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City Council Minutes - 07/06/2006 Agenda Item No. G For Agenda ofAka , aG Tigard City Council Meeting Minutes Date: July 6, 2006 Time: 6:00 p.m. Place: Tigard City Hall, 13125 SW Hall Boulevard Tigard, Oregon Attending: Mayor Craig Dirksen Presiding Councilor Sally Harding Councilor Sydney Sherwood Councilor Nick Wilson Councilor Tom Woodruff Agenda Item Discussion& Comments Action Items follow u Special 1.1 Mayor Dirksen called the City Council to Order at 6:01 p.m. Meeting 1.2 Council Present: Mayor Dirksen, Councilors Harding, Sherwood,Wilson,and Woodruff. 1.3 Pledge of Allegiance 1.4 Call to Council and Staff for Non-Agenda Items 2. City Staff Present: City Manager Prosser, Interim Community Center Development Director Coffee, Senior Planner Nachbar Advisory Commission Consultants Present: Joe Hertzberg and Carol Turner Discussion CCAC Members: Alexander Craghead, Gretchen Buehner,Lily Lilly, Carolyn Barkley, Carl Switzer, Roger Potthoff, and Jim Andrews. Interested Party: Lisa Hamilton-Treick Mayor Dirksen welcomed everyone to the meeting. He said the only issue tonight is the City Center Advisory Commission and some issues that have arisen. He thanked consultants Joe Hertzberg and Carol Turner for attending. He stated that the purpose of the meeting was to hear the consultant's report,give everyone a chance to consider it and come up with a course of action. Tigard City Council Meeting—July 6,2006 Page 1 Agenda Item Discussion& Comments Action Items follow up Mayor Dirksen said the last thing he wanted to do was turn this into a re-hash of who said what, and place blame. He felt everyone in the room had the same goal at heart and that is the betterment of Tigard. He said there was no reason to try and figure out whose fault it was that things happened. Management Consultant Joe Hertzberg introduced himself and said that he has done a lot of work for governments in the area for many years. He requested that everyone at the meeting introduce themselves. Also attending was Carol Turner whose firm,Leadership for Action,works with non-profit and public sector teams and organizations to help them work together more effectively. She worked with Mr. Hertzberg on this report. Mr. Hertzberg handed out a copy of their report, "Summary of interviews with members of the City Center Advisory Commission." A copy of this report is on file in the City Recorder's office. He thanked every member of the CCAC for meeting with him over a very short time period. He set the context by thanking every member of the CCAC for making themselves available for interviews wid-in very short order. He said his job was to report what they heard, not to make recommendations or interpretation of what was said. He said this report was previously discussed with City Manager Prosser. Because there are two names mentioned in the report—Mike Marr and Craig Dirksen—they talked with both of them so no one would feel blind-sided by what is in the report. Mr. Hertzberg said that everyone interviewed agreed that the CCAC focus is downtown improvement. The Downtown Improvement Plan is the "playbook" that people are working from and that no one said they want to change the focus from downtown to another area or a larger area. Given that,he said there are a lot of ways to read the Downtown Plan and there is a lot of latitude for interpretation that he felt needed clarification. Ms.Turner said she enjoyed getting to know the Tigard area's many strengths and the many people who are invested in making it into a great community. She noted that major elements necessary for a group or task force to be successful were not put forth by the City. The CCAC did not start out with the foundation it needed. This led to many comments about unclear direction,a lack of structure and confusion about Tigard City Council Meeting—July 6,2006 Page 2 Agenda Item Discussion& Comments Action Items follow up) roles. Ms. Turner gave examples of how the CCAC's charge and parameters were not clear. Timelines and expectations were not spelled out. The selection process for on-going task force members was different than for at-large members. Rules and procedures were not in place for the election of officers. There was confusion about the role of the CCAC in relationship to the City Council and the Downtown Task Force and what it meant to be a public body. There was confusion about roles and authority. A more recent development was confusion about the relationship of the CCAC and the Streetscape Working Group. In talking to people the consultants heard differing stories about what people thought and how they thought things fit together. Regardless, everyone they spoke with agreed that this group did not work well together. They didn't gel. Mr. Hertzberg said it was not a feeling of there being an"in" and an "out"group;but rather the entire group felt devalued and not listened