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I AM GONNA CALL A MEETING OF THE GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS RULES AND CLAIMS COMMITTEE TO ORDER.
UH, THE CALL OF TODAY'S MEETING IS TO DISCUSS THE CITY COUNCIL RULES FOR THE 20 26, 20 27 TERM, UH, QUORUM OF THE CITY COUNCIL BEING PRESENT.
[ROLL CALL]
OF BUSINESS IS A ROLL CALL OF MEMBERS.AND COUNCILLOR SIMMONS IS HERE.
SHE'LL BE JOINING IN JUST A MINUTE.
AND COUNCILLOR NOLAN, UH, TEXTED ME TO SAY THAT SHE'S HAVING SOME CONNECTIVITY ISSUES AND IS IN TRANSIT, BUT WE'LL TRY TO JOIN IF SHE'S, UH, AVAILABLE.
UH, ALSO WANNA ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WE HAVE COUNCILLOR ZUI, WHO IS HERE WITH US, WHO'S NOT ON THE COMMITTEE, UH, AND THAT MAY MAYOR SADIKI, UH, MAY JOIN IN A LITTLE BIT AS WELL.
PURSUANT TO CHAPTER TWO OF THE ACTS OF 2025, ADOPTED BY THE MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL COURT AND APPROVED BY THE GOVERNOR, THE CITY IS AUTHORIZED TO USE REMOTE PARTICIPATION AT MEETINGS OF THE CAMBRIDGE CITY COUNCIL AND ITS COMMITTEES.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE CITY OF CAMBRIDGE AUDIO AND VIDEO RECORDS THIS MEETING AND MAKES IT AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC FOR FUTURE VIEWING.
IN ADDITION, THIRD PARTIES MAY ALSO BE AUDIO AND VIDEO RECORDING THIS MEETING.
IN ADDITION TO HAVING MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL PARTICIPATE REMOTELY, WE HAVE ALSO SET UP ZOOM TELECONFERENCE FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.
EACH SPEAKER WILL HAVE THREE MINUTES.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PROVIDE PUBLIC COMMENT, PLEASE VISIT THE CITY COUNCIL SECTION OF THE CITY'S WEBPAGE.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR HOW TO SIGN UP TO SPEAK ARE POSTED THERE.
ONCE YOU'VE COMPLETED THE SIGNUP PROCEDURE, YOU'LL RECEIVE A LINK TO THE ZOOM MEETING.
TO WATCH THE MEETING, PLEASE TUNE INTO CHANNEL 22 OR VISIT THE OPEN MEETING PORTAL OF THE CITY'S WEBSITE.
WITH THAT, ALL OF TODAY'S VOTES WILL BE BY ROLL CALL.
UM, SO TODAY'S MEETING BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION, UH, IS TO DISCUSS THE CITY COUNCIL RULES FOR ANY, UH, NEW COUNSELORS, UM, WHO I DON'T KNOW IF WE HAVE ANY HERE AND MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC.
THE CITY COUNCIL RULES GOVERN OUR CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS, OUR COMMITTEE MEETINGS, PUBLIC COMMENT, GENERAL STRUCTURE OF THE COUNCIL.
UH, RULES CAN BE SU SUSPENDED, UH, AT ANY TIME.
THESE ARE A LITTLE DIFFERENT THAN THAN ORDINANCE OR A LEGALLY BINDING THING THAT THAT COULD NOT BE CHANGED.
UH, AND THOSE RULES SOMETIMES ARE SUSPENDED.
THE BEST PRACTICE IS NOT TO SUSPEND THE RULES, I THINK.
UH, AND SO THE POINT OF THE RULES IS TO TRY TO SET GENERAL GUIDELINES AND, AND TO HAVE IT REFLECT WHAT WE THINK BEST PRACTICE SHOULD BE.
I THINK OF THE PUBLIC COMMENT LENGTH, WHICH IN MY FIRST TERM WOULD BE SUSPENDED ALL THE TIME WHEN THERE WERE, YOU KNOW, LOTS OF SPEAKERS UP.
PUBLIC COMMENT WAS JUST STANDARD THREE MINUTES.
ANYTIME IT GOT TO BE A LOT OF, UH, A LOT OF PEOPLE, THE COUNCIL WOULD HAVE TO SUSPEND THE RULES TO REDUCE IT TO TWO MINUTES OR ONE MINUTES, AND IT WAS VERY HAPHAZARD.
BUT THE RULES WERE BEING SUSPENDED ALL THE TIME.
UH, TO ADDRESS THAT, THE COUNCIL, UH, ADDED RULES SAYING, OKAY, IF IT'S ABOVE A CERTAIN NUMBER OF SPEAKERS, IT WILL BE ABOVE TWO MINUTES.
IF IT'S ABOVE A CERTAIN NUMBER OF SPEAKERS, IT'LL BE ONE MINUTE.
AND WROTE THAT INTO THE RULES.
SO WE DIDN'T HAVE TO CONSTANTLY SUSPEND THE RULES.
THAT IS SORT OF THE, THE GOAL OF THE RULES TO SET PUBLIC STANDARDS FOR PRACTICE.
UH, IN TERMS OF THE MEETING TODAY, UH, WE HAVE FOLKS HERE FROM THE LAW DEPARTMENT, UH, WHO CAN, UH, UH, PRESENT ON UPDATES TO THE RULES TO MAKE SURE THEY REFLECT THE NEW CHARTER CHANGES THAT WERE ADOPTED BY VOTERS IN NOVEMBER.
UM, THAT'LL BE THE, THE FIRST ITEM I SHOULD SAY, ACTUALLY, THE FIRST ITEM WILL BE PUBLIC COMMENT.
WE'LL GO TO PUBLIC COMMENT, AND THEN TO THE LAW DEPARTMENT.
UH, AND THEN AFTER THE LAW DEPARTMENT IS THEN PRESENTING, WE WILL GO TO THE SUGGESTED UPDATES FROM THE CITY COUNCIL, WHICH ARE IN THE AGENDA PACKET, ALONG WITH THE, UH, CURRENT RULES THAT WERE PROVISIONALLY ADOPTED ON INAUGURATION DAY.
IF WE CAN GET THROUGH ALL OF THE, UH, PROPOSED CITY COUNCIL SUGGESTIONS IN THE MEETING TODAY.
UM, UH, AND THERE ARE SUPPORT FOR SPECIFIC UPDATES.
I CAN WORK WITH THE LAW DEPARTMENT AND THE CLERK'S OFFICE TO DRAFT THOSE INTO ACTUAL RULES, UH, LANGUAGE AND SEND THOSE TO THE FULL COUNCIL FOR DISCUSSION AND ADOPTION.
IF WE AREN'T ABLE TO GET THROUGH ALL OF THE, UH, SUGGESTED UPDATES FROM THE, THE LAW DEPARTMENT AND THE COUNCIL, I'LL, UH, WORK TO SCHEDULE ANOTHER GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS MEETING FOR MORE DISCUSSION AT THE END OF THIS AND WORK TO GET THAT ON THE CALENDAR.
UM, SO WITH THAT, WE WILL START BY GOING TO PUBLIC COMMENT.
EACH SPEAKER WILL HAVE THREE MINUTES, AND WE HAVE JUST ONE PERSON SIGNED UP FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.
WE'LL GO TO, OH, WE HAVE TWO PEOPLE SIGNED UP FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.
UH, WE'LL GO TO THE FIRST SPEAKER.
UH, THANK YOU MR. CHAIR, MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE, JOHN HAWKINSON.
UH, AS ALWAYS, I TRY TO ONLY ADDRESS YOU ON PROCEDURAL MATTERS, AND YOU HAVE MY LETTER.
I'M GONNA TRY TO HIT THE HIGHLIGHTS.
UH, DURING THE CHARTER PROCESS, UH, WE HEARD, AGAIN, THIS ALSO IN THE CAMBRIDGE STREET ZONING.
ONE OF THE BIGGEST COMPLAINTS IS THAT PEOPLE DO NOT FEEL HEARD, AND IT'S VERY DIFFERENT FROM NOT ACTUALLY BEING HEARD.
IT'S AN ISSUE OF PERCEPTION AND AFFIRMATION, AND THOSE ARE IMPORTANT THINGS TOO, ESPECIALLY POLITICALLY.
BUT ONE OF THE STRONGEST REASONS SOME PEOPLE DISLIKED THE NEW CHARTER WAS THAT IT REMOVED THE EXPLICIT GUARANTEE ABOUT AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE HEARD ON ALL DECISIONS AT THE COUNCIL IN FAVOR OF HIGH-MINDED LANGUAGE ON ENGAGEMENT.
UM, AND I THINK TO TURN AROUND AND EVISCERATE PUBLIC COMMENT RIGHT AFTER THE NEW CHARTER TAKES EFFECT, AND, AND I THINK THAT MAY
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BE WHAT THE 62ND PROPOSAL WOULD DO, UH, WOULD NOT BE GREAT.SOMETIMES WE HEAR THIS IS NOT A BACK AND FORTH, AND I WANT TO CHALLENGE THAT A BIT.
THEY HELP AIR ISSUES AND THEY EXPLAIN THINGS.
THE PROBLEM IS THEY CAN BE INEFFICIENT, ALTHOUGH NOT ALWAYS.
UM, AND IF STATE LEGISLA CAN ASK QUESTIONS IN RESPONSE TO PUBLIC COMMENT ON BEACON HILL, YOU GUYS CAN DO IT TOO.
AND YOU SHOULD, ESPECIALLY AT COMMITTEE MEETINGS.
UH, WHEN I LOOK AT THE PROPOSALS, I TRY TO EVALUATE THEM IN THREE WAYS.
DO THEY AVOID FAVORING REPEAT PLAYERS? DO THEY PROMOTE GOOD POLICYMAKING? AND ARE THEY FAIR? SO, TURNING TO THE PROPOSALS, UH, PUBLIC COMMENT ON MONDAY, MEETING ON TUESDAY, IT DOES AVOID REPEAT PLAYERS.
IT MIGHT BE GOOD POLICYMAKING, AND I THINK IT'S FAIR, BUT I WORRY TOO MUCH.
SEPARATION AND TIME BETWEEN DELIBERATION AND FEEDBACK OR FEEDBACK AND DELIBERATION, UH, CAN MAKE IT HARD TO MAKE GOOD DECISIONS.
UM, A BETTER APPROACH TO ME IS TO NORMALIZE MOVING CONTROVERSIAL ITEMS TO COMMITTEES AND HOLDING PUBLIC COMMENT THERE.
UH, I ALSO THINK THE REALITY OF A THURSDAY AGENDA AND A MONDAY VOTE MAY JUST BE TOO FAST FOR MUCH OF THE WORLD.
I KNOW WE'VE DONE IT FOR DECADES, BUT NONETHELESS, ON PUBLIC COMMENT LENGTH, I THINK ONE MINUTE, 60 SECONDS IS JUST NOT ENOUGH TIME FOR COHERENT THOUGHT AND PUBLIC COMMENT IS NOT AND SHOULD NOT BE LIKE VOTES COUNTING.
HOW MANY PEOPLE SHOULDN'T BE ABOUT ADVOCACY GROUPS SEEKING TO TURN OUT THE MOST SUPPORTERS.
30 SPEAKERS HAPPENS FAR TOO OFTEN.
SO THE PROPOSAL TO GO TO 60 SECONDS AFTER THAT WOULD MEAN, UH, YOU KNOW, FOR MANY PEOPLE WHO AREN'T WELL ORGANIZED, THAT'S ALMOST LIKE THEY ONLY GET 10 SECONDS OF REAL TIME.
IT FAVORS REPEAT PLAYERS WHO CAN DELIVER REHEARSED REMARKS FAST AND PUNCHY.
IT'S BAD POLICY MAKING BY ENCOURAGING VOTE TALLY INSTEAD OF THOUGHTFUL DELIBERATION.
AND IT'S UNFAIR, ESPECIALLY IF YOU SHOW UP TO TALK ABOUT AN IMPORTANT LOCAL ISSUE, AND 29 OTHER PEOPLE ARE HERE TO TALK ABOUT IMPORTANT NATIONAL ISSUES IN MINNEAPOLIS THAT ARE SOMEHOW ON THE AGENDA, THEN YOU ONLY GET ONE MINUTE INSTEAD OF THREE PUBLIC COMMENT OF CUTOFF TIME.
I THINK THAT'S GROSSLY UNFAIR, UH, FOR COMMITTEE MEETINGS.
YOU DO IT ANYWAY, WHICH IS BAD POLICY.
THE BETTER PRACTICE IS TO LET PEOPLE REACT TO THE MEETING, SIGN UP, RAISE THEIR HANDS AT THE APPROPRIATE TIME, LIKE AFTER THE STAFF PRESENTATION HAS SET THE STAGE AND MADE ISSUES CLEAR, OR MAYBE BEFORE A VOTE NEAR THE END OF DELIBERATION AND DISCUSSION.
OTHERWISE, YOU GET PEOPLE SIGNING UP JUST IN CASE.
UM, AND, UH, FOR BIG MEETINGS LIKE MONDAY NIGHTS OR LARGE ORDINANCE CUTOFF IS NECESSARY.
I FORGOT TO MENTION THE ISSUE OF LATE ITEMS, UH, AND THE RULES FOR THAT.
NOW, YOU'RE REQUIRED TO SUSPEND THE RULES ON A REGULAR BASIS RATHER THAN TAKING A VOTE.
SOMEONE SHOULD LOOK AT THAT ON A TECHNICAL BASIS, NOT REALLY, UH, AS A POLICY MATTER, BUT JUST REWRITE THAT SECTION OF THE RULE.
SO IT'S, IT'S NOT SO MESSED UP.
OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS HEATHER HOFFMAN.
HELLO, HEATHER HOFFMAN, TWO 13 HURLEY STREET.
EVERYTHING JOHN HAWKINSON SAID.
I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW OUTRAGEOUSLY FURIOUS I AM.
I LOOKED AT THIS AND THE FIRST THING I THOUGHT OF WAS WHEN PEOPLE CALLED THIS THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CAMBRIDGE.
SOMEONE A LONG, LONG TIME AGO SAID TO ME, THE FIRST PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC, YOU KNOW, WAS STALINIST.
AND I THINK THAT THAT'S WHERE THIS IS COMING FROM FOR, YOU KNOW, GREG BINO IS JOBLESS RIGHT AT THE MOMENT.
AND YOU KNOW, BETWEEN ENGAGEMENTS, HE IS AVAILABLE.
IF YOU WANNA KEEP PEOPLE FROM TALKING, KEEP PEOPLE FROM CONFRONTING THE PEOPLE WHO ARE SUPPOSED TO REPRESENT THEM.
I, I'M, I AM UNCHARACTERISTICALLY JUST TOTALLY SPEECHLESS WITH FURY.
I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO KNOW WHO MADE THESE SUGGESTIONS, BECAUSE THIS IS EVERYTHING THAT I, I TOLD PEOPLE ABOUT WHY THEY SHOULDN'T VOTE FOR, FOR THE CHARTER, BECAUSE THIS IS, AS JOHN SAID, THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I SAID WAS GOING TO HAPPEN.
I WOULD SAY, LET ME READ TO YOU FROM THE EXPLANATION PROVIDED BY OUR ILLUSTRIOUS LAW DEPARTMENT IN THE BALLOT MATERIAL.
THE NEW CITY CHARTER ENCOURAGES PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AND CODIFIES PUBLIC PETITION MEASURES THROUGH INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM CODIFIES THEM BY CUTTING THEM BACK.
AND NO PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT IS COOL, IS NOT ENCOURAGING PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT.
THE, THE IDEA THAT WE CAN MAKE POLICY MAKING ABOUT REALLY IMPORTANT THINGS, FOR SOME OF US, THESE THINGS ARE LIFE AND DEATH.
AND WE CAN JUST FIT IT INTO LITTLE BOXES WHERE NOBODY'S ALLOWED TO SAY ANYTHING.
WHERE YOU CUT PEOPLE OFF, WHERE YOU DO
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YOUR DIRTY WORK OUT OF PUBLIC VIEW, BECAUSE YOU PUT IT DURING THE WORK DAY, THE DAY AFTER PUBLIC COMMENT.YOU WANT PUBLIC COMMENT TO BE LIMITED TO AN HOUR, TOTAL AN HOUR.
IS THAT BECAUSE YOU DON'T LIKE LISTENING TO YOUR CONSTITUENTS? IS THAT BECAUSE ESPECIALLY YOU DON'T LIKE YOUR CONSTITUENTS TALKING TO EACH OTHER? THE THING ABOUT PUBLIC COMMENTS IS THAT WE HEAR EACH OTHER, WE REACT TO WHAT OTHERS SAID, AND THAT'S GOTTA SCARE THE PEOPLE WHO JUST WANT US TO GO AWAY AND SHUT UP.
AND THEN WE CAN HAVE ORANGE GUY CABINET MEETINGS INSTEAD.
THAT IS WITH THE END OF PUBLIC COMMENT.
[COMMUNICATIONS FROM OTHER CITY OFFICERS]
GO NOW TO THE LAW DEPARTMENT AND CITY STAFF FOR THEIR COMMENTS ON THE CHARTER AND PUBLIC AND THE CITY COUNCIL RULES.UH, THANK YOU, UH, THROUGH YOU, MR. CHAIR.
UM, SO WE, UH, DID SHARE WITH THE CHAIR.
I'M NOT SURE IF IT GOT SHARED WITH EVERYONE.
UM, SO I'M HAPPY TO, UM, SEND IT TO THE CLERK'S OFFICE AND TO THE OTHER COMMITTEE MEMBERS AND COUNSELORS AFTER THE FACT.
UM, AND I APOLOGIZE, IT WAS, UH, A LITTLE BIT LAST MINUTE THAT WE DID MAKE SOME COMMENTS AND SHARE THEM WITH THE CHAIR LAST NIGHT.
UM, BUT I'LL GO OVER THEM NOW TO LET YOU KNOW OUR THOUGHTS AND THEN HAPPY TO SHARE SO YOU CAN LOOK AT IT LATER.
AND, UM, UH, DEPUTY CITY SOLICITOR VELOSO MAY JUMP IN AS WELL, AND THE CITY MANAGER MAY HAVE COMMENTS, UM, AS WELL.
BUT, SO A FEW THINGS FOR THE COMMITTEE AND THE COUNCIL TO CONSIDER.
THE POINT OF POINT OF INFORMATION, MR. CHAIR, UH, THROUGH YOU TO THE SOLICITOR IS, I KNOW YOU HAVE WRITTEN NOTES.
THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE CAN SEE AS WELL ON THE SCREEN.
UH, SO WHILE NICOLE, UM, BRINGS IT UP, I'LL START, UM, JUST RIGHT AT THE BEGINNING ON RULE C ONE, UH, WHICH TALKS ABOUT THAT FIVE COUNSELORS ARE A QUORUM AND THAT'S, THAT'S A LEGAL FACT.
UM, BUT JUST A POINT THAT THE C THE COMMITTEE COULD CONSIDER, UM, IS NOW THAT WE HAVE REMOTE MEETINGS AND HYBRID MEETINGS, DOES THE COMMITTEE WANNA CONSIDER ANY CHANGES TO THAT RULE TO TALK ABOUT, UH, WHEN SOME OF THE COUNCIL IS REMOTE, IF IT'S A HYBRID MEETING, UM, SHOULD THERE BE ANY PARAMETERS AROUND, UH, BEING ON CAMERA ON ZOOM? UH, SHOULD WE SPECIFICALLY CHANGE THIS TO CALL OUT THAT YOU CAN STILL HAVE A QUORUM WITH MEMBERS BEING BOTH REMOTE AND IN PERSON? SO THAT WAS A POINT TO CONSIDER.
UM, THE NEXT COMMENTS, AND THERE ARE A FEW OF THESE COMMENTS THROUGHOUT, IS THERE ARE PLACES IN THE RULES WHERE WE NEED TO UPDATE THE RULES BECAUSE OF THE CHARTER CHANGE.
AND SO WE'LL DEFINITELY, UH, DO THAT REDLINING FOR YOU TO GIVE YOU LANGUAGE BECAUSE THERE ARE PLACES HERE WHERE WE REFER TO THE OLD PLAN E CHARTER AND INSTEAD OF REFERRING TO THE CURRENT CHARTER.
SO THOSE ARE UPDATES THAT NEED TO BE MADE.
UH, THERE WAS ONE QUESTION THAT CAME UP FOR US IN RULE SIX WHERE IT NEEDS TO BE A YAY OR NAY VOTE.
IF IT'S AN EXPENDITURE OF $50.
UM, I'M JUST NOT SURE IF THAT ACTUALLY COMES FROM STATE LAW AND IF THAT'S THE CORRECT LIMIT.
SO THAT'S JUST SOMETHING WE'LL LOOK AT TO GIVE YOU THAT INFORMATION IN CASE YOU WANT TO CHANGE THAT.
UH, ANOTHER PLACE WHERE WE JUST NEED TO UPDATE BECAUSE OF THE CHARTER.
UM, THEN DOWN TO RULE 17, WE NEED TO BOTH MAKE AN UPDATE BECAUSE OF THE CHARTER, SINCE IT SAYS THE FIRST MEETING IS THE FIRST MONDAY IN JANUARY, BUT NOW THE CHARTER SAYS THE INAUGURATION IS THE FIRST MONDAY IN JANUARY, UNLESS THE MONDAY'S A HOLIDAY AND THEN IT GETS PUSHED TO THE NEXT DAY.
UH, SO I THINK WE CAN JUST UPDATE DATE THAT TO SAY THE FIRST REGULAR MEETING WILL BE THE FIRST MONDAY AFTER THE INAUGURATION.
UH, AND THEN ALSO WE HAVE IN THE RULES THAT MEETINGS START AT FIVE 30 ON MONDAYS.
UH, YOU COULD POTENTIALLY CONSIDER BUILDING IN MORE FLEXIBILITY IF YOU WANT TO EVER CONSIDER OTHER START TIMES FOR REGULAR MEETINGS OR WHILE YOU'RE CONSIDERING SOME OF THESE OTHER SUGGESTIONS THAT THE CHAIR, UM, INCLUDED IN THE AGENDA ON
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DAYS OF THE WEEK OR HOW YOU STRUCTURE MEETINGS.THAT COULD BE AN AREA TO MAKE MORE FLEXIBLE.
UM, SO THEN GETTING TO RULE 19, THAT'S THE CHARTER, RIGHT? AND THE CHARTER RIGHT COMES FROM STATE LAW.
UH, BUT THE, AND WHAT THE STATE LAW SAYS IS IF THERE'S AN OBJECTION, IT'S POSTPONED FOR THAT MEETING.
AND THEN OUR RULES HAVE ALWAYS SAID IT'S POSTPONED UNTIL THE NEXT REGULAR MEETING.
SO THAT MEANS IF SOMETHING'S CHARTER, CHARTER RATED ON A MONDAY NIGHT, IT GOES TO THE FOLLOWING MONDAY.
IF SOMETHING'S CHARTER RATED AT THE LAST JUNE MEETING, UM, WE HAVE IT GO TO THE SUMMER MEETING.
