07/08/1998 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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• CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION JULY 8,1998 REQUIRED ATTENDANCE FOR ALL DEPARTMENT HEADS, DAVE PECCHIA Dave explained that earlier this year, the Council requested all department heads attend all Council meetings in the month of June. The Council would then review and discuss whether it was necessary to continue requiring the attendance of all department heads at all Council meetings. John noted that the Council had not heard a word from Marty or Pete this evening and they had nothing scheduled on the agenda. He suggested that if there are no items that even remotely involve Marty or Pete, they should not be required to attend all Council meetings. Andy suggested all staff meetings be held at 7:00 a.m. or 5:00 p.m. He said that whenever he calls city hall for something, he is told that the department heads are in meetings. He felt staff should be available during working hours. Kim asked that all department heads with the exception of Marty and Pete be at all Council meetings. She felt this was a team effort and all team members should be present. Dave asked if staff could be working on other matters during the meetings. This could be productive time for department heads. Council did not have a problem with this suggestion. • John noted that voice mail at city hall needed to be updated each day. Kim asked that all voice mail calls be returned within four (4) hours. • Dave noted that the storms created the need for extra department head meetings. He explained that staff does try to make these meetings short. Kim asked Dave to let Dawn know that she is doing an excellent job as receptionist. Kim referred to the Open Mike portion of the City Council meetings. She asked Council Members to refrain from participating in conversations with the persons at Open Mike. This portion of the meeting is for anyone to present items to the City Council. There should be no discussion or debate with the person making the presentation. Kim referred to Council use of consultants. She noted that some individual Council Members are contacting consultants and running up big consulting bills. She suggested that Council Members contact the appropriate staff first to determine if they can be of help. If a Council Member must contact a consultant, they should make that contact very brief. Andy referred to the City Charter and said he felt that individual contact of a consultant is not permitted. Kim suggested that if a Council Member had to speak to a consultant for more than 15 minutes, the matter should be brought before the entire Council. PAGE 9