Subscribe free to our daily email newsletterContributor Opinion By Joseph Jordan: State Of The City
Feb 3, 2009 10:17 - 4 Comments
>The following Contributor Opinion is by Joseph Jordan:
The proposed State of the City meeting scheduled for February 11th tells me this City Council makes up the rules as they go along. From what I understand, two Council members and the Mayor decide to have a meeting, but don’t invite the other two Council members. They now have a quorum and intend to discuss city business, policy, ordinances, etc. Isn’t this considered an official Council meeting? I believe it is, and there are rules governing such meetings. I’d like to see the City Attorney weigh in on this.
I pushed back on this Council when they wanted to have work sessions off-camera, when they voted to eliminate responses at Citizen Forum, when they wanted to have quarterly “retreats” that would be closed, off-site meetings. Now they want to have something as important as a report on the State of the City, and have it in a library conference room…with only three Council members….with no cameras or recording devices so that residents that can’t make the meeting can at least see a playback? Give me a break…something is wrong here. If elected officials want to meet their constituents, then do what Mr. Gajewski does…have your own Town Hall meeting. If you want to present and discuss the State of the City, then do it in City Hall, with all council members and the City Manager present, with the cameras and recording devices rolling.
Joseph Jordan
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I’m curious, what makes the contributor think that the other two council members weren’t invited and just couldn’t attend because of prior engagements?>
The article on Rockville Central makes no mention of this meeting being to discuss “city business, policy, ordinances, etc.”, rather that is a report of the past activities and a discussion of upcoming issues, but it doesn’t appear that decisions regarding such will be made.
So far as the venue, it appears to tie in well with the current marketing campaign regarding the Rockville Town Center businesses.
Recording doesn’t seem to be explicitly excluded, let alone forbidden, and it doesn’t exactly take much to record a conference room. I’m quite certain that no one would mind if you took notes and published a meeting summary, perhaps right here on Rockville Central.
I guess overall, my question is “why are you presenting this so negatively”? I may be missing some pertinent information, please, fill in the blanks.
There are strict rules and guidelines that dictate what a governing body can and can’t do. One area deals with what constitutes a meeting and what can and can’t be done when a quorum of that body is together. My contention is that when three members of our city council meet to present or discuss city policy, ordinances and the like, it is a meeting of the council, and rules govern how that must be conducted. Proper notice must be given, an agenda should be posted and minutes recorded. Questions I have include..should all council members be expected to attend…should the city manager be there…the city attorney? I don’t know the answers to all the questions and a simple response from someone at City Hall would answer those questions. As of this posting, I have not heard from anyone, including city attorney.>
As far as recording the meeting goes, you are right, anyone can record the meeting. However, we have been down this road before when the council wanted those “retreats” off-site and closed to the public. Open meetings should be held at City Hall where they can be broadcast and/or recorded.
And finally, I have it on good authority the other council members were not asked to participate.
have you contacted the city attorney or city manager directly, or are you hoping for a response based on your blog posting?
Theresa, thanks for the question. I have sent separate emails, asking for an answer to my questions, to the assistant city attorney, the city attorney,and the city manager, with copies to some the mayor, council members and some senior staff. I have yet to hear from anyone. It seems to me this should be a matter of fact, not opinion, yet nothing forthcoming. I've been told the city attorney works for the M&C and any advice given is privileged. I hope this is not what is behind not getting an answer.