BUT WE COULD BUILD IN MORE FLEXIBILITY HERE BY SAYING IT GETS PUSHED TO THE NEXT REGULAR OR SPECIAL MEETING.
SO IF THERE IS SOMETHING THAT'S CHARTER RIGHTED THAT IS REALLY TIMELY, UM, YOU KNOW, THERE'S SOME TYPE OF DUE DATE OR SOME REASON THE COUNCIL WANTS TO ACT FASTER, THERE COULD POTENTIALLY BE A SPECIAL MEETING CALLED WHERE THAT ITEM'S PICKED UP INSTEAD OF WAITING FOR THE NEXT REGULAR MEETING.
UH, JUST TO ADD ONE POINT ON RULE 19 THOUGH, UH, E EVEN IF SAY YOU WERE TO CHARTER WRITE SOMETHING AND MOVE IT TO A SPECIAL MEETING, YOU WOULD STILL HAVE TO ABIDE BY THE OPEN MEETING LAW.
SO, UH, YOU HAVE TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION THAT AS WELL RELATIVE TO YOUR SCHEDULING, UNLESS IT WOULD SAY AN EMERGENCY.
I JUST WANTED TO FLAG THAT, JUST SO YOU KNOW, THERE, THERE'S AN UNDERSTANDING THAT EVEN IF YOU WERE TO DO IT FOR A SPECIAL MEETING, IT'S NOT LIKE YOU COULD JUST SIMPLY BYPASS THE NOTICE REQUIREMENTS OF THE OPEN MEETING LAW.
SO, UH, THROUGH YOU, MR. CHAIR, JUST IF YOU COULD REITERATE THAT FOR ME.
'CAUSE I THOUGHT I FOLLOWED ALONG MY THINKING WHEN I HEARD, UM, MADAM SOLICITOR SAYING YOU COULD HAVE A SPECIAL MEETING, IT WOULD HAVE TO BE A SPECIAL MEETING THAT ADHERED TO ALL THE RULES THEREIN TO A REGULAR MEETING.
IS THAT WHAT YOU JUST SAID? UH, YES, THAT'S CORRECT.
I YIELD, UH, ALRIGHT, MR. MR. CHAIR, JUST A ANOTHER QUICK QUESTION ON THE, THE CHARTER RIGHT ON THE CALENDAR, UM, I'M JUST READING THIS QUICKLY.
SO IF, IF SOMETHING GETS PUT SOMEONE, A COUNSELOR EXERCISES THEIR CHARTER, RIGHT? UM, BLESS YOU.
UH, AT THE NEXT REGULAR MEETING, ANY MEMBER MAY MOVE THE ITEM, WHICH HAS BEEN SUBJECT TO THE CHARTER, RIGHT? IF NO ACTION IS TAKEN AT THE NEXT REGULAR MEETING BY ANY MEMBER, THEN THE ITEM WILL BE REMOVED FROM THE CITY COUNCIL CALENDAR.
SO WE HAVE BEEN, WE HAVE BEEN TAKING UP EVERY CHARTER RIGHT ITEM AT THE NEXT MEETING WITHOUT SAYING DOES ANYONE WANT TO REMOVE IT? SO ARE WE DOING THAT WRONG? THIS IS THE FIRST QUESTION IF YOU'RE CHAIRING, SHOULD BE, DOES ANYONE WANT TO REMOVE A CALEN, A CHARTER WRITTEN ITEM? WE'VE JUST, WE JUST DO THEM AUTOMATICALLY.
BUT THAT, UNLESS I'M READING THIS WRONG, UH, THROUGH THE CHAIR, THAT'S A REALLY GOOD POINT, IS THAT THE RULES DO ANTICIPATE THAT THERE'LL BE A MOTION TO TAKE THE CHARTER RIGHTED ITEM UP.
AND WE DON'T, WE DON'T DO THAT.
SO YOU COULD THINK ABOUT WHETHER YOU WANT TO, UM, CHANGE THE RULES HERE TO REFLECT THE CURRENT PRACTICE OR WHETHER YOU WANT TO, UH, ENFORCE THAT THERE HAS TO BE A MOTION TO TAKE UP THE CHARTER WRITE ITEM, UH, THROUGH YOU, MR. CHAIR.
AND IF, I MEAN, I THINK IT WORKS FINE NOW, IF, IF, IF SOMEONE, YOU KNOW, WHO SOMEONE COULD SAY, I WANNA MOVE IT TO THE TABLE OR WHATEVER, BUT IF, IF WE DID THIS, THIS SAYS THAT IF NO ONE PULLS IT OFF THE AGENDA, UM, IT DIES.
IS SO, IS THAT SO WHAT, SO THAT JUST THAT WHOLE, THAT POLICY ORDER JUST GOES AWAY, IT GETS PLACED ON FILE OR WHAT, WHAT, I DON'T EVEN KNOW THAT, EXCUSE ME.
IF WE COULD BE A LITTLE BIT MORE INTERACTIVE.
UM, BECAUSE WHAT YOU'RE SAYING, WHICH I AGREED TO, IS IF YOU DON'T, MY UNDERSTANDING IS IF YOU DIDN'T TAKE IT, IF YOU DON'T TAKE IT UP FOR WHATEVER REASON, IT GOES AWAY.
NOW, IF YOU ASK FOR A VOTE TO TAKE IT OFF AND NO ONE VOTES TO TAKE IT OFF, DOES IT GO AWAY? SO THAT WAS MY QUESTION.
RIGHT? I THINK THAT WAS, I WAS JUST WANNA BE SURE I WANT THAT ANSWER THROUGH THE CHAIR.
I, MY INTERPRETATION IS YES, E IT IT WILL GO AWAY BECAUSE IT'S DIFFERENT THAN LAYING SOMETHING ON THE TABLE.
THE CHARTER RATE IS AUTOMATIC THAT IT GETS POSTPONED TO THE NEXT MEETING.
IF IT IS NOT DEALT WITH AT THE NEXT MEETING, IT GOES AWAY.
UM, VERSUS IF YOU MAKE A MOTION TO LAY SOMETHING ON THE TABLE, IT STAYS ON THE TABLE AND TAKE UNTIL YOU TAKE IT BACK OFF THE TABLE.
I DO YOU, MR. CHAIR, I, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT,
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YOU KNOW, IF WE DO, IF WE DO FOLLOW THE RULE THAT'S HERE NOW AND THAT SOMEONE HAS TO PULL IT OFF THE TABLE, OFF THE CAL, OFF THEIR CALENDAR, AND THEN IT HAS TO BE VOTED ON TO BE DISCUSSED, I WOULD HATE FOR THAT TO BE USED MM-HMMAS A WAY TO KILL A POLICY ORDER THAT YOU, YOU KNOW, USED YOUR CHARTER RIGHT ON.
I MEAN, YOU, YOU, YOU KNOW, THERE, THERE, THERE IS A WAY TO MANIPULATE THAT IF SOMEBODY WANTED TO.
AND I THINK THAT WOULD BE UN UNFORTUNATE.
I, I KIND OF LIKE THE WAY IT IS NOW THAT WE JUST TAKE THEM UP.
BUT IF WE HAVE TO CHANGE THE RULE TO SAY THAT WE SHOULD PROBABLY CHANGE THE RULE TO SAY THAT YEAH, WE COULD FIGURE OUT THE LANGUAGE FOR A FOLLOWING AND WHAT OUR WHAT THE ACTUAL PRACTICE HAS BEEN.
MR. CHAIR, JUST A, IF I MAY A FOLLOW UP TO MY COLLEAGUE.
IF YOU ALSO, IF YOU HAD TO MOVE IT TO GET IT OFF THE AGENDA TO TALK ABOUT IT, THEN WHO CONTROLS IT? THE PERSON THAT EXERCISED THEIR CHARTER RIGHT.
OR THE PERSON THAT MOVED TO TAKE IT OFF THE AGENDA.
DOES IT CHANGE THE ORDER? SO RIGHT NOW, SO I HAD A CHARTER RIGHT LAST MONDAY BECAUSE I EXERCISED MY CHARTER, RIGHT? I GOT TO SPEAK TO IT FIRST.
BUT WE FOLLOW THE RULES AND MARK PULLS IT AND THEN HE PREEMPTS ME BY SAYING, MOVE TO TAKE A VOTE.
DO YOU FOLLOW WHAT I'M SAYING? SO I THINK IT'S SOMETHING I LIKE, I'M WITH YOU.
I LIKE, IT AIN'T BROKE FOR ME, SO I WANNA FIX IT, BUT I YIELD THE FLOOR.
SOMETHING WE SHOULD TALK ABOUT, UM, BACK TO THE LAW DEPARTMENT.
UH, SO THEN GOING DOWN TO RULE 23 A, THE ORDER OF BUSINESS, JUST FOR THE COUNCIL COMMITTEE'S CONSIDERATION, ARE THERE ANY CHANGES, UM, THAT YOU WANNA MAKE TO THE ORDER OF BUSINESS? UH, PERHAPS ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR EXAMPLE, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS AT THE VERY END WHEN LESS PEOPLE HAVE BEEN, ARE STILL TUNED IN AT THAT POINT THAT YOU COULD CONSIDER.
IS THAT SOMETHING THAT YOU WANNA DO AT THE BEGINNING AND THEN TO, UM, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE POINTS THAT WERE RAISED BY COUNSELORS INCLUDED BY THE CHAIR, UH, FOR PROPOSED UPDATES THAT YOU COULD ALSO MAKE CHANGES TO WHERE PUBLIC COMMENT COMES IN.
UM, SO JUST NO SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS HERE, JUST FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION WHETHER THERE'S ANY AREA YOU WANNA CHANGE.
UH, AND THEN ON RULE 23 C, THE ROUND TABLES, WE HAVEN'T BEEN ADHERING TO THE SIX TO 12 ROUND TABLES A YEAR.
SO DO YOU WANNA CHANGE THAT TO EITHER CREATE MORE FLEXIBILITY AND JUST SAY THAT THE COUNCIL MAY CALL ROUNDTABLES? OR DO YOU WANNA SET A SPECIFIC NUMBER THAT'S MORE IN LINE WITH WHAT THE COUNCIL HAS BEEN HISTORICALLY DOING? UH, THERE WAS A POINT THERE.
UM, THEN MOVING ALONG TO RULE 20 3D, PUBLIC COMMENT, AGAIN, WE HAVE TO MAKE UPDATES BECAUSE OF THE CHANGES TO THE CHARTER.
UM, AND THE PLAN E CHARTER DID SAY THAT PUBLIC COMMENT WAS REQUIRED AT ALL REGULAR AND SPECIAL MEETINGS OF THE CITY COUNCIL.
AND THAT SPECIFIC LANGUAGE IS NO LONGER IN THE NEW CHARTER.
UH, SO THE RULE WILL BE WHERE YOU SET YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR PUBLIC COMMENT WITHOUT HAVING THE CHARTER ALSO SPEAKING TO THAT TOPIC.
AND THEN JUST PUTTING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE AND THE COUNCIL, ARE THERE ANY OTHER CHANGES YOU WANNA MAKE WITH THE LENGTH OF TIME OR, UM, THE THRESHOLDS? SO, WHICH I SEE ALSO IS, YOU KNOW, AN AREA THAT THE, THE COUNSELORS HAVE IDENTIFIED WANTING TO DISCUSS.
UH, RULE 23 F SAYS THAT THE CLERK WILL INCLUDE A WRITTEN STATEMENT OF THE MISSION AND GOALS OR PRIORITIES OF THE COUNCIL WITH THE MATERIALS PREPARED FOR THE AGENDA OF EACH MEETING.
SINCE THAT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT'S DONE IN PRACTICE, IS THAT A RULE WE WANT TO ELIMINATE OR CHANGE? UM, IN RULE 25 ON COMMUNICATIONS, UH, THERE'S A PART OF THE RULE THAT SAYS, UPON RECEIPT OF A COMMUNICATION THAT'S SUBSTANTIALLY AN UNCHANGED COPY OF A PREVIOUS COMMUNICATION, THE CLERK WILL NOT PLACE IT ON THE AGENDA BUT WILL TRANSMIT IT TO THE MAYOR.
SO AGAIN, IS THAT SOMETHING THAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS? SHOULD WE UPDATE THAT TO REFLECT HOW IT ACTUALLY HAPPENS? AND DOES OUR NEW LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM CHANGE THAT IN ANY WAY? UH, AND THEN IN RULE 26, THAT LAST PARAGRAPH ON PAGE SEVEN, TALKING ABOUT THE COMMITTEES AGAIN, IT'S JUST, UH, I'M NOT SURE THAT THAT RULE IS ACCURATE ACCURATELY REFLECTING WHAT HAPPENS IN PRACTICE.
BECAUSE IT'S SAYING THAT COMMITTEES WILL WORK WITH COMMUNITY AND NEIGHBORHOOD
[00:25:01]
GROUPS AND KEEP LISTS OF INTERESTED PARTIES AND KEEP THOSE PARTIES INFORMED OF MEETINGS AND DELIBERATIONS.SO JUST THINKING THROUGH, IS THIS SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS IN PRACTICE? WHAT DO WE WANNA DO ABOUT THAT? AND THAT'S MOST OF THE COMMENTS.
UM, ALSO IN THE COMMITTEE PUBLIC COMMENT SECTION, WHICH IS IN RULE 31 B, IF WE'RE MAKING ANY CHANGES TO PUBLIC COMMENT FOR THE COUNCIL, DO YOU WANNA MAKE ANY CHANGES TO PUBLIC COMMENT IN THE COMMITTEES? OH, AND RULE 31 C UH, SO THAT'S THE RULE THAT SAYS WHEN THERE'S AN APPOINTMENT TO THE HOUSING AUTHORITY, WHEN THE MANAGER IS APPOINTING MEMBERS TO THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OR THE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY, THOSE APPOINTMENTS SHOULD GET REFERRED TO, UM, THE TWO DIFFERENT COMMITTEES.
AND THE REASON I THINK THE REASON THAT THIS HAS BEEN A RULE IS EVEN BEFORE THE COUNCIL HAD ANY ABILITY TO CONFIRM, UH, OR APPROVE THE MANAGER'S BOARD AND COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS, STATE LAW HAS REQUIRED THAT THE COUNCIL CONFIRM THE HOUSING AUTHORITY AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY APPOINTMENTS.
SO THOSE WERE THE ONLY TWO THAT THE COUNCIL HAS HAD FOR MANY YEARS.
SO I, MY GUESS IS THAT THOSE WERE, WERE REFERRED TO COMMITTEE TO GIVE THE COUNCIL AN OPPORTUNITY TO CONSIDER THOSE APPOINTMENTS.
NOW THAT THE COUNCIL IS APPROVING ALL MULTI-MEMBER BODY, UH, APPOINTMENTS, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU STILL WANT THOSE SPECIFIC APPOINTMENTS REFERRED TO COMMITTEE, SO YOU COULD CONSIDER, UM, REMOVING THAT RULE.
AND THEN THE FINAL THING I JUST FLAGGED WAS AT THE VERY END OF THE RULES UNDER THE TRAVEL RULES, THERE'S A SECTION ON TRAVEL REIMBURSEMENT AND I BELIEVE THE COUNCIL, UM, WHAT PAGE, SORRY, IT'S, I FOUND IT.
OH, I BELIEVE THE COUNCIL, UM, JUST FOLLOWS THIS CITY'S POLICY ON HOW YOU SUBMIT YOUR, UH, REQUEST FOR REIMBURSEMENT FOR TRAVEL.
AND SO YOU COULD JUST TO SIMPLIFY THIS JUST BY REFERENCE, INCORPORATE THAT THE COUNCIL WILL FOLLOW THE CITY POLICY ON REIMBURSEMENT.
I THINK THAT'S ALL, UH, THE LAW DEPARTMENT HAD.
AND SO AGAIN, WE'RE HAPPY TO, UM, GO BACK AND MAKE THESE CHANGES IN ANY OTHER CHANGES THAT THE COMMITTEE IS LOOKING FOR.
I THINK MOST OF THOSE ARE, UM, EITHER ALIGNING WITH THE UPDATED CHARTER OR ALIGNING IT WITH WHAT THE CURRENT PRACTICE HAS, HAS ALREADY BEEN.
UM, ARE THERE DISCUSSION OR FURTHER QUESTIONS FROM THE COUNCIL ABOUT THESE? ALSO, SOME OF THEM ALSO GET INTO THE, UH, SUGGESTIONS FROM COUNSELORS THAT WE'RE GONNA GET INTO IN THE NEXT SESSION.
BUT ANY, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? DISCUSSION? YEAH.
COUNCILMAN MCGOVERN FOLLOWED BY COUNCILLOR SIMMONS.
UH, MR. CHAIR THROUGH YOU JUST, UH, ON RULE 37 6, UM, ALL PERSONS SHALL CONFINE CONFINE THEIR REMARKS TO THE QUESTION UNDER DEBATE, THE FOLLOWING WILL NOT BE TOLERATED.
AND THEN LIST OUT A BUNCH OF THINGS.
IS THIS, DO YOU FEEL THAT THIS IS COMPLIANT WITH, UM, THE SUPREME COURT DECISION FROM A COUPLE YEARS AGO THAT BASICALLY SAID, FOLKS CAN SAY WHATEVER THEY WANT.
WE RUN INTO THIS SOMETIMES, YOU KNOW, MORE SO RECENTLY IF FOLKS ARE USING VULGAR LANGUAGE OR, OR WHAT HAVE YOU, LIKE, WHERE'S THAT LINE? AND, UM, AND I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE, WITH THE LAW.
BUT I I DO AGREE THAT WE'RE TRYING TO KEEP SOME LEVEL OF DECORUM.
IS, IS, UH, IS APPROPRIATE? SO YOU THINK THIS IS GOOD.
THIS IS IN COMPLIANCE, YOU THINK, OR, UH, THROUGH THE CHAIR.
WE DID MAKE REVISIONS TO THIS RULE BACK WHEN THAT, UM, CASE CAME OUT MM-HMM
UH, TO REFLECT THE CHANGES THERE.
AND SO WE, AT THAT TIME, WE THOUGHT THAT THIS WAS OTHERWISE LEGALLY DEFENSIBLE.
WE'LL GO BACK AND LOOK AT THIS AGAIN BEFORE THE FINAL RULES ARE VOTED ON, JUST TO MAKE SURE WE'RE STILL, STILL THINK THAT THIS LANGUAGE IS APPROPRIATE.
UH, BUT I DON'T REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT WE HAD PULLED OUT OF IT AT THAT TIME, BUT WE, WE HAD MADE CHANGES THAT THE COUNCIL HAD VOTED ON, UH, BACK WHEN THAT CASE CAME DOWN.
BACK TO NUMBER SIX, JUST FOR A MOMENT.
WHEN IT SAYS RULES OF COURTESY, I'M ASSUMING WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE MEMBERS AND THE PEOPLE THAT PARTICIPATE.
AND THEN, SO IT SAYS, ALL PERSONS SHALL CONFINE THE, SORRY, WAS THERE A VISUAL RESPONSE? I DIDN'T HEAR? I DIDN'T SEE IT.
FIRST OF ALL, YOU SHOULDN'T BE SPEAKING OUT JOHN
[00:30:01]
SAY, REPEAT WHAT I SAID.UH, NUMBER SIX, UH, THROUGH YOU, MR. CHAIR AND, AND TO MY COLLEAGUES, IT SAYS, ALL QUESTION, ALL PERSON SHALL COMBINE THE REMARKS OF THE QUESTIONS UNDER DEBATE.
MY, MY QUESTION WAS, IS THIS FOR ALL OF US, THOSE PEOPLE THAT ARE PARTICIPATING AS WELL AS P MEMBERS? BECAUSE SOMETIMES PEOPLE KIND OF VEER OFF 'CAUSE WE, 'CAUSE WHEN I THINK OF QUESTION UNDER DEBATE, IF THIS IS FOR EVERYBODY, WHEN I'M THINKING ABOUT PUBLIC COMMENT, IT, IT SAYS TO ME, THEN WE'RE SAYING, YES, YOU CAN SPEAK TO THE COUNCIL THROUGH PUBLIC COMMENT, BUT YOUR REMARKS HAVE TO BE CONFINED TO WHAT'S ON THE AGENDA.
I JUST WANNA, SO I'M JUST TRYING TO DETERMINE, UH, WITH, WITH THE, UH, THROUGH THE, IS IT JUST FOR US OR IT'S FOR EVERYBODY THROUGH THE LAW DEPARTMENT.
UM, SO NUMBER SEVEN IN THE RULES OF COURTESY SAYS THAT ALL RULES OF DECORUM AND CONDUCT FOR COMMENT ESTABLISHED BY THESE RULES SHALL BE APPLICABLE TO ALL INDIVIDUALS ATTENDING A MEETING OR HEARING.
SO I THINK IT DOES APPLY, UH, MORE BROADLY THAN JUST TO THE COUNSELORS, BUT TO EVERYONE ATTENDING THE MEETING.
UH, COUNCILLOR SIMMONS, DID THAT, THAT ANSWER YOUR QUESTION? PERHAPS? BECAUSE I GUESS WHAT WE MIGHT WANT TO DO IS, AND I KNOW AT ONE POINT WE HAD THE RULES OF BEHAVIOR, IF YOU WILL, NOT TRYING TO SAY, YEAH, WE USED TO HAVE, SO THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT, MAYBE THAT'S A BETTER WAY OF SAYING, WAS SET OUTSIDE THE ROOM.
AND I THINK SOMETIMES FOLKS DON'T UNDERSTAND THAT THEY HAD HAVE TO ADHERE.
THEY GET FREEDOM OF SPEECH CONFUSED WITH, I CAN SAY ANYTHING I WANT ABOUT ANYTHING I WANT.
AND SO DO WE WANT, IS THERE, SHOULD WE WRITE THE RULES TO BE MORE EXPLICIT TO SAY, YOU ARE, YOU KNOW, THANK YOU, YOU'RE WELCOME.
UNDER OUR RULES, WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU.
BUT YOU HAVE TO KEEP YOUR SPEECH DIRECTLY TO WHAT IS BEFORE THE COUNCIL AT THE TIME AT THAT HEARING, NOT TWO WEEKS AGO.
YOU KNOW, OR WE ARE HAVING A, A HOUSING POLICY CONVERSATION AND SOMEONE SAYS, BUT YOU KNOW, YOU REALLY HAVE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT SNOW REMOVAL, BUT SNOW REMOVAL'S NOT BEFORE.
SO I'M JUST TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT FOLKS THAT ARE PARTICIPATING, UH, ALL COLOR WITHIN THE LINES AND HOW DO WE MAKE THAT MORE EXPLICIT SO PEOPLE CAN UNDERSTAND? BECAUSE I DO THINK PEOPLE CON CONFUSE FREE SPEECH WITH, I CAN SAY ANYTHING REGARDLESS IF THAT MAKES SENSE.
NO, I THINK THAT THAT MAKES SENSE TO ME.
IF YOU, YOU HAVE A SPECIFIC SUGGESTION FOR LANGUAGE THERE, UM, FEEL, FEEL FREE TO SEND IT AND WE'LL TRY TO WORK ON THAT AFTER THIS MEETING IF WE ARE ABLE TO GET THROUGH, THROUGH ALL OF 'EM.
