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Regular City Council Meeting <br /> Monday,January 8, 2018 <br /> Page 13 <br /> Mayor Roe indicated he would be supportive of that,noting a lot of the agendas <br /> have had a 9:30pm end time, and occasionally some have gone to 10:30pm. He <br /> stated there will always be issues the Council cannot anticipate but at the same <br /> time, on a trial basis, it does not hurt to not plan for anything to go past 9:30pm. <br /> City Manager Trudgeon stated staff would be happy to follow the proposal on a <br /> trial basis. He noted that in 2017, 4 meetings went longer than 4 hours,but quite <br /> a few were between 3'/2 and 4 hours. Oftentimes, staff underestimates the time it <br /> does take. Sometimes there are things out of staff's control,but staff can also <br /> space things out over several meetings. <br /> Mayor Roe expressed support for managing the agenda to a 9:30pm target for ad- <br /> journment. <br /> Councilmember Willmus stated depending how the trial works, the Council does <br /> not necessarily need to wait a full year before coming back and officially adopting <br /> it. <br /> Council Etten stated the change of order has smoothed out some of the timing and <br /> keeping a schedule that the public can count on is good. <br /> The Council discussed the issue of engaging with a resident during public com- <br /> ment. <br /> Mayor Roe commented on the back-and-forth with a resident during the public <br /> comment. He stated it can be tempting to ask a clarifying question before the res- <br /> ident has finished speaking. He explained that the times he has limited clarifying <br /> questions from Council has been an effort to let the resident finish their thought <br /> and presentation and not be interrupted. Whereas, the Council can absolutely <br /> make a note to ask a question when the presentation or comment is finished. He <br /> noted that in many cases, the public comments must be deferred to staff research. <br /> To the extent the Council has a point of view on something, it can be offered. <br /> What is to be avoided is a long discussion of something that is not on the agenda. <br /> Councilmember Willmus commented that a Councilmember is always free to con- <br /> tact the resident after the meeting to discuss the issue. It is beneficial for folks to <br /> hear the differing views of the Council. <br /> Councilmember McGehee added that it has not been her intention to interrupt a <br /> resident offering a public comment. Rather,the issue is when the Council pro- <br /> vides no feedback to the resident who has given presentation. <br /> Mayor Roe thanked Councilmember McGehee for clarifying. <br />