HomeMy WebLinkAbout211215 WSMINUTES
Eugene City Council
Virtual Work Session
Eugene, Oregon 97401
December 15, 2021
12:00 p.m.
Councilors Present: Emily Semple, Matt Keating, Alan Zelenka, Jennifer Yeh, Mike Clark,
Greg Evans, Claire Syrett, Randy Groves
Mayor Vinis opened the December 15, 2021, work session of the Eugene City Council in virtual
format.
1. EXECUTIVE SESSION: Pursuant to ORS 192.660 (2) (i) to review and evaluate the City
Manager.
2. WORK SESSION: City Manager Evaluation
Council President Jennifer Yeh gave background and introduced the topic. Lane Council of
Governments Executive Director Brenda Wilson gave a presentation on the topic.
Council Discussion:
■ Councilor Zelenka - stated that Sarah has done an excellent job and has provided the City
with strong leadership; stated Sarah has an open, approachable, and authentic style that is
in keeping with the City's values; summed up his evaluation of the City Manager
performance as "calm competence;" stated that the City Manager has been tested through
these extraordinary times and has passed with flying colors; said the community is lucky
to have one of the best City Managers seen in a long time; shared some areas to work on
such as the importance of self -care.
■ Councilor Clark - echoed the community's evaluation and said he feels the City Manager
has done an exceptional job and has dealt with crises that have never been experienced
before, such as giving emergency powers to the City Manager during the pandemic; stated
he is immensely impressed by the job well done.
■ Councilor Syrett - said she feels that the City Manager has done an exceptional job with the
City and the City Council; appreciated the City Manager's big heart, clear head, incredible
integrity, excellent sense of humor, and imaginative spirit; stated she feels the City
Manager takes direction from Council well and gave an example of getting masks to
unhoused people in the community; shared a couple of areas for improvement.
■ Councilor Groves - shared he has known the City Manager for years and has seen her
advance through the organization has watched her level of competence grow; said he
would like some mechanism to measure progress on key issues.
■ Councilor Semple - shared the City Manager's ability to respond to many challenging
emerging issues has been amazing; said she feels that the City Manager is insightful,
honest, resilient, dedicated, caring and has exceptional performance.
■ Councilor Keating - shared that the City Manager is a gem; is accessible to Council,
informed, and intellectually curious; said he liked the grading system used in the
MINUTES - Eugene City Council December 15, 2021 Page 1
Work Session
evaluation and feels that the City Manager is strong in performance; commented that he
did not give and "S plus" because there is always room to room to improve.
Councilor Evans - shared he had difficulties with the selection process for the City
Manager; stated the right selection was made and she has been able to make tough,
controversial decisions; commented that this City Manager is the right person at the helm
when looking into a future that promises more difficulties to come.
Mayor Vinis - shared that the consistency of the responses is encouraging; noted that the
City Manager stated in her own self -evaluation that this was a team effort and reminded
everyone that every successful team needs a good team captain; said she is incredibly
grateful for and appreciative of the role the City Manager played in creating the can- do,
agile, nimble organizational system where peoples' greatest skills and strengths rise to the
top and are given the capacity to do their best work for the City and community.
Councilor Evans - commented that the City Manager is the greatest of all time (the GOAT).
The meeting was adjourned at 1:43 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Brooke Freed
AIC City Recorder
(Recorded by Niyah Ross)
Link to the webcast of this City Council meeting here.
MINUTES - Eugene City Council December 15, 2021 Page 2
Work Session