MINUTES

ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Monday, April 6, 2009

City Hall, Room 604
5:00 p.m.

MEMBERS PRESENT: Council Vice-President Tom DeWane, Ald. John VanderLeest, Ald. Celestine Jeffreys, Ald. Jerry Wiezbiskie

MEMBERS EXCUSED: Council President Chris Wery, Ald. Andy Nicholson, Ald. Tom Weber

Others Present: Ald. Amy Kocha, Metro Director Chris Phelps, (Chad Weininger, Scott Matejov) arrived later.

1. Call to order.

The meeting was called to order at 5:05 pm by Council Vice-President Tom De Wane. Roll call was taken as noted above.

2. Approval of the agenda.

Motion by Ald. Vander Leest, second by Ald. Jeffreys to approve the agenda. Motion carried.

3. Approval of the minutes of the March 26, 2009 Advisory Committee meeting.

There was one correction to item #4, ELC should have read DOC. Motion made by Ald. Vander Leest, second by Ald. Wiezbiskie to approve the minutes with this correction. Motion carried.

4. Discussion and action regarding the establishment of a Regional Transit Authority (RTA).

Motion made by Ald. Wiezbiskie to hold this item until the next Advisory Committee meeting for the fact that there is no real urgency and Ald. Wery who seems to be most knowledgable about this is not present. Second by Ald. De Wane for discussion.

Discussion: Ald. Vander Leest stated that he has received feedback to look at a county run system as well, adding that it would fall under the County Board and it would be a county funded system. It would have the plus of having more than one municipality like Green Bay and would probably draw more members. He requested to have research done on a county run system and to bring that information back for comparison with an RTA. Ald. Kocha questioned the motion to hold this item stating that this meeting was scheduled due to the urgency of supporting a resolution to establish an RTA. Mr. Phelps responded that the only sense of urgency would be to have this included in the proposed budget as are the Dane County area, Milwaukee area and Fox Valley area and said the sooner we get this in and convey those thoughts, as that process goes forward. He stated that there is a parallel track with the Joint Study Committee looking at this project as well. Ald. Kocha confirmed that the committee doesn’t need to resolve the RTA issue per se, we’re just trying to get the resolution drafted, to which Mr. Phelps concurred.

Ald. Jeffreys stated that she does not support the motion to hold this item and said we need to get the resolution going so Green Bay gets our foot in the door. Regarding Ald. Vander Leest’s suggestion to have a county system, she indicated that we could look into that while sending a resolution in support of an RTA to Madison and also believes the county would have done this already if they are interested in doing this. She said she is not going to wait for the county to act when we have a tool at our disposal to save our Transit system, adding that if we don’t do something like this we won’t have a transit system come 2050, it will die. She stated that Ald. Wery will have an opportunity to make his comments at Council, is very much in support of this and is aware of all of the issues and would be comfortable with the committee acting in a positive manner tonight. Ald. Wiezbiskie stated that he made this motion because he has been advised and given the impression that there wasn’t any urgency to act on this. Ald. De Wane stated that he also spoke with someone in the office and was told that there is no urgency on this and said they could discuss it tonight if that is the wish of the committee. Ald. Wiezbiskie indicated that since there is no urgency, he didn’t see why we are rushing into this.

A vote was taken on the motion to hold this item until the next Advisory Committee meeting. Motion carried with a 3-1 vote, with Ald. Jeffreys voting “No”.

Ald. Kocha inquired why they scheduled this meeting so quickly if they were going to hold this item. Ald. Wiezbiskie responded that they were lead to believe that there was a dire emergency and since learned that there is not an emergency and anything that they would decide tonight by submitting that resolution wouldn’t have the final bite in it. Ald. Kocha inquired who talked with them and changed their mind? Ald. De Wane indicated that he had a personal conversation in the Mayor’s Office and Ald. Wiezbiskie stated that he was also told this by more than one person in the Mayor’s Office. Also, Ald. Wery was not present and he instigated this.

5. Request by Ald. Wiezbiskie to review and offer possible solutions to address late night—into early morning City Council meetings. Possibility of adjournment or recess to next available day or time. Possible cutoff at 10:30 p.m. or at least by 12:30 a.m. to defray overtime wages for building staff workers.

