HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 03/12/03 WS
M I N U T E S
Eugene City Council
McNutt RoomCity Hall
B
March 12, 2003
Noon
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COUNCILORS PRESENT: Gary Pap, Nancy Nathanson, Scott Meisner, Betty Taylor, David
Kelly, Bonny Bettman, George Poling, Jennifer Solomon.
Mayor James D. Torrey called the meeting to order.
A.ACTION: Response to Request for Proposals for Olive Street Development Site
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Mr. Pap, seconded by Ms. Nathanson, moved to direct the City Manager to
enter into exclusive negotiations for the sale of the Olive Street development
site to Jennings Development Group on terms and for such amount as he
determined is in the public interest, but is consistent with the negotiating
provisions presented at this meeting. In the event that the Jennings proposal
does not materialize, direct the City Manager to seek additional information
from the other three Request for Proposals respondents in an effort to
generate a proposal that is consistent with the planning and design criteria
for the site.
Mayor Torrey called for council discussion.
Ms. Taylor said that the motion implied approval of the application of the Multi-Unit Property Tax
Exemption (MUPTE). The Jennings proposal was contingent on that approval, which she
believed was out of order. She was opposed to extending the MUPTE, particularly to upper-end
housing developments.
Speaking to Ms. Taylors concern, Mr. Kelly said that during the councils March 10 discussion, the
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council concurred the application of the MUPTE would require a separate discussion and separate
action. He was comfortable proceeding with that knowledge.
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Mr. Pap, seconded by Ms. Bettman, moved to amend the motion by
stipulating that the retainage be increased to $10,000 after two months and
$20,000 after four months.
Mr. Braud indicated that staff had discussed a good faith deposit with representatives of the
ownership group, which was not a developer. He said the relationship to Jennings was a flat fee
manager of the project, not a developer seeking a return. The ownership group had indicated that
the outline presented to the council was as far as it wished to go in risking its own funds.
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Ms. Nathanson asked Mr. Pap to explain the rationale for his amendment. Mr. Pap believed that
if the City took the property off the market for six months, there should be a cost to the ownership
group.
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Ms. Nathanson asked if Mr. Pap was concerned about the amount involved or the length of time
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the property was off the market. Mr. Pap understood the ownership groups need for a period of
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time for due diligence but thought there should be a fee associated with it, and that it probably
should be higher.
Although she did not intend to support the main motion, Ms. Taylor said the amendment made
sense and she intended to support it.
Mr. Meisner indicated he would oppose the amendment and suggested that if anyone should be
penalized for keeping the property off the market, it should be the City for failing to deal with the
property for several years. He did not want to threaten what he considered a good proposal.
Ms. Bettman said the discussion highlighted a process problem in that the proposal was accepted
before due diligence was performed. She pointed out the staff resources the proposal would
require. Ms. Bettman said the ownership group should be willing to take the risk and show
commitment to its proposal.
Mr. Kelly said that the proposal before the council was the most thorough of the four the City
received, and if it was not accepted, it was not as though the City had another proposal that was
ready to go.
Mayor Torrey indicated he would vote against the amendment if the vote was a tie. He wanted to
see the project move forward and did not want to lose the opportunity to realize the proposal
because of the amount of earnest money.
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Mr. Pap offered a friendly amendment to his motion, which Ms. Bettman accepted, to change the
amount to $7,500 for the first two months and $15,000 for the remaining four months.
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The amendment to the motion failed, 5:3; Ms. Taylor, Mr. Pap, and Ms.
Bettman voting yes.
The vote on the motion was 7:1; Ms. Taylor voting no.
B.ACTION: Resolution 4751 Establishing Hazardous Substance User Fees for the Fiscal
Year Commencing July 1, 2003
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Mr. Pap, seconded by Ms. Nathanson, moved to approve Resolution 4751,
establishing hazardous substance user fees for the fiscal year commencing
July 1, 2003.
Mayor Torrey called for council discussion on the motion.
Ms. Solomon said as she researched the program she had become increasingly convinced it was
not the program the voters approved. Because of court decisions affecting the program, there
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was now a group of businesses that was not required to file a report, but was required to pay a
fee. She said that was fundamentally unfair. Ms. Solomon believed that there were already State
and federal reporting requirements for the companies in question. She did not think the Citys
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program was easy to access online and provided no more information about toxics use than could
be secured through the State Fire Marshals Office. She said that it was time for the council to
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address the cost issues related to the program, and suggested that ultimately, it be sent back to
the voters to confirm that it was what they wanted.
