“Showing up to meetings is all about decorum.”
I will have to give a Hat Tip to Ellis for doing the research on this (since I am too lazy);
City Councilor Rex Rolfing was on hand for Monday’s 7 p.m. council meeting for the first time since Sept. 12. Rolfing missed three of the 7 p.m. meetings. Those are the meetings where the council votes and takes official action. Typically there are three of them a month.
Rolfing missed three in a row – including one in which the council approved next year’s budget. That third absence led to a little legal research here, at City Hall, and elsewhere. The city’s charter lays out several reasons for how councilors can forfeit their offices. One states that a councilor forfeits office for missing three consecutive “regular meetings,†unless excused by the council. The council as a body had not excused Rolfing.
It appeared, on first reading, that Rolfing had missed three regular meetings. And if that were true, then he was off the council.
But upon further research, the council has an ordinance that defines a “regular meeting.†For the record, the council has one “regular meeting†a month — the first Monday. So Rolfing was in the clear.
Council Chairwoman Sue Aguilar said Rolfing informed her he would be gone. His absences were business related.
Rolfing has missed six 7 p.m. meetings so far this year. That’s the most of the eight councilors and one mayor. Jim Entenman is in second with four.
Ellis forgot to mention that Tex also showed up to the 7:30 meeting Tuesday night at the Caille Branch library that councilor Jamison was hosting.