BEAVERTON CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING
APRIL 17, 2006

CALL TO ORDER:

The Regular Meeting of the Beaverton City Council was called to order by Mayor Rob Drake in the Forrest C. Soth City Council Chamber, 4755 SW Griffith Drive, Beaverton, Oregon, on Monday, April 17, 2006, at 6:36 p.m.

ROLL CALL:

Present were Mayor Drake, Couns. Catherine Arnold, Betty Bode, Bruce S. Dalrymple, Dennis Doyle and Cathy Stanton. Also present were City Attorney Alan Rappleyea, Chief of Staff Linda Adlard, Finance Director Patrick O'Claire, Community Development Director Joe Grillo, Operations/Maintenance Director Gary Brentano, Library Director Ed House, Human Resources Director Nancy Bates, Deputy Police Chief Chris Gibson and Deputy City Recorder Catherine Jansen.

PROCLAMATIONS:

Mayor Drake proclaimed April 17 – 23, 2006 as Arbor Week and Community Development Week; April 23 - 30, 2006 as Days of Remembrance; and May 2006 as National Bike Month.

VISITOR COMMENT PERIOD:

Henry Kane, Beaverton, referred to columnist Jerry Boone's article Stakeout for the Future of Beaverton in the April 12, 2006, edition of The Oregonian. He said the City's new Economic Development Director was quoted as saying Beaverton was a suburban city that would become a high-rise urban city. He said this would be a problem for Beaverton for several reasons. He said the City lacked an adequate road system; roads are not wide enough, it is difficult to get through Canyon Road and during the rush hours the intersection of Barnes Road and Cedar Hills Boulevard have a Level of Service F, which is the worst rating possible. He said high-rise buildings were not possible in downtown Beaverton because there was insufficient parking space available. He said the City used to own the land now occupied by The Round and that was where the downtown center should have been. He said the voters would reject spending millions of dollars for a new civic center downtown. He said Beaverton's residents chose this city because it was a suburban community and he did not believe they would support turning Beaverton into an urban city and losing its livability. He suggested that the City conduct a survey to see if the residents want Beaverton to be a suburban community or an urban city.

WORK SESSION:

06063 Regulation of Payday Loan Businesses

Mayor Drake said this work session was to consider the regulation of payday loan businesses. He said the City Attorney would give a brief synopsis of the issue and Senator Ryan Deckert and Representative Jackie Dingfelder would explain what has happened at the State Legislature. He said this was an information session for Council; no action plan or public hearing has been scheduled at this time.

City Attorney Alan Rappleyea said people throughout the region have expressed concern about the impact that payday loan businesses have on the most fragile members of the community especially the poor, elderly and immigrants who apply for these loans and end up with interest rates over 500%. He said Portland and Gresham had responded by adopting ordinances that regulate these business. He said these ordinances have provisions that allow rescinding of the loan within 24 hours, repayment of at least 25% of the loan before the balance is rolled over, and installment payments to repay the loan. He said in response to that, the payday loan industry filed a declaratory judgment arguing that State law pre-empts local regulation of these businesses. He said the hearing on this issue was postponed until tomorrow and the initial ruling from the Circuit Court judge is expected within the week. He said the State Attorney General's Office has filed an Amicus Brief on this case, stating that State law does not pre-empt local regulation of this industry.

State Senator Deckert, District 14, said he worked with Representative Dingfelder during past legislative sessions on bills that would establish State statutes to regulate payday lending operations. He said Oregon was one of the few states in the nation that has not regulated this industry to protect its most vulnerable citizens. He said there are many of these businesses because there is a market and because the interest rates the businesses earn range from 300% to 500% over a two-month period. He said in a democratic society government has to intercede because there is no market interest in this situation; he was glad to see Beaverton was looking at this issue if the State Legislature did not take action. He said if Beaverton, Portland and Gresham regulate these businesses 30-40% of the citizens of Oregon would be protected by their government.

