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City Council Strategic Planning Meeting Monday,January 30,2012 Page 17 Regarding the local option sales tax, Councilmember McGehee noted that 30% of the City's housing stock was rental units, and those tenants would not get any tax benefit if the local option sales tax was implemented, but would pay extra when making purchases in their own community. f. Councilmember Pust(Attachment Item 9.a,dated January 30,2012) Beyond her written submission, Councilmember Pust chose not to respond, as most of those goals were already mentioned by others tonight. Recess Mayor Roe recessed the meeting at approximately 8:11 p.m. and reconvened at approximately 8:19 p.m. 10. Discussion,Conclusion and Direction Councilmember Willmus sought the opinion of Department Heads on the idea of work sessions. Community Development Director Trudgeon spoke in full support of work sessions, while noting that during his tenure they had not been done. However, Mr. Trudgeon spoke in support of the opportunity for additional dialogue and presentation at that level, without decision-making, that would serve to streamline the process, and allow for ques- tions and clarifications to be addressed in that less formal setting, allowing for different types of business meetings. Finance Director Miller concurred with those comments; and reiterated comments he had previously made that preliminary discussions should allow the City Council to take action at their meeting, often on Consent. Mr. Miller noted that often topics are not conducive to that now, but if the City Council had the discipline to hammer out discussions at a work session, and then not repeat those discussions or debates at a business meeting, work sessions could be a great and effective tool. Fire Chief O'Neill concurred, noting that currently staff often felt rushed and unable to sufficiently interact with Councilmembers at a business meeting, and preferred conversa- tion not just presentations. Parks and Recreation Director Brokke spoke in support of work sessions as a good and less formal opportunity for conversation around the table. Police Chief Mathwig spoke in support of work sessions; however, he opined that he lacked information from his tenure on how they used to work. Public Works Director Schwartz concurred with the work session concept; allowing for more conversations, ability to answer questions, and if necessary, come back with addi- tional information for the City Council before taking action and for better informed deci- sion-making.