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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCMinutes - 04/07/04 Process MINUTES Eugene City Council Work Session Bascom Room -- Eugene Public Library 100 West l0th Avenue April 7, 2004 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Bonny Bettman, George Poling, Nancy Nathanson, Scott Meisner, David Kelly, Betty Taylor, Gary Pap6, Jennifer Solomon. A. WORK SESSION: City Council Process Session The City Council was joined by the executive managers for the process session. City Manager Dennis Taylor explained that the process session was convened after spring break, as per usual. He commented that it was an opportunity for the executive management and council to learn together. Local consultants Drs. Peter and Susan Glaser began the meeting with a presentation of examples of their model for positive interaction between staff and elected officials. Ms. Glaser stressed that the way staff and the councilors interact has a huge impact on the community. Mr. Glaser added that voting was secondary to civil discourse. The councilors and executive managers took a ten-minute break, reconvening at 6:45 p.m. Lane County Human Resources Director Greta Utecht and Director of the Lane County Department of Children and Families Alicia Hays facilitated the next segment of the process session. Ms. Hays provided an outline of the small group process the session would include. Ms. Utecht explained the process was intended to help the council and managers to determine its top three expectations from the lists developed by two groups. Those present broke into small groups consisting of staff and elected officials. Executive management and elected officials reconvened as a whole at 7:25 p.m. Mr. Pap6 and Ms. Nathanson left the meeting. Ms. Utecht explained the ground rules: 1) the group presenter will list the group's top priority; 2). those listening may ask clarifying questions but there would be no debate; and 3) if a priority had been cited by one group, it could not be cited again. Mr. Poling spoke on behalf of the first group of councilors, which included Ms. Bettman and Ms. Solomon. He said the top priority from the list of What Council Expects from Staff chosen by the first group was that staff memoranda and agenda item summaries (ALS) provide a range of options. He advocated for greater understanding of possible directions the council could take in order to provide more informed MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 7, 2004 Page 1 Process Session decisions. Mr. Taylor asked if what was desired was a discussion of the range of options or just an articulation of options. Mr. Poling responded that the councilors wished for presentation of the options accompanied by points of view, but not the underpinnings. He commented that what was often heard was staff's opinion on an issue and the council wished to hear arguments against staff opinion as well. Ms. Bettman remarked that a range of options meant everything from a decision to do nothing to doing ;;everything." The first staff group consisted of Mr. Chouinard and Mr. Carlson. Mr. Carlson commented that staff had a shorter list from which to choose. Mr. Carlson explained that the expectation that the council should act as a body was the top priority. He stated that staff implements all council decisions with equal verve, whether the vote was unanimous or split. Mr. Kelly asserted that the council did act as a body. He asked what Mr. Carlson meant by acting as a body. Mr. Carlson replied that sometimes councilors who are not on the prevailing side continue to ask for help in overturning a decision or delaying its implementation. Mr. Kelly opined that it would be a ;;nightmare" if it became a constant that once things were settled, they were never revisited. He wondered if people were discovering new information and were trying to gain traction with their colleagues. He felt the problem was overstated. He added that he had heard from constituents regarding the urban renewal district issues and averred it was equally valid to represent the continuing angst over such an item. Mr. Chouinard cited, as an example, a hypothetical situation in which the executive manager makes a decision for the staff team and the manager on the staff team gives a different direction to those who work under his or her supervision. He underscored the importance of maintaining the good of the whole. Ms. Bettman commented that the example Mr. Kelly brought up pointed to the other decisions that get made as a result of the first decision, such as funding, etc. She felt that issues are not just settled and done at any given point; that is not the way politics works. Ms. Hays surmised that the priority had arisen because of the feeling that the continuation of decisions slowed the City's process down. Ms. Taylor represented the second group, which included Ms. Nathanson and Mr. Pap6. She recognized the instructions were to cite a new priority from the list but wished to note that the top priority for the group had been identical to the first group's top priority. In lieu of that, she shared the group's second priority which was that staff should follow City Council policy and not try to influence it. Mr. Carlson said typically the Agenda Item Summary included staff recommendations. He asked if it was the council's wish that such recommendations not be included. Ms. Taylor suggested that staff not make strong recommendations but, rather, provide options only. MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 7, 2004 Page 2 Process Session Mr. Poling felt it was a good idea for staff to provide recommendations accompanied by other options. Mr. Meisner concurred, adding that he wanted staff recommendations, but not memoranda in which staff makes conclusive statements. He reiterated that knowing both the options and staff recommendations on options accompanied their by reasons was his preference. Ms. Solomon liked recommendations from staff. She felt informed by them. She echoed Mr. Meisner and Mr. Poling's comments regarding options. In response to Mr. Chouinard, Mr. Meisner cited as an example that the work session on alley assessments had resulted in a clear majority vote on the first item and a need for ~tweaking" on the second item. Staff provided a memorandum to the council that stated empirically that it was not possible to ~tweak" the second item, but it did not give the reasons why it could not be done. Mr. Kelly asserted that another way staff influenced or %ent" council policy was by not responding to City Council recommendations. He cited the stormwater issue as an example and stated that the council's voted direction had not been implemented. Further, he cited the salmon Endangered Species Act strategy, and said the council had formulated a list of priorities that were approved and the list had not been followed through with. Mr. Taylor pointed out that staff was often guided by the TransPlan, the Metro Plan, or budget documents in its recommendations. He asked whether councilors could trump such documents with their directives. Ms. Bettman alleged that staff took certain actions because it wanted to do them. She felt the plans the City Manager referred to were flexible documents. Mr. Meisner noted that in previous years, when no motion was on the floor, the council would use a