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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-05-2012AUBURPST TYBF - . WASHINGTON Council Operations Committee March 5, 2012 - 5:00 PM City Hall Conference Room 2 MINUTES I. CALL TO ORDER Chair Nancy Backus called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. in Conference Room No. 2 located on the second floor of Auburn City Hall, 25 West Main Street in Auburn. A. Roll Call Chair Backus, Vice Chair Rich Wagner, and Member Bill Peloza were present. B. C. Staff members present: City Attorney Daniel B. Heid, Public Affairs Manager Dana Hinman, and Deputy City Clerk Cathy Richardson. Also in attendance were Councilmembers Largo Wales and Wayne Osborne. Announcements Agenda Modifications 11. CONSENT AGENDA 111. DISCUSSION ITEMS A. Council Retreat Planning Chair Backus referred to the conceptual agenda for the upcoming Council Retreat and distributed correspondence from Planning and Community Development Director Kevin Snyder about the City of Mesa, Arizona, regarding their economic development priorities guided by their industries of opportunity: Healthcare, Education, Aerospace, and Tourism (HEAT). Vice Chair Wagner stated that the first bullet under Session 1, Review of Retreat Goals and Desired Outcomes, needs a description or definition of what the goals and desired outcomes are. Chair Backus announced that the Retreat is scheduled for May 17 -18, 2012 at Fort Warden in Port Townsend. Committee members reviewed the proposed agenda. Chair Backus stated that she would like some type of card which covers talking points on hot topics or key issues of importance happening within the City. Page 1 of 7 Vice Chair Wagner referred to a topic in Mayor Lewis's State of the City address regarding the circular motion of citizen involvement,, quality of life, and economic development and offered to bring a graphic of the Mayor's statements to the Council Retreat. Vice Chair Wagner requested that the sample listing for the second bullet item under Session 2 be expanded to include items such as the Auburn Environmental Park, Les Gove Community Center, and proposed green economic development incentives in an effort to determine how much time to`allot for each item. Vice Chair Wagner referred to the last bullet item under - Session 2 and requested that this item also include a sample listing to determine time allotments for each item. Chair Backus referred Committee members to Session 3, Four Pillars of Economic Development and Application to Auburn: Built Capital, Human Capital, Natural Capital and Social Capital. Vice Chair Wagner inquired whether the items under this bullet can be converted to dollar amounts. Member Peloza requested that staff include examples of each capital "pillar" and suggested that Council contribute their own examples as well. Vice Chair Wagner and Member Peloza expressed concerns regarding the time allotted for Session 2 and proposed a shorter or working lunch in order to allow more time for this session. Chair Backus referred Committee members to Session 4, Visioning Exercise #1 - City of Auburn Industries of Opportunity, which is to determine Tong -term economic development priorities for the next twenty years and direct business recruitment. Chair Backus suggested that large employers such as Boeing - Auburn Plant, Auburn Regional Medical Center, Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, and the Auburn School District be invited to make presentations at the Council Retreat. Vice Chair Wagner :stated that the location might not be convenient for presenters and suggested that they provide a short, seven- minute video. Manager Hinman offered to coordinate the presentations and requested that Council provide a list of questions to be asked of the presenters. Vice Chair Wagner, suggested that the Auburn SuperMall be included as a retail component of the presenter videos. Chair Backus suggested that the videos could be watched during the time allotted Page 2 of 7 for lunch. Chair Backus also suggested that Session 4 be extended to 5:30 instead of 4:30 p.m. Committee members concurred. Chair Backus referred Committee members to Session 5, Visioning Exercise #2 - City of Auburn Industries of Opportunity and Economic Development Strategy Areas, which is scheduled for day two of the Retreat. Vice Chair Wagner requested clarification of Economic Development Strategy Areas. Vice Chair Wagner also suggested that benefits to the average homeowner or citizen be included under Session 3 bullet, Economic Development Prioritization and Focus, What it Means and Why Do it. Perhaps another bullet item such as "Average Citizen, What's in it for Me ? ". Chair Backus referred Committee members to Session 6, Visioning Exercise #3 - City of Auburn Industries of Opportunity and Capital Investments Prioritization. Chair Backus pointed out the difficulties of prioritizing projects. Vice Chair Wagner suggested including the developer's expected investment to the City or a ratio of City contributions versus developer contributions to provide a better financial understanding for Council. Vice Chair Wagner referred to Session 3, bullet item entitled "Economic Development Prioritization and Focus" and suggested following the prioritization model used for prioritizing transportation projects during the Transportation Retreat. B. Council Rules of Procedure Discussion of Section 3.10 Council Committee Reports and Section 3.11 Councilmember Reports (This item was discussed prior to Item No. III.A) Chair Backus explained that the purpose of reviewing Section 3.11, Councilmember Reports, is related to Council concerns regarding time constraints and report content. Chair Backus was asked to bring these concerns to committee members in an effort to reduce the time allotted for reporting and to identify, specifically, what should be provided in Councilmember reports. Committee members briefly discussed Section 4.1. Chair Backus referred to Section 6.5 and suggested that the word "local" should be added in front of the word "regional" committees, agencies and organizations. Committee members concurred. Chair Backus suggested that the words "or electronic" should be added in front of Page 3of7 the word "communication" in Section 15.9. Committee members concurred. Member Peloza referred to Section 16.1(C) and stated that the word "planning" is missing after the word "parks" and under Section 16.1(D) the words "parks operations" is missing. In addition, the Municipal Services Committee is the Council's liason for the Auburn International Farmers Market Board. Vice Chair Wagner noted that the changes were made in the amending resolution, but were not carried forward to the Council Rules