UM, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR, OR DISCUSSION ON THIS SECTION? NO.
UM, WITH THAT I THINK WE CAN MOVE ON TO THIS NEXT SECTION, WHICH WAS THE, UH, CITY COUNCIL RULES PROPOSED UPDATES FOR DISCUSSIONS SUBMITTED BY COUNSELORS.
UH, SHOULD ALL BE IN THE PACKET HERE FOR FOLKS WHO HAVE IT.
IT'S A ONE ONE PAGE, ONE SIDED.
SO I TRIED TO BREAK THIS UP INTO TWO CHUNKS.
SO THESE WERE ALL SUBMITTED BY COUNSELORS.
SOME OF THE MULTIPLE COUNSELORS SUBMITTED, SOME THERE WERE VARIATIONS ON.
UM, I MAY ASK FOLKS TO EXPLAIN IT A LITTLE MORE IF THEY'RE, THEY'RE HERE TODAY AND THEY WERE THE ONES WHO, WHO SUBMITTED IT.
UM, I TRIED TO BREAK THESE UP INTO, INTO TWO CHUNKS HERE ON THE SHEET SHEET.
THERE'S THE ONES THAT WILL REQUIRE A LITTLE MORE DISCUSSION AND, AND MAYBE DEBATE OVER.
AND THEN THERE'S A FEW AT THE BOTTOM THAT I THINK ARE PRETTY STRAIGHTFORWARD, SORT OF REFLECTING CURRENT PRACTICE.
AND THEN AFTER WE GET THROUGH THIS LIST, IF THERE ARE OTHER SUGGESTIONS FROM COUNSELORS TODAY, UH, COUNCILLOR EY HAD THAT SUGGESTED A COUPLE, UM, WE CAN GET TO, TO THOSE AS WELL.
AND IF WE NEED MORE TIME, I WILL SCHEDULE ANOTHER GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS COMMITTEE MEETING.
UM, SO WE CAN JUST GO THROUGH THESE IN ORDER AND SEE IF THERE ARE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS.
THE FIRST ONE HERE IS HOLDING THE BUSINESS MEETING FOR REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS IN PUBLIC COMMENT IN TWO SEPARATE MEETINGS.
SO THE DIFFERENT WAYS TO DO THIS, BUT THE EXAMPLE WOULD BE HAVING MONDAY NIGHT FOR PUBLIC COMMENT THE SAME TIME IT'S ALWAYS BEEN ENDING THAT MEETING WHENEVER PUBLIC COMMENT IS DONE.
AND THEN DOING THE ACTUAL, UH, BUSINESS MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ON A DIFFERENT DAY, SUCH AS TUESDAY DURING THE DAY FOR THE BUSINESS MEETING.
DO COUNSELORS HAVE THOUGHTS, QUESTIONS ON THAT? UH, IS THAT STRONG PREFERENCE? IS THAT STRONG OBJECTIONS TO THAT? WE'LL GO FIRST.
UH, AS SOMEONE WHO HAS SAID THIS LIKE 1,000,001 TIMES, I FULLY SUPPORT BIFURCATING PUBLIC COMMENT FROM THE MEETING.
THE, THE MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL IS A BUSINESS MEETING FOR US TO DO THE BUSINESS OF THE CITY COUNCIL, WHATEVER THAT MIGHT BE.
UH, UH, APPROPRIATING FUNDS, MAKING POLICY, AND BECAUSE WE HAVE SUCH A ROBUST LEVEL OF PUBLIC COMMENT, PRETTY SKEWED TOWARD A CERTAIN DEMOGRAPHIC.
BUT THAT ASIDE, UM, WHAT HAPPENS? AND WE'VE ALL SAT THROUGH IT WHERE THE MEETING GOES
[00:35:01]
UNTIL THE PUBLIC COMMENT GOES TO NINE O' NINE O'CLOCK.AND THAT IS NOT A GOOD TIME TO BE HAVING A CONVERSATION ABOUT WHAT WE DO, WHAT OUR WHAT OUR MAIN JOB IS.
YES, WE SHOULD HEAR FROM OUR CONSTITUENCIES, BUT I ALWAYS THINK LOOKING, HEARING FROM YOUR CONSTITUENCY SHOULD BE FAR BROADER THAN JUST PUBLIC COMMENT.
AND THEN OTHER THINGS I MIGHT SAY, IF I CAN GO OFF SCRIPT FOR A MOMENT, SOME PEOPLE ARE VERY GOOD AT COMING TO PUBLIC COMMENT AND OTHER PEOPLE DON'T.
SO DO, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT ENGAGEMENT, PUBLIC COMMENT REALLY FOR ME IS NOT THE PLACE.
SO GOING BACK TO BIFURCATING THE TWO SO YOU CAN HEAR, LISTEN, HOWEVER LONG PUBLIC COMMENT TAKES, IT TAKES, IF ONLY LASTS A HALF AN HOUR, IT HAS AT LASTS A HALF AN HOUR AND YOU GO HOME.
BUT IF IT'S THREE OR FOUR HOURS, YOU END IT, THEN YOU COME FRESH, COME IN THE MORNING, UM, AND HAVE YOUR MEETING HOWEVER LONG IT TAKES.
AND WE HOPE THAT DOESN'T TAKE TOO LONG.
AND THE TWO REASONS WHY I SAY WE SHOULD DO THIS IS ONE I JUST MEANT BECAUSE THE BUSINESS MEETING SHOULD BE A BUSINESS MEETING.
BUT THE OTHER THING IS FOR ME IS I HAVE TO THINK OF THE STAFF.
IF, YOU KNOW, IF I'M A STAFF PERSON AND I'M DRIVING IN FROM CHICOPEE AND THAT'S AN HOUR RIDE AND I DON'T KNOW, 'CAUSE I DON'T KNOW HOW FAR CHICOPEE IS AWAY.
SO ANYONE IN CHICOPEE, I'M NOT TRYING TO OFFEND YOU.
UM, AND YOU ARE HERE AT SIX O'CLOCK, SEVEN O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING AND YOU ARE STILL HERE AT 11 O'CLOCK AT NIGHT.
I THINK THAT'S UNDUE TO THE PE UNDUE PRESSURE PUT ON PEOPLE THAT WORK HERE.
SO IT'S ALSO TRYING TO BE COGNIZANT THAT WE ARE TRYING TO MAKE A PLACE FOR THEM TO KNOW THAT I'M GONNA LEAVE MY JOB AT A REASONABLE TIME.
I CERTAINLY SUPPORT SOMETHING ON THIS, UM, A STYLE LIKE THIS, A BIFURCATED MEETING.
YEAH, I'D LIKE TO ASK OTHER COUNSELORS.
THEN I'LL ALSO ASK LIKE THE CITY MANAGER TO, TO WEIGH IN.
'CAUSE THIS ONE WOULD DEFINITELY IMPACT STAFF SCHEDULES AND, AND OPERATIONS.
UH, OTHER COUNSELORS QUESTION DISCUSSION.
UM, YEAH, IIII, IT'S SORT OF INTERESTING, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT, AGAIN, ANYTIME YOU'RE CHANGING SOMETHING FROM THE WAY IT'S ALWAYS BEEN DONE, IT'S, YOU KNOW, YOU DON'T KNOW IF IT'S GONNA WORK OUT OR NOT.
I, YOU, I THINK IN GENERAL IT JUST, YOU KNOW, WE COULD TRY IT, YOU KNOW, IF IT TURNS OUT THAT IT'S PROBLEMATIC, YOU CAN ALWAYS CHANGE THE RULES AND, AND AND, AND GO BACK.
BUT I DO APPRECIATE WHAT, UM, CONSULAR SIMMONS IS SAYING.
AND I WAS ACTUALLY GONNA BRING UP SOMETHING SIMILAR WHEN WE GOT DOWN TO THE LIMITED, UH, THE QUESTION ABOUT US AS A COUNCIL AND TRYING TO BE MORE EFFICIENT, YOU KNOW, AND I, I DO, UM, I DO HAVE THE SAME CONCERNS AND I MENTIONED THIS ON TUESDAY, UM, ABOUT STAFF.
AND YOU KNOW, IF YOU GIVE, IF YOU'RE A, A A A CITIZEN AND YOU SPEAK A PUBLIC COMMENT, YOU KNOW, AT, AT 5 45, MOST PEOPLE LEAVE, RIGHT? AND THEN THEY GO ON, YOU KNOW, THEY SAY WHAT THEY GOTTA SAY AND THEIR NIGHT'S OVER.
IF YOU'RE US, YOU KNOW, IF WE LEAVE AT 11 O'CLOCK AT NIGHT, WE'RE OUTTA HERE BY 1105, WE GO BACK TO OUR OFFICES, WE GRAB OUR COATS AND WE GO, THE CLERK'S OFFICE STAYS.
'CAUSE THEY STILL HAVE MORE WORK TO DO TO, YOU KNOW, TO WRAP THINGS UP.
THE CUSTODIAL STAFF STAYS AND WHERE WE CAN HAVE MORE FLEXIBILITY IN OUR SCHEDULE ON TUESDAY MORNING.
SO, YOU KNOW, AS, AS COUNCILOR SIMMONS SAID, IF YOU'RE A CLERK WHO LIVES 45 MINUTES AWAY, 'CAUSE YOU CAN'T AFFORD TO LIVE IN CAMBRIDGE ANYMORE, UM, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE NOT LEAVING HERE FOR PROBABLY A HALF HOUR TO 45 MINUTES AFTER THE MEETING IS OVER, THEN YOU GOTTA DRIVE HOME.
THEN YOU GOTTA TURN AROUND AND BE RIGHT BACK AT EIGHT 30 IN THE MORNING THE NEXT DAY.
YOU KNOW, I THINK WE COULD ALL BE A LITTLE MORE CONSIDERATE TO THE STAFF IN THAT WAY.
SO I WAS GOING TO TALK ABOUT IT IN TERMS OF US AS A COUNCIL, BUT I, I THINK THIS WOULD MAKE THINGS EASIER.
UM, AS WELL, I, I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR, I'M INTERESTED TO WHAT THE MANAGER WOULD SAY 'CAUSE THAT THAT MIGHT PUT MORE OF A BURDEN ON SOME OF THE DEPARTMENT HEADS AND THAT NOW YOU'VE GOT, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE PROBABLY LISTENING ON LISTENING IN ON MONDAY NIGHT TO THE PUBLIC COMMENT.
AND NOW YOU COULD HAVE TO COME BACK ON TUESDAY AND MAYBE WE'RE, MAYBE WE'RE STILL HERE FOR THREE OR FOUR HOURS ON TUESDAY DOING THE BUSINESS MEETING.
AND THEN YOU CAN'T BE DOING OTHER THINGS DURING THAT DAY.
SO YOU KINDA LOSE A DAY AND A HALF IN SOME POTENTIALLY.
UM, SO I'D BE INTERESTED TO HEAR, BUT I, I THINK IT MIGHT BE WORTH IF AS LONG AS THERE'S NO STRONG, STRONG OBJECTION ON THE CITY SIDE, IT MIGHT BE WORTH GIVING IT A TRY.
AND MR. CHAIR, I WILL YIELD TO COUNCIL SUZIE 'CAUSE SHE HASN'T SPOKEN.
SO BEFORE WE GO TO THE CITY MAYOR, I DON'T KNOW IF COUNCIL, IF YOU WANTED TO SAY SOMETHING.
'CAUSE I JUST WANTED TO ADD SOMETHING.
UH, UH, THANK YOU COUNCILOR SIMMONS.
I, I'M OPEN TO PILOTING THIS, BUT I, AGAIN, I REALLY WOULD WANNA HEAR FROM THE CITY MANAGER AND HIS STAFF ABOUT HOW IT WOULD IMPACT THINGS.
UM, WHAT I'M AWARE OF, I, I FEEL LIKE WHAT
[00:40:01]
WE SHOULD REALLY BE DISCUSSING IS LIKE, WHAT IS THE PROBLEM? I THINK YOU, YOU WERE LAYING OUT THE PROBLEM.THE ISSUE IS THAT SOMETIMES WE ACTUALLY START THE COUNCIL MEETING AT NINE O'CLOCK AND WE HAVE THREE OR FOUR HOURS OF WORK TO DO AND WE'RE TIRED.
AND, UH, WE, I FEEL LIKE THERE SHOULD BE MORE DISCUSSION.
I FEEL LIKE WE SHOULD HAVE MORE DISCUSSION, BUT OFTEN DISCUSSION IS CURTAILED BECAUSE EVERYONE WANTS TO GO HOME BY THE TIME WE START THE BUSINESS MEETING AT 10 AND THEN THERE, OR NINE.
AND THEN THERE IS THE ISSUE OF THOSE THAT REALLY WANNA WATCH THE MEETING AND THEY DON'T KNOW WHEN TO START WATCHING THE MEETING.
UM, UH, BE BECAUSE THEY KNOW IF THEY TUNE IN AT TUNE IN AT SIX 30 OR SEVEN, THEY MAY NEED TO WAIT A COUPLE MORE HOURS.
SO I WOULD BE OPEN TO PILOTING IT IN A, IN A WAY, I, I DO FEEL LIKE IT, IT, THE, THE TRADE OFF IS THAT WE WOULD LOSE A DAY TO HAVE COMMITTEE MEETINGS AND WE WANNA HAVE ACTIVE COMMITTEES.
UM, AND WE MIGHT LOSE, UM, IT WOULD TAKE MORE STAFF TIME IN A WAY.
'CAUSE THEY WOULD BE THERE LISTENING TO PUBLIC COMMENT PRESUMABLY.
AND ALSO THEY WOULD BE THERE FOR THE MEETING.
SO I AM, I'M OPEN TO THE IDEA OF PILOTING, BUT I FEEL LIKE THE CRITICAL THING IS TO HEAR FROM THE CITY MANAGER.
I WILL TELL YOU, AT THE MASS MUNICIPAL ASSOCIATION MEETING, I DID TALK TO SOME PEOPLE ABOUT WHAT OTHER COMMUNITIES DO.
SOME COMMUNITIES DON'T HAVE PUBLIC COMMENT, I DON'T THINK THAT WOULD GO OVER IN CAMBRIDGE.
UM, SOME HAVE LIKE A HALF HOUR OF PUBLIC COMMENT AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MEETING OR AN HOUR, AND THEN THEY HAVE THE REST OF THE COMMENT AFTER THE MEETING.
AND THAT WOULD, THAT WOULD ENSURE THAT, UM, WE WERE HAVING THE MEETING WHEN WE WERE FRESH, IT MIGHT ALLOW FOR MORE DISCUSSION.
I THINK THOSE GIVING PUBLIC COMMENT MAY MAY BE PEEVE BECAUSE THEY WOULD FEEL LIKE THEIR, THEIR THOUGHTS WEREN'T CONSIDERED AS WE WERE, UH, DELIBERATING, UM, IN THE COUNCIL.
UM, BUT I THINK WE, WE'VE GOTTA FIND A HAPPY MEDIUM.
I, I DON'T THINK WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW WORKS BECAUSE A, AGAIN, I FEEL AS THOUGH WE ARE MAKING DECISIONS WITHOUT AMPLE DISCUSSION.
AND I, I THINK TO, TO GOVERN, WELL, WE NEED TO HAVE DISCOURSE, UM, AND WE NEED TO HEAR FROM CITIZENS.
SO WITH THAT, I LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM THE CITY MANAGER AND I YIELD THANKS.
BEFORE WE GO TO THE CITY MANAGER, WANNA ASK IF FOLKS ONLINE WANNA BE HEARD? UM, I BELIEVE WE HAVE MAYOR SIDIKI, UH, AND VICE MAYOR
DID EITHER OF YOU WANNA BE HEARD ON THIS? SURE.
CAN YOU HEAR ME? YEP, WE CAN HEAR YOU.
UM, I WONDER LIKE, YOU KNOW, I AM OPEN TO THAT IDEA OF MAKING THINGS ON TUESDAY.
UM, YOU KNOW, THE QUESTION I'D HAVE IS, YOU KNOW, IF WE DO PUT SOME OF THE OTHER LIMITS IN PLACE, PARTICULARLY AROUND US AS CITY COUNSELORS IN OUR ROLES MEETING, UM, YOU KNOW, WHETHER THEY LIKE THE TWO PERSON OR LIKE TIME THEM IN ON HOW MUCH WE SPEAK.
I COULD, COULD OUR, COULD OUR MEETINGS MAYBE BE SHORTER, UM, ON MONDAY NIGHT IF WE HAD SOME OF THOSE MECHANISMS IN PLACE? SO I'LL, I'LL SAY THAT I'M OPEN, I HEAR KIND OF WHAT EVERYONE'S BEEN SAYING.
UM, SO WE MANAGE ON THIS, BUT I WOULD HATE TO HAVE TUESDAY THEN BE FIVE HOURS, YOU KNOW.
UM, I THINK THERE'S TRADE OFFS LIKE WE HAVE TO DO.
THERE'S JUST TRADE OFFS AND SO, UM, I'LL YIELD, BUT THOSE ARE RIGHT QUICK THOUGHTS.
WE'RE GOING OUTTA THE CITY MANAGER.
UH, WAIT BEFORE THE CITY MANAGER.
UH, BECAUSE SOME, SOMEONE SAID, IS IT FAIR TO HAVE THE STAFF FOR TWO DAYS? AND IF WE DID PUBLIC COMMENT, PUBLIC COMMENT IS NOT A CONVERSATION.
IT'S MORE, YOU KNOW, YOU ARE SAYING ON THIS AGENDA ITEM THAT YOU'RE GONNA DISCUSS, SAY TOMORROW I WANNA WEIGH IN.
I DON'T KNOW WHY THE CITY BENCH AND OR THE STAFF, WE ARE THE ONES THAT ARE TAKING THE PUBLIC COMMENT.
THE STAFF WILL SEE IT, HEAR IT HOWEVER.
SO I DON'T, I'M HOPING THAT IF WE WERE TO DO THIS, WE'RE NOT ASKING 20 STAFF PEOPLE TO SIT HERE AND LISTEN TO PUBLIC COMMENT THAT EVEN THE MANAGER WOULDN'T, IN MY OPINION, AS LONG AS THE CLERK AND WE WERE HERE, I'D BE GOOD FOR THAT WITH THAT.
BECAUSE PUBLIC COMMENT IS ABOUT HEARING FROM THE PUBLIC ABOUT THE AGENDA, NOT FOR THE PUBLIC TO GET RESPONSES FROM THE, FROM THE, UH, MANAGER AND HIS STAFF.
AND MAYBE, ALTHOUGH I WOULDN'T NECESSARILY SUGGEST IT BECAUSE IT'S A DAY, UM, IT'S BIFURCATED.
IF THE MANAGER WERE OR STAFF WERE SO INCLINED TO SPEAK ON SOMETHING THEY HEARD IN PUBLIC COMMENT, THEY WOULD HAVE A LITTLE PREP TIME.
NO, I WAS THINKING OF THAT AS WELL.
WE THINK WE'D STILL NEED THE CLERK STAFF AND THE LOGISTICAL STAFF, BUT WOULD NOT NEED, UH, ALL THE DEPARTMENT HEADS AND, AND FOLKS.
[00:45:01]
WE'LL GO NOW TO THE CITY MANAGER.UH, THANK YOU SO MUCH, UH, COUNCILOR, UH, CHAIR, AND, UH, CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR FIRST GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS MEETING.
UM, FIRST I, I WOULD JUST SAY THANK YOU AND I APPRECIATE, YOU KNOW, WE ARE HAVING A REALLY INTENTIONAL CONVERSATION ABOUT, UH, COUNCIL RULES AND, AND I THINK IT IS JUST WORTH SITTING BACK AND REFLECTING ON THE LAST TERM, THE TERMS BEFORE DIFFERENT WAYS WE COULD BE CONDUCTING BUSINESS, ENGAGING THE COMMUNITY.
UM, AND I THINK THIS IS A REALLY VALUABLE CONVERSATION, UM, IN TERMS OF SPECIFICALLY PUBLIC COMMENT AND WHETHER WE WOULD BIFURCATE THE MEETINGS.
UM, I, I WOULDN'T SAY WE WOULD FROM THE CITY'S PERSPECTIVE, THAT WE WOULD TAKE THAT OFF THE TABLE AT THIS EARLY POINT.
UM, I THINK THESE ARE ACTUALLY VERY BIG DECISIONS.
UM, AND WE SHOULD LET THIS MARINATE A LITTLE BIT AS WE CONSIDER THE DIFFERENT OPTIONS.
UM, I SHARE AS WELL THE CONCERN ABOUT MONDAY NIGHTS GOING VERY, VERY LATE.
UM, I THINK IT DOES CREATE A TOLL FOR THE CLERK'S OFFICE.
UM, IT DOES CREATE A TOLL, I THINK, FOR SOME OF THE DEPARTMENTS THAT SUPPORT CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS THAT ARE A LITTLE LESS VISIBLE.
AND IN PARTICULAR THE IT DEPARTMENT, WHICH STAYS ALL THE WAY TO THE VERY END OF EVERY SINGLE MEETING.
AND SO WHEN WE HAVE MEETINGS THAT GO PAST MIDNIGHT, MULTIPLE WEEKS IN A ROW, UM, IT IS A, IT IS A REAL TOLL.
AND, UM, EVEN IN THE MEETING THAT WE HAD THIS PAST MONDAY WHERE IT WAS REMOTE ONLY BECAUSE OF SOME OF THE LIMITATIONS OF OUR SYSTEMS, WE DID HAVE TO HAVE SOMEONE FROM THE IT, IT DEPARTMENT PHYSICALLY IN CITY HALL, UH, AND WAS HERE UNTIL VERY, VERY LATE.
UM, SO WE APPRECIATE ALL THE DEPARTMENTS THAT ARE DOING WORK TO SUPPORT THESE MEETINGS.
UM, I DO THINK, YOU KNOW, ALL OF THE CITY STAFF ARE SHOWING UP ON TUESDAY MORNINGS.
UM, SO REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE MEETING GOES UNTIL 9:00 PM OR MIDNIGHT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE ALL BACK IN THE OFFICE.
AND SO THE IDEA OF OF FINDING A MORE, UH, A MORE A A BETTER BALANCE OF RHYTHM, UH, WOULD BE SOMETHING I VERY STRONGLY SUPPORT.
UM, I DO THINK PUTTING THE BUSINESS MEETING ONTO TUESDAY, UH, DOES RAISE SOME CONCERNS JUST IN TERMS OF LOSING, UH, POTENTIALLY UP TO A HALF A DAY OF TIME FOR A LOT OF, UM, KEY FOLKS ACROSS THE CITY.
AND AS MUCH AS I'M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THINKING ABOUT HOW WE GET PEOPLE OUT A LITTLE MORE ON TIME ON MONDAY, ON MONDAY NIGHTS, UM, I THINK WE WOULD HAVE TO THINK ABOUT THAT MORE.
UM, I DO FEEL LIKE ONE OF THE THOUGHTS I HAVE ABOUT PUBLIC COMMENT IS MORE WHAT THE PURPOSE OF PUBLIC COMMENT.
UH, WHAT ARE THE GOALS THAT WE HAVE FOR PUBLIC COMMENT? WE VALUE PEOPLE IN OUR COMMUNITY BEING ABLE TO COME AND SPEAK AND HAVE A VOICE.
BUT A BIG PART OF PUBLIC COMMENT IS ALSO, UH, THINKING ABOUT HOW IT IS MORE EQUITABLE, ACCESSIBLE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE PEOPLE ACROSS THE CITY.
AND WE'VE ALL KNOWN THAT THE CURRENT FORMAT OF PUBLIC COMMENT ADVANTAGES A CERTAIN SEGMENT OF FOLKS.
PEOPLE WHO, ESPECIALLY IN THIS DAY AND AGE ARE COMFORTABLE AND HAVE EASY ACCESS TO, UH, TO A VIRTUAL OPTION, UM, ARE ARE I THINK, THRIVING IN THIS FORMAT.
IF YOU CAN BE ON YOUR PHONE AND YOU CAN NAVIGATE TO BE ON ZOOM AT FIVE 30 ON A MONDAY, YOUR VOICE MORE THAN I THINK HISTORICALLY CAN BE HEARD.
BEFORE WE HAD THAT OPTION, IT WAS PEOPLE WHO ARE AVAILABLE AND FREE TO PHYSICALLY COME TO THE CHAMBER AT 5:30 PM AND THOSE ARE THE PEOPLE WHOSE VOICES WERE HEARD.
AND SO CHANGING THE SYSTEM AND BEING WILLING TO EXPERIMENT WITH SOMETHING ELSE, I THINK WOULD BE VERY PRODUCTIVE BECAUSE I DON'T THINK WHAT WE ARE CURRENTLY, WHAT WE'VE CURRENTLY CREATED, UM, IS THE FAIREST SYSTEM.
UM, THE HARVARD CRIMSON ACTUALLY RAN A VERY INTERESTING, UM, STUDY.
AND SO ONE OF THEIR REPORTERS, UH, PULLED DATA FROM 10 YEARS OF CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS AND IDENTIFIED OVER 5,000 PUBLIC COMMENTS THAT WERE MADE BY, UM, BY 2,500 UNIQUE INDIVIDUALS.
UM, AND I THINK WHAT WAS VERY INTERESTING, AND THIS IS NOT A SURPRISE TO ANY OF US, BUT THERE IS A HIGH CONCENTRATION OF THE PEOPLE WHO SPEAK.
AND SO 128 RESIDENTS, THE TOP 5% OF SPEAKERS ACCOUNTED FOR ALMOST 40% OF TOTAL PUBLIC COMMENTS, AND THE TOP 10% ACCOUNTED FOR NEARLY HALF.
SO IT IS TRUE THAT, YOU KNOW, 10% OF THE PEOPLE WHO SPEAK ARE 50% OF THE VOICES WE HEAR MUCH LESS ALL OF THE PEOPLE IN THE CITY WHO DON'T GET TO SPEAK OR WHO DON'T SPEAK AT PUBLIC COMMENT.
UM, THE REFLECTION I KIND OF HAVE ABOUT PUBLIC COMMENT IS ALSO THAT WE DO HEAR FROM A LOT MORE PEOPLE IN THE CITY THAT WE DON'T ACTUALLY, UH, CENTER IN THE CHAMBER.
AND SO WHEN I EVEN JUST LOOK AT MONDAY NIGHT'S AGENDA,
[00:50:02]
UM, WE HAVE 91 PAGES OF WRITTEN COMMUNICATION THAT GETS INCLUDED EVERY WEEK ON THE AGENDA OF PEOPLE WHO ARE WRITING IN AND PROVIDING EMAILS TO THE CITY COUNCIL.AND I KNOW THAT ALL THE CITY COUNCILORS ARE READING THEIR EMAILS AND, AND YOU KNOW, YOU MENTION IT, PEOPLE WILL SAY, WE'RE GETTING A LOT OF EMAILS ABOUT THIS TOPIC.
UM, BUT AS SOMEONE WHO IN THE PAST HAS WRITTEN TO THE CITY COUNCIL, UM, IT DOES FEEL DIFFERENT WHERE IF YOU ARE ABLE TO GET ON ON MONDAY NIGHT AND SPEAK, YOUR VOICE IS BEING HEARD, UH, BY THE CITY COUNCIL, BY CITY STAFF, PEOPLE WHO ARE MAKING DECISIONS.
BUT IF YOU, YOU KNOW, AND YOU'RE, YOU'RE ON FOR ONE MINUTE, TWO MINUTES OR THREE MINUTES, BUT IF YOU SIT DOWN AND YOU SPEND 30 MINUTES CRAFTING A REALLY THOUGHTFUL AND REASONED EMAIL, I DON'T THINK THAT REALLY NECESSARILY GETS HEARD.
AND SO I THINK MY THOUGHT WOULD BE HOW DO WE THINK ABOUT THE FULL RANGE OF ENGAGEMENT? WE'RE NOT GONNA BE PERFECT.
I DON'T THINK WE CAN, FOR INSTANCE, GO INTO EVERY COMMUNITY CENTER, UM, YOU KNOW, HOUSING COMPLEX AND TALK ABOUT EVERY MEETING.
BUT EVEN WITH THE TOOLS THAT WE HAVE, UM, I THINK THERE ARE IDEAS FOR HOW WE MIGHT CENTER, UM, THE EXISTING COMMENTS THAT ARE COMING IN THAT ACTUALLY PROVIDE FOR SOMEWHAT MORE EQUITABLE ACCESS.
YOU KNOW, EVERYBODY HAS TIME AFTER THEY SEE THE AGENDA ON THURSDAY, OR IF THEY'RE PAYING ATTENTION TO WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE COMMUNITY TO SIT DOWN AND WRITE SOMETHING TO THE CITY COUNCIL.
UM, SO JUST TO OFFER UP SOME THOUGHTS, YOU KNOW, I DO THINK THE IDEA, AND MAYBE MY FINAL THOUGHT WOULD BE, I DO FEEL LIKE PUBLIC COMMENT IN THE LAST THREE YEARS OF MY EXPERIENCE IS SOMETHING THAT TAXES THE BUSINESS OF WHAT WE DO, BECAUSE IT IS REALLY HARD WHEN WE HAVE A BIG AGENDA.
UM, AND THERE'S SOMETHING THAT, THAT I THINK LEGITIMATELY REQUIRES A LOT OF PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT.
BUT THEN IF, IF WE'RE STARTING A MEETING AT NINE 30, UM, MY EXPERIENCE HAS BEEN THE DISCUSSION IS NOT AS GOOD.
PEOPLE START TO FADE BY USUALLY 10 30 OR 11 VERY MUCH BY 1145.
UM, AND IN ADDITION, I'VE SEEN WHEN, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE CONSTRUCT THE AGENDA, WE DON'T ALWAYS KNOW IF THERE'S GOING TO BE A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF PUBLIC COMMENT.
AND THEN IF THERE IS, THERE MAY BE AGENDA ITEMS THAT ACTUALLY DESERVE MORE DISCUSSION AND ATTENTION THAT DON'T GET THAT ATTENTION BECAUSE SOMETHING ELSE IS DOMINATING THE PUBLIC COMMENT AGENDA.
UM, SO A THOUGHT WOULD BE, I DO THINK SOME OF THE RESTRICTIONS ON PUBLIC COMMENT DO MAKE SENSE.
UM, I THINK IT, IT, IT DOES NOT FEEL GREAT TO ME SOMETIMES THAT WHAT ENDS UP HAPPENING IS FOLKS ARE TURNING PEOPLE OUT JUST TO LIKE PUSH THE MEETING OUT.
AND, AND IT'S ALMOST LIKE THE CITY COUNCIL HAS SET UP ITS RULES SUCH THAT THE BEST WAY TO SHOW THE CITY COUNCIL THAT YOU REALLY CARE ABOUT AN ISSUE IS TO MAKE THE MEETING GO AS LONG AS POSSIBLE.
AND, AND IT'S NOT REALLY THE QUALITY OF ARGUMENT, IT'S JUST TURNING OUT MORE PEOPLE TO TAKE UP THAT ONE MINUTE, TWO MINUTES OR THREE MINUTES.
UM, AND SO I THINK WE HAVE TO ULTIMATELY HAVE SOME AMOUNT OF SPACE FOR PEOPLE TO SPEAK, AND I THINK THAT'S IMPORTANT, BUT I DO WONDER WHETHER WE CAN ACCOMMODATE ADDITIONAL WAYS OF HEARING PEOPLE.
SO JUST SOME THINGS TO OFFER UP THAT, AGAIN, PEOPLE HAVE ACTUALLY BROUGHT THIS UP BEFORE AND OTHER COMMUNITIES DO THIS.
UM, AND SO, YOU KNOW, FIRST I KNOW WE'RE GONNA WANNA CONTINUE TO HAVE SPEAKERS COME AND SIGN UP AND SPEAK IN FRONT OF THE CHAMBER, AND I THINK WE SHOULD RETAIN THAT.
UM, AND IF THERE ARE SOME LIMITS, I THINK ALTERNATIVES THAT CAN BE HELPFUL WOULD BE, UM, I KNOW SOME COMMUNITIES HAVE HAD CITY COUNCILORS NOMINATE PEOPLE TO GIVE LONGER SPEECHES.
AND THERE IS A PART OF ME THAT FEELS LIKE, YOU KNOW, IN THESE ONE MINUTE SECTIONS, IT IS TRUE.
LIKE PEOPLE HAVE, YOU KNOW, IT'S HARD TO ACTUALLY MAKE YOUR CASE.
UM, AND IT WOULD BE, I FEEL LIKE THERE IS A LOST ART OF MAKING SPEECHES FROM ORDINARY CITIZENS THAT WE COULD THINK ABOUT.
AND SO IF THERE'S A RESTRICTION IN TERMS OF THE TOTAL NUMBER OF SPEAKERS TO BOTH MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE ARE ABLE TO BE HEARD ON CERTAIN ISSUES OR, AND ALSO TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF THE SPEECH THAT'S COMING OUT, I WONDER IF FOR INSTANCE, EACH CITY COUNSELOR COULD HAVE A NOMINATION AND YOU COULD GIVE MORE TIME FOR PEOPLE TO SPEAK.
AND THEN THE OTHER THOUGHT IS JUST HOW WE TREAT THE WRITTEN COMMENTS.
AND SO WE HAVE ALL OF THESE EMAILS COMING IN.
IS IT SOMETHING THAT WE WANT TO CREATE MORE SPACE FOR TO FIRST LIKE GET SOME TALLY OF WHAT'S COMING IN SO THAT CAN BE READ INTO THE RECORD? UM, BECAUSE CURRENTLY, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T ACTUALLY TALK ABOUT THAT.
WE SOMETIMES IT COMES UP ON THE FLOOR, BUT WE COULD BUILD THAT INTO OUR PROCESS TO SAY, YOU KNOW, THIS IS HOW MANY EMAILS CAME IN FOR THIS MEETING ON THESE TOPICS.
'CAUSE NOT EVERY EMAIL CAN BE CATEGORIZED TO SAY, VOTE YES, VOTE,
[00:55:01]
VOTE NO.BUT, BUT I THINK WE COULD TRY TO DO SOMETHING WITH THAT.
UM, AND THEN MY LAST THOUGHT IS IS, YOU KNOW, EVEN IF, UM, EVEN IF IT'S READING ONE OF THOSE EMAILS OUT LOUD, I MEAN THAT'S SORT OF UP TO THE COUNSELORS.
I FEEL LIKE THERE'S, THERE'S A PART OF ME THAT WONDERS WHETHER ARE THE, WHETHER THE COUNSELORS, I'M, I'M GETTING A LOOK, BUT WHETHER THE COUNSELORS MAY LOOK AT ONE OF THOSE REALLY WELL WRITTEN EMAILS AND WANNA READ IT INTO THE RECORD.
YOU KNOW, I THINK THERE, THERE'S JUST WAYS OF ELEVATING VOICES, I THINK, IN OUR COMMUNITY THAT WE COULD DO DIFFERENTLY, BUT WE'LL BE ACTUALLY MORE MEANINGFUL TO THE DEBATE THAT WE'RE HAVING, UH, IN THE CHAMBER.
ANYWAY, THOSE ARE, THOSE ARE MY THOUGHTS.
THANKS AND, AND APPRECIATE THE TIME.
UM, WE'RE BLEEDING INTO THE NEXT BULLET POINT HERE, WHICH WAS MORE EXPLICITLY ABOUT PUBLIC COMMENT STRUCTURE, UM, WHICH WE CAN, CAN JUMP INTO NEXT.
I'LL JUST SAY FOR MYSELF ON THE, THIS FIRST BULLET OF, UM, HOLDING THE BUSINESS MEETING AND, AND PUBLIC COMMENT SEPARATELY, I'VE, LIKE OTHER COUNSELORS, UH, AM OPEN TO IT AND O OPEN AS COUNSELOR, UH, MCGOVERN SUGGESTED, UH, UH, PILOTING EVEN SEEING HOW IT WORKS OUT, YOU KNOW, TRYING IT OUT, SEEING HOW IT IT WORKS FOR THE COUNCIL AND STAFF AND THE PUBLIC AND, UH, AND ADJUSTING OR GOING BACK TO THE OTHER AND IF IT, IF IT DOESN'T WORK OUT.
IT SOUNDS LIKE THERE IS NO ONE IS IS THERE ARE STRONG OBJECTIONS TO THAT.
THE QUESTIONS MORE ARE MORE ON LOGISTICS OF HOW TO, TO STRUCTURE IT, WHEN TO DO IT.
WOULD THAT BE THE BUSINESS MEETING STARTING AT 9:00 AM ON TUESDAY? OR, OR 1:00 PM OR, OR ON A DIFFERENT DAY THAT NEED TO BE FIGURED OUT A LITTLE BIT.
BUT EVERYONE IS OPEN, OPEN TO THAT.
SO, UH, I THINK WE CAN KINDA HAVE SOME OF THOSE QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT THE LOGISTICS COULD LOOK LIKE.
UM, OTHER QUESTIONS, DISCUSSION ON THIS ONE? UH,
AND THEN COUNCILOR EY, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER GOVAN FIRST, UH, THANK YOU MR. CHAIR THROUGH YOU.
AND AGAIN, JUST ON THE FIRST BULLET POINT, BECAUSE I'LL HAVE MORE TO SAY ABOUT THE PUBLIC COMMENT PIECE.
UM, I DIDN'T THINK I HEARD MR. MANAGER THROUGH YOU, MR. CHAIR, TO THE MANAGER.
UM, JUST THE, THE, THE QUESTION ABOUT, YOU KNOW, DO YOU THINK SPLITTING THE MEETINGS WOULD BE, WOULD INTERFERE WITH THE WORK OF THE DEPARTMENTS AND THE DEPARTMENT HEADS MORE BECAUSE AGAIN, LIKE, LIKE, LIKE A COUPLE OF US SAID, YOU KNOW, AND YOU KNOW, IF, IF THE PUBLIC COMMENT MEETING IS JUST YOU LISTENING, YOU KNOW, SO THAT YOU GET A SENSE OF WHAT THE PUBLIC IS, IS THINKING.
AND THE EXPECTATION IS NOT THAT THE, THE DEPARTMENT HEADS HAVE TO BE ONLINE OR HERE, UM, THAT'S ONE THING.
BUT IF WE'RE EXPECTING FOLKS TO BE HERE FOR A FEW HOURS ON MONDAY NIGHT, AND THEN TO BE BACK ON TUESDAY FOR WHAT COULD BE A FOUR OR FIVE HOUR BUSINESS MEETING, YOU'RE ALL VERY, VERY BUSY DOING A LOT OF THINGS THAT DON'T INVOLVE BEING IN THIS CHAMBER.
AND I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT WOULDN'T MAKE THINGS MORE PROBLEMATIC FOR YOU.
SO DO YOU HAVE A COMMENT ON THAT? UH, YEAH.
THROUGH YOUR CHAIR? UM, I, I THINK I MIGHT HAVE TO GET BACK.
UM, I'D WANT TO JUST TALK WITH DEPARTMENT HEADS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND, UM, WHAT'S ON THE SCHEDULE TUESDAY.
AND, AND ALSO JUST THINKING THROUGH WHAT THE IMPLICATION WOULD BE IF, UM, I, I THINK THE CHALLENGE IS THAT IT MAY BE, IT'S SORT OF AN EXPANSION OF TIME IN SOME WAYS.
LIKE WE'RE, WE'RE KIND OF BUILDING A LITTLE BIT OF EXTRA EFFICIENCY INTO OUR, INTO OUR WORK WEEK RIGHT NOW, BECAUSE THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING RUNNING REALLY LATE IS ESSENTIALLY A BUNCH OF OVERTIME.
YOU KNOW, I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW, MAYBE NOT, THAT'S NOT EXACTLY THE RIGHT WORD, BUT WE ARE, WE ARE ASKING A NUMBER OF CITY STAFF AND PARTICULARLY DEPARTMENT HEADS TO, TO STAY AROUND BETWEEN 8:30 PM WHEN, YOU KNOW, WHEN THE CITY FORMALLY ENDS BUSINESS HOURS AND SOMETIMES 11 OR 12 O'CLOCK.
SO IF YOU TAKE THAT TIME AND YOU PUSH IT INTO TUESDAY, UM, IT'S A LITTLE BIT MORE FAIR IN SOME WAYS, BUT ALSO YOU'RE GONNA LOSE THE TIME ON TUESDAY THAT WE'VE BEEN USED TO HAVING.
SO, I, I, I THINK IT'S NOT MY, MY LEAN IS PROBABLY THAT IT DOES HAVE AN IMPACT THAT'S A TRADE OFF IN TERMS OF, UM, TREATING FOLKS.
LIKE THE WORK WEEK IS ACTUALLY ENDING OR CLOSER TO 8:30 PM ON MONDAY.
UM, IN TERMS OF WHAT OUR PREFERENCE MIGHT BE, UM, I, I'LL PROBABLY HAVE TO GET BACK TO THE COUNCIL.
I DO THINK RUNNING PUBLIC COMMENT AND RUNNING THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING MORE EFFICIENTLY, UM, IN A WAY THAT DOESN'T CREATE BAD TRADE OFFS.
LIKE, WE'RE NOT LOOKING TO, FOR INSTANCE, CUT OFF DEBATE, NOT HAVE COUNSELORS BE HEARD, NOT BE ABLE TO MAKE GOOD DECISIONS.
BUT I WONDER IF, UM, THERE'S CONVERSATION BOTH ABOUT HOW PUBLIC COMMENT CAN BE RUN IN A WAY WHERE WE CAN FIT IT INTO A MORE APPROPRIATE AMOUNT OF TIME AND HOW WE THINK ABOUT THE COUNCIL MEETING YEAH.
AND HOW THAT MEETING MEETING ALSO FITS BETTER JUMP.
THAT'S THE BULLETS FURTHER YOUR DOWN.
WE'RE GONNA GET INTO THAT DISCUSSION.
SO I JUST MEAN THEY'RE, THEY'RE A LITTLE CONNECTED.
BUT JUST TO SOUND ON THE FIRST POINT, IT SOUNDS LIKE DON'T, DON'T QUITE KNOW ANY NEED TO SURVEY DEPARTMENT HEADS.
UM, OTHER, YEAH, WE'RE, I MEAN, I WOULD JUST SAY I THINK, AND I THINK YOU'RE RIGHT, I THINK, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE, THERE ARE THINGS THAT
[01:00:01]
MOST OF THE TIME PUBLIC COMMENT, I MEAN, IT, IT COULD BE AN HOUR AND A HALF, YOU KNOW, I THINK IS, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE AVERAGE IS, BUT, UM, AND THEN THERE ARE SOME NIGHTS WHERE IT'S MUCH, MUCH LONGER AND SOME NIGHTS WHERE IT'S NOT.I THINK GETTING INTO WHAT WE CAN DO AS, AS COUNSELORS, UM, TO BE MORE EFFICIENT.
IT COULD BE THE, THE, THE, THE NUGGET OF, YOU KNOW, HOW, HOW TO NOT HAVE MEETINGS GO TILL MIDNIGHT.
UM, BUT THEN I THINK COUNCILOR SUZI MENTIONED THIS.
THE OTHER THING ABOUT IF WE SPLIT MONDAY AND TUESDAY IS DOES THAT TAKE AWAY A COMMITTEE MEETING DAY? RIGHT? AND THERE'S A LOT OF TALK ABOUT PUTTING MORE, PUSHING MORE TO COMMITTEES, WHICH IS GONNA MEAN MORE MEETINGS AND MORE TIME.
AND IF HALF THE DAY ON TUESDAY IS TAKEN UP WITH A REGULAR BUSINESS MEETING, DO YOU THEN LOSE, YOU, LOSE YOU THEN LOSE THOSE HOURS FOR COMMITTEE HEARINGS AS WELL.
SO THAT'S ANOTHER THING TO CONSIDER.
OTHER COUNCIL FOLKS, THIS IS EXPLICITLY ABOUT RIGHT NOW PUBLIC COMMENT AND BUSINESS MEETING BEING SPLIT UP, PUBLIC COMMENT LENGTH, COUNSELOR DISCUSSION.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, THOUGHTS SPECIFICALLY ON SPLITTING IT UP? UH, COUNCILLOR SIMMONS.
EXCUSE ME, MR. CHAIR, UH, THROUGH YOU TWO, THE CITY MANAGER, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT YOU SAID WE DIDN'T, AND MAYBE WE NEED TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, IS WHAT IS THE GOAL AND PURPOSE OF PUBLIC COMMENT? BECAUSE I THINK IT, IT'S DIFFERENT FOR OTHER PE SOME PEOPLE, SOME PEOPLE SEE PUBLIC COMMENT AS COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.
AND I DON'T, AND IF YOU, JUST TO GO BACK TO THE CRISSON ARTICLE, IF YOU WERE TO READ IT, YOU WOULD SEE CLEARLY IT'S NOT ABOUT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT 'CAUSE IT'S VERY SKEWED.
SO MAYBE THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO REASSESS OR RESTATE WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF PUBLIC COMMENT.
AND THAT WAY WE WOULD BE, BE ABLE TO DESIGN IT MORE EFFECTIVELY IF WE ARE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE OF WHAT THE GOAL IS.
THE OTHER, THE OTHER THING I SAID, PUBLIC COMMENT IS NOT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.
IT TO ME, IN, IN A LOT OF WAYS, PUBLIC COMMENT,
AND SOME PEOPLE ARE REALLY GOOD AT IT AND SOME PEOPLE ARE, ARE, ARE NOT.
SO, AND SO, IT'S BEGINNING TO FEEL NOT ONLY LIKE IT'S AN ART FORM, BUT IT'S INSIDE BASEBALL.
WE HEAR FROM, I I OFTEN SAY THOSE ONE HALF OF THE HALF OF 1% ALWAYS COME TO PUBLIC COMMENT.
AND I THINK SOME OF OF THEIR VIEWS MAY BE CON INCONSISTENT TO THE VIEWS OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD OR THE, OR THE ITEM THAT THEY'RE REALLY TALKING ABOUT.
THAT'S, THAT COULD JUST, THE, THE NEXT BULLET IS REALLY ABOUT PUBLIC COMMENT.
THIS ONE IS, IS ABOUT SPLITTING UP.
OH, I THINK WE WERE SAYING TALK ABOUT PUBLIC COMMENT.
I'M TALKING ABOUT SPLITTING UP THE MEETINGS.
THAT THAT'S THE FIRST ONE SPLIT.
I'LL BACK SPECIFICALLY ON, BACK TO SPLITTING UP THE MEETING THEN.
I THOUGHT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT PUBLIC COMMENT.
I THINK WE SHOULD CERTAINLY EXERCISE OR EXPERIMENT WITH THE IDEA OF BREAKING UP THE MEETING AND IF MAYBE IF WE USE OUR COMMITTEE MEETINGS ROUND TABLE, OUR TOWN HALLS, A LOT OF COUPLE OF US ARE REALLY GOOD AT NEIGHBORHOOD MEETINGS.
USE THOSE MORE EFFECTIVELY IN TERMS OF GETTING, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF MAKING SURE THAT, UM, WE ARE GETTING THE PULSE OF THE COMMUNITY WOULD BE HIGHLY EFFECTIVE.
SO I WOULD LOVE TO SEE US AT LEAST TRY IT ON REALLY, UH, COUNCILLOR SUZIE.
THOUGHTS ON SPECIFICALLY SPLITTING UP THE MEETING? YEAH, IJI JUST WANTED TO SAY I, UM, THROUGH YOU, UM, CHAIR SABRINA WHEELER, I REALLY LIKED THE WAY THE CITY MANAGER WAS TALKING ABOUT, UM, OTHER OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE PEOPLE TO, TO SHARE THEIR, THEIR, THEIR THOUGHTS.
AND, YOU KNOW, I FEEL LIKE WE DO A LOT OF TALKING AT EACH OTHER WITHIN THE CHAMBER.
I THINK IF WE HAD MORE TIME FOR A MEETING, WE WOULD HAVE BETTER DISCUSSION.
AND I THINK IF, IF THERE WERE QUARTERLY OR MONTHLY TOWN HALLS, CITY MANAGER, YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO THIS IDEA.
UH, I, I THINK IF THERE WERE MORE REGULAR TOWN HALLS DIFFERENT AT DIFFERENT SITES AROUND THE CITY, I THINK THAT MIGHT MAKE RESIDENTS FEEL BETTER ABOUT, UM, ABOUT BEING HEARD, RIGHT? BECAUSE THEN THEY WOULD BE HEARING THE CITY MANAGER AND MAYBE SOME OF THE DEPARTMENT HEADS WOULD BE THERE TO RESPOND TO CONCERNS OF, OF THE RESIDENTS AND, UH, IN REAL TIME.
AND THERE WOULD BE SOME BACK AND FORTH.
SO I FEEL LIKE WHEN THERE IS BACK AND FORTH, I THINK JOHN HAWKINSON BROUGHT THIS UP, UH, YOU ACTUALLY CAN DEV DEVELOP IDEAS AND REFINE IDEAS.
SO I, I THINK THERE'S SOME WAY WE CAN AUGMENT THE CITY'S, UM, CURRENT PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT, UM, WHICH WOULD ALLOW US TO ALTER MAYBE PUBLIC COMMENT.
AND I, I, I FEEL LIKE BEFORE I, I FEEL LIKE WE NEED TO HEAR BACK FROM THE CITY MANAGER AND HIS STAFF BEFORE MAKING A DECISION ABOUT WHETHER WE SHOULD SPLIT UP THE PUBLIC COMMENT FROM THE MEETING.
WE'RE NOW GONNA MOVE ON TO THE, THE BULLET THAT'S EXPLICITLY ABOUT PUBLIC COMMENT.
UM, WE'LL SAY, GOT MULTIPLE SUGGESTIONS FROM FROM COUNSELORS HERE.
UM, THIS IS SORT OF A ATTEMPT TO SUMMARIZE THEM.
[01:05:01]
THE ONE LIKE GENERAL CONTEXT POINT I WAS GONNA MAKE ABOUT PUBLIC COMMENT.UM, AND SORT OF THE, THE GOAL OF THIS DISCUSSION WAS, YOU KNOW, I THINK, UH, CAMBRIDGE HAS MORE PUBLIC COMMENT THAN MANY OF OUR SURROUNDING SPACE CITIES, ESPECIALLY CITIES OF OUR SIZE.
IF YOU LOOK AT BOSTON, IF YOU LOOK AT SOMERVILLE, THEY DON'T HAVE ANY REGULAR PUBLIC COMMENT AT, AT ALL THEIR CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS.
CAMBRIDGE IS UNIQUE COMPARED TO THOSE CITIES ON THAT.
UM, THEY HAVE PUBLIC COMMENT, BUT IT'S ON SPECIFIC HEARINGS.
WE ARE ARE UNIQUE IN HAVING PUBLIC COMMENT AT EVERY COMMITTEE MEETING, EVERY COUNCIL MEETING.
AND I THINK IT'S GONNA STAY THAT WAY.
CAMBRIDGE, UH, HAS A, A STANDARD FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.
WE HAVE A STANDARD OF, OF DEMOCRACY AND, AND INPUT.
AND, UH, I DON'T THINK ANYBODY IS IS SAYING, WE, WE ARE GONNA GO TO BOSTON AND SOMERVILLE'S MODELS.
NOT, THERE'S ARE WRONG, BUT WE, WE LIKE PUBLIC COMMENT, WE'VE APPRECIATED THAT WE'RE GONNA KEEP IT.
THE QUESTIONS OF THIS IS, WHO ARE WE EXCLUDING FOR PUBLIC COMMENT WITH THE CURRENT RULES? BECAUSE IT DOES NOT WORK FROM THEM.
UH, THERE ARE FOLKS WHO HAVE CHILDCARE RESPONSIBILITIES, WHO HAVE WORK, WHO JUST CANNOT, UH, BLOCK OFF TWO, THREE HOURS FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.
AND EVEN IF IT'S ON ZOOM, JUST BE THERE TO BE ABLE TO, TO BLOCK OFF THAT WHOLE TIME TO, TO FIGURE OUT, 'CAUSE IT'S UNCLEAR WHERE YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO GO IN THAT AGENDA.
EVEN NOW WHEN WE TELL FOLKS THE REGULAR ORDER, IT CAN REALLY VARY WIDELY.
AND NOT EVERYBODY HAS THREE HOURS TO JUST BLOCK OFF TO, TO GIVE THEIR, UH, TWO MINUTE, UH, SPEECH.
I THINK IT'S ABOUT HAVING A MORE CONSISTENT TIME.
WE'VE ALSO HEARD IT'S ABOUT, ABOUT STAFF TIME AND MEETING AND HOW TO DO THAT EFFECTIVELY.
BUT I THINK IT'S ALSO ABOUT PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AND INPUT AS MUCH AS ANYTHING.
IT IS NOT ABOUT, YOU KNOW, TRYING TO LIMIT THAT.
IT'S ABOUT TRYING TO BROADEN THE SCOPE OF WHO CAN PARTICIPATE IN PUBLIC COMMENT WITH THAT, JUST TO, TO TALK THROUGH THIS.
COUNCILLOR ZE WILL GO TO YOU AFTER THIS.
I WAS JUST GONNA GIVE AN EXPLANATION OF THIS HERE.
UH, THIS WAS, UH, ONE PROPOSAL FOR, UH, HOW TO STRUCTURE PUBLIC COMMENT AT COUNCIL MEETINGS.
THAT GOES OFF OUR CURRENT SYSTEM OF THREE MINUTES.
IF THERE ARE NOT MANY VERY MANY FOLKS SIGNED UP, GOING DOWN TO TWO MINUTES.
IF THERE'S MORE FOLKS GOING DOWN TO ONE MINUTE, IF THERE'S A LOT OF FOLKS, THIS IS HOW, YOU KNOW, OUR CURRENT RULES ARE.
THIS HAS BEEN THE PRACTICE OF THE COUNCIL FOR A LONG TIME.
THIS IS, UH, ONE SUGGESTION ON THE STRUCTURE HERE.
AND THE, THE IDEA OF THE STRUCTURE, AS YOU CAN SEE, IS TO, TO TRY TO GIVE PEOPLE WHO, WHO SIGN UP FOR PUBLIC COMMENT A SENSE OF HOW MUCH OF THEIR, THEIR TIME THEY NEED TO BLOCK OFF.
RIGHT NOW, THE MATH IS A LITTLE BIT WONKY, WHERE YOU CAN HAVE, IF YOU HAVE MORE PEOPLE, IT CAN ACTUALLY BE LESS TIME FOR PUBLIC COMMENT BECAUSE HOW 70 TIMES TWO WORKS OUT THAN COMPARED TO 60 TIMES ONE.
AND THIS TRIES TO GIVE FOLKS, YOU KNOW, IN MOST CASES YOU WILL NEED ONE HOUR OF YOUR TIME TO BLOCK OFF FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.
IF THERE ARE A HUNDRED PEOPLE SIGNED UP, YOU KNOW, ALL BETS ARE OFF.
BUT TO TRY TO GIVE A MORE CONSISTENT TIME FOR HOW MUCH, UH, HOW LONG PUBLIC COMMENT CAN GO AT A REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING, AT A COMMITTEE MEETING.
UM, I THINK THE, UH, AND I, I, YOU KNOW, WE WILL TAKE OWNERSHIP SORT OF STRUCTURE THIS AS A GUESS.
I AM, I AM OPEN IN TERMS OF, UH, BOTH WHAT THE SPEAKER COUNT SHOULD BE, HOW LONG THE APP MAX SHOULD BE TOTAL.
MAYBE IT SHOULD BE 1.5 HOURS AND NOT ONE HOUR.
WE COULD SAY THE MAX FOR THE, THE HIGHER SPEAKERS IS 1.5 MINUTES.
THIS IS JUST TO TRY TO GIVE A SENSE OF, OF THE STRUCTURE AND, AND TO TRY TO HAVE A CONSISTENT EXPECTATION FOR MEMBERS OF PUBLIC COMMENT THAT WHEN I SIGN UP FOR PUBLIC COMMENT, IT WILL GENERALLY BE ONE HOUR.
IT WILL GENERALLY BE 1.5 HOURS.
THAT, THAT WAS SORT OF THE, THE GOAL FROM THIS IS, IS WHAT I HAD HEARD FROM OTHER COUNSELORS.
UM, SO WE'LL OPEN THAT UP TO DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FROM COUNSELORS.
UM, OH, COUNCILOR ZE, I THINK HAD TO SIGN UP FIRST.
UM, YES, I JUST WANTED TO TIE INTO PUBLIC COMMENT ON THE LAST TOPIC AS WELL, BRIEFLY AND JUST SAY THAT I, I THINK THAT SEPARATING COULD BE HELPFUL SUBJECT TO, UM, THE CITY MANAGER'S FEEDBACK.
I FEEL LIKE IT'S HARD BECAUSE ON MONDAY NIGHTS, I THINK IT WOULD BE IRRESPONSIBLE FOR ME TO SHOW NOT KNOWING HOW I'M GONNA VOTE ON CERTAIN TOPICS, BUT OF COURSE THAT'S WHEN WE GET PUBLIC COMMENTS.
IT'S HARD TO ADJUST TO PUBLIC COMMENT WHEN, YOU KNOW, UM, WRITING AN AMENDMENT ON THE FLY I FEEL LIKE IS NOT REALLY THE BEST WAY.
AND IN GENERAL, YOU SHOULD TAKE THE WEEKEND TO FIGURE OUT HOW YOU'RE GOING TO, UH, FEEL ON A TOPIC.
SO TUESDAY, I THINK ADDS A LITTLE BIT OF THAT.
I THINK THAT THIS IS ALSO AN INTERESTING VISION.
UM, I THINK THAT MAYBE INSTEAD OF DOING MANY THINGS WE CHOOSE, LIKE ONE THING THAT WE WANNA TRIAL FOR A LITTLE BIT, UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT THE QUALITY OF THE WORK DOES GO DOWN THE LATER WE GET INTO THAT NIGHT.
AND SO I THINK THAT THIS SENSE, UH, THIS STRUCTURE MIGHT MAKE SOME SENSE.
UM, AND I WILL JUST SAY TO LIKE, COUNCILOR SIMMONS POINT ON PUBLIC COMMENT, I VERY STRONGLY AGREE.
YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT, UM, PUBLIC COMMENT HAS THIS FEATURE WHERE WHEN I SEE THE LIST OF SIGNUPS JUST BY THEIR NAMES, I KNOW HOW EVERYONE FEELS ABOUT OUR TOPIC.
I DON'T FEEL LIKE WE'RE REALLY GETTING NEW PEOPLE.
RATHER, IT'S MORE OF LIKE, UH, YOU KNOW, A TRADITIONAL BUNCH OF PEOPLE WHO ARE CONSISTENTLY GIVING FEEDBACK REALLY ON THE SAME TWO TOPICS.
AND SO I FEEL LIKE FINDING A WAY TO GET, YOU KNOW, MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE FEEL HEARD AND ESPECIALLY ON THE TWO MOST CONTROVERSIAL TOPICS, GETTING THEIR VOICE IN, BUT THEN ALSO FINDING A WAY TO SAY
[01:10:01]
LIKE, IF YOU HAVE COMMENTS ON A DIFFERENT TOPIC THAT'S INTERESTING AND NOVEL, UH, YOU MIGHT HAVE A PARTICULAR POINT THAT WE'VE NOT THOUGHT ABOUT BEFORE.FINDING A WAY TO HIGHLIGHT THAT WOULD BE REALLY INTERESTING TO ME.
AND SO MAYBE LIKE, YOU KNOW, WE START OFF SMALL WITH SORT OF THESE CHANGES, BUT I ALMOST ALWAYS, UH, I'M ALMOST TEMPTED TO LIKE, YOU KNOW, DIVIDE MY TOP IF THEY WERE LIKE, HOUSING GETS A SEGMENT, YOU KNOW, GIVE PUBLIC COMMENT AND MAYBE LIKE PUBLIC TRANSIT OR BIKE LANES, BUT THEN EVERYONE ELSE KIND OF GETS A LITTLE BIT OF SPACE.
I DON'T THINK WE CAN NECESSARILY DIFFERENTIATE IN THAT WAY ON A MONDAY NIGHT.
UM, BUT JUST WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT THAT.
I THINK IT'S REALLY TWO TOPICS THAT ARE KIND OF SKEWING PUBLIC COMMENT IN GENERAL.
UM, AND I THINK IT WOULD BE A NICE WAY TO INCENTIVIZE PEOPLE TO NOT JUST TRY TO TURN OUT THEIR LIST AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
UM, YEAH, I THINK THAT THAT'S THE SUMMARY OF MY COMMENTS.
UM, I'M JUST GET GETTING USED TO SAYING THINGS.
I JUST WANNA SAY THAT I DO AGREE WITH THE FOLKS WHO HAVE SAID THAT THE PUBLIC COMMENT AT OUR MEETINGS IS NOT THE ONLY FORM OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.
I GET CALLS A LOT, UM, ON MY PHONE.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE ALL ON FACEBOOK AND NEXT DOOR AND REDDIT AND OTHER PLACES WHERE THERE'S A LOT OF DYNAMIC CONVERSATION, UH, GOING ON THERE.
SO, YOU KNOW, PUBLIC COMMENT, I, I I FIND THE PUBLIC COMMENT AT COUNCIL MEETINGS TO, IN MOST CASES NOT BE AS HELPFUL IN TERMS OF THE DISCUSSION AS MUCH AS THEY ARE.
AND I THINK MR. HAWKINSON MENTIONED THIS IN HIS LETTER, A TALLY, RIGHT? AND SO I, I MEAN, I WOULD, I MAYBE ONE THING WE CAN ALSO DO IS TRY, THERE, THERE ARE A COUPLE OF MAIN COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS IN THE CITY, RIGHT, THAT ARE POLITICALLY MORE POLITICALLY MINDED.
UM, AND MAYBE THERE'S, I WOULD ASK FOR THEIR COOPERATION IN THIS TOO.
UM, I THINK ACTUALLY THE CAMBRIDGE RESIDENCE ALLIANCE KIND OF DOES THIS PRETTY WELL, WHERE LEE FERRIS WILL COME ON AND SAY, I'M SPEAKING FOR THE RESIDENCE ALLIANCE AND THERE'S NOT 50 CAMBRIDGE RESIDENT ALLIANCE PEOPLE SAYING THE SAME TALKING POINTS.
UM, BECAUSE MOST, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S THE BIG TOPICS, YOU KNOW, A, B, C WILL SEND OUT AN EMAIL, CCC WILL SEND OUT AN EMAIL, EVERYTHING WILL SAY, HERE'S WHAT YOU WANNA SAY, HERE'S HOW YOU SIGN UP.
AND WE GET, YOU KNOW, 50 OR 60 PEOPLE FROM EACH TAKING, YOU KNOW, DIFFERENT POSITIONS ESSENTIALLY SAYING THE SAME EXACT THING.
YOU KNOW, MAYBE IT'S HELPFUL TO OTHERS.
UM, AND SO I WOULD MUCH RATHER HAVE SOMEONE FROM CCC OR A BC FOR EXAMPLE, COME UP AND SAY, I HAVE A PETITION OF 400 PEOPLE THAT AGREE THAT WE SHOULD MOVE THIS FORWARD OR AGREE THAT WE SHOULD PUT A HALT ON THIS.
THAT WOULD SPEED A LOT OF THINGS UP.
UM, AND, AND SO IT, IT, IT FEELS LIKE PUBLIC COMMENT HAS JUST TURNED INTO WHO CAN TURN OUT THE MOST PEOPLE.
AND THEY SAY ALMOST THE SAME THING.
AND I REMEMBER ASKING THE CLERK THIS COUPLE OF YEARS AGO WHEN I WAS CHAIRING ORDINANCE COMMITTEE, I THINK IT WAS AROUND THE A HO WHERE WE HAD ONE MEETING OF PUBLIC COMMENT AND THEN WE HAD TO CARRY IT OVER.
WE HAD TO HAVE TWO CONSECUTIVE MEETINGS OF PUBLIC COMMENT.
'CAUSE THERE WAS SO MUCH INTEREST.
AND I SAID, YOU KNOW, IS THERE SOME WAY THAT WE CAN SAY, IF YOU SPOKE AT THE FIRST MEETING, YOU DON'T GET TO SPEAK AT THE SECOND MEETING.
AND I WAS TOLD, NO, WE COULDN'T, WE COULDN'T DO THAT.
SO WHAT ENDED UP HAPPENING WAS WE HEARD FROM THE SAME PEOPLE TWO MEETINGS IN A ROW, ESSENTIALLY, WHO, WHO SAID THE SAME EXACT THING AS THEY SAID IN THE FIRST MEETING.
A LOT OF TIME BEING INFORMATION THAT HAD THEN BEEN UPDATED.
AND WHAT THEY WERE SAYING WAS NO LONGER CORRECT.
THERE WERE COMMENTING ON THINGS THAT WERE NO LONGER IN THE ORDINANCE OR HAD BEEN CHANGED IN THE ORDINANCE, BUT IT WAS JUST TO GET ON RECORD.
AND I, I JUST, THAT DOESN'T, I DON'T THINK THAT'S HELPFUL TO ANYBODY.
SO, YOU KNOW, I THINK TALKING TO SOME OF THESE GROUPS TOO AND ASKING FOR THEIR COOPERATION AND THEIR, AND THEIR HELP, UM, TO MAYBE HELP US, YOU KNOW, BE MORE EFFICIENT WITH THIS, UM, IN TERM OF, I'M NOT CRAZY ABOUT LIMITING PUBLIC COMMENT FOR A CERTAIN PERIOD OF TIME.
AGAIN, I THINK I, I WOULD AGREE WITH MR. HAWKINSON ON THIS THAT, UM, I AGREE THAT FAVORS THE FREQUENT FLYERS, QUOTE UNQUOTE, BECAUSE IF YOU SAY WE'RE ONLY GONNA TAKE PUBLIC COMMENT FOR AN HOUR, IS THAT NOT WHAT THAT THAT'S NOT WHAT THIS IS BECAUSE I KNOW SOME PLACES DO THAT.
YEAH, NO, THAT'S, THAT'S JUST TO CLARIFY, THAT'S NOT THIS.
SO THE, IF THERE'S 30 PLUS SPEAKERS, IT, IT GOES AS LONG AS IT NEEDS TO GO.
IF THERE'S A HUNDRED PEOPLE, IF THERE'S 120 PEOPLE, IT WOULD GO FOR TWO HOURS.
IF THERE'S 180 PEOPLE, IT WOULD GO FOR THREE HOURS.
THAT'S ALL THAT THIS IS JUST TRYING TO GIVE, OH, I SEE FOLKS A SENSE.
'CAUSE I, I WOULDN'T WANNA PUT A LIMIT ON THE TIME BECAUSE
[01:15:01]
THAT YEP.IF YOU SIGN UP LATE, YOU'RE, YOU'RE SCREWED.
UM, IN TERMS OF THE, MAYBE THERE'S SOMETHING WE CAN DO IF, IF FOLKS THINK THAT ONE MINUTE IS NOT, UH, IS NOT ENOUGH TIME.
AND AGAIN, IN SOME, IN SOME PLACES IT IS.
IF ALL YOU'RE GONNA DO IS GET UP AND READ FOUR BULLET POINTS THAT SOMEONE TOLD YOU TO READ IN PUBLIC COMMENT ONE MINUTE IS FINE.
UM, BUT MAYBE THERE'S, MAYBE, MAYBE WE DO, INSTEAD OF ONE TO 20 SPEAKERS GET THREE MINUTES, MAYBE THAT'S ONE TO, WE JUST RAISED THAT NUMBER.
THE FIRST THIRD, YOU KNOW, IT'S ONE TO 30 OR ONE TO 40, AND THEN ANYTHING OVER THAT IS TWO MINUTES AND JUST ELIMINATE THE, YOU KNOW, THE, THE ONE MINUTE PEOPLE DON'T HAVE TO TAKE THE WHOLE TIME EITHER, RIGHT? UM, AND SOME PEOPLE DON'T.
SO, UM, AGAIN, I JUST WANNA FIND A WAY TO MAKE, MAKE IT MORE EFFICIENT AND MORE HELPFUL TO US.
UM, BUT WE'RE GONNA NEED THE COOPERATION OF OTHER PEOPLE NOT IN THIS CHAMBER TO HELP WITH THAT.
UM, AND SO MAYBE ENGAGING THEM MORE.
BUT, UM, SO THAT, THAT'S HOW I HAVE FOR NOW.
I MEAN, IT'S, I THINK, I THINK THE COMMITTEE MEETINGS ARE, ARE, ARE, ARE A CHALLENGE TOO, BECAUSE COMMITTEE MEETINGS DO ONLY GO TWO HOURS, RIGHT? AND IF YOU DO, IT'S NOT GENERALLY A PROBLEM.
BUT IF YOU DO HAVE A COMMITTEE MEETING WHERE YOU HAVE 45 MINUTES OF PUBLIC COMMENT AND THAT GIVES YOU AN HOUR AND 15 MINUTES TO HAVE PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION, THAT THAT COULD BE MORE PROBLEMATIC.
SO I THINK COMMITTEES BECAUSE OF THE TIME LIMITS IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT.
UM, ANYWAY, I'LL INTERESTED TO HEAR WHAT OTHERS HAVE TO SAY.
I'LL ASK OF OTHER, OTHER FOLKS ALSO JUST REMIND, LIKE, THIS IS THE, IN TERMS OF STRUCTURE, THESE COMMITTEE MEETINGS ARE THE ONLY TIME WE HAVE TO TALK ABOUT THIS AS A GROUP.
UM, IF, SO FOLKS HAVE SPECIFIC PROPOSALS FOR CHANGES HERE.
COUNCILOR MCGOVERN WAS SORT OF TALKING ABOUT THE TIME.
PLEASE SUGGEST 'EM IF YOU HAVE NEW THINGS ENTIRELY, SEND THEM TO ME IN, IN AN EMAIL.
BUT, BUT IN TERMS OF NEXT STEPS, I'M GONNA TAKE THE FEEDBACK HERE.
UH, TRY TO WORK WITH A LAW DEPARTMENT TO PUT IT IN SPECIFIC LANGUAGE.
BUT I'M GONNA BE SORT OF WITHOUT SPECIFIC PROPOSALS FROM PEOPLE JUST DOING MY BEST TO, TO DO THAT.
SO IF YOU DO HAVE SPECIFIC PROPOSALS, PLEASE SAY THEM OR SEND THEM TO ME IN AN EMAIL.
UM, OTHER QUESTIONS, DISCUSSION ABOUT THIS BULLET HERE ON PUBLIC COMMENT LENGTH.
UH, THANK YOU, UH, CHAIR SABRINA WHEELER.
I JUST WANTED TO, UM, UH, EMPHASIZE WHAT COUNCILOR MCGOVERN WAS SAYING ABOUT, UM, COMMITTEE MEETINGS.
'CAUSE WITH COMMITTEE MEETINGS, YOU ONLY HAVE TWO HOURS, AND YOU AND I HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT AN UPCOMING MEETING THAT WILL HAVE TO DO WITH, UM, UH, EVALUATING THE MULTIFAMILY HOUSING ORDINANCE.
AND I KNOW THAT'LL BE A TWO HOUR MEETING.
IT WILL BE A REALLY IMPORTANT MEETING WHERE WE'LL HEAR FROM CITY STAFF AND WE'LL HEAR FROM DIFFERENT EXPERTS.
SO, UH, SO WHAT I WORRY IN PLANNING MEETINGS THAT ARE GENERALLY SUPPOSED TO BE TWO HOURS LONG, IS THAT WE COULD HAVE TWO HOURS OF PUBLIC COMMENT FOR THAT MEETING.
SO THE, THE CHALLENGES, UH, HOW DO WE GET THE BUSINESS OF GOVERNANCE DONE? HOW, HOW DO WE ENCOURAGE ROBUST, UM, DISCUSSION AND A THOUGHTFUL, UM, CONSIDERATION OF IDEAS.
UM, HOW DO WE GIVE PEOPLE A A, AN OPPORTUNITY TO, TO SHARE THEIR VOICE? AND THEY CAN SHARE THEIR VOICE BY SENDING US LETTERS, BUT MAYBE WITH COMMITTEE MEETINGS, I ALMOST WONDER, UM, YOU KNOW, I FEEL LIKE IF WE'RE REALLY GONNA FOCUS ON, UH, THE PRESENTATION OF IDEAS AND THEN THE DEBATING OF IDEAS, IT WOULD BE REALLY TOO BAD TO HAVE TO DO ALL OF THAT WITHIN AN HOUR RATHER THAN TWO HOURS, BECAUSE YOU HAVE AN HOUR OR TWO HOURS OF PUBLIC COMMENT.
SO, I, I AGREE WITH, UH, COUNCILLOR MCGOVERN.
I THINK IN THINKING ABOUT COMMITTEE MEETINGS, IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT THAT WE, UH, THINK ABOUT WHAT THE GUARDRAILS WILL BE.
SO THAT WE CAN MOVE ON TO THE NEXT SEC SECTION, SEEING NO OTHER HANDS.
UM, THE NEXT BULLET MAYBE SORT OF BRIEF THE, UH, SUGGESTION FROM WAS UPDATING THE CUT CUTOFF TIME FOR PUBLIC CON COMMENT, SIGN UP TO COINCIDE WITH THE START OF PUBLIC COMMENT.
UM, SO IT'S CONTEXT HERE RIGHT NOW.
FOLKS CAN SIGN UP FOR PUBLIC COMMENT, UM, UNTIL, UH, PUBLIC COMMENT HAS ALREADY STARTED.
UH, THIS WOULD UPDATE IT SO THAT IF PUBLIC COMMENT WERE TO START AT FIVE 30, THE CUTOFF TIME TO SIGN UP FOR PUBLIC COMMENT WOULD BE FIVE 30.
UM, QUESTIONS, THOUGHTS ON THIS? COUNCILOR, GOVERNOR? UM, IS THIS A BIG, I MEAN, I DON'T KNOW HOW BIG A PROBLEM THIS IS.
I MEAN, I WONDER HOW MANY PEOPLE SIGN UP BETWEEN THAT FIVE 30 AND SIX TIME, UM, THAT IT WARRANTS CHANGING IT.
I I DO THINK SOMETIMES WE DO HAVE PEOPLE WHO COME A LITTLE BIT LATE TO THE MEETING AND THEN SAY, OH, NOW I WANT TO SAY SOMETHING.
AND SO ALLOWING A LITTLE BIT OF FLEXIBILITY FOR THEM TO, UM, TO SIGN UP, I THINK IS OKAY.
[01:20:01]
SO AGAIN, I, I GUESS I'M NOT SURE WHAT IT'S, HOW MUCH IT SAVES US.AND MAYBE THAT'S SOMETHING MAYBE THE CLERK KNOWS OR, OR MS. STEFAN CAN, CAN COMMENT ON AT SOME POINT BETTER.
BUT YEAH, I THINK IT JUST DEPENDS ON THE TOPIC.
SOMETIMES WE MIGHT GET FIVE MORE SPEAKERS SIGNED UP WHEN THE MEETING STARTS.
AND THEN THAT KIND OF GOES INTO, UM, HOW YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT CHANGING THE TIME LIMIT AS WELL.
UM, BECAUSE SOMETIMES WE, WE'LL HAVE THE THREE MINUTES, BUT THEN 10, 15 MORE PEOPLE SIGN UP AND THEN, YOU KNOW, IT SHOULD GO DOWN TO THE TWO.
BUT IT'S THE MIDDLE OF THE MEETING AND WE'VE ALREADY STARTED.
THAT WAS THE THOUGHT I HAD, RIGHT, OF LIKE, IT DOES EXTEND WE'VE, WE'VE SAID WE'RE GONNA DO THREE MINUTES AND THEN 20 MORE PEOPLE SIGN UP, BUT THEN ADDS ANOTHER HOUR.
UM, OTHER THOUGHTS, QUESTIONS ON THIS ONE? ALL RIGHT, I THINK WE CAN MOVE ON TO THE NEXT ONE, WHICH, UH, I THINK THIS WAS A SUGGESTION FROM COUNSELOR SIDIKI OR MAYOR SIDIKI, IF SHE'S ON THE LINE, I'LL LET HER SAY A COUPLE WORDS ON THIS ONE.
UM, SETTING A TIME LIMIT PER COUNSELOR ON A GIVEN AGENDA ITEM, UH, OR A NUMBER OF QUESTIONS LIMIT FOR MEETING EFFICIENCY.
UH, MAYOR SIDIKI, IF YOU'RE THERE, DO YOU WANNA, UH, ADD ANY OTHER CONTEXT ON THIS ONE? SURE.
UM, YEAH, I THINK THIS IS JUST MORE FOR, YOU KNOW, THINKING WE'RE GOING TO KEEP IT AT NIGHTS, BUT, YOU KNOW, EVEN IF WE DO SOME KIND OF CHANGE, AND I'M SORRY, I'M ON THE TRAIN.
UM, AND I THINK IT'S MORE THINKING ABOUT, SORRY, WHAT SOMEONE, WHAT SOMEONE COULD, UM, HOW, HOW DO WE BASICALLY CUSTOMER BEVERAGE POINT, HOW WE DO OUR OWN KIND OF
UM, AND THERE'S DIFFERENT MODELS OUT THERE, SO I'M OPEN TO THIS, BUT I DO THINK IT'S HARD AS FAIR TO CUT OFF PEOPLE, UM, IF THEY'RE, YOU KNOW, WANTING TO TALK ABOUT SOMETHING.
BUT SOMETIMES I, YOU KNOW, I'M, I NEED TO DO THAT AND I CAN BE BETTER AT THAT.
BUT IT WOULD HELP IF SOMEONE ALSO IS SAYING, OKAY, I'M GONNA BE CLEAR AND CONCISE.
SO THAT'S WHAT I MEANT, UM, BY THAT.
AND THE, THE PART I WAS THINKING OF HERE, AND I WAS TALKING A LITTLE BIT WITH THE, THE CLERK ABOUT THIS, UM, IS THAT SORT OF PART OF THE, THE SECOND PART OF LIKE, NUMBER OF QUESTIONS PER COUNSELOR HAS SORT OF BEEN CURRENT PRACTICE ALREADY? UM, THE FIRST PART, LIKE HAVING A, AN ACTUAL TIME LIMIT PER COUNSELOR, I THINK THAT'D BE A, A NEW PIECE.
AND WE'D HAVE TO FIGURE OUT THAT LOGISTICALLY OF DOES EVERYBODY HAVE A CLOCK? IS THAT SOMETHING WE'RE ASKING THE CLERK OR NAOMI TO TRACK OF HOW LONG HAS THIS COUNSELOR BEEN SPEAKING AND, AND, YOU KNOW, ALERT THE CHAIR WHEN, WHEN THEY'VE GONE OVER THAT LIMIT? WE'D HAVE TO FIGURE THAT OUT IF WE WANTED TO DO THAT.
THE NUMBER OF QUESTIONS PER COUNSELOR SORT OF BEEN BEEN DOING THAT.
I THINK IT'S BEEN IN PRACTICE FOR THE MAYOR TO ASK IF ANYBODY WANTS TO BE HEARD IN THIS MATTER, TO GO TO FOLKS WHO HAVEN'T BEEN HEARD YET.
WE'VE SORT OF BEEN FOLLOWING THAT IN PRACTICE.
AND THIS WOULD BE SORT OF ADDING THAT INTO THE, THE RULES.
UH, THAT CLERK HAD SAID TO ME THAT THE CURRENT ROBERT RULES BEST PRACTICE IS TO GO AROUND TWICE AND ASK EVERYBODY IF THEY'VE WANNA BE HEARD ONCE WHEN THEY WERE, WERE HEARD TWICE, AND THEN CUTTING IT OFF.
WE COULD, COULD FORMALIZE THAT AND THEN IF A COUNSELOR WANTED TO BE HEARD THREE, FOUR TIMES, THEN IT WOULD BE A SUSPENSION OF THE RULES TO DO THAT.
UM, BUT I THINK THAT IS THE QUESTION.
WOULD FOLKS WANNA FORMALIZE THAT PRACTICE? UH, COUNCILOR MCGOVERN? THANK YOU MR. CHAIR.
YEAH, I, I LIKE THE TWO QUESTION RULE FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS.
UH, ONE, IT FORCES YOU TO THINK CRITICALLY ABOUT WHAT TWO QUESTIONS YOU WANT TO ASK, RIGHT? UM, AND IT, YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES THE FIRST PERSON CALLED WILL ASK 20 QUESTIONS AND TALK FOR 20 MINUTES.
AND THEN WHAT ENDS UP HAPPENING IS, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU'RE IN THE CHAIR AND YOU'RE TRYING TO RUN AN EFFICIENT MEETING, THAT'S THE MAIN RESPONSIBILITY.
YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU GET TO THE SIXTH OR SEVENTH PERSON WHO WANTS TO TALK, YOU'VE BEEN ON THE TOPIC FOR 45 MINUTES, AND THEN YOU CUT THAT PERSON SHORT.
'CAUSE YOU SAY, YOU KNOW WHAT? WE'VE DISCUSSED THIS ENOUGH, BUT WHOEVER GETS CALLED ON FIRST SORT OF TENDS TO HAVE GO ON, YOU KNOW, FOR, FOR A VERY LONG TIME.
UM, SO I, I LIKE THE TWO QUESTION RULE.
UM, AND, BUT I DO THINK, AND THIS IS NOT SOMETHING NECESSARILY THAT THAT GOES INTO THE RULES, BUT THIS IS SOMETHING I THINK WE HAVE TO OUR SORT OF OUR OWN COURTESY TO THE BODY.
UM, AND TO, AND TO THE, AND TO THE CITY.
YOU KNOW, IF YOU HAVE, MY NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION WAS TO NOT PULL ANYTHING OFF THE AGENDA UNLESS MY QUESTION WAS GOING TO INFLUENCE WHETHER OR NOT I WAS GOING TO VOTE IN FAVOR OR AGAINST SOMETHING.
IF MY QUESTION WAS REALLY, I WAS ON THE FENCE AND I HAD A QUESTION THAT I NEEDED AN ANSWER TO, UM, BECAUSE WHAT ENDS UP HAPPENING IS, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE 15 THINGS ON THE CITY MANAGER'S AGENDA.
SOMEBODY PULLS, WE HAVE SOME COUNSELORS TO PULL ONE OR
[01:25:01]
NONE.WE HAVE OTHERS THAT PULL 14 OF THE 15.
AND IF YOUR ITEM COMES UP, YOU'RE NUMBER 14, YOU'VE SAT THROUGH THREE HOURS OF PUBLIC, YOU'RE THE DEPARTMENT HEAD, YOU'VE SAT THROUGH THREE HOURS OF PUBLIC COMMENT.
YOU NOW SIT THROUGH ANOTHER HOUR AND A HALF BY THE TIME YOU GET TO YOUR ITEM ON THE CITY MANAGER'S AGENDA.
AND THE QUESTION IS, YOU KNOW, WHAT COLOR IS THE PAINT IN YOUR OFFICE? THAT'S A, THAT'S REALLY UNFAIR TO THAT PERSON.
AND THOSE ARE QUESTIONS THAT COULD BE ANSWERED OFFLINE.
SO I THINK WE HAVE TO HAVE NORMS FOR OURSELVES THAT WE'RE, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T JUST PULL THINGS OFF THE AGENDA 'CAUSE WE ARE CURIOUS ABOUT SOMETHING, BUT IT HAS TO BE MEANINGFUL.
IT HAS TO BE, THE QUESTIONS HAVE TO BE MEANINGFUL.
AND I THINK A TWO QUESTION LIMIT WOULD MAKE IT THAT WAY BECAUSE YOU COULDN'T ASK SOME OF THOSE QUESTIONS THAT YOU COULD JUST ASK IN AN EMAIL, RIGHT? SO I, I I THINK IT WOULD MAKE US FAR MORE EFFICIENT, UM, AND BE A LOT EASIER FOR THE STAFF.
UM, AND IT MIGHT PRECLUDE US FROM MAYBE, BUT IN GENERAL, WE SHOULD BE REALLY CAREFUL ABOUT WHY WE'RE PULLING THINGS OFF THE AGENDA IF WE WANT MEETINGS TO GO MORE SMOOTHLY.
THERE'S A LOT, YOU KNOW, IF YOUR QUESTION ISN'T RELEVANT TO THE PUBLIC OR ISN'T RELEVANT TO YOUR VOTE, DON'T PULL IT.
I THINK YOU, UH, COUNCILOR, I WAS THINKING A LOT ABOUT THIS AS WELL IN TERMS OF DESIGNING RULES.
THERE'S A BIG PART OF THIS THAT THAT IS NOT A WRITTEN RULE.
IT IS JUST THE NORM OF US AS COUNSELORS THINKING OF WHAT DO, WHAT DO YOU NEED TO PULL AND DO I NEED TO PULL THAT TO HAVE A PUBLIC DISCUSSION ABOUT IT? OR IS IT JUST SOMETHING THAT I'M TRYING TO FIGURE OUT AS A COUNSELOR? AND THEN CAN YOU REACH OUT TO THAT INDIVIDUALLY? CAN YOU DO THAT AHEAD OF TIME VIA AN EMAIL? UM, I DON'T KNOW THAT THERE'S A WAY TO WRITE THAT INTO ADULT RULES, BUT I AGREE THAT IS A BIG PART OF THIS.
UM, I SAW COUNCILLOR SIMMONS AND THEN, UH, COUNCILLOR E COUNCILLOR SIMMONS.
UH, EVERYTHING THAT MY COLLEAGUE JUST SAID, I CERTAINLY SUPPORT.
HE SAID NO MORE THAN TWO QUESTIONS.
I STILL LIKE THE TIME LIMIT ON THOSE TWO QUESTIONS BECAUSE WHAT HAPPENS WITH TWO QUESTIONS? IS THIS THE, WHAT IS THE WORD THAT WE USE? UM, I CAN'T THINK OF IT, RIGHT.
NO, YEAH, WE HAVE A LOT, WE HAVE A LOT OF PONTIFICATION.
YES, BUT NO CLARIFYING QUESTION.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE DIFFERENCE IS, QUESTION, YOU KNOW, IS IT A FOLLOW UP QUESTION TO THE FIRST QUESTION WITH UNDER A DIFFERENT NAME? SO I THINK WE NEED TO CLARIFY THAT, BUT, UH, I DO LIKE THE TWO QUESTIONS PER PERSON.
I STILL FEEL LIKE THAT THERE SHOULD BE, UH, SOME TIME LIMIT ON IT BECAUSE SOME OF US ARE MORE VERBOSE THAN OTHERS.
I THINK WE DO PRACTICE FAIRLY WELL IN THE CHAIR BEING COGNIZANT OF WHO'S SPOKEN AND NOT MAKING SURE EVERYONE SPEAKS AT LEAST ONCE BEFORE WE SPEAK AGAIN.
SO I HOPE THAT WE CAN BE MORE, UM, THOUGHTFUL ABOUT DOING THAT.
AND THEN LASTLY, I MEAN EITHER IN THIS, IN THIS CONTEXT, WHICH IS GOVERNMENT OPS OR ANOTHER, WE SHOULD HAVE ANOTHER, UM, TUTORIAL ON ROBERT'S RULES BECAUSE ROBERT'S RULES IN THOSE TRAININGS, AND I STILL HAVE MY NOTES FROM THE LAST TIME WE DID THIS.
UM, THEY TALK ABOUT THAT, THEY TALK ABOUT YIELDING THE FLOOR TO OTHER COLLEAGUES.
SO WHETHER WE CODIFY IN OUR RULES AND OR, UM, DO IT AS A PART OF A TRAINING, I THINK WE SHOULD DO AN UPDATED TRAINING ON ROBERT'S RULES, WHICH WOULD SPEAK TO A LITTLE BIT OF THIS.
BUT I AM SO MUCH IN FAVOR OF, UH, LIMITING THE TIME YOU SPEAK ON THE FLOOR AND HOW YOU DO IT.
AND MAYBE IT'S FIVE NO LONGER THAN SEVEN MINUTES.
'CAUSE YOU FIGURE YOU DO THE MATH.
NINE PEOPLE TALK FOR SEVEN MINUTES.
MY UNDERSTANDING IS THERE'S A, A ROBERTS RULES TRAINING BEING PLANNED.
UM, COUNCILOR SUZIE, YOU WANNA BE HEARD ON THIS? UH, JUST QUICKLY, I, I SUPPORT THE FIVE MINUTE PER AGENDA ITEM, UH, IDEA.
AND MAYBE WE CAN EVEN, UH, WITH OUR PHONES, WE CAN MONITOR OURSELVES, WE CAN TRY SELF-MONITORING.
UH, AND I HAVE HEARD YOU LOUD AND CLEAR.
I WILL NOT PULL ITEMS ASKING ABOUT THE WHAT THE PUBLIC WAY DOES AND, UH, WHAT THE CONSTABLE DOES.
I WILL NOT DO THAT IN THE FUTURE.
I, UH, I THINK THAT'S IT FOR THIS, UH, BULLET POINT.
THE NEXT ONE WAS, UH, ALLOWING WRITTEN PUBLIC COMMENT TO BE ADDED TO THE AGENDA UNTIL MONDAY.
I THINK THIS WAS ACTUALLY MAYBE BEFORE WE GONNA DISCUSSION A LOGISTICAL QUESTION FOR THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE, UM, OF, UH, IF, WHEN FOLKS PUT IN EMAILS, WHEN FOLKS PUT IN IN COMMUNICATIONS AHEAD OF A A MONDAY MEETING, IS THERE A CUTOFF THAT, THAT YOU ALL HA HAVE BEFORE YOU'RE, YOU'RE ABLE TO AGENDA, ADD IT TO THE OPEN MEETING PORTAL? IS THERE SORT OF A LOGISTICAL CONSIDERATION OF, LOOK, WE CAN'T GET ANYTHING IN AFTER MONDAY MORNING? UM, THE ISSUE IS, IS WHEN WE ADD THINGS, WE DO TRY TO ADD THINGS UP UNTIL THE LATEST POINT WE POSSIBLY CAN.
BUT EVERY TIME SOMETHING'S ADDED TO AN AGENDA, THE WHOLE AGENDA NEEDS TO BE REGENERATED, WHICH CAN TAKE A GOOD AMOUNT OF TIME.
SO WHAT WE DO IS WE DO TRY TO MAKE COPIES WHEN WE GET THINGS.
WE ALSO HAVE TO ACCOUNT FOR THE TIME WE COME UP, GET EVERYTHING PASSED OUT TO COUNSELORS, GET THE PUBLIC
[01:30:01]
INFORMATION READY FOR THEM.SO WE HAVE COPYING TIME IN THERE TOO.
SO WE DO TRY TO DO IT WHEN IT'S FEASIBLE AND WHEN IT'S EARLY, BUT IF IT STARTS COMING CLOSE TO A MEETING, EVEN WITHIN A COUPLE HOURS, WE ARE REALLY PUSHING THE BUTTON BECAUSE EVERY TIME WE REGENERATE THE MEETING COMES DOWN COMPLETELY.
SO THAT'S THE PROBLEM WITH THAT.
AND THIS APOLOGIES, THE, I KNOW THERE'S ONE THING ON, ON COUNCIL ITEMS, COUNSELORS SUBMITTING THINGS AND THEN GETTING TO THE PUBLIC.
I THINK THIS ONE WAS SPECIFICALLY ABOUT, UM, PUBLIC COMMENT AND, AND WRITTEN, WHEN FOLKS SEND AN EMAIL, IS THERE A CUTOFF FOR WHEN FOLKS SEND, SEND IN A, AN EMAIL ON A TOPIC FOR WHEN YOU'RE, YOU'RE ABLE TO GET THAT TO THE AGENDA? SO I KNOW THE NEW LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM THAT WE ARE, UM, STARTING WITH, I THINK WE'LL BE ABLE TO HAVE THAT FEATURE IF WE'RE ABLE TO, UM, GO FORWARD WITH THAT OPTION OF THE PUBLIC BEING ABLE TO SUBMIT THEIR OWN PUBLIC COMMENT AND IT GOING RIGHT TO THE AGENDA.
