Springfield City Council — November 14, 2022

0:07 AJ cannot see you so you're gonna have to tell me that you're ready to go [Music] we're ready to go mayor all right thank you I'm going to call the uh Springfield City Council work session to order with roll call Mayor Van Gordon here councilor Pitts here councilor Moon here counselor rodley here counselor stare here councilor Woodrow councilor Pictionary councilor Woodrow and missionary are excused for the evening and I am coming to you from an undisclosed location because I am I've got bronchitis and I go want to share um we've had two items today in their committee interviews so

0:52 looks like the first one's Library advisory applicant interviews and is Emily here good evening mayor good evening counselors I am here and um I am here as representative for the library Advisory Board we have three applicants this evening we have three open positions or will have as of December 31st so um there's a two-year term a three-year term and a four-year term the two and three year terms are completions of um people that stepped down early and then the other is a full four-year term we have three applicants here ready to be interviewed when you're ready unless you have any questions for me does anybody have any questions for Emily I I have one question do any of

1:39 the applicants have a preference for any of the terms that are available we haven't spoken about that okay they've all been to a library Advisory board meeting and are interested in participating but we didn't talk about that link thank you any other questions I think we're ready okay well I believe uh Susan Bogan Shield is first hello hello Susan um

2:24 nice to meet you I'm gonna go ahead and ask all the questions um without in a hybrid environment it's really hard to go around to introduce all of ourselves I understand but we're all pleased to meet you so are you ready to answer questions sure go for it why are you interested in serving on the library board I'd like to participate in the community and I'm an Avid Reader I'm been um a volunteer in different capacities at libraries and places where I've lived um and

3:13 do you have any specific professional or personal experiences that relates to your desire to be on the library board my professional experience is varied I mean I've been a non-profit fundraiser for National Public Radio Network all the way down to being a preschool teacher for two-year-olds or a special ed teacher the majority of my professional career was based in non-profit fundraising a couple of universities and public broadcasting and I sort of look at this variety of experiences that I've had as you know I might not have a library degree but um I've had lots of constituents in my

3:58 careers and I think that um you know I might have a broad perspective of ways to look at things issues that might come up foreign could you give an example of your experience working with a committee um I at NPR we were I had a committee for um a nationally based fundraising appeal when there was a significant shortfall at the network level um so I worked with station managers I worked with um um a good cross-section of

4:45 folks across the community um having to help um folks basically at the local level and the national level and putting together a fundraising effort on on air that took collaboration with um professional talent and station broadcasters and the management at the network level how do you think the work of the library board will improve our community

5:31 [Music] I have a lot to learn about that um I think the library suits a lot of needs um it's basically a home for a lot of people during the day and um it's an important thing I know that you know parents bring children um and you know people like me who are who have grown children and um have interest in in book clubs and reading and whatnot um

6:18 but I do have a lot to learn about what the library you know what the inside machinations are in the library all right well thank you so much you're welcome Emily I think we're ready for person number two do I just go up do I wait for Emily is there an emcee what's good hi always wait for Emily yes that's good advice well it's very nice to meet you are you ready for your uh first question yes

7:06 why are you interested in serving on the library board um this would be my first time serving on any kind of board uh I'm interested specifically because as a Springfield resident I use the library really heavily I have two kids second and fourth graders and they both love the library we love the things that it offers Beyond books I mean we definitely have probably checked out almost every book in the children's section but on top of that we love the events the um just every the displays that are up that we feel are really in tune with the community and I guess I'd like to be a

7:52 part of that perfect thank you could you describe your professional and personal experience as it relates to your desire to become a library member sure so um as I said I've not uh served on a on a board or anything like that before but um I have worked with children my entire professional life my bachelor's is in child development psychology minor um I've worked everywhere from preschool K-8 um I've run day cares I've been a private Nanny I've always been heavily involved in education and libraries have always been a part of that everywhere that I've lived uh currently I'm an educational facilitator with teach Northwest which is out of the

8:37 Marcola District but um yet again a a very high number of uh kids in my caseload are Springfield residents and I'm forever diverting them to the library for one thing or another and uh yes I guess literacy well not Library specific literacy has played a big part in everything that I've done and now I'm working on my Master's in curriculum development and even within that it's it's all about literacy in libraries and what they have to offer can you give us an example of your experience working with a committee uh my only experience is working with committees would be in a professional capacity at various schools so