to. Mr. Hertzberg did not hear of any focused effort made to bring people together and help them get to know each other and what strengths they brought to the group. Among the people he spoke to, no one felt good about what happened at the meeting on June 1. He said that people seemed to regret that things played out in such an unpleasant manner. Obviously,Mike Marr was in the center of many discussions. They heard a lot of recognition and appreciation for his commitment and passion for the effort. Also recognized were shortcomings in his leadership style. Most of those who gave a "no confidence"vote expressed concerns about leadership, leadership style and felt that the CCAC needed a leader who could move it forward and bring people together. Mr. Hertzberg did not hear any ugly and vicious words or personal attacks on anyone. He heard concerns about leadership style and what it would take to move the CCAC forward. He said it was very clear that there was an extensive amount of "off-line" conversation. Rumor and innuendo substituted for real communication. Right before the June 1"meeting there were some people who were engaged in a crescendo of communication and others who were closed out the communication entirely,which was an exacerbating factor. Tigard City Council Meeting-July 6,2006 Page 3 Agenda Item Discussion& Comments Action Items (follow up Mr. Hertzberg said Commission members'personal motivations were questioned as some would benefit personally or economically from urban renewal in downtown Tigard. On the other hand,people were very clear about their own interests in this. Ms. Turner said that is often the case when a group is not working well together and has a lack of trust in each other. Attribution of motivation,without checking it out, can happen too. They said they heard mixed opinions on staff and consultants. Some members felt staff and consultants were difficult to work with. Roles and responsibilities have been unclear and different people have different ideas of what these roles are and should be. Mr. Hertzberg said many people indicated that the Mayor played a role in this and many attributed to him the idea of the no- confidence vote, not necessarily supporting it,but introducing the concept. Some CCAC members expressed disappointment about the Mayor not asserting leadership and not being forthcoming about his role. He noted again that Mayor Dirksen had been told about this prior to tonight's meeting so he was not being blindsided. Mr. Hertzberg spoke about the future of the CCAC from the group's standpoint. He thought it fair to say no one suggested the group could come back together,rewind and go back to where they were. There were substantially different attitudes between the members who resigned and those who remain. Most of the former members believe the CCAC should be dissolved and reconstituted. Most of the remaining group felt the group is working together productively and effectively and should continue. Most recommended that alternates should be appointed as regular members and there should be selective additions, especially to reflect the fact that a whole lot of experience with downtown and downtown improvement has been lost. That perspective is important and the few people remaining that have that experience would have to carry a lot more weight than they had before. He said regardless of what happened they agreed that the Council needs to be clear about what the CCAC's role and mission are and under what rules it is expected to operate. Tigard City Council Meeting-July 6,2006 Page 4 Agenda Item Discussion& Comments Action Items follow up Ms. Turner wanted to emphasize that she heard a range of interpretations about the Downtown Improvement Plan. Some see it as a vision and some see it as a blueprint.Within that there is a huge amount of flexibility and Council needs to decide what level of specificity they want to give guidance. Council needs to clarify which group makes decisions. Mayor Dirksen asked if Council had any questions to ask the consultants or him. Councilor Wilson asked if the consultants sensed an overwhelming philosophical split about the vision. He asked if his assumption that there were two main factions was correct or were there a lot of factions. Mr. Hertzberg said there were obviously two camps in several ways, such as members of Downtown Task Force and newer members, or people who voted for the measure of no- confidence and those who did not. Councilor Wilson reiterated his question about whether the split was along the line of fundamental vision for the entire project, or was it conflicts between people about leadership style. He said that made a big difference to the Council. He said he might be inclined to just suggest getting over it and getting on with it, if it was personality conflicts. But he said if it was a philosophical split between"Camp A and Camp B" about how downtown is to be