In my house hold I make rules. Now anyone who has kids know the routine. You make a rule, it goes along for a bit, then all of a sudden the rule has been forgotten. "I didn't know that was a rule", or "I forgot that was a rule".
I saw that happen at city council on Monday night.
Council made a rule about a year ago that they wanted ALL board vacancies to be posted in the newspaper of record, followed by applications being taken, and then the council would decide who would be appointed.
The last 2 times someone has vacated the city manager has brought a name to the council prior to the procedures being followed. Last time they tabled the appointment so that the proper procedures could be taken. This time they (the council) let the kids make the rules. Why bother having rules and procedures if you're going to circumvent them at every opportunity?
Now I have a couple of points on this.
1) What's the rush? A single vacancy on any given board can wait a month or two and not stop business from happening.
2) Why didn't the council just table this like they did last time?
3) What are we afraid of by following the rules? That 'one of the boys' won't be selected? The person selected might be the best person for the job. But after talking to some of the council members no one has a clue who she was, so how can we know because no application was filled out, and not ads were put out.
I believe Mr Barnes when he states he wants transparency in our city government, but he's failed here. Transparency is allowing the ENTIRE community getting involved by asking those who are interested in a specific board know that there is a vacancy. Not allowing the 'good old boy' get selected to the board because of who they know.
Additionally I've mentioned that when they put their ads in the paper that it specifically states what boards have vacancies. NO ONE is going to apply to "join a committee or board" ad. They will join a "Library Board" or "Cemetery Board" or other board that they have interest in. That's simple marketing 101.
Second item that bugged me was that Mayor Logan was trying to make a statement of fact in response to a public comment made. Our city attorney, Jackie Williamson, stopped him in his tracks and told him they were not allowed to speak during the public comment section.
WRONG!
I get so upset when either "we've always done it that way" or we just don't know the real answer so we make up a 'safe' answer to look like we do know what we're talking about.
I wish to quote the Texas State 2012 Open Meetings Handbook (Pg 41).
The Act permits a member of the public or a member of the governmental body to raise a subject
that has not been included in the notice for the meeting, but any discussion of the subject must be
limited to a proposal to place the subject on the agenda for a future meeting. Section 551.042 of the
Act provides for this procedure:
(a) If, at a meeting of a governmental body, a member of the public or of the
governmental body inquires about a subject for which notice has not been
given as required by this subchapter, the notice provisions of this subchapter
do not apply to:
(1) a statement of specific factual information given in response
to the inquiry; or
(2) a recitation of existing policy in response to the inquiry.
(b) Any deliberation of or decision about the subject of the inquiry shall be
limited to a proposal to place the subject on the agenda for a subsequent
meeting.214
Mayor Logan was trying to do just that, make a statement of fact, that there was already a law covering the problem in question. Nothing more.
Third, anyone who knows Mike Hanson knows he's loud and he's not a smooth speaker, but even in his boisterous way he sometimes has valid points. During the meeting the council decided to go to month stays at JB Wells for the trailers. Mr Hanson asked the city attorney if that meant that the city would have to start going through court instead of using the police to evict people when necessary. Jackie wouldn't answer Mr. Hanson. Well the fact is he had a good question and none of the council members turned to her asking for the answer. Instead they voted 'aye' to the amendment without all the answers. So the question is still out there, will we have to start going through court to evict people from JB Wells now?
I will give Mr Barnes a thumbs up on one of the points that Mr. Hanson made that SHOULD of been answered during the Public Comments. Mr. Hanson made the point that many of the agenda items are vague or make no sense unless you have background information on the item, and it was no fair that we as citizens didn't know what they were going to talk about. For those who don't know, about 3 months ago Mr Barnes has had the city secretary started posting the entire booklet that the city council receives online. This is generally right above or right below the agenda announcement. This last week it was 122 pages and in Adobe format. **Note - If for some really odd reason you don't have Adobe reader you may download it here free ** It has background information, backup documentation (sometime to excess), recommendations, actions that would be taken, cost, budget information, and more. I highly recommend people start reading these even if they don't print them out.
Note - I print these out 2 to a page and double sided for my personal use, it's easy to do in Adobe and allows you to read at your leisure without waiting 122 pages.
This weeks meeting had a 2 page agenda, and we didn't get out till 8 PM. I understand that the meeting was long, but we don't stop asking question if that's what it takes to get the right answers so we make informed decisions. It was almost as if some of the council were afraid of asking the obvious questions in fear of making the meeting 10 minutes longer. We had a full house in the seats and those citizens who took the time to attend and be part of our city processes deserved the right to hear answers to valid questions. After all the council is there for the citizens.
God Bless,
Dennis Nesser
Showing posts with label open meetings act. Show all posts
Showing posts with label open meetings act. Show all posts
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Reporting of Committees
At the council meeting this last week a gentleman stood up during public comments and complained because a plan that was submitted to the Beautification committee was rejected (for this purpose it doesn't matter why), and when he tried to get records from the committee meeting he was informed that we have no such records in our city for any of our committees.
While that's not exactly right, GADC, the Zoning Board, and a couple of others keep and maintain records, it is so that most have no reporting to the city what so ever.
So straight from the Open Meetings Handbook 2012, page 12 -
D. Committees and Subcommittees of Governmental Bodies
Generally, meetings of less than a quorum of a governmental body are not subject to the Act.70 However, when a governmental body appoints a committee that includes less than a quorum of the parent body and grants it authority to supervise or control public business or public policy, the committee may itself be a “governmental body” subject to the Act.71
Our committees definitely fall into the 'less than a quorum' since I've never seen our council members appointed to these committees. But they most definitely ARE given permission and authority to supervise and control public business and public policy.
In September I wrote about the need for our committees to report to the council on a regular basis. read here
I'm being told that there are committees meeting without proper notification to ALL members of the committees, that there are some that are basically committee in name only and that the 'elite few' just do whatever they want on these committees. When I spoke to Bob Burchard about some of his actions in the city and upsetting people by those doing things (things often related to committees he's on), and he told me "I didn't do it it wouldn't get done!"
Really?
So that means that you can circumvent all the policy, procedures and laws that were set out to make sure that the public has say in our city and for a COMMITTEE (defined as - a group of persons elected or appointed to perform some service or function, as to investigate, report on, or act upon a particular matter). That the few don't dictate to the many. It's also that the council knows what's going on! The sad part is he's not alone in his attitude about committee work.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, our committees all work for the city council (who in turn works for the best interest of the people of Gonzales). They don't get free reign, and they have a obligation to keep the council and the citizens of this town informed as to where they spend any money and what policies they are dictating. As a courtesy to the council they also owe them a "what we're working on" so that the council can direct any actions that might be duplicated (or in some cases triplicated) or in contrary to the direction the council is trying to move our city.
I think our city needs to immediately inform all committees to insure they are following by certain rules, and while some of them are not laws, they are still courteous and transparent ways to operate -
1) All meetings times and places are posted on the city websites for all committees
2) A quorum must be present at all committee meetings for any votes of action to be taken
3) Minutes for all meetings must be posted with the city secretary within 3 business days following the next committee meeting (to give time to approve the minutes before posting - so most minute, just like our council minutes would be a month behind).
4) All committees must make a public report at least quarterly to the city council with general details of project status (what's been completed, and what are we working on) for the councils knowledge and direction.
Some of the committees have done an excellent job. But honestly I believe some of our committees have taken on a life of their own that were never intended. We as a public have a right to know what's going on in our committees. We have a right to be at any meeting of any committee. We have a right to have a say, even if we're not on the committee, just as we do with our elected officials. But the way it's set up right now, our citizens and our city council have no way of knowing what's going on in those committee meetings.
God Bless
Dennis Nesser
While that's not exactly right, GADC, the Zoning Board, and a couple of others keep and maintain records, it is so that most have no reporting to the city what so ever.
So straight from the Open Meetings Handbook 2012, page 12 -
D. Committees and Subcommittees of Governmental Bodies
Generally, meetings of less than a quorum of a governmental body are not subject to the Act.70 However, when a governmental body appoints a committee that includes less than a quorum of the parent body and grants it authority to supervise or control public business or public policy, the committee may itself be a “governmental body” subject to the Act.71
Our committees definitely fall into the 'less than a quorum' since I've never seen our council members appointed to these committees. But they most definitely ARE given permission and authority to supervise and control public business and public policy.
In September I wrote about the need for our committees to report to the council on a regular basis. read here
I'm being told that there are committees meeting without proper notification to ALL members of the committees, that there are some that are basically committee in name only and that the 'elite few' just do whatever they want on these committees. When I spoke to Bob Burchard about some of his actions in the city and upsetting people by those doing things (things often related to committees he's on), and he told me "I didn't do it it wouldn't get done!"
Really?
So that means that you can circumvent all the policy, procedures and laws that were set out to make sure that the public has say in our city and for a COMMITTEE (defined as - a group of persons elected or appointed to perform some service or function, as to investigate, report on, or act upon a particular matter). That the few don't dictate to the many. It's also that the council knows what's going on! The sad part is he's not alone in his attitude about committee work.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, our committees all work for the city council (who in turn works for the best interest of the people of Gonzales). They don't get free reign, and they have a obligation to keep the council and the citizens of this town informed as to where they spend any money and what policies they are dictating. As a courtesy to the council they also owe them a "what we're working on" so that the council can direct any actions that might be duplicated (or in some cases triplicated) or in contrary to the direction the council is trying to move our city.
I think our city needs to immediately inform all committees to insure they are following by certain rules, and while some of them are not laws, they are still courteous and transparent ways to operate -
1) All meetings times and places are posted on the city websites for all committees
2) A quorum must be present at all committee meetings for any votes of action to be taken
3) Minutes for all meetings must be posted with the city secretary within 3 business days following the next committee meeting (to give time to approve the minutes before posting - so most minute, just like our council minutes would be a month behind).
4) All committees must make a public report at least quarterly to the city council with general details of project status (what's been completed, and what are we working on) for the councils knowledge and direction.
Some of the committees have done an excellent job. But honestly I believe some of our committees have taken on a life of their own that were never intended. We as a public have a right to know what's going on in our committees. We have a right to be at any meeting of any committee. We have a right to have a say, even if we're not on the committee, just as we do with our elected officials. But the way it's set up right now, our citizens and our city council have no way of knowing what's going on in those committee meetings.
God Bless
Dennis Nesser
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