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HomeMy WebLinkAbout140618.WSMINUTES – Eugene City Council June 18, 2014 Page 1 Work Session M I N U T E S Eugene City Council Harris Hall, 125 East 8th Avenue Eugene, Oregon 97401 June 18, 2014 12:00p.m. Councilors Present: George Brown, Betty Taylor, Alan Zelenka, George Poling, Mike Clark, Greg Evans (via phone), Claire Syrett, Chris Pryor Mayor Piercy opened the June 18, 2014, City Council work session. A. ACTION: Eugene Celebration Parade Council discussion: • Concerns were expressed about giving public money to support a private enterprise. • There is widespread disappointment that the parade might be cancelled. • The parade is an iconic event to celebrate the entire community. • City should offer same opportunity for funding to other groups who want to organize a parade. MOTION and VOTE: Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Brown, moved to authorize the City Manager to use up to $10,000 from council contingency for city costs for police and street closures for the Eugene Celebration parade. PASSED 6:2, Councilors Clark and Poling opposed. B. WORK SESSION: Sick Leave Ordinance Policy Systems Analyst Jason Dedrick gave a PowerPoint presentation on the process to-date. Sick Leave Task Force Co-Chairs George Rode and Sabrina Parsons provided their perspectives on the work of the committee. Council discussion: • Make-up of the committee was weighted in favor of those who support the proposed legislation. • Task force had balanced, comprehensive representation and the process was effective and appropriate. • Eugene should not compare itself to Portland, Seattle, San Francisco or Washington. • More time is needed to consider all of the potential consequences of this action. • This is a fundamental human rights and public health issue; government involvement is appropriate. • Challenge will come from lack of certainty with data. • Data from other jurisdictions with sick leave legislation shows no negative effects. MINUTES – Eugene City Council June 18, 2014 Page 2 Work Session MOTION: Councilor Syrett, seconded by Councilor Zelenka, moved to direct the City Manager to bring back to Council an ordinance establishing minimum standards for employees to provide earned paid sick time to employees and to ensure that all persons working within the City of Eugene have the right to earn and use paid sick time. The ordinance shall include a preamble describing the public health justification for the ordinance and conditions under which an employee may use the paid sick time as well as the following provisions: establish an accrual rate of 1 hour paid sick time for every 30 hours worked that may be taken in 1 hour increments; allow workers to accrue a minimum of 40 hours in a year with the ability for unused earned time to carry over to the next year, but at no time shall employers be required to allow employees to use paid sick time in excess of 40 hours in a year; accrual to begin upon employment with access to earned sick time starting when employee has been employed 90 calendar days; ordinance shall apply to all employers whose employees work within the City of Eugene. The ordinance shall have an implementation date of July 1, 2015. MOTION TO AMEND AND VOTE: Councilor Poling, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to amend the last sentence of the motion to read: The ordinance shall have an implementation date of July 1, 2015, except that the ordinance shall become effective only after it is approved by electors of the City at an election to be held November 2014. FAILED 3:5, Councilors Clark, Poling and Pryor in support. Council discussion: • This is not an appropriate issue for Council; let the voters decide. • More information on potential consequences is needed. • Public opinion polling has shown strong support for Council to enact this law. • Outside lobbying interests would target the community if issue was placed on ballot. AMENDED MOTION: Councilor Clark, seconded by Councilor Poling, moved to add to the end a provision that the ordinance comes back with a one-year sunset so that Council might review the effects on the community. Council discussion: • Mechanism is needed to ensure that consequences are documented and evaluated. • Review is important but sunset will require enormous amount of work. MOTION TO AMEND AND VOTE: Councilor Evans, seconded by Councilor Taylor, moved to amend from a sunset to a review after 24 months. PASSED 6:2, Councilor Clark and Poling opposed. VOTE ON AMENDED MOTION AS AMENDED: PASSED 6:2, Councilors Clark and Poling opposed. VOTE ON MAIN MOTION AS AMENDED: PASSED 6:2, Councilors Clark and Poling opposed.