ms. Taylor moved to postpone consideration of doing anything on the butte until after the council's next goal-setting session. The motion died for lack of a second. The council reconsidered Mr. Tollenaar's motion from the June 24 meeting: Mr. Tollenaar moved, seconded by Ms. Swanson Gribskoc, to direct the City Manager to arrange for moving the existing war memorial located next to the Skinner Butte bike path to the top of the butte and arrange for erection of a normally sized flag on a normally sized flagpole on the butte. Mr. Fart moved, seconded by Mr. Tollenaar, to amend the motion on the table to refer the issue of the flag unchanged from the revised recommendation by the Stewart Family, with the exception of replacing the words "charter amendment" with the word "ordinance." Ms. Nathanson stated that she continued to be dismayed that many citizens and media representatives had misunderstood the actions taken by the council. She emphasized that the council had not made a decision regarding a on the butte, but had asked the City Manager to bring back a range of options for consideration. Ms. Nathanson asked if passage of the motion meant that the council would no longer consider such a range of options, or if it would continue that process in case a ballot measure failed. In response, Mr. Torrey said that it was his expectation that the motion would not preclude councl consideration of a range of options, but he believed there was plenty of time for development of an alternative solution. Mr. Tollenaar agreed with Ms. Nathanson regarding the level of misunderstanding about what the council did, and that misunderstanding was even reflected in the staff notes regarding the item. He said that in seconding the motion, he hoped to ensure that a measure regarding the flag appeared on the ballot, removing uncertainty for the Veterans of Foreign Wars about whether sufficient valid signatures had been collected. Mr. Tollenaar strongly favored employing an ordinance rather than the charter because he believed the charter was already inappropriately "cluttered" with amendments. He added it was not his intent to preclude any further discussion of alternatives. Mr. Lee asked if the initiative process would stop if the motion was adopted. Mr. Torrey did not know, and suggested the possibility there could be two ballot measures. Ms. Swanson Gribskov said that she had thought the council was working toward a proposal that all could support and feel good about. She did not feel good about the motion as the council had not had the opportunity to reach a recommendation. However, Ms. Swanson Gribskov said, if a majority of the council supported the motion the council should "take a break" and let the people vote. She was not interested in spending further council or staff time on the issue. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 13, 1998 Page 9 5:30 p.m. Roll call vote; the motion to amend passed, 5:2; Ms. Taylor and Ms. Swanson Gribskov voting no. Mr. Lee asked proponents of the flag not to place a second measure on the ballot. Roll call vote on the main motion. The motion passed, 5:2; Ms. Swanson Gribskov and Ms. Taylor voting no. City Attorney Glenn Klein said that staff would bring back the necessary paperwork to refer the measure to the ballot at a future meeting. The meeting adjourned at 7:35 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jim Johnson City Manager Pro tern (Recorded by Kimberly Young) MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 13, 1998 Page 10 5:30 p.m.