State Representative Dingfelder, District 45, said she represented the northeast Portland area. She said she has worked on this issue in the Legislature for five years; the issue came to her attention because she had also worked on the Oregon Hunger Relief Task Force. She said the Task Force looked at a range of issues that affect people who come to food banks; 16% of all Oregonians have been to a food bank in the past year. She said surveys indicated people had to come to food banks because they utilized payday lenders and were getting into a cycle of debt in paying off the loans so there was no money left to buy food. She said in researching this issue the Task Force found Oregon had some of the weakest payday loan industry regulations in the nation.

Dingfelder said several legislative sessions ago she and several other legislators proposed looking at the regulation of this industry for this had been discussed for several years. She said in the last legislative session Senate Bill 545 (SB 545), which set out a number of regulations, was introduced. She said as the bill went through Senate hearings it was revised and became a weaker bill; it was a modest approach to start regulation of that industry. She said the Senate passed the bill but it was not heard in the House of Representatives as the Speaker of the House would not schedule a hearing. Consequently SB 545 was not voted on by the House at the last session.

Dingfelder said as result of this many people started talking to commissioners and councilors regarding adopting local regulations. She said there has been great interest from municipalities around the state, from the food banks and from a broad coalition of church groups and social service agencies. She said they also spoke to newspaper and television editorial boards throughout the state to generate press coverage on payday loan businesses and every major editorial board in the state has supported regulation.

Dingfelder said since Portland had adopted an ordinance, other cities have taken the same step. She said a ballot measure is also proposed. She said she supports the measure; it is stronger than the bill she first introduced and it makes fundamental changes to how business is conducted in Oregon. She said the ballot measure caps interest rates at 36% APR with a 10% origination fee and it reduces the number of times a loan can be rolled over from three to two. She said the cities' ordinances have a rescission plan and a pay-down provision so the original loan amount cannot be rolled over; there has to be a reduction in the next loan. She said the pay-down was not included in the ballot measure.

Dingfelder said this would be discussed at the special session of the Legislature on Thursday (April 20, 2006). She said she believed the legislators should not support anything that does not at least meet the requirements in the ballot measure. She said whatever is voted on should be as strong, if not stronger, than the ballot measure. She said she believed these safeguards were needed to protect the consumers in Oregon.

Dingfelder said the ballot measure increases the minimum loan term to 31 days to provide sufficient time to pay back the loan; currently it is 14 days. She said many people cannot pay back the loan in 14 days and that is why there are so many rollovers. She stressed that cities play a very important role. She said the ballot measure does not cover everything that is needed. She suggested the Council look carefully at what other cities have done and at what action the Legislature may take. She said she appreciated that the City was considering this issue and she hoped the City would support measures similar to what other cities have done for there is a very strong need within the State.

Coun. Doyle asked what the Council could do at this meeting to move this forward when the Legislature has its special session.

Deckert replied the biggest step would be to put this on the City’s docket. He said this was a signal to the rest of the State that Beaverton has joined the list of cities who will take action if the State fails to act on Thursday.

Coun. Doyle said he was willing to make such a statement. He said a few years ago the anti-smoking lobby asked the City to enact a local ordinance and the Council asked them to work hard to get this done at the State level. He said he did not have a problem joining the leadership on this front.

Dingfelder said until the cities addressed this issue with many people in Salem that had not paid attention to the extent that they should have. She said she was proud to say it was the leadership of many mayors and councils in the Portland metro area who decided to be assertive that was the wakeup call for many of their colleagues in Salem.

Mayor Drake said the Finance Department had identified six payday loan businesses inside the City. He said in fairness to all, if the Council decided to docket this issue, a public hearing would be held so both sides could be heard. He said this work session was to gather information and hear from these speakers. He said he had not scheduled anything further at this time so information could be assembled and Council could review what was happening. He said when he spoke with Representative Haas a couple of weeks ago he thought the special session would be in late May or June 1 st ; but the Governor surprised everyone by scheduling it April 20 th .

Coun. Stanton asked how close the language in SB 545 was to the Portland and Gresham ordinances.

Dingfelder replied SB 545 was the starting point for Portland's ordinance. She said there was a representative from Portland in the audience who would speak on the City's process. She said there were two elements that were in SB 545; the first was looking at the pay-down before the rollover and the second was a rate cap for the rollover. She said in the bill she first proposed there was a rate cap for the original loan term, but it was a higher cap because politically they did not feel they could get a lower rate. She said she felt the ballot measure's rate cap was the right amount.

Coun. Stanton asked Dingfelder if she had seen the bill that would be presented at the special session. She asked if she was sure this was not an industry-generated bill.

Dingfelder replied she had not seen the language yet but the Governor had stated in the press he would veto anything that was not as strong as the ballot measure language.

Coun. Stanton said her concern was that in the past the Council passed an ordinance to extend housing and employment anti-discrimination status to certain protected classes and the State did not pass similar legislation (SB 1000). She said she wanted to proceed with this and she was concerned that the bill the Legislature enacts would be like the State's anti-smoking bill that still allows smoking in many places.

Decker said he has seen the language and he was very comfortable it would not be weaker than the ballot measure.

Coun. Stanton asked if Portland was the first City to adopt the ordinance.

Dingfelder confirmed Portland adopted the first ordinance and noted a representative from Portland would speak on that process. She said she did not support a pre-emption and she hoped that would not be in the bill. She said on certain issues such as interest rates, State law would supersede local regulations. She said she hoped the State and cities would work together to make stronger safeguards for consumers.

Coun. Bode said she is the Manager of the Virginia Garcia Clinic and the Clinic sees 1500 patients per month. She said these patients were on the Oregon Health Plan, totally uninsured and live marginally. She said across the street from the clinic is a payday loan business. She said she sees these people who are financially strapped, signing contract loans at these businesses and they do not understand the language. She said using these businesses makes them poorer and hungrier, so they do not buy their medicine. She encouraged Dingfelder and Deckert to move this issue forward to help address the issues of hunger and healthcare.

Dingfelder thanked the Council for the opportunity to speak.

 Mayor Drake introduced Shannon Callahan, the Director of Social Policy for Portland City Commissioner Dan Saltzman's Office.

Callahan thanked Mayor Drake for the invitation to speak to Council. She said the City of Portland passed the first ordinance regulating this industry. She said Commissioner Saltzman introduced the ordinance that was passed on February 22, 2006, and it will go into effect this week. She said the commissioners wanted to give the lenders sufficient time to comply with the ordinance. She said Commissioner Saltzman felt this was important because in Portland the most commonly-charged interest rate is 521% for a loan period of 14 days or less. She said they have seen interest rates approaching 1,000% for loans of about five days. She said another problem with the payday loans is that they have a balloon feature; partial payments are not allowed and the loans are structured to keep people in debt through rollovers and other abusive clauses in contracts.

Callahan said Commissioner Saltzman followed what happened in the Legislature last year and realized that without meaningful reform these businesses would continue to grow in number. She said there were 74 licensed payday loan shops in Portland and they were increasing rapidly. She said the need to help working families, seniors, and the poor was critical. She said when they studied this issue they found the city could not cap interest rates under State law. She said they looked at other ways to regulate the industry and developed three provisions that are in the ordinance. She said these provisions were in SB 545 and were law in many states. She said the first provision was the right to rescind within 24 hours; this would allow the borrower to realize they made a mistake or to get the money elsewhere and cancel the contract. She said the second provision was the principal requirement that would allow the borrower to pay a portion of the principal so if the loan is rolled over they could still get out of the cycle of debt. She said payday lenders have sued over 12,000 families in Oregon in the last five years; they do vigorous debt collections and wage garnishments so people become trapped for years from a $300 loan. She said the last provision was the payment plan requirement that gives borrowers 60 days to pay off the loan before they default. She said this helps families and minimizes the burden on the court system as fewer cases go to court.

Callahan said Gresham and Troutdale have enacted similar ordinances. She said Portland's Regulatory Department has offered to work with Troutdale and Gresham to enforce these laws so that different localities would not have to reinvent the wheel. She said in working together it will ensure that these ordinances are enforced. She said that Portland has a full-time regulator who also takes consumer calls. She said in Portland consumers had not complained because they did not know they could complain or where to register a complaint. She said the Department of Business and Consumer Services takes these complaints and they had received many calls from Portland citizens.

Callahan said that the State is looking at an effective date of July 2007 for its bill. She said that is a very long time to leave consumers without any protection. She said if the City chose to enact such an ordinance, and the Legislature went forward, there would be a need in the short term to help the citizens. She said Portland would vigorously defend its lawsuit. She said no other cities have been involved yet; the lenders have said this was a test case and they may later involve other cities. She said Portland feels it has a good case and the State Attorney General has also supported it.

Coun. Dalrymple asked what opportunities there were for education through the process. He asked if and where information could be posted to educate the consumer. He said he learned from researching the issue that often the APR (Annual Percentage Rate) is not posted, so customers are not aware of the interest rate.

Callahan said there is a State Administrative Rule that requires lenders to post the APR in an easily visible place. She said OSPIRG (Oregon State Public Interest Research Group) did a study in the City of Portland and found that 48% of the lenders were not complying with that rule. She said some do not post the APR information or will post it where it cannot be easily seen. She said the City of Portland has a list of seven credit unions that offer opportunities for these people to get out of long-term debt issues by providing them with lower interest rate loans with a longer payback period. She said through this service they are able to help the people who call into the city. She said hopefully this has started to make a difference for the citizens of Portland and she thought Beaverton could do the same.

Coun. Dalrymple said in his research he saw one payday loan business had 7, 14 and 18-day APRs, and the 7-day APR was over 1,000%. He commended the City of Portland for taking action to regulate the industry.

Coun. Arnold asked if the lenders made any arguments at the Portland hearings.

Callahan said the lenders said regulation was unnecessary as they already do many of the provisions outlined in the ordinance. She said that was not what the commissioners heard from the social advocates and consumers. She said the lenders were concerned about inconsistent or patchwork legislation among the cities. She said the regulations adopted by every city to this point have been identical; that makes compliance easy. She said 70-80% of the businesses in Oregon were out-of-state large conglomerates that dealt with a number of different states, including Washington which has laws very similar to Portland. She said the lenders also asked them not to enact regulation as the Legislature would deal with this in 2007. She said the lenders were now claiming in court that this regulation required that they make changes to their software, which would be a burden on them. She said some people argued that the market would take care of this but the commissioners saw this was not happening.

Coun. Arnold said she knew a woman who earned less than poverty level and had $67,000 in credit card debt and then took out a payday loan. She said this person did not unders tand how payday loan businesses make money. She asked if these customers end up defaulting would this regulation be sufficient if the city cannot put a cap on interest rates.

Callahan explained the payday lenders' first step is to get a check from the customer or their electronic checking account information. She said they run the checks through early collecting their money up front and then the customer's checking account is depleted. She said a second way is through the State's hot check law, where the lenders are allowed by State statute to receive up to $500 for every bad check that a customer writes. She said by nature a customer would be writing a bad check when he goes to a payday loan business. When the check is processed and if it did not clear, the lender would process a collection and wage garnishment, and the lender instantly would receive a $500 amount from the customer for that check. She said that was why the fees mount so quickly. She said the ordinance would help people trying to get out of that debt. She said the principal buy-down reduces the loan each time there is a rollover; by the fourth rollover the payment plan is in effect so the borrower can payoff the loan.

Coun. Stanton confirmed that only the Legislature could cap the interest rates. She suggested the City lobby its legislators to look at this issue. She asked if the bill being considered during the special session had an interest rate cap.

Callahan replied that she was told the bill mirrors the ballot measure and has a 36% cap. She noted that was subject to change through the review process. She said pawn shops have a 36% APR which was the s tandard in most states.

Coun. Stanton said she felt 36% was still to high.

Rappleyea said pawn shops were allowed 3% interest per month. He said this was the only regulated interest rate; all others were set by the market.

Coun. Stanton agreed 36% was better than 500-1000%. She asked to confirm that the draft bill had a 36% interest rate cap.

Callahan repeated that she heard the draft bill incorporated a 36% interest rate cap. She said many members of the Legislature would have to vote and the effective date would be July 2007.

Coun. Stanton asked if anyone knew why House Speaker Minnis did not let the bill go forward at the last legislative session.

Callahan said there were news reports at that time that Speaker Minnis was upset with reports from another group linking ties to the Legislature and money from payday lenders for campaign contributions.

Coun. Bode said she found it interesting that the Legislature would not enact the bill until July 2007. She asked if there was anyone trying to move that date forward.

Callahan said the advocates were very concerned about that provision. She said she heard they would try to amend the effective date.

Mayor Drake thanked Callahan for her presentation.

Angela Martin, Portland, representative for Our Oregon and Oregonians for Payday Loan Fairness, said advocates have tried unsuccessfully to get a bill passed through several of the last legislative sessions. She said she first became aware of this issue as a public policy advocate for the Oregon Food Bank. She said that today one out of five Oregonians had eaten a meal from an emergency food box. She said the reality of that statistic was that more and more people were finding that the bills in the mailbox did not match the paycheck in the bank. She said this was the niche that payday lenders have started to fill. She said the advocates, having been unsuccessful at the legislative level, drafted a ballot measure that would address the most egregious aspects of this lending. She said the ballot measure caps the interest rate at 36% and allows for a one-time origination fee of 10% of the face value. A borrower taking out a $100 loan would have 31 days to pay back the loan and would get charged 3% interest that month ($3.00) plus a $10.00 origination fee. The borrower would pay $13 for the use of that money for one month. She said under the provisions of the ballot measure, if the borrower cannot pay the loan back in time, the loan can be rolled over and the only charge would be the 3% interest; no additional origination fee could be charged. The cost of the loan would become more affordable when the loan was turned over. She said that was important because 70% of consumers had to roll over their loans as they could not afford to pay them off.

Martin said there were actions the Council could take today. She said she had a draft of the legislation to be considered at the special legislative session and it mirrored the ballot measure and has an implementation date of July 2007. She said the advocates did not support the 2007 effective date. She suggested the Council voice its concern to the legislators and suggest an amendment to make the effective date sooner than July 2007. She said the ballot measure has an implementation date of December 2006 and it was felt that was more appropriate. She said the ballot measure does not address a payment plan or principal buy-downs on the rollovers. She said this was where cities could address the most immediate needs in their communities. She said the advocates have been very vocal in stating that any State legislation should not make city action illegal; it should make it unnecessary. She said that gives cities the opportunity to move forward with legislation similar to Portland. She said passing this ordinance would not cost cities anything; it would be a way for local governments to help their most financially vulnerable without a price tag attached to it.

Martin said in reviewing publicly-traded lending companies the default rate was under 5% because there is a live paycheck; these companies are first in line to get their money and the threat is there for them to be paid off first. She said consumers then default on their other loans and they go to the social agencies for help to pay the rest of their bills.

Coun. Stanton asked Martin if she had talked to the Community Action agencies and other non-profits on this subject in regards to contacting their legislators on this issue.

Martin said the community partners were important and were working on the issue.

Coun. Doyle referred to the comment that it would not cost government anything to take this action. He noted that on the Council's agenda for this evening was Agenda Bill 06064 to allocate $250,000 to social service agencies. He said regulating the payday loan industry would help these government funds go further because it would help stop the financial loss these people were experiencing so they would not have to turn to social service agencies. He said this may save public monies.

Martin said that was correct. She said this would also help reduce the court costs as there would be fewer cases going to court.

Laura Etherton, representative for Oregon State Public Interest Research Group (OSPIRG), thanked the Council for considering enacting payday loan reform in Beaverton. She said payday loan businesses have grown quickly; this industry was virtually unknown ten years ago and now there are 360 licensed businesses across the state. She said there were over 70 of them in Portland with more in the surrounding cities. She said consumers who take out a loan borrow against their next paycheck and the most common fee is 521% APR with a high rollover fee. She said in their research OSPIRG discovered that these loans are very difficult to repay; they have to be paid back in a very short time and in one large payment, not installments. She said these lenders do not require a credit check and that is the beginning of the predatory relationship. Lenders rely on a post-dated check, or direct access into the lenders account; these checks can be put through the borrower’s account repeatedly creating problems with overdraft fees. She said there were a number of clauses in payday loans that make this matter worse. She said some clauses allow the checks to be put through the bank early if the lender believes himself to be insecure in payment of the loan. She said she does not believe these lenders are insecure in getting the loan paid back since they have a post-dated check or access to the consumer's account.

Etherton stressed no matter how desperate the consumer, no lender should be allowed to charge outrageous fees or structure a loan that is destined to lend the consumer deep in debt. She said providing Oregonians with comprehensive reform would take State action, including a cap on the high interest rates. She said cities have a unique role by enacting real stop-gap protections for consumers now. She said the result of cities taking this action has elevated the awareness of this problem for consumers and the State's leaders. She said having mercy on the State's most vulnerable citizens now has priority worthy of a special legislative session. On behalf of OSPIRG she thanked the Council for considering enacting reforms in Beaverton and being one of the cities pushing the State to do better in terms of consumer protection.

Coun. Doyle said if the end result of what has been going on was directed at children instead of working adults the hue and cry would be unbelievable. He said he was glad groups were working to bring this forward and he was amazed that type of loan business was even legal. He encouraged her to keep pushing this issue.

Mayor Drake noted this was happening indirectly to the children of the consumers taking out these loans.

Coun. Stanton said she was thinking of other states that have wet and dry counties, where if you live in a dry county you just cross the line into the wet county for alcohol. She said her concern was that without a state-wide effort, the lenders would move to other cities where their activities would not be regulated. She asked if there was any data on what has happened in other communities that did this piecemeal as opposed to state-wide.

Etherton replied that as far as she knew Oregon was the first state to have the cities pass reform because the Legislature had not done so. She said the cities were creating the groundswell to demand regulation.

Martin said she has attended every city council hearing on this issue and it has been very encouraging to see the cities agree on this issue. She said this has been a relationship-building opportunity for all of the cities around the state. She said this has moved other cities to action because they do not want the payday loan business relocating to their city for they would not be regulated.

Coun. Dalrymple said that was why he brought up the issue of education. He said regardless of what the Legislature or cities do, that would not prevent the lenders from relocating to other states. He said education has to go hand-in-hand with reform.

Martin agreed and said they have had conversations with several players, facilitated by the Department of Business and Consumer Services. She said they have talked about education and credit unions are looking for a way to partner with social service agencies to get more information out to the consumers. She said Oregon Food Bank drafted a "What You Need To Know About Payday Loans" brochure that offered warnings for consumers. She said the brochure is distributed through the Food Bank system. She said education has to be part of this and there are many opportunities that need to be explored including financial education in schools.

Coun. Dalrymple said there is also the opportunity for people not to take advantage of others through the payday loan process, where they could help the consumer become more fiscally responsible.

Coun. Doyle asked if credit unions were stepping up with the ability to grant a loan. He said without someone to fill that void, the practice would continue. He said if the credit unions were becoming players that would help the citizens.

Martin said several credit unions have already offered help. She said they responded to a call the Governor and Department of Business and Consumer Services issued in 2004, as they were researching this. She said Unitus Credit Union, On Point (Portland Teachers) Credit Union, and First Tech Credit Union were just a few that were offering a paycheck advance at a much more reasonable rate. She said banks were also were stepping into this at a higher rate; US Bank and Wells Fargo offer ATM Cash Advance with APRs in the triple digits.

Coun. Doyle commended the credit unions for their help.

Coun. Arnold referred to her friend that she spoke about earlier and said what she went through was incredible. She said business/commerce is supposed to be setup as a win/win situation. She said her friend had her bank account drained of her paycheck before she could get to it by the lender and bank charges. She agreed with Coun. Dalrymple that people need help to unders tand what they are dealing with when applying for a payday loan.

Coun. Stanton said about 15 years ago she was out of state and needed money for lunch. She had to use a bank other than her own and had to pay $5.00 to get her money at 25% surcharge for a $20.00 withdrawl. She said she learned from that incident. She agreed education was needed and she encouraged the speakers to keep pushing this issue forward so legislators would step up to the plate.

Mayor Drake said Beaverton had become a multi-cultural and diverse community. He said there were language barriers and sometimes it was easy to take advantage of someone in need. He said also assuming good intentions on the lender's part, consumers are focused on the cash and do not see the hardship ahead when it is time to pay back the loan.

Mayor Drake and Coun. Stanton thanked the speakers for the information.

Mayor Drake asked the Council its preference on this issue.

Coun. Doyle said he thought the Council should wait to see the outcome of the special session and then review the City’s options above and beyond the Legislature's action. He suggested staff research the issue. He said he did not want to let this slide; and if it is within the City's purview, then Council has to take action.

Mayor Drake asked if there was consensus to have staff gather more information and report back to Council once the Legislature's action is known.

Coun. Dalrymple asked how the City would send its message to the Legislature.

Mayor Drake explained a lot was happening now. He said the Governor surprised everyone with the April 20 th special session. He said this would be well covered in the press and he was confident that Senator Deckert and Representative Dingfelder would convey the message to the Legislature. He said this would get a lot of attention and the City could be sure that the county's legislators would see this.

Coun. Stanton suggested that staff e-mail each legislator tomorrow to let them know the City is looking at this issue. She said in looking at Gresham's ordinance, she liked Section E on the first page and felt the last sentence of that section should be part of the message sent out to the legislators.

Coun. Bode asked if a motion would be needed to carry this forward.

Mayor Drake said this could be done by consensus.

Coun. Arnold said she was concerned they might be jumping the gun. She said she was uncomfortable with putting out a message to the Legislature without giving the public the opportunity to testify.

Mayor Drake said in the spirit of fairness, he would suggest sending the press coverage from this meeting to the legislators tomorrow. He said the message could indicate the Council had a work session and the depth of discussion, and that there was consensus to await the outcome of the legislative session. He said depending on what the Legislature does the Council could hold a public hearing afterward to respond to the community's needs. He said the Council has always listened to both sides. He said if the Legislature acts on the issue that would be good; if not, the Council could hold a hearing, hear both sides and then take action.

Chief of Staff Linda Adlard said she would be happy to be sure that happens. She said she wanted Council to be aware that during the interim, most legislators do not have staff so the likelihood of them reading the many e-mails they might receive could be questionable. She said staff would send it to a couple of different places to ensure it would reach the legislators on the floor.

Coun. Stanton said she had been aware of this issue for over a year and spoke with many people about it during that time. She said she could not state at a public hearing that she was ready to listen to all information and could be swayed either way based on the testimony. She said she had made up her mind on the subject. She asked the City Attorney if she would have to recuse herself when the Council has a public hearing.

Rappleyea said this was a legislative matter and she would not have to recuse herself as Council was not acting as a judge and this was not a quasi-judicial case.

Coun. Dalrymple said rather than approaching this piece meal where something valuable might be overlooked, Council needed to send a message to the Legislature that it supports reform. He said Council then needs to wait to see the outcome of the special session and then figure out what further action may need to be taken.

Coun. Doyle said he agreed on that approach.

