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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, October 9, 2017 Page 16 Etten moved, McGehee seconded, authorized staff to register a team of 10-14 par- ticipants for the 2018 GARE cohort program as presented. Councilmember Etten reviewed his perspective when first hearing of the GARE Program at a recent LMC Conference, noting it had been an eye-opening experi- ence for him; and agreed that this is intended for staff and should remain the focus of the training. If any potential changes to policy result from this, Councilmem- ber Etten noted that they should then come to the City Council as part of the ap- proval process since the GARE program asks cities to vigorously look at all of its operations, impacts and thought processes and providing a framework for thought and understanding. Councilmember Etten stated that he fully supported staff training in the GARE program; and provided several examples and policy issues already addressed from an operations standpoint by staff. Councilmember McGehee agreed with the comments of Councilmember Etten; citing several other examples within the community of areas often taken for granted or not on the radar screen,but still important. Councilmember Laliberte stated that she did not disagree with what was being said, and noted it had been included in the budget. However, since there was no urgency to approve it tonight, Councilmember Laliberte asked that the city not once again usurp the HRIEC conversation by taking action tonight since it had asked them to be involved. As long as it was clearly understood that the GARE program was intended for staff training, Councilmember Laliberte opined that it was still important for the HRIEC to weigh in and since several members were in tonight's audience, wanted to ensure they had the ability to hear this presentation. Expressing appreciation for Councilmember Laliberte's perspective, Coun- cilmember Etten thanked those HRIEC members who attended tonight's presenta- tion, opining that they also considered the GARE program to be valuable. Since this program was not part of the HRIEC's work plan to-date, Councilmember Et- ten opined that staff be trained over the next months and year, and then the HRIEC could evaluate the effectiveness of the program and how it affected other departments and parts of the community in changing the city's day-to-day opera- tions. Councilmember McGehee agreed with the comments of Councilmember Etten, and also recognized the perspective of Councilmember Laliberte; but noted that this is staff-focused training and noted that the City Council was not included ei- ther but noted that as liaison to the HRIEC, Assistant City Manager Olson would be involved in forms, policies and ideas that came out of those discussions, and therefore she agreed that there was no need to involve the HRIEC at this point. Mayor Roe stated his agreement with a number of comments made tonight, clari- fying that the City Council, without prior consultation with the HRIEC, had iden- tified the GARE program as needed from a staff level. Mayor Roe noted that with