Mr. Meisner was not prepared to send the program back to the voters at this time. He thought the
program was a valuable one. However, as he considered the programs budget, he was not
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prepared to support the fee level being proposed. He said that staff had spent no more than
three-quarter time on the program, and he had asked staff to provide him with a fee based on .75
FTE. As a result, the fee would be $13.92 per employer FTE.
Mr. Meisner reminded the council that the fees would be affected in the next fiscal year because
of legislation passed in the 1999 legislature, and he questioned how the City would fund the
program at that time given its General Fund budget situation.
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Mr. Pap determined from staff that the budget for fiscal year 2002 was about $101,000. The
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proposal before the council was about $112,000. City Manager Jim Carlson clarified that
the budget was essentially the same, with an inflationary adjustment. Reserves had been used to
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reduce the fees over the last two years, and those reserves were now gone. Mr. Pap asked if
the fee was the highest proposed by the Toxics Board. Glen Potter of the Fire & Emergency
Medical Services Department, staff to the Toxics Board, indicated that this was the highest fee
based on the number of employees and perhaps the highest ever. The fee had been based on a
different methodology at times in the past.
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Mr. Pap indicated support for Mr. Meisners proposal.
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Mr. Kelly pointed out that the program was a City Charter requirement and as long as it was in the
charter, the City was required to fund it. Speaking to the comments of Ms. Solomon regarding the
fee basis, he said that if the council was able to persuade the legislature to change State law, the
City would be able to charge on a quantity basis. Industries that did a good job of managing their
toxics use would then pay lower fees. He disagreed with her comments regarding the information
provided by the program, as he believed it provided more information of higher quality than State
and federal programs.
Mr. Kelly said he was sorry to see the increase, but suggested that the fee increase was the result
of an arithmetic exercise. He did not want to change the budget recommendation without
consulting the Toxics Board. He preferred to approve the fee at this time, and suggested the
council then adopt a motion that called for the board to examine the issue and forward a
recommendation to the council. He pointed out to Mr. Meisner that the charter precluded the use
of General Fund money to underwrite the costs of the program.
Ms. Taylor said she trusted the judgment of the board, which recommended the fee. She
emphasized that the program was the result of a charter amendment initiated and approved by
the voters, and if it was to be repealed she thought that should be a voter effort rather than a
council effort.
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Mr. Poling was not prepared to support the resolution. He agreed with the comments of Ms.
Solomon and disagreed with Mr. Kelly about the value of the program. He believed it was
duplicative of other programs. Mr. Poling questioned funding the program at a time when the City
was asking the community to accept reduced service levels and was increasing its fees. He
agreed with Ms. Solomon about asking the voters to reconsider the program. He said that the
only difference between the local program and State and federal programs was the amount of
toxics materials being reported. Mr. Poling said that when a business pays more in fees, its
employee benefits were affected and ultimately, the consumer paid.
Ms. Nathanson said that it was easy to support a popular program at its current funding level but if
the council made a practice of that it would never be able to reduce the budget. She was not
surprised the Toxics Board supported the budget at its current level. She said that the discussion
highlighted the difficulty of attempting to institute administrative structure and detail in a charter.
She agreed with Mr. Meisners analysis and supported his proposal. She thought the City would
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be able to maintain the program at a level commensurate with what was prescribed by charter at
the level proposed.
Ms. Bettman said that the council was discussing toxic chemicals that were carcinogenic,
mutogenic, and neurotoxic. She said citizens had the right to know what toxins they were
consuming in their air, water, and soil. She favored the resolution as presented and suggested
the council could direct the board to determine what it needed in terms of program support next
year. Ms. Bettman said that the cap approved by the State legislature would result in small
businesses subsidizing large businesses because fees could not be assessed on quantity. She
did not believe the cost of reporting should be shifted to the citizens.
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Mr. Pap, seconded by Ms. Bettman, moved to extend time for the item for
seven minutes. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0.
Mr. Carlson said that it was true Mr. Potter did not spend all his time on the program, but the
program also required other staff support. Chief Tom Tallon had proposed the budget because in
totality, it was a one FTE program.
Mayor Torrey indicated that if called on to vote, he would vote against the resolution on the floor
for the reasons cited by Ms. Nathanson. He said that it was clear the community wanted a toxics
right-to-know program, but the program should not be in the charter. He said that it was argued
by the adherents of that approach that the council would play games with the program if it was in
an ordinance form; instead, the State and the courts had altered the program and now the council
could not fix it. If it was an ordinance, it could have been adjusted. He agreed with Ms. Solomon
that the program was now seriously flawed and that the voters should be asked to consider the
issue. Mayor Torrey did not want to send the issue back to the board because the outcome would
merely be a 4:3 or 3:4 vote given the boards composition.
