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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/28/2011 Work SessionCity of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL GOAL SETTING SESSION OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY, MARCH 285 2011 The City of Springfield Council met in a work session at Mookies' Northwest Grille, 400 International Way, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, March 28, 2011 at 6:10 p.m., with Mayor Lundberg presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Lundberg and Councilors Pishioneri, VanGordon, Wylie, Moore, Ralston and Woodrow. Also present were City Manager Gino Grimaldi, Assistant City Manager Jeff Towery, Community Relations Manager Niel Laudati, and City Recorder Amy Sowa. 1. Council Goal Setting/Council Relationships. 5:30 p.m. = Mayor Lundberg provided welcoming remarks and invited the Council to eat dinner. 6:10 p.m. - Mayor Lundberg called the meeting to order. She noted that this was the first of three sessions that would focus on Goal Setting for the Council. Tonight's session was an opportunity to talk about what the*Council wanted to accomplish and how to do the business of the City. She introduced Stan Biles, the facilitator for this evening. Mr. Biles had served in government in both elected and staff positions over his career. Mr. Biles said he had enjoyed meeting individually with each of the councilors to discuss topics of interest as they proceeded towards goal setting. The interviews had lead to the idea of holding three work sessions. The focus of the first meeting tonight was how to function as a Council together. The second meeting would be to discuss the status of the existing goals and strategic plan, and the third would be to discuss any changes in the goals or the direction for the City. Tonight's `focus was on the operating protocols of the Council. An ice breaking exercise was held pairing new councilors with councilors that had been serving. The Mayor was paired with Mr. Grimaldi. The purpose of this exercise was to learn that the Mayor and councilors had a lot of things in common, more so than they had differences. He encouraged them to think of that when times got more difficult. Mr. Biles discussed how issues could come up when new members did things differently than older members of the Council. He referred to the Council Operating Policies and Procedures currently in place. Determining the norms of behavior could happen either by trial and error or by discussing processes as a group, such as tonight's meeting. By the end of the evening, they may find several things that they could address as Council processes and norms. Mr. Biles asked the Mayor and Council to share some of their thoughts in a straight forward, yet positive way, on how they would like the Council to function. Councilor Pishioneri said he liked that the order of discussion during their meetings was delegated by the Mayor, and that was honored amongst the group. It was good when the councilors recognized one another, acknowledging the other person's point of view. He tried to listen and leave himself open for input. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes March 28, 2011 Page 2 Councilor Woodrow said she would like to know the protocol regarding questions she would like to pursue. She gave an example. She asked if and when it was appropriate to copy the. full Council on matters, or when it should just go to the Mayor and/or Council President. Councilor Ralston noted that ideas to bring forward for Council discussion would go through the Mayor and Council President to be discussed with staff during Agenda Review. A determination would then be made whether or not to bring it forward to a work session. Mr. Grimaldi said for questions that were informational only and could be addressed quickly, the councilor could go directly to the staff member of City Attorney. If the question was on a topic of recent discussion at a Council meeting, he would recommend copying the rest of the Council so they knew what was being asked and the response. Copying Mr. Grimaldi helped him know what was going on as well. Mayor Lundberg said there was language in the Council Operating Policies noting that items the entire Council may want to discuss should go through Council leadership. If Council leadership chose not to pursue the topic, the councilor could bring it up during a Council meeting. Councilor Wylie said she went to Mr. Grimaldi first because he always gave good advice as to how to proceed. Councilor Pishioneri said based on past experience, he had learned there were times when he could also go straight to a department head for a quick answer, especially if it was something that was time sensitive. Mr. Grimaldi said it was dependent on the type of question. Something that would go to the full Council or was part of a policy should be shared. Mr. Biles said this was a very important question and it was important to have clarity. The first question to ask was if it was appropriate for staff. If so, the first stop would be Mr. Grimaldi. If it was a major policy initiative, council leadership should