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Attachment B DRAFT Regular City Council Meeting Monday, May 11, 2015 Page 13 1 this City Council had been effective in working through a myriad of complex is- 2 sues, and while not always pretty or on the proscribed schedule they remained ac- 3 countable to their constituents. Under that scenario, Councilmember Willmus 4 noted that often things may come up during a City Council meeting that staff had 5 not previously thought about and therefore additional information and time was 6 required to resolve a particular issue. 7 8 Regarding the strategic initiative identified as "establish framework for respectful 9 dialogue and exchange of ideas," Councilmember Willmus opined that there 10 would always be Councilmembers who were passionate about a particular issue 11 12 13 and who may disagree. However, Councilmember Willmus questioned the bene- fit for staff to spend too much time attempting to address that concern. 14 Recognizing how much additional preliminary work may be required of staff to 15 get information to the City Council ahead of time and how that may dramatically 16 change the current operating procedures, Councilmember Etten cautioned creating 17 additional work for staff that may not prove useful to the City Council. Regard- 18 ing timeframes, Councilmember Etten expressed appreciation for those times staff 19 clearly laid out in the RCA the "next steps" and a proposed timeframe (e.g. Dale 20 Street Project). Using the Dale Street Project as an example, Councilmember Et- 21 ten suggested pulling some of the pieces from the Development Agreement for 22 that timeline to provide a direct target or window for presentations or action by a 23 Commission or the City Council, since staff often has that information available 24 without causing them too much additional work. 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 While recognizing that the strategic initiative identified as "establish framework for respectful dialogue and exchange of ideas," may be tough to maintain a con- tinuum for respectful meetings, Councilmember Etten suggested each new City Councilmember packet include a refresher from the League of Minnesota Cities (LMC) materials for discussion. Councilmember Etten agreed that, while the body could agree to disagree, there should always be a reminder to remain re- spectful with no need to go for blood. 34 Regarding that referenced initiative, Mayor Roe opined that respect went beyond 35 the City Council, but also the City Council's respect of staff, and also to everyone 36 participating in a meeting. Mayor Roe further opined that it was the City Coun- 37 cil's role to set a good example for everyone else, otherwise it became easy for a 38 member of the community to follow their lead. 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 As part of that respect initiative, Mayor Roe suggested a trial period providing an opportunity for anyone participating in a meeting to turn in a response at the end of that meeting as to whether they found the meeting respectful or not, with a tally of those responses to see if it matched the impressions of the City Council. Mayor Roe suggested this would provide a chance for feedback, whether at the end of the meeting, or reported at the neXt meeting, and if tracked far awhile, it