9:23 preschools um I'm currently on the uh for Northwest currently on the Student Success team and the curriculum committee um it's always been positive uh with with teach it's been mostly virtual um but it's been very nice to be able to collaborate and to learn from people who've been doing it longer than I have and then to kind of test my knowledge as new people come in and be able to answer their questions and it's it's always been a very positive experience how do you think the work of the library board will improve our community well as I mentioned before I love the various things uh community outreach and events that are put on I feel like more

10:08 people uh more people are drawn to the library after seeing those kinds of things and they are able to come and experience things oftentimes bringing their children and they're able to feel a connection with other people I've met friends at the library at events that I mean years later we're still doing stuff together and hanging out and I think it's a lovely way for people to come together and I feel like it serves everybody I mean I realize my work's primarily been with children but I mean there's if I feel like there's something there for everyone and that everybody is able to find that something and the other people who are looking for that something when the library is active

10:54 all right that was the last question thank you so much thank you hello Rebecca it's very nice to meet you nice to meet you guys too um are you ready for your first question hope so why are you interested in serving on the library board I'm interested in serving in some capacity in the Springfield City of Springfield um I've lived here uh in the Eugene

11:39 Springfield area for about 14 years and in Springfield specifically for about eight years or so my kids are now grown in in school well grown they are older and in school most days and I really wanted to get more involved in my community and be just be able to speak into things and be able to help out how I can foreign could you describe your professional and personal experience as it relates to your desire to become a library member professional so I've worked in a lot of higher education settings I've worked in a private Community uh private university I for a short time did data entry at the University of Oregon so

12:25 I've done a lot of educational things more on the administrative side than necessarily uh Library side um but in such I feel like I've got a lot of experience in knowing how to work within processes and yet still be able to get things done to serve student bodies or bodies of people in the last few years I as a stay-at-home mom I worked uh leading and being a part of a mama preschoolers group at my church and it was a great opportunity to volunteer my time interact with other moms in the community of the same opinions of mine or not our same beliefs and mine are not um and uh to be able to serve them and

13:10 do fundraising and um just a lot of varied opportunities to be able to grow and to be able to um gain new skills so I think that those kind of experiences will help me to be able to work well with the Committees and to be able to try to do the best I can in serving City of Springfield how do you think the work of the library board will approve our community I think it was so fun to attend a meeting because to be able to see what that was discussed and what was in plan and in place to be able to address things that people need they mentioned that they had uh recently taken away the fines and I

13:57 know as a parent in this community that was a big surprise to me but also a really big blessing in terms of budgets from my own household and so to see those kind of things where they are literally impacting the people and there was a discussion about a dyslexia thing that they're doing um someone on the board was really excited about that hopefully I'm not speaking at a turn oh I'm sorry guys I'm new um anyways it was just exciting to see the ways that they interacted and things they do and that was really a lot of fun and I can't remember what the question was I'm so sorry no you did perfect okay good well thank you so much I think you're coming back here in a couple of minutes so yeah up all right we'll see in a couple minutes

14:52 do you have any questions for me know that Rebecca is interviewing for both of the Committees so I don't know if you wanted to wait mayor or how you want to handle that um can we is there any uh preset order can I can we just have her back and get her done and out of the way to the historic Commission because there's only two more quite like two more questions she's answered majority of them so mayor did you want to move to the next item yes please

15:37 mayor before we bring uh Tom up I just wanted to quickly introduce him to the council Tom is our new senior planner he came to us from the Maryland national capital Park and Planning Commission which is sort of like elkog and he's working with Mark Rust and all the great folks over in Community Development and so we're very happy to have him this is his first time in front of the council thank you all right um if we are ready to start good evening mayor and councils or counselors I'm Tom sieber senior planner and staff liaison for the historic commission uh we are asking that you interviewed three candidates for the historic commission today there are two new vacancies on the now nine-person historic commission and one pending vacancy from an existing member

16:22 that being said uh Jenna fribley's term expires on November 19th uh which I was unaware of leading up to the appointment or to my appointment as halfway is on so she was not able to apply in this round but she has indicated that she is interested in staying on the commission so just to keep that in mind um that's all I have for now and I'd be happy to answer any of your questions unless we're ready to start um I I did have one question uh Jennifer is interested in the pending vacancy uh Jenna has a uh yeah standing vacancy writing or a position right now uh it would become vacant on November 19th so

17:07 her position would not be included in these three technically not okay thanks you're welcome and could you give us the count again it's three people for three how many vacancies you said I heard nine two two vacancies right now it was a seven person commission and it has now changed to a nine person commission uh so with all uh members currently serving their terms right now there would be two open seats uh to be filled and then the Jedi issue okay correct I know okay I think we are ready okay um the first applicant then will be Rebecca weed so we can get that moving oh thank you

