Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 05/26/09 Work Session M I N U T E S Eugene City Council McNutt Room—City Hall—777 Pearl Street Eugene, Oregon May 26, 2009 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Chris Pryor, Mike Clark, Andrea Ortiz, Jennifer Solomon, Alan Zelenka, George Poling, George Brown, Betty Taylor. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the work session of the Eugene City Council to order at 5:37 p.m. She explained that the council had just conducted an executive session for purposes of putting a motion on the table to make an offer of the police auditor position. She noted that Ms. Solomon would be arriving later in the meeting. Mr. Zelenka, seconded by Mr. Clark, moved to offer the position of police auditor to Mark Gissner at a salary of $94,723.00 annually and other terms similar to those contained in the contract between the City and Cris Beamud, the first police audi- tor. Ms. Taylor stated that she would vote for the motion but wanted to state publicly that the current Interim Police Auditor was the best qualified by education, intelligence and experience for the job and the City could have saved a lot of money and gotten a good person by hiring her. Mr. Zelenka stated that Mark Gissner had been the police auditor in Cincinnati, Ohio, had a great deal of experience and would make a good auditor for Eugene, given his background, history and skills. Ms. Ortiz said it had been a long process and she was pleased that the council was offering the position to a person with the credentials and background for the work who brought a national and international perspective to the office. Mr. Zelenka explained that there would be a transition period, with Mr. Gissner beginning part-time on June 29 and moving to full-time on August 7. Ms. Piercy commended the due diligence performed by council officers and City staff in order to select a new police auditor. She cited many of the favorable recommendations and remarks that were received about Mr. Gissner. She said of particular importance was Mr. Gissner’s positive relationship with the minority communities in Cincinnati, representatives of which stressed his objectivity and fairness. The motion passed unanimously, 7:0. B. COMMITTEE REPORTS AND ITEMS OF INTEREST FROM MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL, AND CITY MANAGER Ms. Piercy said she and Mr. Poling had conducted a Mayor’s one-on-one meeting that was very informative. She attended the opening of VetLift III, a facility providing housing and other services to veterans. She MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 26, 2009 Page 1 Work Session spoke to students at Cascade Middle School and attended an EmX ceremony in Springfield. She noted the City received $63,450 from the Youth Conservation Corps to be used for parks and employment of youth. She congratulated those who participated in the bike commute program and thereby prevented 33,000 pounds of carbon emissions. Mr. Clark said he and Mr. Zelenka continued to provide supervision to the Police Auditor and had preliminary discussions about the transition period to a new auditor and addition of members to the Civilian Review Board (CRB). He reported on the Eugene Police Department’s (EPD) report to the Police Commission on the taser pilot project. He attended a joint elected officials meeting on economic develop- ment and a Lane Metro Partnership board meeting at which potential businesses for the area were discussed. He thanked Planning Director Susan Muir for her assistance responding to inquiries from his ward regarding development of a residential treatment center. He spoke at two cemeteries on Memorial Day and thanked the Musgrove family for its contributions. He said the next two joint elected officials meetings would deal with jurisdictional issues and ambulance service areas. Mr. Brown commented that the Human Rights Commission had elected new officers and discussed use of Community Development Block Grant funds for the removal of barriers and improving accessibility. He proposed to the Willamette Valley Sustainable Food Alliance surveying small businesses and presenting the results to the joint elected officials’ economic development task force. He attended a meeting of the Downtown Neighborhood Association and the Taser Town Hall. He said some people at the town hall spoke bitterly about the police, but overall a wide range of opinions and perspectives was presented. Mr. Poling said the City had just completed its budget process and he was pleased with the work of the Budget Committee. He extended his appreciation to staff and the citizen members of the committee for their efforts. He had received several calls from constituents and commended staff for their responsiveness when he forwarded concerns to them. Mr. Pryor concurred with Mr. Poling’s remarks about the Budget Committee, its citizen members and the staff. He said cutting $12 million from the budget had been done as effectively and respectfully as possible. It was the most efficient budget process he had experienced. As a councilor, he took the advice of the Budget Committee to heart. Ms. Ortiz agreed with Mr. Poling and Mr. Pryor about the effectiveness of the budget process. She met with citizens concerned about the Seneca bio-mass co-generation plant. She said there were no resolutions, but those present listened and shared information. She attended the Taser Town Hall, but because the City did not officially participate she felt another forum should be organized, perhaps by the City Club. She announced that the We Are Bethel celebration would occur June 6 at the Petersen Barn. She participated in a candidates’ forum in which representatives of communities of color were able to discuss those issues that were important to them and participated in an event organized by the University of Oregon and Chamber of Commerce to discuss contracting with women- and minority-owned businesses. Ms. Taylor