developed, that is a substantive issue that needs to be resolved. Mr. Hertzberg noted that he was a professional facilitator who works with groups. He said that he facilitates groups with much deeper divisions than this all the time. His feeling was that,if this group could sit down together at a table and address issues, the differences could be bridged. Mayor Dirksen read from the report that"everyone agreed that the CCAC should continue to focus on downtown improvement. While its responsibilities encompass the entire urban renewal area,its primary task is to implement the Downtown Improvement Plan." If there is a general consensus among all the members and former members of the CCAC, he saw that as a clear unity of purpose. He also felt that statement is exactly in line with the Council's view. He said that at a basic philosophical level he did not see an issue. Ms. Turner said she agreed with Mr. Hertzberg and did not see Tigard City Council Meeting—July 6,2006 Page 5 Agenda Item Discussion& Comments Action Items (follow up that division of vision but the devil is in the details and that is where the differences may come out. Mr.Hertzberg said it is heartening that there is consensus on where they want to go and there is not such a split that they have to go back to the drawing board. Councilor Sherwood asked if the Council should sit down and put together the rules and charge with what we see as the outcome before everybody is brought back together to try and hash things out. Ms. Turner said that definitely needs to be done right away. Councilor Harding agreed. She did not see anything that indicates the vision has changed. However, she thought there were things that came to Council before it got to this level. She talked to the Mayor and City Manager and felt no one on the Council responded. She lays it at the Council's feet. She did not think Council should tell the whole group to go away and start over,if they've got the vision together and the Council lacked the ability to lead. Council Harding said the City had brought together a lot of bright people on the CCAC and needs to work to bring the group together. Councilor Wilson observed that although Mr. Hertzberg characterized the group as "failed," he saw some successes. He said that while it may have failed on an interpersonal level, on a practical level there were some huge successes. Tigard passed an urban renewal plan for the first time ever. Everyone was able to keep it together for that. The Downtown Plan is done and people in Tigard seem to like it. Mike Marr and Marland Henderson's contributions should be recognized. Councilor Wilson also noted that one of the things that may have contributed to problems is that Council made a conscious decision to broaden the group from the original Downtown Task Force. This was based on concerns that the Downtown Task Force was too narrowly focused on people who had downtown interests. Some friction in the group was expected and it did have the effect of adding people who have a larger focus which lead to the boundary growing larger. Councilor Wilson said regarding the Council's failure to establish goals and rules—guilty as charged. We have never done this before. Tigard City Council Meeting-July 6,2006 Page 6 Agenda Item Discussion& Comments Action Items (follow up We're not seasoned PDC leaders. It is a good time to sit down and determine the next steps and define the groundrules. Mr. Hertzberg said that the Council,by identifying the downtown as a priority, deserves some credit too. Councilor Wilson said one of the reasons he ran for Council is that he wanted to see something happen downtown. He said things had come a long way and what we have now is a lot better than what we had then. Councilor Woodruff said the City of Tigard has many advisory committees. He said that even though this was a new advisory committee with outside consultants and more money involved, he thought the CCAC members were seasoned people who were not novices. He knew some had of advisory experience with other groups, and thought they would be able figure this out even without much structure. He said this was a good lesson for the Council, that it can't just be assumed that putting good people together will make a committee gel and grow together. He said there could have been more contact with the group. Mayor Dirksen said that on at least two levels the Council was at fault. On a more formal level,because we are the governing body,whatever happens on our watch,is our fault. On a couple of levels he said he felt personally at fault. Staff said that it was the law to have a citizen's advisory committee for an urban renewal district. So they formed one immediately because they couldn't move forward without it. He remembered City Manager Prosser telling him soon after that the CCAC had a task of creating a boundary. He wondered if they were ready for that task but he didn't question it