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Eugene City Council
Work Session
Eugene, Oregon 97 401
April 18, 2022
5:30p.m.
Councilors Present: Emily Semple, Matt Keating, Alan Zelenka, Jennifer Yeh, Mike Clark,
Claire Syrett, Randy Groves
Councilors Absent: Greg Evans
Mayor Vinis opened the April 18, 2022, work session of the Eugene City Council in a hybrid in-
person and virtual format.
1. WORK SESSION: Applicant Statements for the Eugene Planning Commission
Council President Claire Syrett gave background and introduced the topic.
Applicant:
Diane Behling -gave her statement and answered questions from Council.
Council Discussion:
■ Councilor Keating -asked staff about the process and shared a concern that two of the
three finalists out of 17 applicants withdrew their application and there was no time to
add more finalists.
■ Councilor Zelenka -stated he has a problem having just one applicant to consider;
suggested that Council re-ballot to get more applicants and schedule interviews to have
a bigger pool.
■ Councilor Semple -stated she does not feel a re-ballot is necessary because councilors
had access to all applications and can interview separately if they want to; stated the
vacancy needs to be filled quickly; supported changing the recruitment process for the
future so this scenario does not happen again; said she would like to move forward.
■ Councilor Groves -stated Council can interview other candidates but a vote does not
need to happen again to select the fourth, fifth and sixth place candidates to interview.
■ Councilor Clark -recalled plenty of appointments and nominations that involved
motions and substitutions for applicants never interviewed; asked how long this
position has been empty and what the deadline is for this process; shared he is
comfortable not re-balloting for this process.
■ Councilor Syrett -said she will not support a motion to re-ballot because the candidate
was one of the top three candidates and she showed up and is well-qualified; stated it
is not a perfect process but is a sufficient process.
■ Councilor Zelenka -stated the current voting system is not a good way to do business;
asked if there are any vacancies coming up on the commission.
MINUTES -Eugene City Council
Work Session
April 18, 2022 Page 1
■ Councilor Semple-noted that the last round of Planning Commission appointments
only resulted in six applicants and there was not much of choice like there was this
round.
MOTION AND VOTE: Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Keating,
moved to re-ballot and get two or three more applicants to interview. FAILED
2:5, Councilors Semple, Keating, Groves, Syrett, and Clark opposed.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:12 p.m.
Brooke Freed
AIC City Recorder
(Recorded by Niyah Ross)
Link to the web cast of this City Council meeting here .
MINUTES -Eugene City Council
Work Session
April 18, 2022 Page 2