Vic Kave would like to see a process developed to settle issues between Pacific’s council members.
The council president made the recommendation during Tuesday’s workshop in response to conduct he observed at recent meetings.
“We’re not supposed to argue at meetings,” he said. “We’re supposed to debate the issues.”
Kave suggested that council members first discuss an issue “behind closed doors.” If that does not work, Kave said the council president should be involved. The final remedy, he said, should be to discuss the issue at a council meeting.
“We have to stay on task and focus on the issues at hand,” Kave said. “It does no good to throw out barbs.”
One recent issue involved the public safety committee, which has two members from the council. Katie Garberding and Clint Steiger wanted to continue to work on that committee this year, and Stacy Oliveira sought to join it. Garberding and Steiger retained their positions when the council voted on the matter, but Oliveira did not like the process.
“I feel like there is a block of council members that are voting one way,” she said.
In the past, Oliveira noted, Pacific council members have rotated committees. Steiger said that occurred under the late John Jones when he was Mayor Pro Tem.
He then suggested that council members study how neighboring cities, such as Auburn, handle committee assignments to determine what direction Pacific should head. Steiger’s five peers – Position 7 has been vacant since Justin Newlun’s final meeting on Feb. 6 – agreed.
Elsewhere
Steiger expressed concerns about the conditions of Pacific’s streets and recommended that the City use its own technology to record traffic volumes on those roads. He acknowledged that Pacific will need to hire an independent company to conduct that study to qualify for grant money, but that is not in the budget for this year. Despite that, he said the City needs to “get our case built.”
“We need to react immediately to that,” he said.
The Council could vote on a resolution on that subject at its Monday meeting.
