MCCI REGULAR MEETING

Call to Order

Chair Ted Kyle opened the meeting at 7:00 p.m. Members present were as follows: Kay Durtschi, Kathy Henton, Leeanne MacColl, Jerry Penk, Bob Pung, Pat Russell, Ray Sherwood and Aleta Woodruff. Also present were MCCI applicants Joe Annett and Meyer Siegel and MCCI Staff.

Introductions

Ted asked members to introduce themselves for the good of the group.

Approval of Agenda

Ted reviewed agenda items and asked for any additions or questions.

A Motion was made by Kay Durtschi and seconded by Jerry Penk to approve the agenda as presented. All in favor, Motion carried.

Approval of Minutes

Kay said that page 5, paragraph 4, sentence 2 should say “Kay” not “Bill” explained that a letter like that has been written in the past. Corrections were also presented for the February 7 Steering Committee and REM subcommittee minutes. Pat complimented and thanked MCCI staff for good minutes.

A Motion was made by Pat Russell and seconded by Bob Pung to approve the minutes as corrected. All in favor except Ray who abstained due to absence, Motion carried.

Public Comment

None

Councilor Liaison Report

Councilor Burkholder said the Council has been working with the Parks and Greenspaces department to do some public outreach. The Openspaces bond is near its end and there is about $30 million left. Also, there is a huge need for steady operations and maintenance funding. Some feel we need to continue making purchases and others believe we should not purchase any more property until we can care for what we already own. Four meetings have been held with business leaders, park advocates and citizens. People were asked for comments in writing in addition to dialogue.

Councilor Burkholder chairs the Council Facilities and Operations Committee which looks at efficiency and effective use of tax dollars. In their work plan for the year, they are working on targeted meetings at each Metro location to review issues related to that facility. They will contact key stakeholders to come and ask questions as well. This work plan should be approved at tomorrow’s council meeting and then it will be available.

Redistricting is another upcoming topic. Councilors Monroe, Hosticka and Burkholder will be on a task force to lead this project since they will not be up for election in that election cycle. Under the amended Charter, the number of council districts will decrease by one, from 7 to 6. With population changes, there will likely be size changes in districts as well. A citizen advisory committee will be formed with each councilor and the executive officer providing two nominations. Anyone who is interested can contact him for consideration. Some of the discussion of the committee will be philosophical, some practical and some always seems to become political.

Finally, he said there is a $25,000 line item for parking validation that comes out of the general fund. He is concerned about this because we are getting ready to make cuts in nearly all programs. His personal feeling is that citizens should continue to be validated but those who come from other jurisdictions or businesses should pay. He asked that this be discussed in a future meeting prior to budget adoption. Aleta suggested that people needing validation should be issued a pass to make it clear who does and does not have to pay. Ted agreed that the Steering Committee will discuss this and then place it on a regular meeting agenda.

Ted said he met with Mike Burton last week. Mike also mentioned redistricting and the citizen advisory committee. He asked if Ted and Kay would be willing to serve. Ted said he would be and checked with Kay who also said she was willing. Aleta said Councilor Monroe asked her to serve also, but she had to decline. Leeanne asked who will make the final decision. Councilor Burkholder said the council will.

Pat asked Councilor Burkholder what his reaction was to the elected official orientation hosted by Metro and local jurisdictions. Councilor Burkholder said he attended the Gresham event where there was about 15 people. The goal was to reach elected and appointed officials. He observed that planning commissioners are “very volunteer” and do not know much about Metro so they were glad to come. Transportation issues came up and he felt the discussion on all topics was very helpful. Pat asked if it was just “preaching to the choir”. In response Councilor Burkholder said one participant said “I hate Metro but since we’re here lets talk about….”. He feels this is good because discussion is important regardless of opinions on certain topics.

Aleta shared a little about the Community Partner Forum for planners held on February 16 saying that many came and it was a good orientation. Pat asked if there is still an “us-them” mentality. Councilor Burkholder said that is not seen as much with people more knowledgeable about Metro.