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Mr. Pap moved to substitute a motion to send the budget back to the Toxics
Board with direction to prepare a budget that did not include more than a 20
percent per FTE fee increase.
The motion died for lack of a second.
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Speaking to Mayor Torreys concerns about the outcome of a board vote, Mr. Kelly pointed out to
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Mayor Torrey that the board had unanimously supported the budget and agreed on the resources
needed for the program. He said that if the fee was reduced, it would have no effect on other
budgets in the General Fund. It did not provide another dollar to the General Fund. Mr. Kelly
believed that if the council did not pass the resolution and the program had no budget as of July 1,
the City would be sued.
Mr. Meisner did not want to send the budget back to the board. He said that the board was aware
of the level of staff support the program received.
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Mr. Meisner, seconded by Mr. Pap, moved to amend Section 1 of the
resolution by changing the fee to $13.92 per FTE, with the additional request
that the board do a careful audit of program staffing needs for the fiscal year
2005 budget.
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Ms. Nathanson, seconded by Mr. Pap, moved to extend time for the item.
The motion passed, 7:1; Mr. Kelly voting no.
Ms. Solomon noted her support for the State fee cap. She pointed out that as a result of its
passage, the fee for the program was at odds with program advocates election campaign
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promises that large manufacturing companies would pay the bulk of program costs. That was not
the case; all companies would have the same cap, and that was unfair to smaller manufacturers.
She reiterated that the program was completely different from the program approved by the
voters. Ms. Solomon believed the council should deal with the issue now and not put it off
another year.
Ms. Nathanson supported the motion to amend. She said she understood that it would not result
in additional money for the General Fund; she was merely pointing out that it was easy to support
a program at the amount it was currently funded.
The amendment to the motion failed, 5:3; Ms. Nathanson, Mr. Meisner, and
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Mr. Pap voting yes.
The motion to adopt the resolution failed, 5:3; Ms. Taylor, Mr. Kelly, and Ms.
Bettman voting yes.
Mr. Carlson observed that, without council action, the program would not be funded for FY04.
Ms. Bettman asked if she could change her vote on the amendment. Mr. Klein indicated that
since a vote had occurred since her no vote, it would require council concurrence. He suggested
that instead, she offer another motion.
Ms. Bettman, seconded by Ms. Nathanson, moved to adopt Resolution 4751
with an amendment to Section 1 of the resolution changing the fee to $13.92
per FTE, with the additional request that the board do a careful audit of
program staffing needs for the fiscal year 2005 budget. The motion passed
6:2; Ms. Solomon and Mr. Poling voting no.
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C.WORK SESSION: Parks and Open Space Programs
Andrea Riner of the Citys Parks and Open Space Planning Division was present for the item. She
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introduced Steve Gordon of the Lane Council of Governments. Ms. Riner provided a PowerPoint
presentation on the regional Rivers to Ridges Project. She noted that partners in the project were
the City of Eugene, the City of Springfield, Willamalane Parks and Recreation District, and Lane
County.
Ms. Riner solicited the councils endorsement of the working vision for the project.
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Mr. Pap, seconded by Ms. Nathanson, moved to endorse the Rivers to
Ridges Vision for regional parks, recreation, and open space.
Mayor Torrey solicited council questions and comments.
Responding to a question from Ms. Nathanson regarding the participation of smaller communities
in the study, Mr. Gordon said that the two cities and the parks district provided funding for their
portions of the costs of the project. Lane County funded Phase I but not Phase II, and staff was
working with the County to secure that money. If successful, staff would go to the city councils of
all the surrounding communities and seek their endorsement of the project.
Mr. Kelly said that the project represented an economic development strategy as well as a quality
of life strategy. He said that the process was being done the right way in that it involved the
cooperation of multiple jurisdictions, took a regional approach, and looked at the long-term. He
thanked Ms. Riner and Mr. Gordon for their work.