UM, I KNOW WE WERE GONNA START WITH IT AND WE PUT A PAUSE ON IT AND FOR MY COMMITTEE MEETINGS, I WAS SETTING IT UP FOR 24 HOURS AFTER THE START OF THE COMMITTEE MEETING.
UM, THE PUBLIC CAN STILL CON UH, CONTINUE TO SUBMIT WRITTEN PUBLIC COMMENT THAT WOULD BE ADDED TO THE RECORD.
UM, SO YEAH, MAYBE JUST, WELL, THERE'S A LOGISTICAL QUESTION IN TERMS OF FIGURING OUT THE NEW SYSTEM HERE.
UM, ANY QUESTIONS OR DISCUSSION? THAT WAS PROBABLY A PRETTY, PRETTY BRIEF ONE ON THAT ONE LONG WRITTEN PUBLIC COMMENT.
UM, THEN WE CAN GO TO THE NEXT BULLET, WHICH WAS, UM, TWO SOME SIMILAR THINGS, WHICH WAS THE, THE CEREMONIAL PIECES AT THE START OF A MEETING.
UM, UH, ONE SUGGESTION WAS WHETHER WE SHOULD DO A LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT, WHICH IS, UH, LIKE WHAT THE MALDEN CITY COUNCIL DOES FOR ANYONE WHO'S NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT, IT'S A PRACTICE, UH, THAT, YOU KNOW, HAVE, HAVE FOLKS HAVE SEEN IN SOME MEETINGS LIKELY, UH, OF ACKNOWLEDGING THE, UH, LAND ON, ON WHOSE PLACE THE, THE MEETING IS HAPPENING IN OUR, OUR CASE.
THAT WOULD BE THE, UH, THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF MASSACHUSETTS OF, OF DOING THAT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.
UM, THE OTHER QUESTION, SUGGESTION HERE WAS A PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE.
WE, THAT HAS BEEN THE PRACTICE AND, AND AT EACH MEETING THAT THERE WILL BE A PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE.
I THINK THAT, SO THE QUESTIONS HERE WERE DO WE WANT TO ADD AN AN LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND DO WE WANT TO CONTINUE DOING THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE AT COUNCIL MEETINGS? UM, WE'LL OPEN THAT UP TO, UH, QUESTIONS, DISCUSSION.
I SEE FIRST COUNCILOR ZIM AND THEN, UH, COUNCILLOR SIMMONS.
UM, I THINK I'M PRETTY COMFORTABLE WITH OUR CURRENT STATUS QUO.
I THINK THAT RULES ARE SOMETIMES WORTH UPDATING IF WE FEEL LIKE THEY'RE GONNA SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACT OUR MEETING AND OUR ABILITY TO MOVE THINGS FORWARD.
BUT I THINK IN GENERAL, LIKE TINY LITTLE RULE CHANGES I'M LESS EXCITED ABOUT.
UH, I HAVE MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT A LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.
UM, I CALL IT THE PAT ME ON THE HEAD ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.
UH, IF WE'RE NOT WILLING TO DO THE REAL WORK IN REFERENCE TO THE HARM THAT WE'VE DONE TO INDIGENOUS PEOPLE, I THINK THIS IS FALSE.
SHORT OF THAT AND WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE? SO, I, UH, NO SHADE TO COIN A PHRASE FOR THE VERNACULAR AROUND DISREGARD.
I'M GOING TO ASSUME THAT THIS WAS WELL INTENDED, BUT I THINK WE NEED TO DO A LITTLE BIT MORE WORK BEFORE WE JUST SAY WE'RE GOING TO DO IT IN TERMS OF THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE.
IF IT AIN'T BROKE, DON'T FIX IT.
UM, BUT, YOU KNOW, I THINK WE NEED TO TREAD LIGHTLY, LIGHTLY, AND I'D BE WILLING TO HAVE A CONVERSATION AROUND THE TREATMENT OF GROUPS THAT WE HAVE SYSTEMATICALLY, UM, MARGINALIZED IN WHICH THIS LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT WOULD FIT VERY NICELY.
BUT I JUST, I JUST THINK IT BE, WE WANNA REALLY BE THOUGHTFUL, UH, IN DOING THAT.
COUNCILOR MCGOVERN, UH, COUNCILLOR
DO YOU WANNA BE HEARD ON THIS? OH, SAY FOR OH, YOU COUNCILMAN? YEAH.
UM, YEAH, I, I MEAN I I, I'D LIKE, ACTUALLY, I'D LIKE TO HEAR FROM SOME OF THE FOLKS WHO SUGGESTED IT TO SEE WHAT, AGAIN, I, IT DOES SORT OF FEEL, I DON'T WANT IT TO BE HOLLOW, BUT I ALSO KNOW IT CAN BE MEANINGFUL TO SOME FOLKS.
I MEAN, WHEN, YOU KNOW, WHEN I WAS MAYOR, THERE WAS A, A PUSH FROM, UH, FOLKS WHO FELT, UM, UH, REALLY UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THE STATE FLAG, RIGHT? AND WE REMOVED THE STATE FLAG FROM THE SULLIVAN CHAMBER AND PUT IT SOMEWHERE ELSE IN THE BUILDING, UM, BECAUSE OF SOME OF THE, THE SYMBOLISM IN, IN THE STATE FLAG.
AND THAT'S, WE'RE CHANGING THE STATE FLAG NOW.
UM, SO I, I, I THINK THAT I CAN UNDERSTAND THAT THOSE KINDS OF THINGS CAN BE IMPORTANT TO PEOPLE, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, I, I, I DON'T, YOU KNOW, I DON'T WANT TO JUST DO TOKENISM EITHER.
UM, SO I, I I DON'T KNOW WHO'S, I DON'T KNOW WHO SUGGESTED IT, BUT I'D, I'D, I'D LIKE TO HEAR WHAT THE YEAH, THE RATIONALE IS.
YEAH, I BELIEVE IT'S A SYSTEM FOR MAYOR SIDIKI.
SO I'LL GO TO HER, HER NEXT TO ASK IF SHE WANTS TO PROVIDE SOME CONTACT.
IS WE LATELY NOT ON THE ZOOM ANYMORE.
UH, MAYBE THAT'S A PIECE CAN, CAN
[01:35:01]
FOLLOW UP OR IS A CONNECTION MAKE OFFLINE.UM, I'LL JUST SAY, UH, FOR MYSELF THAT, UM, I, I HEAR THE POINTS AROUND, UH, TOKENISM AND SORT OF, YOU KNOW, HAVING A STATEMENT WITHOUT FOLLOWING IT UP, UH, WITH ACTION AND, AND SORT OF, UH, FEEL SIMILARLY, I WOULD SAY I ALSO FEEL THAT WAY ABOUT THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE IF, YOU KNOW, IF WE NEED TO, I THINK THAT OUR ALLEGIANCE TO THE CONSTITUTION AND THE UNITED STATES, THAT'S OUR ACTIONS, RIGHT? WHETHER WE, WE HAVE TO BE, DO SAY THAT AT EVERY MEETING OR WHETHER WE SHOULD ACTUALLY JUST, YOU KNOW, HAVE OUT BE OUR ACTIONS RATHER THAN, UH, ADDING THIS PIECE.
AND WHETHER THAT SEEMS IS TOKENISM TO THE, THE VALUES WE SHARE, I, I SORT OF FEEL THAT WAY.
YOU KNOW, I, I DON'T FEEL STRONG ENOUGH THAT I, I NEED TO FIGHT THAT IF IT'S A LITTLE OF THE COUNCIL TO KEEP THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE, UH, IN THERE, UM, WE, WE CAN CONTINUE DOING THAT.
UM, BUT THAT'S SORT OF, I, I FEEL SIMILARLY ABOUT BOTH OF THESE ACTUALLY.
THAT IT'S, OUR ACTIONS SPEAK MUCH STRONGER THAN OUR WORDS.
SO I THINK THAT'S IT FOR THAT, UNLESS ANYBODY ELSE WANTS TO BE HEARD ON IT.
UM, THAT WAS THE MAJOR ONES ON HERE.
THERE WERE THREE BRIEF ONES, UM, WHICH MAYBE WE CAN GO THROUGH PRETTY QUICKLY.
THE FIRST ONE IS UPDATING THE NUMBER OF ROUND TABLES PER TERM TO REFLECT CURRENT PRACTICE.
OUR RULES SAY WE'RE GONNA DO AT LEAST SIX SOUND ROUND TABLES PER YEAR.
DOES ANYONE THINK WE SHOULD BE DOING SIX ROUND TABLES PER YEAR? UH, COUNCIL MEMBER, GOVERNOR? UM, LESS ABOUT THE NUMBER.
UM, BUT WE, WE ALWAYS DO ROUND TABLES ON MONDAY NIGHTS IN THE PLACE OF A CITY COUNCIL MEETING.
SO IF WE GONNA TO SIT, IF WE'RE GONNA DO 12 ROUND TABLES A YEAR, THAT'S 12 CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS WE MISS.
SO I'M NOT SURE WHY WE ALL, I MEAN, I THINK THAT'S JUST SORT OF BEEN THE PRACTICE, BUT, UM, IF WE'RE GOING TO TRY AND EITHER, YOU KNOW, REACH THAT NUMBER AND I, AND I ACTUALLY, I THINK ROUND TABLES CAN BE, CAN BE HELPFUL, ESPECIALLY WITH THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE TO BRIDGE THAT GAP.
UM, I WOULD JUST SAY THAT I DON'T THINK IT'S IN THE RULES THAT IT HAS TO BE MONDAY NIGHTS.
BUT I, I THINK IF WE'RE GONNA, IF WE'RE GONNA LIVE TO SIX TO 12, WE SHOULD, WE, WE SHOULD THINK ABOUT DOING THEM OTHER NIGHTS OF THE WEEK, IF POSSIBLE, SO THAT WE'RE NOT LOSING THOSE MEETINGS.
UH, COUNCILLOR SIMMONS, UH, THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR.
UH, I CONCUR MY COLLEAGUE, BUT IN ADDITION, MAYBE WE SHOULDN'T BOX OURSELVES IN TO SAY HOW MANY, MAYBE WE'LL SAY, WE'LL NOT HAVE FEWER THAN TWO, BUT WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO GO FURTHER.
UM, IF ROUND TABLES
SO LET'S HAVE, I, I GUESS FOR ME, I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE CONVERSATION.
MY BIG ISSUE IS, LET'S SAY IN THE RULES THAT WE'LL HAVE NO FEWER THAN X TWO OF THOSE BEING WITH THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE, I WOULD, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE US MEET MORE WITH THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE AS OUR PEER.
IN TERMS OF ELECTED OFFICE, I DON'T THINK WE HAVE OPPORTUNITIES TO SPEAK TO THEM ENOUGH.
I LIKE TO HEAR FROM THEM WHAT THEY THOUGHT.
BUT, UH, IN TERMS OF, JUST TO REITERATE, I WOULD SAY WE WILL HAVE NO FEWER THAN TWO AND LEAVE THE DOOR OPEN, BECAUSE YOU CAN ALWAYS ADD SOME UNDER THE, EITHER UNDER THE CALL OF THE CHAIR OR FOUR MEMBERS.
ANYBODY ELSE WANNA BE HEARD ON THIS ONE? GREAT.
AND THEN THE NEXT ONE WAS, UH, IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE AT REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS.
UNLESS THERE IS A SPECIFIC REASON FOR NEEDING TO ATTEND VIRTUALLY, I'LL JUST ADD THAT I THINK THE, THE SUGGESTION HERE WAS NOT TO BAN VIRTUAL ATTENDANCE, UH, BUT, UH, THE SESSION WOULD BE, AND I THINK IT'S, YOU KNOW, HOW WE ENFORCE THIS IS, IS A SORT OF ANOTHER QUESTION, BUT, UH, THAT YOU WOULD ONLY ATTEND VIRTUALLY IF YOU HAD A SPECIFIC REASON TO DO SO.
YOU WERE TRAVELING, YOU WERE SICK, YOU HAD A CHILDCARE RESPONSIBILITY.
I THINK THE, THE INTENT WAS TO LEAVE THAT PRETTY FLEXIBLE, BUT THAT THE, WE WOULD WRITE INTO THE RULES THAT THE EXPECTATION IS THAT IF YOU ARE ABLE TO COME IN PERSON TO A COUNCIL MEETING, YOU WILL DO SO.
UM, DISCUSSION QUESTIONS ON THIS ONE? UH, I SAY COUNCILOR SIMMONS FIRST.
I THOUGHT IN THE RULES IT SAYS THAT YOUR CAMERA'S ALREADY, I THINK I IT'S EITHER IN THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE RULES OR IT'S IN THE CITY COUNCIL RULES THAT YOUR CAMERA'S SUPPOSED TO BE ON WHEN YOU'RE, WHEN YOU'RE ON VIRTUALLY.
DID I MISREAD THAT? HAD THOUGHT THE LAW DEPARTMENT SAID THAT WAS NOT IN OUR, OUR RULES.
WELL, I, I THINK IF YOU'RE GONNA BEING VIRTUAL NOW AS YOU'RE HAVING A BAD HAIR DAY, YOU SHOULD HAVE YOUR CAMERA ON SO PEOPLE KNOW THAT YOU ARE THERE.
IT DOESN'T ALWAYS POPULATE ON THE SCREEN THAT YOU'RE THERE.
AND THAT MIGHT BE BETTER IF, IF YOU'RE NOT HERE, YOU SCREEN SHOULD BE ON AND WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO SEE IT, WHICH WE RIGHT NOW, CURRENTLY, IF YOU'RE NOT SPEAKING, YOU CAN'T BE SEEN.
THAT'S A, UM, SEPARATE SORT OF SUGGESTION FROM THIS ONE ABOUT IN PERSON, BUT THAT'S A PIECE I CAN, CAN WRITE IN.
UM, AND WE DID SORT OF TALK ABOUT THAT EITHER HAVE CAMERA ON OKAY.
[01:40:01]
OTHER DISCUSSION ON THIS, UH, ONE ABOUT, I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY.UH, LET'S GO TO THE, THE CLERK AND THAT, UH, MADAM CLERK, I JUST WANTED TO ADD, JUST SIT AT THE DS ON THE OTHER SIDE SO YOU CAN SAVE YOURSELF.
UM, I JUST WANTED TO ADD, IT'S REALLY HELPFUL TO HAVE CAMERAS ON THE COUNSELORS TO HAVE THEM ON BECAUSE I'M IN NICOLE, WE'RE ALWAYS CHECKING FOR A QUORUM.
SO IF SOMEONE DOESN'T HAVE THEIR CAMERA ON, I'M ASSUMING THERE'S A QUORUM IF THEY'RE AWAY FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME, AND THAT COULD POSE AN ISSUE.
SO IT'S HELPFUL FOR THE STAFF.
UM, OTHER FOLKS WANNA WEIGH IN ON THIS.
I SEE, UH, UH, I, COUNCILOR MCGOVERN AND THEN, UH, COUNCILORS.
YEAH, I, I'LL YIELD TO COUNCILOR SUZI.
WELL, YOU'RE ON THE COMMITTEE COUNCILOR.
UM, YEAH, I, I THINK, YOU KNOW, BEFORE COVID AND BEFORE ZOOM WAS A, WAS A THING YOU, IF YOU WERE GONNA MISS A MEETING, YOU HAD TO NOTIFY THE COUNCIL.
UM, AND AGAIN, PEOPLE ONLY DID THAT IF THEY WERE OUT OF TOWN OR, YOU KNOW, REALLY ILL AND, AND COULDN'T BE HERE.
I, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE BE IN THE ROOM, YOU KNOW? AND I KNOW I'M NOT, THERE'S CERTAINLY BEEN TIMES WHERE I HAVEN'T BEEN IN THE, IN, IN THE ROOM EITHER.
UM, SO I'M NOT SAYING THAT, YOU KNOW, I HAVEN'T BEEN GUILTY OF THIS MYSELF, BUT, YOU KNOW, I THINK, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT.
I THINK YOU GET A DIFFERENT, THERE'S A DIFFERENT CONNECTION THAT HAPPENS.
I THINK THERE'S A DIFFERENT, UM, IT, IT JUST, IT JUST FEEL, IT, IT, IT FEELS DIFFERENT.
AND I, AND I KNOW THAT, THAT, YOU KNOW, IT'S ONE THING IF YOU'RE ILL, WE DON'T WANT YOU HERE IF YOU'RE ILL, RIGHT? OR, YOU KNOW, IF YOU'RE AT A CONFERENCE, BUT YOU WANT TO ATTEND THE MEETING ANYWAY, THAT'S THE GOOD PART ABOUT IT, RIGHT? BECAUSE IF YOU WERE BEFORE ZOOM, IF YOU WERE OUT OF TOWN, YOU MISSED THAT MEETING.
NOW YOU DON'T, NOW YOU DON'T HAVE TO, RIGHT? SO THERE ARE SOME POSITIVES TO IT, BUT I, I THINK WE'VE USED IT.
WE'VE GOTTEN A LITTLE LOOSE WITH IT.
IT'S LIKE, OH, I DON'T FEEL LIKE GOING TO CITY HALL TODAY.
I AM NOT GONNA GO TO THIS MEETING, OR THIS MEETING'S GONNA BE REALLY CRAZY AND LOUD.
I THINK I'LL JUST ZOOM IN 'CAUSE IT'S EASIER, OR I'LL KEEP MY CAMERA OFF AND, YOU KNOW, SO I, I THINK IT'S OUR RESPONSIBILITY.
WE'RE ELECTED TO BE HERE ON MONDAY NIGHTS, UH, TO FACE THE PUBLIC, HAVE THE PUBLIC BE ABLE TO APPROACH US IN THE HALLWAY OR, YOU KNOW, STARE US DOWN,
THAT'S OUR JOB IS TO BE HERE ON MONDAY NIGHTS.
I I WOULD, I I I THINK IT'S SOMETHING WE SHOULD, WHETHER IT'S A RULE OR WHETHER IT'S BACK TO ONE OF THOSE NORM KIND OF THINGS WE CAN FIGURE OUT.
BUT, UM, YOU, YOU SHOULD BE HERE IF YOU'RE PHYSICALLY ABLE TO BE HERE.
UH, COUNCILLOR Z UH, YES, THANK YOU, COUNCILLOR, SABRINA WHEELER.
I, I THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT THAT PEOPLE NOT ONLY MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO BE HERE FOR COUNCIL MEETINGS, BUT ALSO FOR COMMITTEE MEETINGS.
YOU KNOW, THE REASON THAT I'M, I'M HERE, I'M NOT EVEN ON THIS COMMITTEE, BUT THESE ARE ISSUES THAT I CARE ABOUT IS BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE I'M FULLY ENGAGED IF I'M HERE.
AND I FEEL LIKE OTHER THINGS HAPPEN HERE.
LIKE, 'CAUSE YOU'RE HERE, THERE'S BODY LANGUAGE, THERE'S ALL SORTS OF THINGS GOING ON.
AND, UH, I FEEL LIKE WE'RE ALL ELECTED TO SERVE AND WE'RE ON VARIOUS COMMITTEES AND WE SHOULD BE HERE IF WE, UH, IF WE CAN BE.
I, I THINK IT, UM, ALSO WE'LL HAVE BETTER DISCUSSION AND I THINK WE'LL BE BETTER INFORMED IF WE'RE ALL IN THE CHAMBER.
THANKS FOR, AND FOR MYSELF, UH, ON THIS ONE WOULD SAY, YEAH, I THINK I'M FINE WITH IT, UH, AS WELL.
UM, IT IN MY MIND GOES INTO LIKE SORT OF CATEGORY OF THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN A NORM.
THIS WAS SORT OF MY ALWAYS UN UNDERSTANDING OF THE NORM.
IF YOU CAN BE THERE IN PERSON, YOU DO, AND, AND HAPPY TO HAVE THAT WRITTEN IN AS A RULE.
UH, SAME WITH THE SORT OF SIMILAR SUGGESTION THAT IF YOU ARE VIRTUALLY YOU HAVE YOUR CAMERA ON, HAPPY TO, TO HAVE THAT WRITTEN AS A RULE.
I THINK WE WOULD NEED SOME FLEXIBILITY ON, UH, IF THE DOORBELL RINGS AND YOU WANT TO GO DOWN TO THAT, IS IT OKAY TO TURN YOUR CAMERA OFF FOR A SECOND? YOU KNOW, AS LONG AS THAT IS EITHER THE, THE UNDERSTOOD OR WRITTEN INTO THE RULE, IT COULD INCLUDE THAT.
BUT, UH, SOUNDS LIKE WE'RE, WE'RE IN AGREEMENT THERE.
UM, THE LAST ONE THAT WE HAVE WRITTEN DOWN HERE.
OH, COUNCILOR ZIM, UH, HAS AZA UP.
UM, I'M VERY HAPPY WITH THESE RULES AS WELL.
I MEAN, UM, I THINK OBVIOUSLY I USE VIRTUAL A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN SOME OF MY COLLEAGUES, BUT I THINK IT'S FINE IF THE EXPECTATION IS TO BE IN PERSON, ESPECIALLY ON MONDAY NIGHTS.
I THINK THAT'S HUNDRED PERCENT REASONABLE.
I WOULD JUST SAY FOR THE COMMITTEE PIECE, UM, I WOULD SAY THAT I WOULD ALSO JUST ASK COLLEAGUES TO BE A LITTLE BIT MORE COGNIZANT WHILE SCHEDULING.
I THINK A LITTLE BIT OF WHAT MY EXPERIENCE HAS BEEN IS THAT LIKE COMMITTEE CHAIRS SCHEDULE MEETINGS AND THEN LIKE, IT CAN BE SOMETIMES A LITTLE BIT DIFFICULT FOR PEOPLE TO ATTEND.
OR ALSO IT CAN BE LIKE A VERY NICHE TOPIC THAT LY MOST OF THE COLLEAGUES DON'T LIKE PARTICULARLY FIND TO BE VALUABLE.
BUT THE COMMITTEE CHAIR WANTS TO HAVE A MEETING ON THAT TOPIC.
AND OF COURSE, YOU KNOW, FOR THE MEDIA DISCUSSIONS, IT'S VERY IMPORTANT AND ENGAGED, BUT SOME LIKE, SEEM LIKE FAIRLY NICHE ISSUES WHERE ONLY THE CHAIR REALLY CARES ABOUT IT.
UM, AND I WOULD JUST SAY LIKE IT IN THAT SENSE, LIKE ESPECIALLY IF IT ENDS UP, YOU KNOW, UH, TAKING,
[01:45:01]
YOU KNOW, A HUGE CHUNK OF YOUR DAY.UH, MAYBE IT'S ON COMMITTEE CHAIRS A LITTLE BIT AS WELL TO HAVE, UM, BE A LITTLE BIT MORE THOUGHTFUL IN CHECKING IN WITH THEIR, UH, MEMBERS ABOUT HAVING THAT MEETING.