and let it roll ahead. Councilor Harding referred to historical information she obtained on reasons why past BID's failed. She said there were business owners opposed, so it did not go forward. She noted that this latest urban renewal went to the entire voting district of Tigard and passed. Mayor Dirksen said he may have felt complacent.When that BID was moved forward, there were two groups, one behind it and one was bought in later,who eventually opposed it and it failed. When we created the Downtown Task Force we purposefully included individuals from both sides of that issue so that we could have them work together towards a Tigard City Council Meeting—July 6,2006 Page 7 Agenda Item Discussion& Comments Action Items (follow up compromise. Three years later,with a completed Downtown Plan, the City had a group who were so well connected to one another that they refused to go home after their work was done. They wanted to stay involved and be included. He said there was success in getting the two sides together so they recreated that process for the CCAC. Councilor Woodruff wanted to acknowledge the CCAC in that in spite of strong feelings on this issue from the members, he didn't see a lot of articles about it in the newspapers and it stayed relatively quiet. He appreciated how the members did not make it into an ugly situation. Ms. Turner said she was struck throughout the process by the enormity and importance of this effort for the City. She said this was obviously something new for the Council, staff and citizens and for it to be successful it had to be done right. This was a just a readjustment needed to get it right. Councilor Sherwood asked the consultants what they would recommend for the next steps. Mr. Hertzberg responded that it would be a violation of confidence to recommend what to do about the people. But he said that whatever is done about the CCAC membership, the focus needs to be sharpened so that everyone understands: • What their charge is • What their role is • What it means to be an advisory committee • What it means to be a public body He said the single most important thing the Council can do to set them up for success is to give them a strong foundation. Mayor Dirksen said the first thing they needed to do was to create a better structure. He suggested looking back at what their dialog and what the direction was when the CCAC was formed and what Council said their tasks would be. He also wanted to look at whatever statute staff said they must follow and what it says the advisory commission is supposed to do. He suggested refreshing their memories and then seeing what else needs to be added to create that framework. He asked those present if that sounded reasonable. Councilor Sherwood said they don't want to "throw the baby out with the bath water." She suggested getting the foundation Tigard City Council Meeting—July 6,2006 Page 8 Agenda Item Discussion& Comments Action Items (follow up set before going any further. Mr. Hertzberg said the second thing would be for the Council to be clear within their own group what the downtown focus is. He said it was open for different kinds of interpretation and there needed to be a very clear message from the Council what the focus is. Councilor Wilson said there were groundrules about how to be a chair, etc. but there are also steps to implement the plan. The plan is just being developed. He asked for staff to bring the Council up to speed. Interim Community Director Coffee said that the Downtown Implementation Strategy document that the CCAC has been working on will be coming to the Council for adoption. It basically sets the program for the next year and the three-year scope of work. Mayor Dirksen said that portion has come along well and is the result of the entire group. He thought it was a very valid strategy. He referred to an earlier comment about whether the Downtown Plan was a framework or a specific list. He said the answer is that it is both. It's a framework and vision but also a Est of specific projects to begin with. As time goes by it needs to be reviewed to identify more projects and see if projects on that list are still valid. This is one of the roles of the CCAC, as well as bringing their opinions on projects to Council for them to decide on. Senior Planner Nachbar said the strategy that is being developed is designed for review and update on an annual basis so that the Commission and Council can check progress and revise the strategy as appropriate. Councilor Woodruff asked if there was a stable staff. Mr. Hertzberg noted that he had not met Senior Planner Nachbar before and he wasn't speaking of him personally,but he suggested that everybody be made clear about roles, relationships and responsibilities. The one thing he heard was that the staff member involved with the CCAC was new and there wasn't anyone to orient him. His manager,while he has been here awhile was new in that