Mr. Poling asked if the smaller communities wanted to participate in the project, and how much of
their jurisdiction would be involved. Mr. Gordon said that while the smaller communities had not
provided funding, their managers indicated support for taking the project to their communitys
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urban growth boundary as long as did not impinge inside their boundary. Mr. Poling determined
from Mr. Gordon that acquisition or annexation of land outside the urban growth boundary would
not be required. Mr. Gordon said that the project was not a land use plan, and all acquisitions
were voluntary. Mr. Poling asked who would maintain the parks, trails, and open spaces
developed as a result of the project, and where the money would come from. Mr. Gordon
anticipated that the jurisdictions would take responsibility for facilities within their boundaries and
would cooperate in maintenance partnerships similar to those formed in association with the West
Eugene Wetlands Plan.
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Mr. Pap thanked Ms. Riner and Mr. Gordon and said he hoped Mr. Gordon would stay involved
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after his retirement. Mr. Pap asked what staff learned from the project. Ms. Riner said that staff
had learned that the Citys vision regarding the ridgeline trail was actually a regional vision that
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blended well with other jurisdictions efforts. Eugene had a piece of a larger regional system. She
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said another benefit of the project was that different jurisdictions staff were able to work together
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beyond jurisdictional boundaries.
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Mr. Pap determined from Mr. Gordon that staff would continue to seek funding from other
jurisdictions. Mr. Gordon noted that representatives of Cottage Grove expressed disappointment
that the project did not extend to its community. He could not guarantee that City administrators
were carrying the word to their councilors.
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Responding to a question from Mr. Pap, Mr. Kelly indicated the Region 2050 project board was
aware of the project and it fit well with that effort.
Ms. Taylor, seconded by Ms. Bettman, moved to extend time for the item by
three minutes. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0.
Ms. Taylor said that voluntary sales were fine but she hoped the City was not limited to that
approach. She was interested in acquiring the Amazon headwaters, which might not be available
voluntarily. She wanted to find other ways to get the property into public ownership. She asked
for information on how farm and forest land could be protected from development. Mr. Gordon
responded that the Amazon headwaters was identified for possible acquisition. He believed the
best way to protect farm and forest land in perpetuity was to purchase those properties or buy
conservation easements on them.
Ms. Taylor asked if there was a way to guarantee land inside a conservation easement would be
preserved against development. Ms. Riner explained that the easement runs with the property.
Ms. Bettman expressed appreciation for the regional approach being taken by the project. She
thought the project map the first step toward identifying the communitys assets. She feared the
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project, like so many, would go nowhere but she hoped that it was used. She asked what
percentage of the amenities identified were within Eugene or directly adjacent to it. Ms. Riner said
that she had not done that assessment, but the Mayors Parks and Open Space Committee would
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do so. She noted that few of the amenities that had been identified were inside the Eugene urban
growth boundary because they were addressed by other plans.
Ms. Solomon determined from Mr. Carlson that endorsement of the project did not imply the City
would pay for it. She asked how it would be paid for. Mr. Carlson said that the project
represented a framework that allowed the City to respond to different funding opportunities, such
as federal funding opportunities. He said that additionally, the mayors committee might
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recommend some of the land identified be purchased using a voter-approved bond measure.
That was not a given, however. Ms. Solomon asked what would happen if the City found a better
use for one the properties in question; did endorsement of the project preclude the council from
pursuing a better opportunity in the future? Mr. Carlson said no. No future uses were precluded.
The project was a framework that would likely be modified over time.
The motion passed unanimously, 8:0.
D.WORK SESSION: 2003-2004 Council Goals/Strategic Planning Follow-up
Jan Bohman of the City Managers Office joined the council for the item. She said she was
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present to follow-up with the council on four strategic objectives it wished to consider including in
its goals for 2003-2004. Ms. Bohman called the councils attention to the packet materials and
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reminded councilors there had been no council consensus on the items in question. She asked
for feedback on the staffs summary of the councils intent, noting that in some cases there was
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not much discussion about the meaning of the objectives or there was a difference of opinion as
to their meaning.
Mr. Carlson said that staff had reviewed the four objectives remaining on the list at the end of the
meeting and attempted to flesh them out with suggestions for the types of activities that might be
undertaken.
The four outstanding objectives were:
Strengthen relationship with University of Oregon
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Address the needs of the most vulnerable
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Out-of-school recreation and educational opportunities for youth
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Ensure effective and efficient local government
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Mayor Torrey solicited a first round of council comments.
Mr. Meisner was disappointed with how the four remaining objectives were translated by staff.
