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IN THE CONDUCTING OF CITY BUSINESS
BALANCING RESPECT AND DISCUSSION TIME
Councilmembers held a special work-shop the evening of June 9th to talk about guidelines for council meetings and work-shops. Stated Mayor Jerry Bohn, "We re-ceived a deserved editorial in the news-paper. We've got to stop arguing and interrupting and hold ourselves to a higher standard."
The mayor said he reviewed Robert's Rules of Order in an effort to conduct more efficient meetings. He said that when an item comes before council, there is a time for asking questions of staff and others, and then a motion should be framed before discussion begins. He said if each councilmember spoke twice on an issue, with a limit of ten minutes each time, that would still be 100 minutes for an issue. He said a speaker could appeal his time limit and council could vote on that appeal.
Mayor Bohn also acknowledged, "We have a hard time seeing and hearing each other sometimes." [In fact, tables were reconfigured for the June 23rd coun-cil meeting, in more of a semi-circle, and councilmembers could all see each other.]
Mayor Bohn continued, "We're really here to conduct business. I'm thinking we could eliminate some reports, or discussion on those reports, and try to formalize and be more efficient."
Councilmember Mary Thun thought councilmember reports are important because they are an "opportunity to speak directly to residents on camera," but would be in favor of limiting discussion on those reports to five minutes."
Councilmember Kim Roden agreed with a five-minute discussion limit on reports, and that if a councilmember has done a lot of research on an issue or acquired a lot of information on an issue, that information could be included as a written report in the council packet for other councilmembers to review.
Added Kim, "We should hold each other accountable. We can help each other by having a set of ground rules."
Councilmember Richard Tieden stated, "The mayor and councilmembers have an opportunity to report and they shouldn't be limited. These are complex items. Sometimes it takes longer. I think we're dancing around things … I got excited at that meeting because of the breaking of Robert's Rules. Certainly there are times when people can be less drafty. Maybe I was too windy. But I was quoting people who knew the busi-ness. People had a right to know the issue."
Councilmember Tieden said directly to Mayor Bohn, "I'm just as equal as you are. I wasn't trying to hog anything. I know I wasn't in violation of Robert's rules. The violation was you."
Said the mayor, "I'm not trying to lay blame. Let's move forward."
City Attorney Mike Norton stated, "Most bodies don't have a long period of discussion without some action or motion pending. Also, Robert's Rules can be sus-pended, to help you focus on your busi-ness. Their purpose is to help guide you."
Said Councilmember Tieden, "What started this is that I talked too long. If I did, I apologize for that."
"I really support forming some rules," said Councilmember Thun. "Sometimes councilmembers do talk too long."
"We do need some ground rules," agreed Mayor Bohn. "We've made the newspaper. We have been criticized in the press, justly, for being rude, long, and loud. We need ground rules to prevent things from erupting."
Councilmember Terry Bishop thought that the reaction of the paper "far outweighed" what actually happened, and that because the paper reported it, doesn't mean the council has to react to it.
Said Councilmember Thun. "I've had a very difficult two and a half years on the council. I disagree with Terry. I feel we need some decorum. I think we need to tighten up our meetings. We can keep our comments limited. We do have other obligations. We're not talking about national defense. We're talking about keeping our town running smoothly."
"I agree with Mary," said Kim.
"We all want to respect each other and each other's time," said Mayor Bohn. "We need to make our point and then give up. This is a democracy."
DOWNTOWN TRAFFIC PATTERN IMPROVES
VICTORIA TOWN COP KEEPS AN EYE ON IT.
Mike Kerber, the Victoria Town Cop, reported on June 23rd that traffic and park-ing concerns on Main Street Victoria have been alleviated.
"I watched it at least six times every day," he said. "I've given two warnings but nothing major. I'm not seeing u-turns anymore. Hopefully word has gotten out."
The Town Cop reported he has a hand held radar that is available for citi-zen use. When citizens have concerns about the speed of traffic on their neigh-borhood streets, they are welcome to use this radar to verify that speed.
"Sometimes perception is higher than actual speed," he said.
Mike also reported that two town deputies have been added to the force, Joe Mundt and Eric Boder. Deputy Mundt is Victoria's regular night officer. Deputy Boder's time is split between Victoria and the City of Watertown.
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