BUT I THINK IN GENERAL, MORE IN-PERSON MEETINGS IS FINE WITH ME.
I WOULD SAY MY, MY UNDERSTANDING OF THIS AND IF, IF COUNSELORS HAVE A DIFFERENT UNDERSTANDING WAS THAT THE IN-PERSON WOULD BE, ESPECIALLY FOR THE, THE MONDAY NIGHT MEETINGS FOR, FOR COMMITTEE MEETINGS, A LITTLE MORE FLEXIBILITY TO DO VIRTUALLY.
I, I GUESS I WOULD BE CONCERNED IF WE WERE EXPECTING, UH, IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE FOR ALL COMMITTEE MEETINGS THAT WE WOULD HAVE QUORUM ALL THE TIME.
I THINK WE, WE'VE HAD A NUMBER OF COMMITTEE MEETINGS WHERE WE WOULDN'T HAVE HAD THREE PEOPLE IF, UH, IF WE'D EXPECT THEM ALL TO BE IN PERSON.
SO I THINK WE'D, UH, EXPECT A LITTLE MORE FLEXIBILITY THERE.
UM, CITY MANAGER WANNA BE WHERE, UM, THROUGH YOU CHAIR? I THINK SINCE WE'RE ALL HERE, AND THIS IS SORT OF GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS, JUST A THOUGHT AND, AND I THINK THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE AND THE CLERK'S OFFICE HAVE HAD SOME CONVERSATIONS IF THERE'S OPENNESS ON THE COMMITTEE SCHEDULING SIDE.
UM, I WONDER IF AN EXPERIMENT WE COULD RUN IS TO TRY TO MOVE TO MORE OF AN INTENTIONAL SORT OF BLOCK SCHEDULING SYSTEM.
AND SO IF WHAT'S IN MY HEAD IS RIGHT NOW, IN, IN A LOT OF CASES WHEN A COMMITTEE NEEDS TO BE SCHEDULED, IT'S PRETTY OPEN.
WE SORT OF KNOW THAT WE'RE LOOKING TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, BUT IT COULD KIND OF LAND ANY COMMITTEE KIND OF LAND AT ANY TIME.
AND IT MAY BE BETTER BECAUSE WE KNOW WHO ARE THE MEMBERS OF EACH COMMITTEE TO BE A LITTLE MORE INTENTIONAL OF SAYING LIKE, HERE'S THE TWO PLACES WHERE IT COULD LAND.
AND I DON'T KNOW IF THAT WILL HELP ALSO WITH SOME COUNSELORS HAVE OTHER COMMITMENTS.
UM, THIS MAY NOT BE THE ONLY THING THAT YOU'RE DOING.
AND SO IT'LL HELP YOU MANAGE YOUR OWN SCHEDULE TO, UH, TO MAKE IT EASIER TO BOTH BE IN PERSON BUT ALSO JUST FOR US TO MAKE THESE THINGS GET ON THE SCHEDULE.
UM, SO IT'S JUST A THOUGHT IN TERMS OF WHETHER THAT ADDITIONAL STRUCTURE CAN HELP, ESPECIALLY FOR SOME OF THE COMMITTEES THAT MEET A LOT MORE.
MR CHAIR, COUNCILOR SIMMONS, I THREW YOU TO THE, TO THE CITY MANAGER.
SO WHEN YOU SAY BLOCK SCHEDULING, CERTAIN BLOCKS OF TIMES WILL BE SET ASIDE FOR COMMITTEE MEETINGS AS OPPOSED TO LEAVING IT CON COMPLETELY UP TO THE CHAIR.
IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE SAYING? UM, THROUGH YOU CHAIR? I THINK THAT WOULD BE THE IDEA TO HAVE MORE OPTIONS.
SO FOR INSTANCE, FOR FINANCE COMMITTEE OR, OR LIKE FOR ORDINANCE COMMITTEE, WHICH SORT OF IS ONE OF THE COMMITTEES THAT MEETS MORE MM-HMM
THAT, UM, THAT, FOR INSTANCE, WE WOULD SAY ORDINANCE COMMITTEE, WE TRY TO MEET, IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE A HUNDRED PERCENT MM-HMM
BUT LIKE THE GOAL IS FOR ORDINANCE COMMITTEE TO MEET, YOU KNOW, TWO TO FOUR ON A TUESDAY OR THREE TO FIVE ON A TUESDAY.
BUT IF WE, IF WE CREATE MORE OF THAT EXPECTATION, IT BECOMES A LITTLE EASIER FOR PEOPLE TO KNOW, UM, THAT, THAT, THAT'S WHERE ORDINANCE COMMITTEE, LIKE I KNOW I'M ON ORDINANCE COMMITTEE, EVERYBODY'S ON ORDINANCE COMMITTEE, BUT I KNOW THAT I DON'T WANT TO PUT MY IMPORTANT OTHER MEETINGS DURING THAT BLOCK, UH, THROUGH YOU, MR. CHAIR, THE CITY MANAGER, IF I'M UNDERSTANDING IT CORRECTLY, I'M SORT OF KEEN ON THE IDEA BECAUSE I WOULD BE ABLE, I, I COULD JUST LIVE MY LIFE A LITTLE BIT BETTER BECAUSE I WOULD KNOW THAT TUESDAY IS, IS COMMITTEE DAYS.
AND SO I'M NOT GONNA PUT ANYTHING ON THE COMMITTEE ON A TUESDAY.
'CAUSE I KNOW THAT DAY SHOULD BE HELD FOR THAT.
SO TO THE DEGREE THAT WE CAN BE PREDICTABLE IS, IS HELPFUL, YOU KNOW, FOR SOMEONE THAT'S BEEN AROUND FOR ABOUT FIVE MINUTES.
UH, AND THE COMMITTEES I THINK HAVE GOTTEN A LOT BETTER AROUND TRYING TO DO THEIR WORK IN COMMITTEE.
BUT THAT BEING SAID, I'VE GOTTEN COMMITTEE NOTICES AND SAY, WHO CAME UP WITH THIS TIME? BECAUSE IT DIDN'T WORK FOR ME.
YOU, YOU SHOW UP THE BEST YOU CAN.
SO I DO LIKE THE IDEA OF BEING, HAVING IT, UM, PREDICTABLE, FOR LACK OF A BETTER WORD, A YIELD THE FLOOR.
UM, AND I GUESS THE ONLY ONLY CONCERN I WOULD HAVE IS JUST AROUND FLEXIBILITY.
I MEAN, I THINK WE SORT OF DO THIS ANYWAY.
WE DON'T SCHEDULE COMMITTEE MEETINGS ON MONDAYS.
WE DON'T SCHEDULE THEM ON FRIDAYS 'CAUSE IT'S A HALF DAY.
UM, OFTENTIMES WE DON'T SCHEDULE THEM ON TUESDAY EVENINGS AT LEAST I TRY NOT TO BECAUSE I KNOW THAT THE MAYOR OFTEN CAN'T, YOU KNOW, CAN'T BE THERE BECAUSE OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE COMMITMENTS.
UM, SO WE, WE DO SORT OF FALL INTO, THERE'S ONLY ONLY SO MANY DAYS IN THE WEEK.
SO THEY DO TEND TO BE SCHEDULED MORE.
SO I THINK ON WEDNESDAYS AND THURSDAYS LAST TERM, COUNSELOR TONER AND I WERE, WERE CHAIRS OF ORDINANCE.
WE REALLY TRIED TO KEEP 'EM TO WEDNESDAYS AS BEST WE COULD.
'CAUSE THURSDAYS ARE ALSO DIFFICULT FOR STAFF AND THE CLERK'S OFFICE 'CAUSE THEY'RE GETTING THE AGENDA AND, AND EVERYTHING READY FOR MONDAY.
SO, YOU KNOW, THEY ARE KIND OF LIMITED JUST BY NATURE.
UM, AND WITH SO MANY, AGAIN, IF WE'RE TRY, IF WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO, I, I THINK WE USE COMMITTEES BETTER NOW THAN WE DID FOUR OR SIX YEARS AGO, UM, OR GOING PAST THAT.
UM, SO IF WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE THAT AND PUT MORE ON THE COMMITTEES, THAT'S JUST, I DON'T KNOW HOW
[01:50:01]
YOU, HOW YOU NARROW IT TO, WE'RE GONNA HAVE THEM ALL ON WEDNESDAYS BECAUSE AGAIN, THAT'S THE STAFF HAS TO BE THERE.THE WHOLE, YOU KNOW, THE WHOLE, SOMETIMES IT'S THE SAME STAFF, RIGHT? SO YOU MIGHT HAVE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES NEEDING TO MAKE A PRESENTATION TO THE HUMAN SERVICES AND VETERANS COMMITTEE AND TO MAKE TO NEIGHBORHOOD AND LONG TERM OR SOME, SO IS THAT, DOES THAT MEAN THAT THEY'RE THEN LOCKED UP THE WHOLE DAY DOING, DOING COMMITTEE MEETINGS? SO I, I DON'T KNOW.
I THINK IT WORKS KIND OF WELL NOW AND I THINK WE GO THROUGH MR. NELSON IN THE MANAGER'S OFFICE WHO KEEPS A, A PRETTY GOOD SCHEDULE AND SAY, OH, WE CAN'T DO IT ON THIS DAY.
I THINK ONE THING, I THINK ONE THING THE CHAIRS COULD DO, UM, IF WE CAN FIGURE OUT HOW TO DO THIS WITH THE OPEN MEETING LAW, UM, IS TO TRY AND TAKE A POLL OF THE OTHER MEMBERS TO MAKE SURE THEY'RE GONNA BE THERE.
I THERE'S A LOT OF TIMES WHERE 10 MINUTES BEFORE THE MEETING THERE'S A SCRAMBLE TO MAKE SURE, ARE YOU GONNA BE THERE? I DON'T KNOW IF WE HAVE A QUORUM.
ARE YOU GONNA BE THERE? YOU KNOW, WE SHOULD PROBABLY, IF THERE'S A WAY WE CAN TRY TO POLL THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE BE TO SEE THAT THEY'RE AVAILABLE, I THINK THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL INSTEAD OF JUST THE CHAIR DOING IT BASED ON THEIR INDIVIDUAL SCHEDULE.
UM, BUT I THINK IT WOULD GET A LITTLE TRICKY IF WE SAY WE'RE ONLY GONNA DO MEETINGS, CERTAIN MEETINGS ON WEDNESDAYS.
IT JUST, IT'S ALREADY PRETTY TIGHT.
UM, SEEING NO OTHER HANDS ON THIS ONE, WE CAN MOVE ON TO THE LAST, UH, CAN WE SUBMIT IT? THE LAW DEPARTMENT HAS THE HAND, THE LAW DEPARTMENT.
OH, GO TO THE, THE LAW DEPARTMENT THROUGH YOU, MR. CHAIR.
JUST VERY QUICKLY, IT'S, UM, NOT A DELIBERATION UNDER THE OPEN MEETING LAW TO BE COMMUNICATING WITH A QUORUM ABOUT SCHEDULING.
UM, WE'LL MOVE ON TO THE LAST ONE IN THE PRE-SUBMITTED QUESTION.
AND THEN THERE WERE A COUPLE THAT, THAT CAME IN, COME IN AFTER THIS.
UH, THE LAST ONE ON THIS LIST IS NOTIFY THE CHAIR AHEAD OF TIME FOR ABSENCE AHEAD OF REGULAR COUNCIL MEETINGS AND COMMITTEES.
THAT TO ME, THIS ONE ALSO FALLS INTO THIS CATEGORY OF THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN A NORM THAT WE WOULD JUST BE WRITING INTO THE RULES.
UM, ANYBODY WANNA SPEAK ON THIS ONE? QUESTIONS? OKAY.
UH, YEAH, YOU WANNA HAVE A QUORUM AT THE MEETING AND YOU WANNA HAVE, UM, GOOD CONVERSATION.
SO IF THEY CAN'T BE THERE, THEY SHOULD LET THE COMMITTEE CHAIR KNOW.
SEEMS LIKE FOLKS GENERALLY AGREEMENT THERE.
UM, SO THAT IS, THAT'S IT FROM THE PRE-SUBMITTED LIST.
THERE WERE AT LEAST TWO THAT THE COUNSELORS HAD SUGGESTED ME AFTERWARDS.
I HAVE THEM WRITTEN DOWN HERE.
THE FIRST WAS, UH, CHANGING THE PRACTICE OF WHEN WE DO ANNOUNCEMENTS RIGHT NOW, IT IS AT THE END OF THE MEETING, UM, MOVE IT.
THE SUGGESTION WAS TO MOVE IT TO THE BEGINNING OF THE MEETING.
UM, EITHER, YOU KNOW, BEFORE PUBLIC COMMENT OR, OR IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING PUBLIC COMMENT.
UM, I THINK MY, MY, MY PREFERENCE WOULD BE EVEN BEFORE PUBLIC COMMENT, JUST HAVE IT BE THE, THE VERY START OF THE MEETING.
THE IDEA BEHIND THIS BEING, YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES OUR MEETINGS ARE ENDING AT 11:00 PM MIDNIGHT, VERY FEW PEOPLE WATCHING IT, WHERE THE IDEA OF AN ANNOUNCEMENT IS TO GET, GET THE ANNOUNCEMENT OUT TO THE PUBLIC.
IF THERE'S VERY LITTLE PUBLIC ON THERE, SORT OF DEFEATS THE PURPOSE OF HAVING AN ANNOUNCEMENT.
UM, THOUGHTS, QUESTIONS ON, ON THIS MOVING ANNOUNCEMENTS UP TO THE BEGINNING OF THE MEETING.
I I THINK YOU MAKE A VERY GOOD POINT.
PEOPLE ARE HERE FOR PUBLIC COMMENT OR THEY'RE PAYING ATTENTION AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MEETING.
THEY PROBABLY TUNE OFF AT 10 O'CLOCK.
SO IF YOU WANT, IF IT'S AN ANNOUNCEMENT THAT YOU REALLY WANT TO HAVE IMPACT THE COMMUNITY, IT'S PROBABLY BETTER SAID EARLIER IN THE DAY, EARLY IN THE MEETING.
THOUGHTS DISCUSSION ON THAT ONE.
UM, AND THEN THE, THE LAST, THE OTHER ONE THAT WAS, UH, CAME IN AFTER WAS, UH, FROM COUNCILLOR SUI.
BUT IT WAS, UH, LIMITING PUBLIC COMMENT TO CAMBRIDGE RESIDENTS COUNCIL, COUNCILLOR SUI.
DO YOU WANNA PROVIDE SOME I'M SORRY, WHAT WAS, WELL, I'M, I'M, I'M THINKING THAT THIS IS PROBABLY SOMETHING THAT YOU'VE DEBATED BEFORE OR THOUGHT ABOUT BEFORE, BUT I FELT LIKE IT WOULD, UM, HELP TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF PUBLIC COMMENTS, BUT I'M EAGER TO HEAR FROM MY COLLEAGUES ABOUT THE IDEA.
SO, UH, WHAT IT WOULD PRECLUDE IS THAT, SO IF YOU HAD AN EXPERT THAT WANTED TO GIVE PUBLIC COMMENT AND THEY DIDN'T LIVE IN CAMBRIDGE, THEY WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO GIVE THE COMMENT.
BUT CURRENTLY WE HAVE A LOT OF PEOPLE, A LOT OF BICYCLISTS FROM OTHER PLACES GIVING PUBLIC COMMENT.
AND, UM, SO SHOULD WE BE, SHOULD WE BE FOCUSING ON LOCAL RESIDENTS? UM, AND, AND LETTING THEM GIVE THE PUBLIC COMMENT? I THINK IT MIGHT BE A GOOD IDEA, COMMENT, DISCUSSION FROM THEIR HOAX.
OH, I'D LIKE TO THANK YOU, UH, COUNCILOR SUZIE FOR BRINGING THAT TO THE TABLE THROUGH YOU TO THE SOLICITOR.
CAN YOU EXEMPT PEOPLE BASED ON RESIDENTS FROM PARTICIPATING IN PUBLIC COMMENT THROUGH YOU TO THE, UH, THROUGH THE CHAIR, TO YOU, UH, COUNSELOR SIMMONS? I THINK THE LAW
[01:55:01]
DEPARTMENT ACTUALLY HAS GIVEN AN OPINION ON THIS QUESTION IN THE PAST, SO I WILL LOOK BACK FOR THAT.AND I CAN'T REMEMBER EXACTLY MM-HMM
SO I WILL EITHER FIND WHAT WE, UH, PROVIDED BEFORE, OR WE'LL LOOK INTO THIS A AGAIN OR, OR FOR THE FIRST TIME AND LET YOU KNOW OUR THOUGHTS ON THAT.
COUNCILMAN GOVERNOR? UH, THANK YOU.
UM, I THINK IT'S AN INTERESTING I IDEA.
I MEAN, MY, MY CONCERN WOULD BE, UM, I MEAN THERE ARE CERTAINLY SOME ISSUES WHERE I THINK SOMEONE FROM ANOTHER TOWN COMMENTING ON DOESN'T, I'M LIKE, WHY ARE THEY COMMENTING ON THIS? BUT, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE, WE ARE A CITY, WE DON'T HAVE WALLS AROUND OUR CITY.
IF IT IS A TOPIC LIKE BIKE LANES, RIGHT? AND YOU HAVE SOMEONE WHO LIVES IN ARLINGTON BUT WORKS IN CAMBRIDGE AND WANTS TO SAY, HEY, LISTEN, I I TRAVEL THIS ROAD EVERY DAY AND THIS, I MEAN, THAT'S A CONSTITUENT.
THAT'S A PERSON WHO WORKS IN OUR CITY, RIGHT? WHO'S A PART OF OUR CITY.
I I, THEY SHOULD HAVE, THEY, THEY SHOULD BE ABLE TO SAY SOMETHING.
UM, SO, SO I'D BE A LITTLE, I'D BE A LITTLE, THAT CONCERNS ME A, A LITTLE BIT.
AND I, AND I THINK A LOT OF THE TIMES, AGAIN, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE DATA IS, BUT MY IMPRESSION IS THAT A LOT OF THE TIMES WHEN FOLKS FROM OUTSIDE OF CAMBRIDGE CALL IN, IT'S USUALLY ABOUT ONE OF THOSE BIGGER ISSUES, IN WHICH CASE THEY GENERALLY GET A MINUTE ANYWAY.
AND SO I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH TIME, I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH TIME THAT ACTUALLY TAKES UP, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF A, I GUESS WE COULD PROBABLY PULL THAT DATA, HOW MANY PEOPLE LIVE OUTSIDE OF THE CITY WHO COMMENT IN PUBLIC COMMENT.
SO I, I'D LIKE TO SEE IF IT REALLY IS A PROBLEM THAT THAT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED.
YEAH, I HAD TWO THOUGHTS ON THIS.
THE ONE WAS, YEAH, CURIOUS TO SEE IF IT, IF IT IS ACTUALLY A PROBLEM.
IF, IF COUNCILOR ZUI IS INTERESTED IN TRYING TO PULL THAT DATA, UH, ON HOW MANY FOLKS THERE ARE.
MY THOUGHT IT, IT MAY NOT ACTUALLY BE THAT MANY PEOPLE.
UM, AND, AND IT IS ONLY A GOOD A COUPLE MEETINGS.
AND THEN THE SECOND THOUGHT BEING THAT IT COULD JUST BE QUITE MESSY AND THAT, UH, WOULD PRECLUDE ANYONE WHO WORKS IN CAMBRIDGE FROM GIVING PUBLIC COMMENT.
RIGHT? AND THEY'RE, I THINK WE HAVE SOME OF OUR AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPERS WHO DON'T LIVE IN CAMBRIDGE, THEY DO A LOT OF WORK HERE.
THEY, THEY GIVE PUBLIC COMMENT WHEN THINGS AFFECT THEM.
THIS WOULD, UH, BE PREVENTING THEM FROM THAT.
WE'D HAVE TO SUSPEND THE RULES EACH TIME.
AND THEN IF WE WERE, ARE SUSPENDING THE RULES FROM THEM, IT JUST BECOMES A, UH, BECAUSE THEY'RE AN EXPERT, IT BECOMES A QUESTION OF WHO, WHO IS AN EXPERT.
AND, YOU KNOW, DOES THIS PERSON WHO WORKS AT A NONPROFIT, ARE THEY AN EXPERT EVEN THOUGH THEY LIVE OUTSIDE THE CITY? IT JUST, JUST COMPLICATED IN TERMS OF HOW YOU ENFORCE IT.
UM, BUT IT'S VERY INTERESTED IN SEEING HOW MANY PEOPLE THIS ACTUALLY IS AND HOW MUCH TIME THAT IS.
IF, IF THAT'S DATA, UH, THAT COUNSELOR WANTS TO PULL.
UM, COUNCILOR ZIM, DID YOU HAVE YOUR HAND UP? DID YOU WANNA WEIGH IN HERE? NO, I'M GOOD.
I HAVE TO, TO LEAVE, I HAVE TO BE SOMEWHERE AND IT TAKES ME A LITTLE WHILE TO GET THERE.
I LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING BACK FROM THE SOLICITOR ABOUT IF YOU CAN DO THAT.
THE ONLY OTHER THING I WAS GOING TO SAY, IF, IF YOU'RE A BUSINESS OWNER, SO I OWN A RESTAURANT, BUT I DON'T LIVE HERE.
I'D BE INTERESTING JUST HOW THAT IMPACTS THAT.
THANK YOU FOR BRINGING UP COUNSELOR.
AND IF, UH, THIS IS THEN OF THE, THE MEETING TIME.
IF, UH, IF THERE IS OTHER DISCUSSION, I THINK WE'LL NEED TO EXTEND.
DOES ANYBODY ELSE WANNA BE HEARD? IF NOT WE, I THINK WE'RE ARE.
THEN WE'RE, WE'RE ENDING RIGHT ON TIME.
UM, IN TERMS OF NEXT STEPS WE GOT THROUGH THIS WHOLE LIST.
UM, I WILL, UH, WORK WITH CITY STAFF TO TRY TO PUT THESE INTO ACTUAL LANGUAGE, UH, FOR RULES, UH, UPDATES.
THOSE WILL THEN GET SENT TO THE FULL COUNCIL, UM, FOR DISCUSSION AND ADOPTION.
I THINK IT'S POSSIBLE AT THE MEETINGS IF, UH, THE, UH, WE FEEL LIKE WE NEED MORE DISCUSSION ONCE WE SEE THE ACTUAL LANGUAGE, WE CAN SEND THAT BACK TO GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS FOR MORE DISCUSSION.
OR WE CAN DO THOSE, UH, AMENDMENTS AT THE COUNCIL MEETING.
THESE GET WRITTEN UP, SENT TO THE FULL COUNSEL FOR DISCUSSION.
THIS WAS A, A GOOD, FELT LIKE A VERY PRODUCTIVE MEETING.
UH, I'LL, WITH THAT, I WILL TAKE A MOTION TO ADJOURN FROM COUNCILOR MCGOVERN.
UM, I CLERK, COULD YOU CALL THE ROLE VICE MAYOR AZI? UM, YES.
ABSENT COUNCILLOR SABRINA WHEELER.