Referring to action priorities 1 and 2 under the heading of out-of-school recreation and
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educational opportunities for youth on page 477, he said he would never know from reading the
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first priority regarding funding that one of the councils interests was an examination of how the
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City could avoid paying for regional, non-City programs. That was not well-conveyed. Referring to
the second priority regarding the extension of library services to low-income residents inside
Eugene school districts, Mr. Meisner said that was not intended to be a City expense, but rather a
cost that was covered in partnership with nonprofit organizations. That was not captured in the
staff materials. Referring to the action priority on page 479 of the council packet, Evaluate the
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concepts and models of public-private competition and privatization, Mr. Meisner said the council
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did not discuss public-private competitions, but rather public-private partnerships. That also was
not captured. He did like the brevity of the document.
Mr. Kelly was not prepared to take action on the goals at this time given that the time for the item
had been reduced from one hour to one-half hour. He asked that another session be scheduled.
Mr. Kelly indicated interest in adding to the objective on strengthening the relationship with the
University by including coordination between University planning, City planning, and the east
campus neighborhood. Mr. Kelly also wanted the City to actively look for new opportunities to use
University expertise and acknowledge where that was already occurring. He cited the Joint City of
Eugene-University of Oregon West University Neighborhood Task Force and the business climate
survey operated by the University of Oregons Planning, Public Policy, and Management Program
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as examples.
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Mr. Pap hoped the council had the opportunity to read the memorandum from facilitator Sue
Diciple. He appreciated her attempts to keep the council from bartering goals and her attempts to
keep it focused on finding consensus. He suggested that the council schedule a half-day session
to continue the process with new City Manager Dennis Taylor.
Ms. Nathanson said that the memorandum from the facilitator was honest, and it was probably as
difficult for her to write as it was for the council to read. She did not feel good about how the
process came out.
Regarding the objective related to strengthening the relationship between the City and the
University, Ms. Nathanson said her interest in suggesting the objective was in creating a
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permanent improvement in the relationship, not in reacting to individual University projects and
events. She appreciated the individual action priorities and thought they were appropriate, but
called for the addition of a short paragraph explaining the problem being addressed or the general
points of the discussion. She believed that the summary missed the point of why she raised the
issue.
Referring to the proposed action priority on page 480 of the meeting packet, Evaluate and audit
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performance and report outcomes, associated with the proposed objective related to ensuring
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effective and efficient local government services, Ms. Nathanson said she would have preferred
that the text indicate that was a continuing effort, not a new effort.
Referring to the action priority on page 479 of the council packet of concern to Mr. Meisner,
Evaluate the concepts and models of public-private competition and privatization, Ms.
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Nathanson suggested that it be reworded to read Evaluate the concepts and models of public-
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private partnerships, competition, and privatization.
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Ms. Taylor did not think there was consensus on any of the four objectives before the council.
She did not think the council did an adequate job of deciding its goals. She perceived the first half
of the meeting as a waste of time as the goals had not been discussed. She thought the
facilitator had been so focused on ensuring that the councilors be nice that she lost focus on the
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councils goals.
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Ms. Taylor agreed that the time allotted for the item was insufficient.
Ms. Taylor supported strengthening the Citys ties with the University and endorsed Mr. Kellys
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remarks about taking advantage of the expertise of the University.
Speaking to the action priority related to the siting of the basketball arena, Ms. Taylor did not
perceive that as a City goal.
Ms. Bettman thought the goals-setting process was to be a collaborative process whereby the
council could identify broad goals. However, there had been no consensus at the recent session,
merely councilors getting their pet project on the table, and then the majority dominated the vote.
She concluded that the session was both a waste of council time and the taxpayers money. Each
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objective could have been the subject of a work session. Ms. Bettman said that if the council
decided to go forward with another session, the focus should be on where the council had
consensus, and that would require considerable background work.
Regarding the arena siting issue, Ms. Bettman believed that whatever the City did to facilitate the
siting process should be resource-neutral.
Speaking to the objective of effective and efficient local government services, Mr. Kelly said
several things listed raised during the session could be included in that area. He said not
reflected in the material before the council was the point made regarding the need to tie economic
development benefits to community benefits and priorities. He asked that be included.
Referring to pages 476-477, Mr. Kelly requested an explanation of why the milestone related to
the development of funding recommendations for children/youth out-of-school programs and
senior and disabled recreation services was projected for the third quarter of 2004, which was too
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late to have an impact on the budget for fiscal year 2005. Mr. Carlson indicated he would give the
issue some thought.
Ms. Bettman said that any work the City did with the University should focus on reducing the Citys
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costs, particularly in the realm of public safety.