Councilor Burkholder shared about the recent focus groups done as part of planning for 2040 re-engagement. He watched the videotapes of the focus groups and found it very interesting. In these sessions random people were chosen yet they have a real grasp of the issues. He noticed that after about an hour or so of discussion, people were saying what we say about transportation issues, parks needs, etc.

Kay asked about the OCC Advisory Committee, why it does not look at other MERC facilities and whether there can be more citizens. Councilor Burkholder said there are three citizen positions. The Council has requested that these be filled from areas beyond the City of Portland.

Aleta asked whether a green-roof will be used as part of the OCC expansion. Councilor Burkholder said it is designed to accommodate that but whether it happens depends on how much the City of Portland will contribute financially.

Auditor Liaison Report

Camrynne said they have not published any new reports since the last meeting but they are nearing the end of reviews on: 1) the TOD program (transit oriented development), 2) the OCC food service contract, and 3) recent construction at the zoo.

New Business

Approve Bylaws

Ted explained that we need a majority of the members, or 14 total votes, to change bylaws under the current bylaws so we will take our final vote next month. Kay said with four new members coming on, we will have a better chance of getting 14 next month.

Ted asked for any comments on the bylaws as they stand now. Kay asked that the date of adoption be shown on the bylaws. MCCI Staff said it will be upon adoption but agreed to put a placeholder in now. Pat asked about the title page – “per committee ordinance”. Ted explained that the bylaw changes are being made as a result of the Metro Council’s adoption of the Committee Ordinance. The first re-draft simply eliminated all issues now addressed in the committee ordinance and from there we have made further changes. Jerry asked that we clarify that subcommittee chairs be elected from the membership. Kay asked to change line 67 from “reviewed” to “ratified”. A typo in line 60 needs fixing and line 66 should be changed from “emergency” to “urgent situation”.

A Motion was made by Kay Durtschi and seconded by Jerry Penk to accept minor edits as noted and take a final vote in March. All in favor except Ray and Bob abstained, Motion carried.

Ray asked if, according to our bylaw notice requirements, we can vote next meeting. Discussion ensued and most members agreed that we gave notice for a final vote at this meeting so it will be fine to extend that to March.

MCCI Budget

The proposed budget for MCCI is $66,427, which is an increase over last year. Aleta said she wants to see food or drinks (especially something warm) at meetings again. Discussion ensued and Jerry asked that any food/drink requests come from the MCCI Chair or his designee rather than MCCI Staff. Ray asked that the point be made that MCCI’s budget be used only for MCCI business and that the employee be dedicated only to MCCI.

Metro Budget Priorities

Ted reminded the group that these are the agency-wide priorities brought to MCCI by Executive Officer Mike Burton after his discussions with Councilors. They do not necessarily reflect all the issues of importance in the budget process. Councilor Burkholder confirmed that these are big picture, programmatic priorities. For instance, parks and openspace needs management and operations funding. He also feels that Metro lacks a clear mission statement on how to incorporate the zoo, MERC facilities and administrative services into the overall scope of the agency.

Bob asked if the Council also has budget priorities. Councilor Burkholder said they have compiled a list of key issues that includes many of these as well as others. They are using this priority list as a starting place not an end.

Ted suggested that members look at the budget message submitted by the Budget Officer, in Metro’s case the Executive Officer. MCCI Staff believes that it is on the web page. Ted suggested that he would like to see greater citizen involvement about budget priorities in the future. He explained that, in all other jurisdictions, the budget committee is made up of an equal number of citizens and the governing body (city council or county commission). He believes citizens need to understand where there are options (and what they are) and where there are not (i.e. legal requirements constrain our actions). This is not something that we can do this year but it could be a goal over the next year if we so choose. Councilor Burkholder said he would be open to a suggestion for a different model that would be more open to citizens. A change that was made this year was to make the budget committee a committee of the whole council. All meetings are always open. Jerry explained how Multnomah County includes citizens in its process.