formalized head nod to indicate support or opposition to an item. He felt that staff had, in a couple of work sessions, paraphrased to a certain extent what had transpired. Mr. Taylor commented that staff sometimes triaged things because of the hierarchy of decision. Mr. Meisner responded that when staff saw such a hierarchy, it should be brought to the attention of the councilors. Ms. Bettman felt the local metropolitan planning organization (MPO) was largely staff-driven and had influence over how road funds were spent. She reiterated her concern that the City Council had prioritized road preservation but the Metropolitan Policy Committee, acting as the MPO, had circumvented the priority of the City and recommended funding other projects. Mr. Tallon spoke on behalf of the second group of staff people, which included Ms. Hamm and Mr. Corey. He related that his group had also placed working together as a body as its highest priority. He said all executive staff had the opportunity to work on three teams: with the executive managers, with the City Council, and within their departments. He conveyed that once group consensus was achieved, staff had to support the decisions made. He stated that being able to advocate for a position and to listen were both important skills. Mr. Meisner provided the top priority for the third group, which included Mayor Torrey and Mr. Kelly. He MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 7, 2004 Page 3 Process Session explained that his group felt that imagination and creativity were what they expected most from staff. He suggested staff ask itself what it was doing, what was missing, and what was working as an integral part of the daily work. Mr. Poling noted that it was his group's third priority. Mr. Kelly related that staff at Google was required to spend 20 percent of its time on work that was unrelated to any current projects. He felt this helped increase creativity an individual would then utilize at work. Mr. Carlson supported having more chance to be creative in work. Mr. Meisner thought such time could be built into the calendar. Mr. Kelly left the meeting because of a commitment. Ms. Hays thought staff should do this as a cultural shift. Mr. Carlson asked councilors if they did not think that staff was using creativity. Mr. Meisner noted that Ms. Jones had, when looking at youth recreation, stepped back and looked at all options and then developed an innovative plan. Ms. Solomon asked if executive staff went to professional conferences. Mr. Taylor responded that all executive staff members were very active in their appropriate professional organizations. He noted that time constraints interfered with the ideal in which they spent more time thinking at a higher level and in reference to longer-term goals. Ms. Bettman felt innovation tied into the range of options. She opined that within a universe of ideas, ~we do the same things." Mr. Lehner said the top priority of the third group, which included Mr. Coyle and Mr. Taylor, was clear policy direction from the council. He felt this cut across all of the other priority items. He commented that sometimes there was more clarity regarding policy that drew a 5:4 vote accompanied by vigorous discussion than there was from a unanimous vote with no discussion. He underscored that staff want its work plan to be understandable at a ~gut level." Ms. Hays asked what other issues rose to the top. Mr. Poling noted that his group had also called out the need for a list of specific descriptions of the services, help or "tasks" available to any, and therefore all, councilors. Mr. Chouinard said he and Mr. Carlson had wanted council to identify strategic issues and goals. Ms. Taylor remarked that her group had also expected staff to have good technical skills to get answers resolved quickly and to be knowledgeable in their field. MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 7, 2004 Page 4 Process Session Mr. Tallon conveyed that his group also wanted the council to focus on %nds" and practice policy governance. Mr. Meisner indicated that Mr. Kelly wanted to emphasize that council direction should be remembered by staff and should not ~fall through the cracks" for months and years. Mayor Torrey said his group agreed with Mr. Poling's group, but had bundled the need for clarity and concise answers with the need for timely responses and the ability to respond during work sessions and meetings. Mr. Lehner indicated that his group shared Mr. Chouinard and Mr. Carlson's expectation from the council that strategic issues and goals be identified. Ms. Hays thanked participants for the opportunity to conduct the exercise. Mr. Glaser commended the group for the communication and listening skills members exhibited. Mr. Taylor said the executive team would have a two- to six-hour session with the Glasers. He stated that staff would come back to a work session or subsequent process session with anything that arose from it. Ms. Rose asked the council to look over the Eugene City Council Operating Agreements: Draft with Proposed Amendments 4/1/04. She explained that the suggestion had been made that the operating agreements be revisited at the February retreat. She highlighted the proposed changes. In response to a question from Mr. Meisner, Ms. Rose indicated that the legal opinion on section 9.03 was included as Attachment B: Inter-Departmental Memorandum; City Attorney - Civil Department. Mr. Meisner was uncertain of the language regarding meeting length. He opined it was too absolute and could be construed to allow an item to be debated until 3 a.m. Ms. Bettman commented that extending the meeting by five to ten minutes was fine, but that the meetings should not be extended longer than that. Regarding Section 9.03, Ms. Bettman acknowledged it was a difficult issue. She advocated for any budgetary issue that would be moved through the MPC to also come before the City Council. Mr. Poling felt it was not clear in the definition at what point the proceedings became deliberations. Ms. Solomon expressed satisfaction with the current system of determining whether or not to extend the meeting time by a vote. Ms. Rose noted that the draft language was purely in response to councilor's requests at the February retreat. Ms. Solomon indicated she would not support a change. Ms. Taylor conveyed her preference for no stopping time. She felt there were other ways to keep a meeting from lasting too long, such as councilors making a motion to adjourn or the mayor taking control of the MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 7, 2004 Page 5 Process Session meeting. She opined that it was sometimes appropriate to get through an issue, even if it took until 11:30 p.m. Regarding the MPC, Ms. Taylor echoed Ms. Bettman's wish to have funding issues to be considered by the MPC to come before the City Council first. Mr. Carlson clarified that the underlying section was not recommended by staff, but it reflected what the City Council said. Ms. Bettman suggested it would simplify things if public hearings were always held on the same night. Mr. Meisner left the meeting and the quorum was lost. The meeting adjourned at 8:35 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Dennis M. Taylor City Manager (Recorded by Ruth Atcherson) MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 7, 2004 Page 6 Process Session