hear about it as well as Mr. Grimaldi. If in doubt, the Councilor should get input from Mr. Grimaldi or council leadership. Mr. Grimaldi said he didn't want to cut off Council's communication with City staff. People had done a good job in-judging when to contact Mr. Grimaldi and when to contact staff. Councilor Ralston felt talking about this was sufficient and provided enough guidance. Councilor VanGordon said with this group, he wasn't afraid to make mistakes in this area. Councilor Wylie noted that when she wanted to talk with a department head, she normally ran it by Mr. Grimaldi first as a courtesy. Mr. Grimaldi was lenient about having Council talk with staff, but they shouldn't abuse that privilege. It was noted that the councilor could contact other councilors as well to run something by them. They needed to be cautious about open meetings laws. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes March 28, 2011 Page 3 Discussion was held regarding open meetings law. Councilors could share information, but not. strategize towards a decision. Mayor Lundberg said staff was always willing to go out of their way to get information as soon as possible, so she tried to think through her question before making a call so as not to impose unnecessary work on staff. It was appropriate to talk to another councilor as a sounding board. The City Attorney's Office was a separate entity and a good resource for the Council as they were there to protect the Council. Mr. Biles said there was an atmosphere of collegiality in Springfield. This style had served Springfield very well and was unique. It was advantageous to new councilors to know there was so much support from councilors and staff.' Councilor Ralston referred to the Council Operating Policies regarding Council asking for a legal opinion from the City Attorney's Office (Section VIII, (1)). It was noted that routine questions did not fall under this section, and could be requested directly. Mr. Biles discussed open meetings law. He asked if everyone was comfortable with what they could and could not do in current interpretation of laws. Discussion was held regarding open meetings law and interaction among councilors. It was- not appropriate to discuss someone's actual vote on an issue. Councilors should take into account information presented, as well as any public input during a meeting to make their actual decision. Councilor Woodrow said she was representing her ward and would be voting accordingly. She asked if it was important to know ahead of time how the other councilors would be voting. There may be instances where there were differing opinions. Councilor Pishioneri noted that although he represented Ward 6, he looked at how things affected his constituents throughout the City. The Council was elected by the entire City. There were certain issues related directly to a ward. In those instances, he would be more focused on looking at what the ward members wanted. Councilor Ralston said he didn't see an issue with talking one on one with another councilor on an issue. Mr. Grimaldi said work sessions were also a good time to explore where. people were on bigger issues Councilor Moore discussed issues on decisions regarding leadership that, she felt when she first was appointed. Mayor Lundberg said most things were talked about at the table, which was healthy. A lot of new councilors were brought in during a difficult time of changes. It was an awkward time and decisions were difficult. Regarding Councilor Woodrow's comment on her ward, Mayor Lundberg noted that she looked to the councilors from each ward for information on how things were going in their ward. Councilor Pishioneri spoke regarding the period of time when the leadership decisions were being made, and assured Councilor Moore that type of situation would not occur again. From his City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes March 28, 2011 Page 4 perspective, doing business in that way had a negative impact on relationships. He was very. happy with the outcome. Mr. Biles said it sounded like they were seeking a collaborative style, were interested in following the open meetings law, some were approachable for one on one discussions, but were not supportive of orchestration of decisions and preferred to use work sessions to express opinions and ideas. Councilor Moore acknowledged that they got through the difficult times and came out with a positive outcome. That said a lot about the group. Councilor Woodrow said this group of councilors moved on even when thing went in.a different direction. Mr. Biles said one issue that could arise at times when there were new members, was that those new members could take things personally. He asked if there were issues in that area. Councilor Wylie said former Mayor Leiken used to say they were doing things the "Springfield Way". They all recognized that they had different personalities, but they all worked for the good of Springfield. Councilor Woodrow said as an outsider, before she was elected to the Council, she noted that everyone checked their ego at the door and came in to get the work of Springfield done. Councilor