Pat sees there has been reductions in public involvement funding over the last several years but now there is an effort to re-invigorate that and he wants to ensure that the funding is actually there and set aside for this effort only. Ted pointed to this on the priority list and summarized that we want to support it and assure that it happens well.

Ray said that in the last budget process, it was difficult for MCCI to identify funds to be spent on citizen involvement. Councilor Burkholder said he would find it useful to have a report on why things were done and whether they were effective or not, rather than just what funds were spent. Kay asked that the Auditor be more involved by tracking citizen involvement on everything that is audited.

MCCI Chair Report

Election of one Steering Committee Member

Ted said Gil Cobb volunteered for this position at the last meeting. He is now nominated.

A Motion was made by Kay Durtschi and seconded by Jerry Penk to close nominations and unanimously and overwhelmingly vote for Gil Cobb to sit on the MCCI Steering Committee. All in favor, Motion carried.

Ted announced that the governor has appointed Bruce Warner as the new director of ODOT so he will be leaving Metro.

Ted passed out a letter regarding subcommittee funding. This is written in order to comply with the Committee Ordinance passed by the Metro Council last November and will go to Council as part of our budget presentation on February 28.

A Motion was made by Pat Russell and seconded by Kay Durtschi to approve budget request as written and have the chair sign it. All in favor, Motion carried.

MCCI Staff Report

MCCI Staff handed out a February 17 Oregonian opinion piece regarding citizen involvement (identified by Pat Russell), January’s expense report and evaluation forms.

Member Roundtable

Bob – he asked if members would like to have a BTU representative (state transportation group) come talk to MCCI. Ted took note of this and said the Steering Committee will take it up when planning future agendas.

Leeanne – she has attended several meetings lately where additional issues were discussed (i.e. energy, water) and related to Metro’s work. Most people feel that Metro cannot/should not take on more responsibility for topics such as these but there are obvious connections.

Pat – shared that the cities in Washington County are working on updating their transportation plans to comply with the RTP. They are working with a shoestring budget.

Joe – he is still battling with MERC over Forst Lake. He said no one really knows how much money MERC is making but it sure seems like a lot.

Aleta – the Rocky Butte Preservation Society has sent request to congressional delegates to mark the historical Missoula flood area with interpretive signs and trails. They were asked to do this by the National Trails Association. She attended an energy conference hosted by Representative Blumenauer this afternoon. There were 24 speakers and she made comments as well.

Kay – announced a neighborhood summit on March 3, 2001 that is being hosted by City of Portland Office of Neighborhoods. It is intended to build on the one held last fall in Vancouver. Anyone is welcome to attend and it would be a good place to get ideas. She noted a poem called “Old 100” that was published in the Oregonian recently. She asked MCCI Staff to put in next packet.

Ray – the Missoula flood created the area on which he lives (Alameda ridge) and at rose city golf course the water was 200 feet high.

Jerry – reported that it may only be temporary but Metro has halted work on the Bybee Howell House.

Meyer – Councilor Burkholder said no one knows who MCCI is. He did not either 4 weeks ago but he is glad to be here because we have a great cause and good discussion. He has been in many cities and they all complain about garbage.

Kathy – Gresham is the region’s 4th largest city and is approaching 100,000 residents and they are just beginning a process to develop a strategic plan. They have funded the process in the upcoming budget and will be including citizens. She missed the first public forum on Pleasant Valley but heard that 80 citizens attended and read a good article in the East Oregonian. The next forum will be held in March.

Ted – announced that Mike asked him to sit in on Council/Executive retreat in March.

The meeting was adjourned to the next Regular Meeting of the Metro Committee for Citizen Involvement.

Respectfully submitted,

Karen Withrow

MCCI Staff

ATTACHMENTS TO THE PUBLIC RECORD FOR THE MEETING OF FEBRUARY 21, 2001

The following have been included as part of the official public record: