I’m sure they have several things they will be looking at right away.
In fact, in their first meeting, they will elect chair and vice-chair (not sure how that will go, but most likely it will be Rolfing and Kiley).
There will also be appointments for the different committees, and I am sure there will be some interesting horse trading going on for those seats.
There is also the debate over the administration building and if the bond schedule can be overturned with a veto proof council.
Also, as I discussed about a month ago, there will probably be a discussion about changing public input. After watching the Mayor’s rant about it last Tuesday, I can almost guarantee, someone from either the administration or on the council is planning something.
Not sure what, but the fish is beginning to smell.
One of the main arguments for these changes, as the mayor brought up last Tuesday, is all the TIME city administrators, directors, councilors, janitors and any other city employee who must show up to these meetings is they are taking to long.
First off. They are all getting paid to be there. As for elected officials, they chose to run and to be there. As for citizens, we don’t always want to be there, but sometimes have to fight for our rights. And not only are we NOT getting paid, sometimes it costs us money to show up.
As for the time constraints, there is NOTHING in city charter limiting the time how long a meeting can go. In other words, if 2 people or 200 people want to testify about a specific item, there really isn’t constraints. Read section (c) below;
If a meeting is taking to long or councilors need a break, a recess of 5 minutes or up to 24 hours can be called (similar to a court case).
As for video cameras at such proceedings, section (e) covers that.
Lastly, public input is NOT ‘broken’. Why fix it? If anything, it needs to be expanded to 1st readings and to the informational meetings.
I will say this in closing, if a councilor(s) or the mayor think they are going to limit public input under my watch, they will see a fight like they have never seen before and any move towards limiting FREE SPEECH may result in a public shaming they have never seen the heights of. I guarantee it. Wanna poke the bear, start messing with my free speech rights. You won’t like what you see and I will bet you most major news organizations will be on board with us.
It’s gonna take some time to untangle the mess, no doubt about that one! Quite a web has been weaved.
As far as free speech, that is the wrong tree for the Mayor to bark up at any citizen. There are new council person’s that believe in open Government and perhaps someone can donate a bag of depends (adult diapers) to Mayor Mike because I think instead of the Mayor shitting on other’s as I feel he has done in the past, with the newly elected folks he’s going to be shitting on and all over himself. Let’s try to keep his messy doo-doo contained to him this time around. Pass the popcorn please!
Public input is again an issue? Seems to me, just this week mmm went before the county commission with his own public input. Seems mmm is lookin for a taxpayer funded handout to get for his pea soup pond. I really dont think nitrogen bioreactors are cheap. But, it’s for a good cause, and mmm rants on for over ten minutes.
Another note of interest. Back when the city was deciding on the ultimate playground, the longest city council meeting took place. I know it was around midnight when kylie huether was giving her twenty minute rant on why and where her dad’s playground should be built. Bottom line is this. How long public input is allowed to go in is directly proportional to mmm’s agenda.
I lived in Dallas, TX in the 1980s. For a long time, the Dallas City Council had public speaking rules similar to those currently in place here in Sioux Falls. The difference was that City Council meetings started at 9:00 a.m.
A small group of the same people chose to take advantage of the rules and filibuster the public input time, often insulting and sometimes all but threatening the Council members with deadly force.
The Dallas City Council amended the rules, limiting total public input at each meeting to 30 minutes. Despite objections, the courts upheld the Council’s action because, while there is a right to free speech generally, there is no right to *unlimited* free speech *specifically during a City Council meeting*.
You are right Michael, there are not specific rules in Roberts, each body is free to make up their own rules, even if it is meeting by meeting. My point is that it is not currently broken, nor is it making the meetings so long they are unbearable. If people make threats or are offensive, the mayor has a gavel and the right to stop the testimony. Punishing all public input because ‘5 people’ show up once and awhile are a pain, is not fair to others that need to make legitimate points during a meeting. As Warren points out, the EC meeting went long as well as the one to raise the 2nd penny to a full penny. Nobody was shot down. But when the snowgaters asked for an election, they were quickly shut down. It is all about agenda priorities. If you are with the mayor, he will let you talk as long as you like.
Michael, I lived in Dallas in the 80’s. Worked as city surveyor but quit because I’d had enough of the civil service union. Texas cities are liberal regarding code enforcement. Anything goes unless it affects public health or safety. Here, the city hires bullies who can’t justify their actions with ordinances. It’s a martial law situation with directives from high school bully dropouts. It’s no wonder people ignore the city finding legal loopholes and constitutional protection.
The first order of business for new Councilors should be to rescind all business rushed in post election once Huether realized his public funds robbery was discovered and must be terminated if not prosecuted.
Rex’s questionable behavior at meetings should be a bigger concern to the Council. He has never appreciated the public getting into any discussions, in fact he looks at us with contempt. Then there is Michelle’s apparent belief we shouldn’t spoil her evenings.
Before a Council plan is placed on the table the mayor should consider what his intentions were after the last meeting once outside. He should consider himself lucky he did not get the chance to fulfill his after meeting plan.
There has already been one criminal attack causing bodily damage to a member of the public at the April 14, 2015 Informational. The I.L. Weiderman Memorial Fence did not protect public attendees from abusive childish behavior.
The safety concern should not be from the public but more likely the supposed leaders sitting behind their cute little fence. Maybe the fence is needed to keep them from hurting us more?
The cute little picket fence between the council and the public might be symbolic but even a maimed citizen can step over it. What’s needed is a floor to ceiling hog wire barrier to block the tomatoes and beer cans. I’d rather swim with crocodiles than be on the council side of the barrier. It’s no wonder it’s hard to fill council seats. They’re ignorant if they can’t see the debt, civil discord, and public funds fraud incurred and committed subliminally rubber stamped before them by the psychopath mayor. Yet, they sit silent with the mayor’s arm inside their backs dodging the fruit and ignoring public sentiment. They can’t speak unless the mayor speaks for them via his ventriloquism.
The D@ily Spin – What you haven’t noticed apparently is the plain-clothed police officers there every meeting.
I’m guessing they have orders to protect their man mike first, but with their training they’d fire bullets into the crowd at any attackers first (and at the Tuthill ghost). Then I’m sure they’d save any city council members – as long as they are on mike’s top secret save list. I’m guessing some of the new ones aren’t going to make it.