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City Council Minutes Page 4 <br />June 17, 2020 <br />----------------------------- <br />Council and Staff Roles <br /> <br />Mr. Portner reviewed that the council makes decisions as a body. Anything decided <br />by previous councils is part of a legacy chain. Unanimous votes are not necessary. <br /> <br />Councilmember Ovall struggles with what is necessary to come before a commission <br />or council and how much autonomy could be granted to staff. <br /> <br />Mr. Portner stated some things could be delegated to staff. He mentioned it is <br />difficult for the HRA and EDA to get their meeting accomplished during the one- <br />hour timeframe. Would Council be interested in moving meetings to a different <br />night? <br /> <br />Council and staff suggested some of the following solutions: <br /> HRA and EDA meetings start on Monday at 5:00 p.m. and go until 6:30 p.m. <br /> Council meetings start at 7:00 p.m. <br /> Public Hearings reduced to one public hearing held before the Planning <br />Commission <br /> Packets available on Thursday, instead of Friday, so there is more than one <br />business day to contact staff with questions <br /> Reduce or eliminate verbal presentations of Staff Report material at a council <br />meeting <br /> Move pertinent packet material to the front of the Council item so it doesn’t <br />get buried <br /> Provide PowerPoint presentations in advance of the meeting <br /> Council appreciates having bookmarks in the file <br /> Could there be a differentiation between Council Packet and Planning Packet <br />to avoid confusion <br /> Avoid meetings over four hours <br /> Have a separate budget focused meeting instead of integrating budget <br />discussions into regular meetings <br /> Reduce the number of work session items if the agenda looks like it may be <br />time consuming. <br /> Consider one meeting dedicated only to work session items <br /> <br />Councilmember Westgaard mentioned it was a challenge for members with a full- <br />time job to have earlier meetings or special meetings. <br /> <br />Mr. Carlton stated reducing the size of packets would be challenging as they contain <br />long term legacy information and documentation of process. <br /> <br />Mr. Portner commented public hearing testimony from residents is not meant to be <br />a dialog. A better model may be to collect testimony, notate questions and answer <br />them after the public hearing is closed. <br /> <br />Mayor Dietz added speakers should be limited to coming up only one time to <br />comment. <br /> <br />