of Procedure. Chair Backus pointed out that Section 16.1(F), Downtown Redevelopment Committee, should also have been deleted. Attorney Heid will make the corrections. Vice Chair Wagner referred to the footnote on page 4, Auburn City Code Section 2.03.100, regarding preparation of agendas and stated that this is the only code section that clarifies how the agenda items are set for the various committees. Vice Chair Wagner suggested that any committee should be able to propose an agenda item if two committee members vote for it, whether the Mayor proposes the item or not. Vice Chair Wagner offered to bring proposed wording on this code section to the next Council Operations Committee for review by Committee members. Member Peloza referred to Section 17.4(A) related to communication among Councilmembers and requested the verbiage "sequential meetings" be revised to provide clarity. Attorney Heid stated that Section 17.4(A) was designed in an effort to prevent a collection of independent communications that could be challenged as constituting a public meeting. City Attorney will revise Section 17.4 as requested by Committee members. Discussion followed regarding open public meetings and attorney /client communications. Chair Backus referred committee members to page 7 and reviewed Section 3.11: "Councilmembers may report on their significant city activities since the last regular meeting. Councilmember shall limit their reports to not more than three (3) to five (5) minutes." Chair Backus suggested limiting reports to three minutes unless a Councilmember receives prior approval from the Mayor or presiding Councilmember for additional reporting time. Page 4 of 7 Member Peloza expressed opposition to reducing the reporting time as the Council Rules of Procedure encourage Councilmembers to participate in regional committees. Citizens are allowed three minutes to speak regarding a single topic. Councilmembers need more time to report on numerous committees. Councilmember Peloza stated that three to five minutes is insufficient for reporting purposes. Chair Backus pointed out that if each Councilmember reported for five minutes it would increase the meeting time by thirty -five minutes which, in some cases, would be longer than the time needed for action items. Chair Backus stressed the importance of the work performed by Councilmembers with regard to participation in various regional, county and local committees and activities, but noted that the purpose of Councilmember reports is to inform other Councilmembers regarding their activities in that regard and are not necessarily intended as informational items for the public. Chair Backus suggested that Councilmembers could limit the content of their reports in an effort to save time by reducing the reporting time to three minutes. Vice Chair Wagner stated that he prefers a window of three to five minutes as their are times when additional time is needed for reporting. He suggested that Councilmembers be advised to try to keep their reports within the three minute time frame and to limit reports to no more than five minutes. By keeping a time limit on reports it encourages Councilmembers to be precise in their reporting. Discussion followed regarding what might be considered significant city activities, including various regional, county and local committees, and significant city events. Vice Chair Wagner referred to Section 3.10, Council Committee Reports, which encourages Councilmembers to defer providing detailed reporting regarding items of action on a current agenda until such time as that item is being considered by Council, and suggested that perhaps Councilmembers are not adhering sufficiently to that rule. This rule was initiated in an effort to provide detailed information and education to the public audience at the time of Council's vote. Member Peloza spoke regarding difficulties related to reporting with regard to providing too little detail when making a Committee report and again providing extensive detail when a motion is made on an action item. Vice Chair Wagner noted that there is seldom discussion related to agenda action items, which may not provide enough explanation of an item being considered by Council. Member Peloza expressed opposition to providing explanations twice and feels that the current process is dysfunctional. Page 5of7 Chair Backus stated the she believes the intent of the rule is good and suggested that perhaps Councilmembers should be more robust in applying it to their reports. It provides information to the public as Council is voting on an item, providing a better understanding of the item, as opposed to providing details of an item earlier in the agenda under Council Committee reports. Vice Chair Wagner stated that the current procedure regarding reporting is good in theory and concurred with Member Peloza that there is a bit of a disconnect when reporting. Vice Chair Wagner suggested continuing the current procedure for a period of six months and then revisiting the issue to determine if a change of procedure is in order and expressed support of the time limit for reporting of three to five minutes. Member Peloza suggested extending the time for reporting to seven minutes. Discussion followed regarding the pros and cons of the current time limit. Chair Backus cautioned that Councilmembers should be mindful of their reporting time and should make sure that the content of their reports is relevant information. Member Peloza expressed dissatisfaction with Section 3.10 as Councilmembers can clearly express that an item is coming before the Council for action and provide all of the information at that time. He also believes it is not necessary to repeat the information again at the time the item is being considered by Council. Committee members concurred to leave Section 3.11 as it is written and to review it again in six months. Member Peloza requested that Chair Backus provide feedback to Councilmembers regarding Council reports when they include information in their reports that might not be considered germaine. Member Peloza inquired regarding Section 3.8, Audience Participation, second paragraph. Attorney Heid explained that there are occasions when the presiding officer may grant and also deny, permission for an individual to speak on an item other than during audience participation. Vice Chair Wagner suggested that the word "Mayor" be replaced in the second paragraph with the words "presiding officer" . Committee members concurred. IV. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Committee, the meeting adjourned Page 6 of 7 at 6:20 p.m. DATED this a Wax) day of Z■Qc• \ ,2012. Nancy B4k6s, Chair Cathy Richardson, Deputy City Clerk Page 7 of 7