Metro Committee for Citizen Involvement Regular Committee

Call to Order & Approval of Agenda

Chair Ted Kyle opened the meeting at 5:50 p.m. Members present were as follows: Kay Durtschi, Dennis Ganoe, Kathy Henton, Bill Merchant, Darren Pennington, Bob Pung, Pat Russell, Meyer Siegel, Aleta Woodruff and MCCI Staff.

Members absent were: Norman Andreen, Joe Annett, Gil Cobb, Richard Jones, Andy Kelly, Leeanne MacColl, Keith Parker, Jerry Penk, Helen Richardson, Scott Seibert, Ray Sherwood, Shannon Turk.

Introductions

The members identified themselves for the record. There was no appointment of a timekeeper.

Approval of Agenda

Chair Kyle reviewed the agenda and stated that Councilor Rex Burkholder would not be in attendance. There were not sufficient members for a quorum. With consensus, the meeting moved on.

Approval of Minutes

The minutes of the previous meeting were held over for lack of a quorum. Camrynne Six, Auditor's Office, noted a misspelling of the auditor’s name. Also, on page 3, third paragraph, Mr. Uba’s statement was not clear. It was requested that the clerk check with Mr. Uba for his specific statement.

Public Comment

No public comment was made.

Council Liaison Report - Rex Burkholder

Mr. Burkholder was not present.

Auditor Liaison Report - Camrynne Six

Ms. Six reported that Ms. Dow was continuing her work on the audit plan, and as the postcards she had mailed to members indicated, she is seeking ideas from MCCI. No new reports have been published since the last meeting. Chair Kyle thanked Ms. Dow on behalf of MCCI for her presentation at the last meeting. A member mentioned the postcard as being a political vehicle used as a response to Council criticism. MCCI members also received a McList postcard requesting verification of information for the database.

New Business

Approval of the MCCI Policies and Procedures

Held over for lack of a quorum. Suggestions for edits or modifications were solicited. In general discussion, a format change was suggested for greater clarity of roles at a local level; improved training and mentoring process and greater interaction between members and their District Councilors.

 Zoo Public Involvement Discussion

 Kim Freed, The Oregon Zoo Foundation Development Director, welcomed the committee and spoke of volunteer opportunities. She distributed a brochure produced by the Zoo, and read statistics and general information pertinent to the volunteer program. The Foundation was a non-profit entity, operating as a development department for the Zoo with Mr. Vecchio serving as Board President. Metro Council does not govern the Foundation; the money they raise stays with the Zoo and is not taxed. Mr. Pung suggested that the Zoo have a citizen involvement volunteer project once a year, as a way of promoting MCCI. Questions and general discussion followed regarding clarification of the relationship between the Zoo, Metro and the Foundation: the kinds of Zoo decisions that would involve the Metro Council; the percentage of funds raised by the Foundation; who decides on new exhibits; if there was a Zoo advisory committee; who gives direction to the Zoo and topics which could benefit from citizen input. Ms. Freed said any direct Zoo questions should be directed to Mr. Vecchio. Ms. Woodruff asked for an explanation of Resolution No. 01-3047 - regarding advertising services, and use of the Metro logo. There was a brief discussion with Mr. Kyle resulting in a request that Mr. Vecchio be appraised of Committee interest, willingness to assist or improve public involvement and its assistance to implement a good public involvement program, i.e. capital investments. It was suggested that the budget be reviewed as a first step in a learning experience.

 Review of the 2000-01 Goals

Chair Kyle noted that of MCCI's three major goals, Goal 1 was done, and work on Goal 2-3 had progressed considerably. He hoped to complet the goals at the July retreat. The last column on the Goal sheet contained ideas for major issues that might be heard at regular meetings; some had been accomplished, some had not. He asked for committee input on how effective citizen involvement was at the subcommittee level. One member felt that many things had been discussed at the Growth Management (GM) subcommittee, but when he first became a member it was a higher priority. He had hoped that staff would bring forward new methods, but so far they had not. The subcommittee had no way to measure progress. Chair Kyle noted that the department had been in flux during this time. Until the technical work was done, public involvement could not start. He hoped that as the 2040 reengagement came together, a number of projects would appear that MCCI could go forward with as PIPs, or something similar. He asked if the Goal 5 grant had ended.