18:00 um so it's basically the same set of questions but if you could just add you know I I'm gonna fire I'm gonna give you the same set and if you could add any other relevant experience you have specific to the historic commission then we're going to choose we'll get you wrapped up here why are you interested in serving on a historic commission so truly my heart lies to really serve many as many places that I could potentially in Springfield um that sounds like a lot mainly I want to serve in somewhere in our city government if I can um and I thought of the two places that I enjoy I enjoy the library and I also love architecture and historic things and so when I saw openings available for both I would put in my application for both um as far as historic commission

18:45 um I'm just an average like architecture history buff I don't feel like I am an expert by any means but I really love it and enjoy it and it sounded like a great opportunity to learn more about the city I didn't grow up here but Layla like going to the Washburn District or seeing the murals and the things that are around town um that really just speak to the culture and the the people here okay how do you think the work of the historic commission improves the community to um remember and learn from and grow from history and I think preserving some things so that they can be talked about as a community and

19:31 um having uh is is fantastic I think that leads to great conversations amongst people uh I think having some things like be saved like certain buildings that have history that are important I think that's fantastic I think sometimes even having um some kind of boundaries around things so that uh they can be saved or so that the way of life that is kind of um desired to be here that we can grow towards that and still obviously having space for new things and new ideas but um that boundaries don't have to be a bad thing unnecessarily all right thank you so much hey guys I appreciate it

20:21 all right thank you uh the next applicant will be Adam Howard hello Mr mayor council members my name is Adam Howard very nice to meet you Adam are you ready for the first question yes please why are you interested in serving on the historic committee so for the past four years I have served as a member of the Springfield history museum committee most of that time is chair and there were some opportunities that I identified during my time there that I felt would be I would be better able to pursue them uh as a member of the historic Commission than I necessarily was as a member of

21:06 the historic or History Museum committee um one of those is The National Trust for historic preservation uh they have a number of advocacy opportunities that I think that this city can take advantage of particularly distinctive destinations which identifies important architectural buildings and homes and provides visitors to their website with a resource with which to explore those learn more about them and showcase what great things they have to offer another is called Main Street America and Main Street America showcases historic main streets in this case the businesses that are on those historic main streets

21:52 and they have a number of opportunities for local towns and cities to engage in activities they provide advocacy for those who are interested in improving their main streets and their economic activities on those main streets and uh it's just a great way to engage in a way that might not have engaged but are certainly looking to so I would say that the work that I've done on the History Museum committee I think I can complete that as a member of the historic Commission could you describe any professional or personal experience that you have that relates to being on the historic

22:37 Commission sure so beyond describing what I just yeah so if you if you you know I don't think you talked about what you did professionally you know um you know any other details you might add sure so by profession I am an accounting coordinator with Royal Caribbean International I still have headquarters out on International Way so I still work technically in Springfield even though I do work from home that's a great opportunity because it taught me about numbers and I really wasn't a math student growing up but uh it's taught me how to learn by doing and to learn on the Fly and I think that I taken those skills and I've applied them to other things in terms of my personal

23:22 interests in terms of my engagements in the community in addition to my time on the museum committee I'm also a member of the Jordan schnitzel Museum of Art Emeritus Leadership Council that gives me an opportunity to work with different people in a different capacity but all together with the same goal nothing gives me a greater sense of accomplishment than working with groups of people towards accomplishing a like-minded objective and uh I take that to my role professionally I take it to my role in the community and I I try to

24:08 let that guide me as much as possible can you give us an example of your experience working with committees sure um so I'll use something that I haven't mentioned already in addition to my work here at the Museum committee as well as the Jordan Schnitzer Emeritus committee I was also a board member at the Shelton McMurphy Johnson House uh it's where I really cultivated my passions for historical architecture and particularly house museums because I feel like house museums have the greatest storytelling potential and that was really something that I wanted to highlight it's really something that I would like to highlight as a member of the historic

24:54 commission as well what are the stories and how do we tell them but it was also a very different experience it actually was not the most positive experience and it taught me a lot um I think that I had certain goals that were not necessarily in line with the goals of the other committee members and that taught me the importance of being on the same page and recognizing that we're in a group and that it's the the group that matters that's the group that matters it's how the group works with the um with the city with the staff Liaisons and with their volunteers um I think that has also guided me and it's also something that I recognize is

25:40 very important and would certainly want to emphasize so I do have experience working with a number of similar yet disparate organizations some good most good some bad but those bad ones have been learning opportunities and I'm certainly grateful for those learning opportunities how do you think the work of the historic commission improves our community Okay so clearly Main Street and Washburn are the most visible parts of this city and the first thing that people notice when they drive in the one thing that people want to see when they're here and I wanted to make sure that people have an opportunity to do that but not only to see them and experience them but

