March City Council Message
By: Barry Joffe, Contact this Councilmember
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In last month’s Montgomery Bulletin my colleague, Ken Suer, wrote about his thoughts on what it is like to be on Council. One of the things he mentioned was that “being on Council is a team sport” and that working out our differences as Council members through “civil discourse” was vital to arriving at decisions we could all support.
I have heard some residents remark about the many ordinances and resolutions that pass on a 7-0 vote. We pass some 60 pieces of legislation on average each year to govern the City covering diverse issues from financial matters, to road construction projects, snow removal, recycling, chicken raising, H1N1 vaccinations, purchase of police vehicles etc. This voting record sometimes evokes questions such as: “Surely there cannot be such perfect consensus amongst Council members on all these diverse issues?” These concerns are certainly understandable, but understanding the process and background efforts that precede items coming before Council vote should help put this in perspective.
A prime driver for Council’s decision-making comes from its five-year strategic plan, a document built on consensus that is developed through council, staff and resident input. The plan spells out in great detail the strategies and concrete actionable steps for the achievement of the identified goals. The resources needed to achieve these goals are then built into our five-year budgeting process. In short, Council makes its decisions that align with its vision and mission as expressed in the strategic plan. Not all councils are able to arrive at this level of clarity about where they wish to go with a well documented plan to underpin it!
Of course there are many issues that come up through day-to-day governance that are unexpected and not planned for. Review of these issues often starts with staff doing a thorough investigation and gathering all the facts, surveying the pros and cons, checking into legalities and determining best practices for the benefit of our respective commissions, council committees and ultimately Council, to ensure fact-based decision-making.
Much work of the city is accomplished through our Boards and Commissions. There are occasions when issues discussed by these commissions make their way to Council. This is typical of planning and zoning issues that may require changes to code. Often issues are first discussed by one of Council’s six committees. Recent examples include the ordinance to permit hens and rabbits or the proposed Montgomery Road Hospital Corridor Design Guidelines, which has just passed the first reading. In each of these examples, the appropriate Council Committee initially discussed the matter and then referred them to the Planning Commission for in-depth study and report back to Council. The planning commission, in turn, held several meetings, sought and evaluated the input of experts, the public and other interested parties and, with the help of staff and the city law director, formulated recommendations. Before voting on each of these matters, Council held a public hearing, during which all interested parties could give input. In other matters in which a commission is not involved, the relevant Council committee researches the matter, discusses alternatives and then formulates its recommendation to Council. Proposed ordinances and resolutions have, for the most part, been subject to rigorous scrutiny before making their way to the Council agenda.
Once at Council, the ordinance is first discussed at a non-voting work session before being placed on the agenda for a business session, at which time the legislative passage then formally begins. Resolutions are read one time after being discussed in detail at the City Council work session and often in committee. Once in legislative passage, each ordinance is read three times at three separate Council business meetings and voted on each time, before finally coming into force 30 days after the final reading. Council is also very cautious about not frequently suspending procedural rules which can “short-circuit” three readings or utilizing the emergency provision which would make legislation effective immediately. These occasions are limited to where time is really of the essence. That way, it ensures multiple opportunities for discussion of each ordinance in legislative passage.
I hope a description of this process is helpful in highlighting the fact that our local government structures provide several opportunities for “civil discourse” so that by the time it gets to Council major “wrinkles” have been ironed out. And again, many decisions are the logical outcome of the consensus built strategic plan. All this cannot be achieved without the hard work and cooperation of Council and staff. Beyond that, we have achieved a positive climate in Council where members are ready to listen to each other’s points of view and arrive at decisions with the best interests of the City in mind. The beneficiaries of this strategic planning and positive team approach to work are our citizens and businesses who experience a well run and carefully managed local government that thinks and acts strategically on their behalf.
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