supported the idea of a City Club-sponsored Taser forum. She recommended the play Suicide Weather at Lord Leebrick Theater and the Farmer’s Market as local events of interest. She remained concerned about charging the Farmer’s Market for parking. She said Crest Drive area street improvements remained a problem and 14 people at a neighborhood meeting had voted to delay the project. She questioned how many people constituted a neighborhood. She asked if there was a way to gather the opinions of those who would be assessed and whether the project could be limited to Crest Drive and not include Storey MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 26, 2009 Page 2 Work Session Boulevard and Friendly Street. She would be attending the National League of Cities Human Development Committee meeting later in the week and workforce development would be a topic of discussion. Mr. Zelenka expressed his appreciation for the budget process and all of those who were involved. He felt there were some innovative solutions to funding shortfalls. He said the Laurel Hill Valley Citizens Association discussed a tool exchange at its last meeting and the Amazon Neighbors planned a neighborhood clean-up on June 14. He reported the Walnut mixed-use center process was under way and congratulated school board members who were elected or re-elected. Ms. Ortiz said she heard that Bethel teachers had given up pay for five work days. City Manager Jon Ruiz said he and the Mayor would attend a high-speed rail meeting in Portland. He said the Summer in the City kickoff would be held on June 2 to stimulate more activities and events in the downtown area. Joint elected officials would be discussing ambulance transport, economic development and Metro Plan issues and all three subjects were extremely important. Councilors were invited to attend the graduation of firefighters at the end of the week and on June 4 he planned to attend a Santa Clara Communi- ty Organization meeting. He had met with the new University of Oregon president. Ms. Piercy also commended the Budget Committee and City Council for their work on the budget and determination to avoid employee lay-offs and cutting services as part of the solution to revenue deficits. She said the Police Auditor Ordinance Review Committee (PAORC) would not be on the council’s agenda until June 22 and suggested that in the interim the council establish a work group consisting of Ms. Ortiz, Mr. Poling, Mr. Pryor and Mr. Zelenka to develop different perspectives. C. WORK SESSION: City Council Goals Retreat Follow-Up Assistant City Manager Sarah Medary and Terrie Monroe of Central Services provided an overview of the Eugene Counts framework and the work accomplished to date. Ms. Medary hoped during the work session that the council could reach agreement on a vision statement and the value statements, followed by a discussion of how the Eugene Counts initiative was presented to the public. She reviewed changes to the council’s vision statement and the five value statements. Ms. Piercy determined there was consensus to accept the vision and value statements language as presented. Ms. Solomon arrived at 6:15 p.m. Ms. Monroe used a slide presentation to provide an overview of the Eugene Counts process and how it connected goals to actions to results, which would inform decisions within the City organization and support development of a sustainable budget that reflected community values. She said public participation in the process would verify the vision and goals, identify measurements of success and provide insight into community priorities. She listed a wide range of community interest groups to be involved and strategies for reaching out and engaging them. She asked for feedback from the council on what results it wanted and how success would be defined in each of the goal areas. Ms. Piercy felt it was important to separate safety issues related to reducing crime from those associated with homelessness to avoid giving the impression that they were connected. She suggested thinking about MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 26, 2009 Page 3 Work Session social service clubs like the Rotary and Kiwanis clubs as a part of a deeper and broader engagement of the community, along with churches and synagogues and people who were downtown in the evenings. Mr. Clark said that outcomes related to current conditions—less crime, greater access—might not be suitable in the long-term and he would prefer terminology that described a destination or end result instead of a never-ending outcome. He was not certain how clean water fit as an outcome under sustainable development. He suggested moving measures related to adequate and well-maintained infrastructure to the category of sustainable development, instead of fair, stable and adequate financial resources. That would reflect the high value of infrastructure. Ms. Taylor asked how staff proposed to reach out to such a large segment of the public, which could be expensive. Ms. Monroe said one of the budget strategies for this year was to rely less on outside consultants and build capacity within the organization to take on those types of projects. As many internal resources as possible would be used to facilitate the public sessions. Ms. Taylor said the Shape Eugene’s Future process was quite successful in engaging the community and could be a model. Mr. Pryor said the council’s most important decision would be deciding on goals. He did not feel he was ready to discuss outcomes as part of the public process because he was concerned that his opinions would be given greater weight because he was a city councilor. He said the technical and professional perceptions of those inside the City organization and external perceptions from the public would be very helpful to the council’s deliberations, coupled with the measurable realities of available resources and regulatory or statutory requirements that could not be modified. Mr. Zelenka