position and even the City Mana er had not been in his position for a long time. He Tigard City Council Meeting—July 6,2006 Page 9 Agenda Item Discussion& Comments Action Items (follow up suggested the City backfill and make sure staff involved is on the same page and has the same background. He said it looked to him that everyone hit the ground running. Mayor Dirksen agreed placing a new staff member who had not been involved at the beginning might not have been the best choice. But staff-change circumstances were beyond anyone's control. Councilor Sherwood said they needed to make decisions at the time and they did what they thought was best. Councilor Wilson said the bad thing is when people get frustrated and decide to leave...we can find a role for them if they're still willing. Mayor Dirksen said he wanted to talk about the issue of personnel. He referred to Councilor Sherwood's comment that they needed to dissolve the Commission and start all over. Council Sherwood said that was a knee-jerk reaction. Mayor Dirksen said he had to admit his first thought was very similar. But he said that if they were to dissolve the Commission and then look at membership later, the odds are that we would consider asking the same people to come back again. That being said,it is his opinion that the Commission, as it now sits, doesn't adequately represent the full spectrum of Tigard citizens. It would be difficult for him to consider recommendations by them and embrace them whole-heartedly because he doesn't know that opinion represents a wide opinion of the City. For the Commission to move forward he felt they need a broader range of membership than what is there now. Mayor Dirksen said he recommended not dissolving the Commission, asking those who are still on it to remain, and once the strategy is finalized, to become somewhat inactive until we have time to consider the membership and add some new members.At that point we would give them more formal tasks to consider and work on. Councilor Woodruff said once it was fully reconstituted they would determine their chairman. Mayor Dirksen agreed that at that time it would be a formal Tigard City Council Meeting—July 6,2006 Page 10 Agenda Item Discussion& Comments Action Items follow up "new beginning." At that point they would elect new officers. Staggered terms with limits would be set and different positions would be assigned at the same time as well. The most that would probably happen with existing members is that they may find their terms at different lengths. He said that a statement he heard before this process was that this CCAC was interim until urban renewal was passed and then a "real" CCAC would be formed. He stressed that this was never the case. Councilor Harding didn't remember that the CCAC was going to be temporary. She asked the Mayor what demographic group he felt was not represented by this committee. Mayor Dirksen said that a large portion of the people that have chosen to leave are from the business and property owners of the downtown area and he did not feel they were well represented. Councilor Harding noted that some CCAC members in attendance worked downtown. Mayor Dirksen reiterated that he said the downtown business and property owners were not un-represented,but not well represented. Councilor Woodruff said he liked the idea of finding ways to use the talent and dedication of the people that have already been involved. He asked the consultants if when they talked with folks about not wanting to come together as part of the old constructed group, did any of them want to be a part of it in some way? Mr. Hertzberg said he believed everyone they talked to has commitment to the downtown improvement and will be involved in some way for the long term. He didn't know if bridges that have been burned can come back together. Mayor Dirksen said he would like to extend a hand to those who tendered their resignations and ask them a) would they like to come back;and b) in what capacity would they be willing to come back. He said he would hate to lose their history and perspective. Councilor Woodruff didn't like being between a rock and a hard place in feeling Council had to choose between supporting the old faction that left or the remaining group. He felt that these eo le were all doing good work even if there were different Tigard City Council Meeting—July 6,2006 Page 11 Agenda Item Discussion & Comments Action Items (follow up styles. Councilor Wilson asked about the perception of personal gain and cautioned that we need to be careful about this. Councilor Sherwood said the property and business owners need to be represented, especially during formulation, as they're the ones that will be most impacted, either for good or for bad. City Manager Prosser said you need property owners in the district to beinvolved in urban renewal. Oregon ethics laws provide some guidance—with regard to a general interest