26:27 to learn about them you know I mentioned storytelling storytelling is important in a museum but it's also important in a community and if I can help tell the stories of the residents of Springfield helps to tell the story of their properties and their homes and their lives especially if we can include what it was like in the past versus what it is like now I think that that's going to encourage people to come here and certainly going to encourage them to have a better experience when they are here

27:14 good evening mayor Van Gordon and Council for the records Celine Swenson Harris resident of Ward 3. all right perfect are you ready for your first question absolutely why are you interested in serving on the historic Commission um I am interested because I love Springfield I am excited to live here um and I'm interested in the opportunity to serve our community as well as the opportunity to learn more about our history and to share that with my fellow Springfield neighbors I also recognize that the commission plays a key role for folks who live in the Washburn historic district when they are considering making changes or preserving their homes and I think there's a big opportunity

27:59 there for us to be proactive about opportunities to share information with those folks to make that process as easy as possible could you describe your professional or personal experience as it relates to the historic Commission um not a lot of personal experience with preservation or architecture but quite a bit of experience serving on um boards um both in the sort of non-profit and advocacy space as well as I've served on the LCC budget committee for several years and been chair there twice I also have in my professional experience a good deal of experience receiving Community feedback and responding to that which I think is important in a community board

28:50 so you talked about Community experience the next question really is is can you give us an example your experience working with the committee and if if you have anything else to add about it I'll put otherwise we can kind of move on um sorry to answer the question before it was asked a time I've served on the LCC budget committee it's been a really valuable opportunity both to work with fellow citizens who care about local government as well as to receive feedback from the community via public testimony and I really appreciated that opportunity to learn more and be further invested in a facet of our local government

29:37 how do you think the the work of the year the historic commission benefits the community I think it's really important to understand our history I think that there's a lot of opportunities there for us to learn about um about Springfield's past I've also talked a bit about that role interfacing with homeowners which I think is an incredibly important piece of what the historic commission does and it's something that I would be excited to work on all right well thank you so much thank you okay so we we want to talk about both the library and historic committee we can do

30:23 them separately we can do them at the same time who wants to jump in first all right uh Leonard um well I if we're going to discuss them both at the same time I think it might be helpful um would that be would that be acceptable to everyone right I'd um I'd like to suggest um that um Adam and Celine are both highly qualified for the uh for the historic commission and um uh Rebecca and Myra and Susan um all seem

31:08 um eminently qualified for the library committee and um I I I guess the the question that I would have is just allocating the two-year and the three year and the four-year terms for the library committee all right uh we'll come back to the terms for a second let's just let's go around and make sure we have some sort of consensus on that as a as a lineup Corey um thank you I I agree with counselor stare um I saw that Rebecca was had applied for both of them and I just my inclination is that she would be a better fit on the library board and um since it looks like there are two current spots if I'm understanding correctly for the historic commission and there will be another one come open

31:54 and then there'll be another recruitment process I agree with counselor steer that I would um I would propose moving Adam and Celine onto that and the other three onto the other all right I'm looking for head knobs or anything else people want to add is that Damien uh yeah I mean I agree uh but I I would say one of the issues that I see you know what their store commission is that you know a lot of folks talked about the architecture and the history and when you tie you know when you focus on the buildings too much you're pretty much only gonna focus on the history of middle class white people which is one of the issues that you know we brought up with the historic commission before like how do you define history it goes past old

32:40 buildings and if you truly want to know the history sometimes you got to look at the Bad and the good and I just hope that I mean I think they'll be good fits but I just hope that they think about that as they move forward because I heard a lot about the buildings but I didn't hear about hidden history I didn't hear about unknown history and I didn't hear about the history marginalized people uh yeah so I I I agree with what council star and Council Raleigh said but I just wanted to add that caveat that we need to do uh we need to think a little bit outside the box uh for the historic Commission uh Steve did you have anything else to add talk all the time you know but counselors stare made recommendations

33:25 that I agree with Mr broadly um I think we've got a uh a plan if you will and um and I think for folks that are probably joining the historic commission if they're still in the room you know the commentary that councilor Pitts provided is a common theme that I think you hear from counselor Pitts and councilor rodley talking about this Committee just something that I think it's just something to keep in mind um can we go back to the the question about uh Jennifer Lee is she gonna have if you look at the schedule is she going to have a sort of a lapse of service if you will like do we is there any need from the historic could we extend her

34:10 like I know people are going to want to let people apply I get that but is there some benefit um like are she gonna miss a bunch of meetings um could we extend her service by a couple like a couple of months on our own yes uh absolutely um it is up on the 19th here in a few days uh we have one more meeting coming up for this year in December and then you know onto the new year so uh whether or not she needed to be extended or joined just as a public member then that would also be possible but certainly if it can be extended then I think that's what we would be looking for she's a great asset to the store commission as I

34:56 am learning and and you have you meet by quarter correct um I believe it's once a month and okay that's a third Tuesday of the month okay and when would you be going out for the application again would it be the in the group in probably February I'm getting nods yes okay and mayor if I could this is Mary Bridge and if I could just um add to I think that next application be in February but if Miss fribley is uh like a reappointment for her second um time you can make the decision to not interview her and then just reappoint so that could be some flexibility with somebody who's serving their second term if that's where she is so something to

35:42 consider okay great you you read my mind I was going to ask you who was going to ask you next all right for the for the rest of the council uh well do we remember do we have the ability to just extend it by a couple of months or do we is it sort of like we we could move her we can move her forward now based on whatever operating procedures are um do we have the ability to move her forward by 90 days so that we can you know if we wanted to yeah you could do two things you could extend the term for a certain amount of time so then you can do the recruitment or the appointment however you'd like especially because you have the break coming up or you could um if the council wanted to if she's willing just reappoint her on consent

36:28 sometime in December or in January and you should be all right all right perfect I guess this is a question for the council um does anybody have thoughts here Corey I have thoughts I I like the idea of just extending it through the end of the year and then opening it up and then if there if nobody else applies then I would be like okay let's go ahead and move her forward but I just I like the idea of it being as accessible for new folks to apply as possible I and I would think Damian's had had I think we probably want to extend her probably through the first quarter because if everyone out in February then that would cover the like the four

37:13 additional meetings um Leonard R Steve okay so um I think people are good with uh the Slate that we've identified and then extend um extension out until the end of the first quarter um knowing that we would go out and if I'm assuming she's interested um that we would go out and reapply uh we would go out for that additional seat when we do the spring applications foreign I just wanted to count uh just comment briefly on what counselor Pitts said I I think he's exactly correct that we don't

37:59 emphasize hidden or buried history and one of the one of the reasons that we don't is it's hard it's hard to find I mean you uh you it it requires hard work and uh I think it's something that we have to uh we're we're going to have to commit ourselves to perfect anything else before we adjourn we are going to be back at 6 30 for executive session different link Corey Emily or oh thank you I forgot about the terms I have to gavel do you want some help okay um does anybody have a preference on how to assign the terms for Library board or should we just ask Emily to

38:45 assign them randomly we've done that in the past uh I mean I I think the two three and four is a little odd uh not necessarily consistent with all other boards I mean but I mean I think the library board does good working so I'm just curious because somebody I mean what's going to happen if two people or all of them want uh four year and what's going to be the determining Factor you know if it comes to a showdown I mean how will that be decided and so that's what I would want to know because I mean it shouldn't be something like picking straws or whoever wants it because you will have where people might want the same uh term and then how are you going to decide who

39:30 gets it so I think once again we need to figure out some you know something in writing that's gonna determine what happens in these situations well historically what we've done is we've we've assigned them at our preference um that there's not a like that's a decision that we make and then it then it's codified when we read the Motions because Steve will read the actual term date in the actual motion about when that that term goes now it gets really complicated when there's not really an upside or a downside to assigning the terms and there's lots of variations because there's no real there's no real benefit and the easiest thing that we could do here is just make a decision right like it's probably not going to be a plus side so like if um

40:15 so uh there's not going to be a benefit we just have to find some clarity here all right I'm going back up to the list because I'm going to suggest we just go down okay yes definitely um some thoughts that I have I'm sure them um so I think that Susan has the most distinct experience um of that's different than other people that are already on The Advisory Board um Myra one of her co-workers is on The Advisory board so I think she'd be great but I think Susan's experience brings a

41:00 different um realm of experience and then one thing to consider is Rebecca is in the ugb she's out in the city limits we do have one person who's already in the ugb and not in the city limits so I don't know if for that reason you want to give her the shortest term um so and the reason we have the different years counselor Pitts is because people have resigned all of the terms are typically four years but we've had resignations that's why they're um staggered like that so that's just a little bit of input into who's on the board and at this point okay so could we bring up would people be okay if we went you know season four Myra three Rebecca two so just descending order

41:50 I'm seeing a head nod from Emily so let's let's unless anybody objects I think we let's do it that way sounds good all right we'll see you guys at 6 30. thank you