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Council members question selection process for town hall meeting
By Kenny Green, kgreen@acnpapers.com
Since only three council members at a time are allowed to attend town hall meetings, the process of selecting who may attend takes on new importance during an election year – and City Councilman Chris Kilgore wants this issue addressed.
Kilgore asked recently that an item be placed on the council’s work session agenda Tuesday that would address how council members are selected to attend town hall meetings. Only three may attend at a time because the presence of four would constitute a quorum and force the city council to place items under discussion on a formal agenda in accordance with the law. With only three present, council members can interact freely with residents.
Councilwoman Cindy Rushing led off the discussion Tuesday by questioning the fact that the selection of members for last night’s town hall meeting was never discussed at any meeting of the full council. Rushing felt that the inclusion of council members who are running for election so close to election time was a conflict of interest.
Kilgore said that it would be prudent to have a council policy regarding the issue going forward.
“[We need a] policy of not scheduling [these meetings] during the political season,” Kilgore said.
Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Todd Gottel said that the mayor had to be involved since he is the spokesman for the city. He said it was important for someone in leadership to be there to direct the meeting. He said most of the questions usually get directed to members of the staff.
“I personally don’t have a problem giving up my seat. I think from a council perspective it should be who are the best representatives that are available that evening that are up on as many of the events as possible,” Gottel said.
Councilman Patrick Jackson said that the mayor usually knows more about what is going on and should be involved in the town hall meetings.
Councilman Doug Phillips said that he had no problem implementing a policy for future town hall meetings.
“For (Thursday night’s meeting), it may be too late,” Phillips said. “The mayor is the face of the city. At some point of the future the mayor should be involved.
Rushing said that the reason the meetings are held is so that the community members can interact with the council members while staying in compliance with the law.
“There [can only be] three council people. That’s why there needs to be a rotation instead of a select few,” Rushing said.
Mayor Harper closed the discussion by adding that there would not be a quorum involved in last night’s meeting.
“You were just told you can’t come,” Rushing commented to Councilman Kilgore. “He said there was not going to be a quorum so you can’t come.”
Kilgore indicated Tuesday that despite the mayor’s statement, he might attend Thursday’s meeting in an unofficial capacity.
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