CC_Minutes_2013_0225 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Regular City Council Meeting Monday, February 25, 2013 Page 3 Grefenberg opined that City Manager Malinen provided an honest explanation of those problems and thought those audio issues could be resolved for future meet- ings. However, Mr. Grefenberg expressed what he considered to be a reasonable disagreement between himself and Mr. Malinen on the role of an advisory com- mission chair and whether or not a chairperson could approach staff with requests for solving similar problems or seek an explanation of why a problem continues to occur. Mr. Grefenberg, in referencing City Manager Malinen's response of late this af- ternoon, and included in the bench handout, expressed his hope that the City Council's subcommittee on commissions would review this issue as well. While recognizing City Manager Malinen's concern about proper authority, Mr. Grefen- berg stated that he didn't want to go through City Manager Malinen each and eve- ry time he needed to discuss a problem with staff. Mr. Grefenberg stated that he was concerned with protecting the autonomy of advisory commissions who should only be responsible to themselves and the City Council. In order for any commission to operate effectively, Mr. Grefenberg noted the need for active sup- port of staff and confidence of the City Council and thought this issue should be vetted publically with final resolution by the City Council, since he and City Manager Malinen were in disagreement. Specifically, in noting the overall management of recording of meetings by Communications Specialist Tim Pratt as a City employee, Mr. Grefenberg advised that he was not asking Mr. Pratt to report directly to him, but seeking his response in resolving why the first 40 minutes of an HRC meeting was not available to the public. Regarding another issue, while the selection process for a website redesign con- sultant was proceeding, Mr. Grefenberg noted a request in November 2012 for two (2) members of the Civic Engagement Task Force to be included in that group, with he and Megan Dushin volunteering. Mr. Grefenberg advised that this allowed him an inside look at the selection process and stated that he had been pleased that the selection committee seemed to be in unanimous agreement with the final recommendations. However, when he received the advance final report, Mr. Grefenberg noted that it contradicted the committee's recommendation and referenced that similar concern was also expressed by City employee Jill Anfang, Assistant Parks and Recreation Director, who pointed out that same problem. Mr. Grefenberg advised that several weeks ago he had alerted City Manager Malinen to this problem, asking that the committee be called back to discuss and resolve this apparent discrepancy, specifically that those recommendations be reviewed by the committee prior to their presentation to the City Council. In his past expe- rience on various task forces and groups, Mr. Grefenberg stated that such an op- portunity had always been available for a final review prior to submission. Mr. Grefenberg asked that the City Council provide that opportunity as well for this website redesign consultant recommendation.