Agenda - Council - 03/11/2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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-206- City of Ramsey Council /Staff Retreat February 1, 2, 2008 Comment on Image and Television: When you are on television people in this community watch you. They watch how the Council and Mayor interact with citizens and with staff. This is the public face of how the City is run; it can make the public perception of the City more positive or it can have a detrimental effect. MAYOR /COUNCIL AND STAFF EFFECTIVENESS Council and staff split into two groups to discuss statements submitted prior to the retreat regarding Mayor /Council and Staff effectiveness. Suggestions on how the Mayor and Council can be more effective: 1) Acknowledge majority vote - honor that staff will move in the direction of the majority vote. • City Administrator Ulrich indicated this discussed by the Council group as well. The group had the discussion about moving on with issues when a decision has been made, rather than continually rehashing issues. 2) Meeting management - eliminate duplicate discussions at work session and highlight at the City Council meeting. 3) Council do homework before meeting (staff has responsibility to be prepared). Ask questions /do research ahead of time. • There was discussion on the effects of a council member not being prepared. it was noted there is a small window of time to review the information. There was discussion of getting the agenda packets out sooner. It was suggested that the draft agenda could be distributed sooner. It was suggested that staff contact council members that will be weighing in heavily on specific agenda items prior to the City Council meeting. 4) Staff works for Council as a whole not individual councilmembers; direction needs to come from Kurt /Council as a whole, as opposed to one council member giving direction to one staff person. 5) The majority of the Council should do agenda development. • There was discussion on the process for getting a topic on the agenda. The current process is that a council member presents an agenda topic, and it is added to the agenda if the majority of the Council is in agreement. It was suggested that requested agenda topics be considered only as they relate to the established goals and priorities. Suggestions on How Staff can be more effective: 1) Allow free exchange of ideas. 2) Encourage professional development &networking. 3) Include more information on website and keep it current. 4) Continue effective weekly updates. 5) Don't "sugar coat" information. Don't be "afraid to face the ugly truth; Council will have faith in judgment of staff. 6) Eliminate repetition in staff report 12