One member said he felt it was important for members to be able to go back to the local groups they participated in and report on what was happening. PIPs were a good way of doing so. Mr. Merchant said in general, the subcommittees wrestled with MCCI's role – were they watch dogs or supporters. It was difficult for the committee to evaluate without all the information available to staff. Ms. Woodruff responded that one way to get the information was to attend Council and committee meetings as she had done for years. The Steering Committee was not about public involvement; it was about PIPs. It took time to build bridges between MCCI and Metro staff. Mr. Pennington had two concerns in regard to GM: 1. Lots, if not all of the eggs were being placed in the 2040 reengagement basket; and 2. At the same time, major GM issues would occur while the reengagement was in progress. He questioned how many applications had come in for expansion of the UGB (Urban Growth Boundary), how many were heading to public hearing, had any lawsuits developed, etc. He noted that a public hearing on 2040 was scheduled in his neighborhood for July 16.

Mr. Ganoe felt that MCCI Policies and Procedures should include a general way for its sub-committees to engage staff in an exchange of information, e.g. he only found out when lands had been purchased by Metro by reading the paper. Chair Kyle noted that land acquisition was always done in executive session where the public is excluded. Ms. Durtschi suggested that the Auditor should note in her audits what type, if any, citizen involvement was there, and what amount of citizen involvement was accomplished. It was also suggested that the Auditor should audit Metro’s use of citizen involvement globally. It was stated that Blue Lake Park had much citizen involvement, but wondered what level of citizen involvement was going on in other areas.

Chair Kyle asked Mr. Pung if he felt there was transportation information that he was not receiving from Metro’s communication liaison. Mr. Pung responded, yes, e.g. as to reopening studies for South Corridor light rail. He suspected that the Metro communication liaison knew about it, but had never discussed it with him. Ms. Woodruff asked if there had been a reorganization of the MCCI committees to fit the renaming of the Metro departments. The answer was no. There was discussion about restructuring the MCCI committees to match Metro departments. Chair Kyle said that hopefully at the retreat the committee could look at Metro’s structural changes, and how MCCI might reorganize itself to match. There was discussion about planning the retreat. It was suggested that another member be assigned to Mr. Pennington’s committee. Chair Kyle stated lots of goals had been identified to address in the new fiscal year. Mr. Pung spoke of enhancing the goals by including an additional goals sheet.

The group requested the clerk to write a thank you note to Tony Vecchio and Mike Keele at the Zoo for hosting the meeting.

MCCI Chair Report - Open Nomination for Officers

There was no report to give at this time. Chair Kyle stated he was willing to serve again; no other nominations had been received. Steering committee positions include chair, vice chair, subcommittee heads, and three at-large-members who are not subcommittee heads.

The last Steering Committee summary had not been prepared; it was hoped to be ready for the next meeting. Sandra Newstrom, MCCI clerk, told the committee she had resigned her position at Metro, but that the committee would continue to be served by a Metro Council staff person. The committee expressed a desire to be involved in the hiring of the next clerk. Mr. Pung noted that the meeting evaluation sheet was missing. He suggested the agenda items for the month be listed by topics for evaluation. It was suggested that a new feature list be drawn up. Lupine Jones, Parks Department Volunteer Coordinator will address the group in June.

A roster and financial report were provided the committee. Any financial questions should be directed to Cathy Kirchner. As of April 30, 2001, 74% of the budget had been spent. MCCI is a component of the Office of Citizen Involvement. It was mentioned that when Mike Burton, Executive Officer, had addressed the committee three years ago, he indicated that MCCI was under the auspices of his office, and had 1.0 FTE. Summaries with materials distributed at the meeting would be provided for the subcommittees.

Member Roundtable

Everything in Beaver Creek is fine. The CPO is instrumental in changing Oregon law this session regarding the formation of a new city. Ms. Woodruff stated that people were irritated with the Hazardous Waste pickup because they had to wait so long.

Meeting adjourned at 7:20 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Pat Weathers

MCCI Committee Clerk