felt the process was going in the right direction and pleased to see linkages between the budget and outcomes and strategies. He emphasized the importance of broad public involvement and innovative outreach strategies. He agreed with Mr. Pryor about the council delaying a discussion of outcomes and measures until input from internal and external sources was available. Ms. Ortiz said an important outcome for her was the ability of the public to understand the budget process and the source and use of funds. She wanted to see information gleaned from the council’s conversation on race used to inform public outreach efforts to involve a more diverse cross-section of the community. She hoped information could be linked to school web pages to encourage the participation of high school students. Mr. Poling said a linkage to Lane Community College would also be important to involving young people. He agreed with Mr. Pryor and Mr. Zelenka about waiting for public input on outcomes. He suggested making brief presentations at the board meetings of various community organizations as an outreach strategy. Ms. Piercy said some of the goals would need more details, such as whether the goal related to homelessness meant fewer homeless people or greater shelter capacity. She said sustainable development outcomes that had gained support in the community included reduced carbon emissions. Mr. Pryor felt public participation would be effective if it stayed at the value or policy level and did not become too involved in the minutia of specific strategies. He said if the public was simply asked to identify their priorities without any guidance, the result would be a list of whatever issues were uppermost in their MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 26, 2009 Page 4 Work Session minds at that point; an aided approach would be to list a number of issues and ask to have them prioritized. He said there was a difference between interest and commitment and with respect to priorities people should be asked what they would be willing to spend money on. Ms. Solomon asked in what context random stratified sampling would be used. Ms. Monroe said that would be used for focus groups and the methodology was to invite participation from a random sample of the population at-large or of target populations. She said that would assure a focus group was more likely to represent the average opinions of that population and was more scientifically rigorous than allowing participants to self-select. Ms. Solomon asked that random stratification include ward representation to assure a balance across the community. Mr. Clark commended the budget process for its creative strategies to address the revenue shortfall, but felt similar situations would be faced in future budget processes and it would be a challenge to create a better sense of community vision and real tools to use in the next budget cycles to make well-informed choices. Ms. Taylor felt it would not be necessary make trade offs. People could be asked what they wanted and then how they suggested obtaining the funds, perhaps sharing with them how other communities funded their services. Mr. Ruiz said those would be some of the questions he posed to the community challenge group he was establishing. Ms. Piercy agreed it was important to ask people what they felt were the essential services for a good community, then discuss what could be paid for with existing resources and where additional resources could be obtained. She did not want to begin the conversation by asking people to make choices. Ms. Solomon asked if there would be an outreach strategy that was tangible like a survey to which people could respond if they were unable to participate via computer or in person. Ms. Monroe said there would be strategies to reach people without computer access or the ability to attend a meeting. She said the intent was to make the process as accessible as possible. Ms. Piercy said groups like the Bethel Boosters or student organizations could be enlisted to help with outreach. Mr. Ruiz encouraged councilors to let staff know if they had suggestions about ways to reach people in their wards. Ms. Piercy said it appeared the outcomes needed more refinement and should also reflect those things the City was already trying to accomplish. Mr. Ruiz agreed that the list represented a sampling at this point and would be expanded and refined during the process. Mr. Pryor said people did not necessarily make the distinction between different levels of government such as city, county, state and school districts. He said education was likely to be high on the public’s list of priorities, but technically that was not a service delivered by the City. It was important to provide a framework for people to discuss their interests whether or not these were directly served by the City because the City worked in partnership with other jurisdictions and it would be helpful to understand how the City might support those priorities. MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 26, 2009 Page 5 Work Session Ms. Taylor noted that in many communities the municipal government cooperated with the school district to provide activities for young people. She said that could provide an opportunity for the City to stretch its recreation dollars. Ms. Solomon asked if the measure related to the number of arts/cultural/outdoor activities downtown referred to City-sponsored events only or if partnership activities would be included. She thought the community would expect these to be collaborative events and not that the City would assume the full burden. Mr. Ruiz said the staff would continue moving forward with the Eugene Counts initiative with periodic check-ins with the council. The meeting adjourned at 7:05 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jon Ruiz City Manager (Recorded by Lynn Taylor) MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 26, 2009 Page 6 Work Session