Mayor Drake confirmed that there was consensus to wait for the outcome of the special session and figure out a plan of action afterwards. He said staff would communicate to the legislators that the Council and Mayor had a strong interest in executing reform.

COUNCIL ITEMS:

Coun. Stanton invited anyone listening to the payday loan business issue to read the newspaper and call their legislator with their opinion before Thursday, April 20, 2006.

Coun. Arnold said there were two voters forums for local elections scheduled in April. She said one would be held tomorrow (April 17) at the Stockpot, during lunch; the other was on April 25, in the Beaverton City Hall Council Chamber, at 7:00 p.m. She invited the public to attend.

Mayor Drake explained the April 25th forum at City Hall was being sponsored by the Committee for Citizen Involvement and would be televised live.

STAFF ITEMS:

There were none.

CONSENT AGENDA:

Coun. Stanton MOVED, SECONDED by Coun. Doyle, that the Consent Agenda be approved as follows:

Minutes of the Regular City Council Meeting of April 10, 2006

06064 Social Service Funding Committee Recommendations

Contract Review Board:

06065 Consultant Contract Award - Engineering Services for Hydraulic Modeling and Floodplain Mapping for Additional Unmapped Beaverton Area Waterways

Coun. Bode referred to the City's Social Service Funding Program (Agenda Bill 06064) and explained under this program the City uses funds from State Revenue Sharing and Community Block Grants to provide funds to non-profit groups and social service groups. She said the total requests for funding this year exceeded $400,000; the amount of funds available was $247,741. She said one of the criteria used is that the non-profit groups have to demonstrate how efficiently they use the funds and how many Beaverton residents they serve. She said the Committee awarded the full $247,741 and wished there was an additional $200,000 as there was definite need. She said the Social Service Funding Committee consists of five citizens appointed by the Council and Mayor to serve on that Committee.

Coun. Doyle said he asked the City Recorder to review the recording of the last meeting for a statement he made that he wanted included in the record.

Question called on the motion. Couns. Arnold, Bode, Dalrymple, Doyle and Stanton voting AYE, the MOTION CARRIED unanimously. (5:0)

ORDINANCES:

Second Reading:

Rappleyea read the following ordinances for the second time by title only:

06058 An Ordinance Amending Ordinance 4187, The Comprehensive Plan, to Clarify that the Tualatin Hills Park and Recreation District (THPRD) is the Primary Parks and Recreation Provider for the Citizens of the City of Beaverton, CPA 2005-0008 (Ordinance No. 4387)

06059 An Ordinance Amending Ordinance 2050, The Development Code, to Require Properties Applying for Certain Land Use Approvals to Annex to Tualatin Hills Park and Recreation District (THPRD) and Providing a Waiver Provision, TA 2005-0009 (Ordinance No. 4388)

06060 TA 2006-0001 Scoreboard Sign (Ordinance No. 4389)

Rappleyea explained there was an amendment to Ordinance 4389, Exhibit A. He said there was an addition of three words to the Scoreboard Sign section on the exhibit and he read the amended paragraph in full.

06061 An Ordinance Supplementing Ordinance No. 4270 (Amended and Restated Master Water Revenue Bond Ordinance) and Authorizing the Issuance, Sale, Execution and Delivery of Water Revenue Bonds, in One or More Series, in an Aggregate Principal Amount Not to Exceed $15,000,000; Related Matters; and Declaring an Emergency (Ordinance No. 4390)

Coun. Stanton MOVED, SECONDED by Coun. Doyle, that the ordinances embodied in Agenda Bills 06058, 06059, 06060 as amended, and 06061, now pass. Roll call vote. Couns. Arnold, Bode, Dalrymple, Doyle and Stanton voting AYE, the MOTION CARRIED unanimously. (5:0)

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business to come before the Council at this time, the meeting was adjourned at 8:16 p.m.

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Catherine Jansen, Deputy City Recorder

 

 

APPROVAL:

Approved this 1st day of May, 2006.

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Rob Drake, Mayor