vs. a specific interest. For example,if we needed to negotiate a property purchase with a CCAC member, they could not participate on the CCAC regarding this transaction. Ms.Turner said she didn't feel this was a really serious issue. As trust is built in a group,people will appreciate everyone else's strengths and different skills and that will add to the whole. And balancing that with ongoing public input through various means as you go along not only keeps the public informed but acts as a counter-balance. Councilor Wilson asked what the current status of the group is and when they need to be meeting. Mayor Dirksen said there is a schedule of issues for them to consider. City Manager Prosser said that the Strategic Work Plan will be coming to Council for approval;they've got to be looking at Downtown Design guidelines and a number of other things. Senior Planner Nachbar said they are going to be meeting two times per month and have begun to work on land-use issues in the downtown. The Strategic Plan will be presented for adoption on August 8`h but in the meantime the group has quite a schedule to work on the beginning of the land use regulations for downtown. Mayor Dirksen said they need to continue to move forward with review, consideration and discussion but probably not come to any decisions or formal recommendations to Council. They should continue to work but wait until new members could come on and review what existing group has done and get ownership of that as well. Tigard City Council Meeting—July 6,2006. Page 12 Agenda Item Discussion& Comments Action Items (follow up Councilor Sherwood asked if the Mayor was looking for a Council Committee to meet right away and start working on a charge, focus and ground rules. Mayor Dirksen said the first thing to do is get information from staff and decide at that point what amount of effort and time is needed. City Manager Prosser mentioned that there is not a workshop meeting this month. He felt the appropriate time to discuss this was at an August meeting. Councilor Wilson asked if the Council was just repeating the same mistake as last time-ongoing tasks,lots of background information from staff, deadlines and we're throwing new people in. He suggested going slow in adding new people and stagger terms carefully. A suggestion in the report that he would like to see implemented is more formal training for committee appointees that deals with appropriate behavior. City Manager Prosser said the City is starting a process to formally develop a charge statement and structure for all of our boards and commissions. He said they also want to do that for staff liaisons. Councilor Woodruff thought this was a good idea and wondered whether this could be part of the volunteer program whereby once a month, any newly appointed board or commission members would be required to sit in on an evening class. Mayor Dirksen asked about existing members. Councilor Sherwood said we should formalize it and take everyone through it. Councilor Wilson said it needs to include the touchy subject of how to remove someone because sometimes that needs to be done. Councilor Woodruff noted that the report recommended that the alternates be involved. He asked how many members can be on the CCAC. City Manager Prosser said the Code says between 6-12 and as they requested an odd number, they could add one alternate and have 11. Councilor Sherwood asked if there should be a member of the Council on the committee. Mayor Dirksen said that having a direct liaison with the Council Motion by worked well with the Task Force. Councilor Woodruff asked, Councilor "What about a Council person going off the Council in Woodruff, seconded January?" Mayor Dirksen said that would be a worthy by Councilor consideration. Sherwood to adjourn the meeting. Mayor Dirksen said all CCAC members need to be notified that The motion carriedby a unanimous vote they can give comments in the next week. Mayer Dirksen will of Council present. Tigard City Council Meeting—July 6,2006 Page 13 Agenda Item Discussion& Comments Action Items follow u contact the members who resigned by phone between now and next Tuesday. Mayor Dirksen Yes A decision will be made at next week's meeting about adding an Sally Harding Yes Sydney Sherwood Yes alternate member. Nick Wilson Yes Tom Woodruff Yes Mayor Dirksen said more was achieved at this meeting than he envisioned and thanked the consultants for their report. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 7:29 p.m. Motion by Councilor Woodruff,seconded by Councilor Sherwood,to adjourn the meeting. The motion was approved by a unanimous vote of Council present. Mayor Dirksen Yes Councilor Harding Yes Councilor Sherwood Yes Councilor Wilson Yes Councilor Woodruff Yes aa- 4ezu etx Catherine Wheatley, City Recorder Attest: C Mayor, ty of Tigard Date: b ' � iAadmkc thy\c=\2006k06O7O6.doc Tigard City Council Meeting—July 6,2006 Page 14