Council Rules

I'm sure all of you have finished reading the riveting 24 pages of new rules the council has drafted for their meetings (emphasis on their meetings – these are “council” meetings, not a meeting for the mayor or for the public according to this council). I thought I’d throw out some comments on the new rules to get the conversation started. ~ Karen

• Overall, my impression of these rules is OVERKILL. We have all of 400 voters in town (that's smaller than most high school graduating classes); we have never needed anything even close to this. This is an overreaction to a trend of boisterous, talkative meetings that these same council members started when they used to sit in the audience. Now that they are in power, they have clamped down control so they can push through their agenda without minimal interruption. Funny how long tirades by Alberston, bursts of song from Huson and interruptions by Hunt when they were members of the audience at council meetings were acceptable. They should afford the same rights they enjoyed to other Ruston citizens who bother to attend their meetings.
• Rule 5. Quorum: What about the routine quorums that take place outside council meetings? 4 council members were in the kitchen gabbing together all morning at the town pancake breakfast. There is at least an appearance of favoritism and predetermined decisions that are not discussed publicly.
• Rule 6. Attendance, Excused Absences: Wow, better not miss a meeting Council Member Hedrick. The majority has complete control to determine if any absence is excused or not, and three unexcused meetings means they remove you from office. This is too much control to a mean-spirited group who have proven their bent towards vendettas. They won’t even allow debate if this ever comes up.
• Rule 8. Council Meeting Agenda: D, E and F) Overkill again – absolute control, no give and take or dialog even with the mayor during “council time”.
• G) Overkill – how much is it going to cost to have an armed officer at each meeting? The previous council didn’t need police coverage when they had lots of people yelling at them during the Ruston Landing/Commencement condo votes – and they don’t need them now. In the city of Pacific a group is complaining that armed police at the council meetings are intimidating. Interesting how perceptions can vary.
• Rule 10. Study Sessions: C) Sounds like they are going to allow themselves to take action at study sessions, despite saying otherwise.
• Old Rule 15. Dissents and Protests: I note the newest version has this rule removed. Not even council members are going to be allowed to express their dissent!
• Rule 16. Rules of Order: Council members can buy their own Roberts Rules of Order books.
• Rule 17. Voting: A) The mayor should be able to call for a roll call vote as well as the council members.
• D) 2 and 3 are dangerous. Each council member should have the freedom to vote or not vote on an issue without their abstention being forced into an affirmative vote.
• Rule 18. Council Liaisons: Why not make economic development and/or business support a priority here? Our tax base is just as important as these other areas the council wants to address.
• Rule 24. Reconsideration: I note that appointment to council vacancies are not subject to reconsideration.
• Appearance of Fairness Doctrine: Whaaa Hoooo!!! We get one whole minute to comment on each business item! And two minutes at the end of each regular meeting! So generous of our rulers! I probably shouldn’t be upset; they don’t seem to listen to anyone outside their circle anyway...