VanGordon said it was business, and at the end of the day they were still friends and he didn't see .anyone taking things personally. It was good to enter conversations with individual opinions and leave with one opinion as a Council. Councilor Woodrow said there were times when they could take it personally, because they were just human. She did feel they could go to the person individually to discuss those types of issues. Councilor Ralston said he appreciated that they could talk about those things. Councilor Pishioneri said it would be helpful to know what staff wanted. He asked if there was something that would make what the Council wanted easier for staff to accomplish. He hadn't heard . feedback that it wasn't clear to staff, but wanted to make sure there was good communication both ways. Councilor Ralston said that was done during Mr. Grimaldi's evaluation. Councilor Wylie said staff brought things to Council laid out with the facts and asked for direction. Council then asked staff if they had enough direction. She often looked at staff s recommendation, then evaluated those recommendations and made her own decisions. It was a good system. Mayor Lundberg noted that the Council worked for the public and the staff worked for the public, but the Council needed to balance the information given by staff with the needs of the citizens and determine how to move forward. Councilor Moore asked Councilor VanGordon to share his experience as a new councilor City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes March 28, 2011 Page 5 Councilor VanGordon said he felt his voice was being heard. Everyone had different opinions and backgrounds, but he had been impressed with where the discussion started and ended. That was a credit to the group as professionals to have discussions including everyone's opinions. Mr. Biles said one of the protocols of many jurisdictions was the no-surprise policy. This insured that neither elected officials nor staff were negatively surprised by their colleagues. It came out of a respect for one another. Councilor VanGordon.said with the level of communication that was discussed, they could live by that type of rule. Discussion was held regarding this topic. It showed respect; and would be counterproductive if they chose to allow that type of thing to occur. Councilor Moore asked about emails received from a constituent that was about a current issue and if that should be forwarded to the rest of the Council. Mr. Grimaldi said it was up to each of the councilors. The Council members agreed that they would prefer to have it and then make their own determination whether or not it was something they wanted to keep. Mayor Lundberg said they could make the determination based on the content of the email. The. Council worked with a lot of other political groups, and they needed to be cautious not to cause problems that would affect their relationships. Making it a policy for the Council to steer a clear course helped stabilize, them during the rough times. Mr. Biles said all of the issues raised during his interviews with each of the councilors had been discussed and successfully addressed during tonight's meeting. He asked if they had other issues they wanted to discuss. There were none. He asked if they needed something written regarding their discussion tonight, or if oral discussion was enough. Mayor Lundberg said there was no need for a written policy. Councilor Pishioneri said tonight's discussion was good, as was the timing. He was not one for more written rules and understanding in this setting was enough. Councilor Woodrow agreed. Councilor Wylie said as long as they were reaching consensus comfortably, there was no need for anything written. Mayor Lundberg thanked Mr. Biles for his presentation. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at approximately 7:46 p.m. Mayor Lundberg resumed the meeting at 7:46 p.m. for an announcement. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes March.28, 2011 Page 6 Assistant City Manager Jeff Towery announced that Springfield had been chosen by the University of Oregon for the Sustainable Cities Program. The news would be announced in a week or so. He explained the program. Councilor Pishioneri said the proposal was like a wish list. Mr. Towery asked Council to. let them know if they wanted projects removed or added. Part of the creative process between the University and the City allowed students to come up with ideas that the City might not normally be comfortable exploring. Part of the program was allowing that freedom of creativity. Councilor Moore asked Mr. Towery if he would resend the list. Mr. Towery said there had been some updates and he would send the updated list. Mayor Lundberg and Councilor Pishioneri asked to have a paper copy. Councilor Wylie said she would like updates so there were no surprises. t Mr. Towery said checkpoints along the way would be coming to the Planning Commission, Downtown Advisory Committee and City Council. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was re-adjourned at 7:54 p.m. Minutes Recorder - Amy Sowa Christine L. Lundberg Mayor Attest: Amy So a City Reco der