Referring to the objective related to addressing the needs of the communitys most vulnerable,
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Ms. Bettman clarified that her intent was that the council would reprioritize allocation of all of the
Citys resources to fill funding gaps in light of the failure of Ballot Measure 28, the economic
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downturn, as well as threat of war and the costs of addressing protests, bias crimes, etc. She
said that how the City would meet increased needs in human services was not mentioned. Those
items that were reflected in the materials were not even raised by the council. For example,
continuing the youth levy was not mentioned; her comments had been focused on the needs of
low-income seniors and low-income youth.
Ms. Bettman said that the priority related to a delivery of library services to nonresidents was a
regional issue and should be categorized as such.
Ms. Bettman said that the action priority related a review of existing City resources allocated to
human services needs included a milestone that had already been accomplished by the Human
Services Commission. She did not want to redo that work. She reiterated that she was not
talking about refocusing the existing allocation. Her focus was on all City resources.
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Mr. Poling agreed with Mr. Paps comments about holding another half-day session involving the
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new City Manager. He thought it would give Mr. Taylor a good sense of the councils goals and
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how councilors worked together.
Ms. Solomon requested clarification on what the work plan would become in light of todays
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conversation. Mr. Carlson said that he perceived no consensus on those four objectives or
consensus on how to address them. Staff had not included every bit of input that was put on the
charts or discussed by individuals, but rather came back with priorities that might be achievable
and that fit in the context of the four objectives on which the council reached tentative agreement.
Today staff was receiving more input on how to proceed. He stressed that the input was from
individual councilors, and at some point the council would need to move past that to consensus or
a majority vote on what it wanted to achieve in the coming two years.
Mayor Torrey said that he considered the councils goals to be the councils equivalent to the
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Mayors State of the City address. He recommended that the council officers get together to
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determine how they wanted to structure the next session, and when it should be. He agreed there
was no consensus on any of the objectives that were discussed. He believed that the council
could get to consensus if it was willing to work together outside the meeting setting. As an
example, he recommended that Ms. Solomon describe what she would like to see the City
achieve and talk to her fellow councilors about it.
Mayor Torrey solicited a second round of council comments.
Mr. Meisner agreed that consensus was not reached on any of the items, but he believed that
generally staff had missed the point in its summary, which made it difficult to see where
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agreement was reached.
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Mr. Pap believed that the facilitator attempted to do what the council asked her to do before the
meeting. Mr. Kelly and Ms. Taylor indicated disagreement.
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Mr. Pap said that the process was incomplete, and he did not anticipate anything but half-baked
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results from half-baked goals. He encouraged the council to complete its work.
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Ms. Solomon asked how communicating with her fellow councilors outside of a meeting was
different from requesting a work session. Mayor Torrey said that when he was elected to the
council, one of his goals had been to reopen Willamette Street. He had spoken to individual
councilors who might not otherwise agree with him to determine if they could work together on the
subject. He said that such an approach was merely developing support for a strategy.
Mr. Kelly thought it inevitable that staffs interpretation of the councils intent would have been
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faulty given that it had to synthesize a discussion that occurred in one hour after a full day. He
suggested that staff review the discussion from today, develop a second draft, and that the council
officers work to develop a consensus process for the next session.
Mr. Kelly questioned whether the council wanted to have a goals session with the new manager
so soon.
Ms. Bettman said that she had told the facilitator that there was insufficient time scheduled for
discussion. She wanted a process where councilors could put forward ideas that they could
garner consensus for, and work from that point. She endorsed Mr. Kellys suggestion, and said
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that if the council did not act by consensus, there was no difference between the goals process
and a work session.
Ms. Nathanson noted that some of the action priorities before the council were already being done
or were scheduled to be accomplished. She questioned whether the council had determined
whether it wanted a goal of two special projects to accomplish over the next two years, or eight
projects, or ten projects. Ms. Nathanson did not recall that the council agreed to adopt its
objectives by consensus.
Ms. Solomon did not support Mr. Kellys idea of advancing the changes that had been suggested
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today as not all councilors had the opportunity to contribute. She thought the proposal
constrained the councils discussion.
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Ms. Taylor questioned whether the council needed goals. She found it ironic four councilors could
adopt a goal but it took five to schedule a work session. She suggested that pre-voting on the
objectives could occur. She said that Mr. Meisner was mistaken when he said that no councilor
wanted to give students free library cards because she wanted to.
Mayor Torrey adjourned the meeting at 1:31 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
James D. Carlson,
City Manager pro tem
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(Recorded by Kimberly Young)
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MINUTESEugene City Council March 12, 2003 Page 12
C
Work Session