Vice-Chair De Wane stated that City Clerk, Chad Weininger told him that at any given meeting they can ask for a majority vote and set the cutoff time. Ald. Vander Leest said they do have the ability to make a motion to adjourn or recess until a set time and will need to state when the next meeting would be. He indicated that he would be supportive of setting an ending time for the meeting, adding that it may move the meeting along. Ald. Wiezbiskie said they are all misled by the fact that all things that come to the City Council meeting need to be moved on immediately. He stated that the only problem he has with following Roberts Rules is that it requires a majority vote and foresees a problem with this. He shared some bullet point suggestions to help Council meetings move quicker as follows: 1) run the City Council meeting stricter for all speakers and presenters, 2) if Council members have issues with an agenda item, discuss it with staff beforehand 3) communicate with the chairs to offer a resolution before the Council meeting, get away from doing committee work at Council meetings, 4) reduce speaking time for Council members 5) reduce the debate and amendment time 6) start the time of the budget meeting earlier or have the budget meeting be a special meeting 7) if you don’t attend committee meetings, don’t bring a problem to Council; bring a resolution. He summed up by stating that they should follow Roberts Rules and make these meetings more concise.

Ald. De Wane said Council as a whole can tell the Mayor to follow these rules and use the gavel more. Ald. Jeffreys stated that she would be in favor of setting an end time at the beginning of the meeting but would not be in favor of adjourning and setting a time for a duel Council meeting soon after. She agrees with Ald. Wiezbiskie that committee work should not be done on the Council floor and said when a Congressional item dies at committee, it is not brought back. She said rewriting language on the Council floor is out and should be done at committee. Ald. De Wane confirmed that she is referring to instead of changing something at Council, it should be sent back to the appropriate committee, with Ald. Jeffreys stating yes. Ald. Jeffreys said most Council members do not do their best work after midnight and is in favor of setting an ending time for Council meetings and get their business done by that time. Ald. Vander Leest said he would be supportive of setting an adjournment time and is in favor of starting the Budget meeting earlier and supports not doing committee work on the Council floor.

Ald. Wiezbiskie stated that at their Parks Committee, there is a time allotment for each agenda item and inquired if this could be done for the Council agenda, and then suggested putting the important items at the top of the agenda and possibly cut down the agenda if it looks like the meeting is going to run into the wee hours of the morning. Clerk, Chad Weininger stated that each Council member can speak two times for 10 minutes to each motion and he has been keeping track of this, adding that only two members have come close to utilizing the 10 minutes. He added that if a motion is changed, they are allowed to again speak twice for 10 minutes, adding that’s what happens. He stated that this time limit was established by the Council and they have the ability to shorten the time to 5 or 8 minutes if they wish.

Discussion ensued regarding setting shorter time limits for speaking, difficulty in setting a time limit for certain agenda items and having the Mayor gavel someone if they are not speaking relevant to the issue, even it has only been 2 minutes, and the possibility of hindering debate or discussion with limited time placed on agenda items. Ald. Vander Leest favors setting an ending time for Council meetings, adding that the current Council debates items more than previous councils, which isn’t a bad thing. Ald. Wiezbiskie read from Roberts Rules about speaking time relative to one member dominating the debate, thereby reducing the rights of other members. He proposes Council members being allowed to speak 2-5 minutes adding that anyone should be able to complete speaking in this time.

Motion made by Ald. Wiezbiskie that each Council member get to speak twice for 5 minutes to each motion and only 2 minutes once to each amendment.

Ald. De Wane asked if the motion could be held until Ald. Jeffreys speaks, to which Ald. Wiezbiskie agreed. Ald. Jeffreys stated that there are a couple of issues: a lack of self-control with the desire for the Mayor to use his gavel more judiciously and the idea of these new rules whether we have times on the agenda or a set time for the end of the meeting. She stated that these have to be informed. She believes setting a time to end the meeting would be the easier thing to do and the group should decide between those two options. Ald. Jeffreys said Council members all have healthy egos and like to talk, herself included, adding that the 10 minute rule is working as C. Weininger stated. She said they need a constant motion of healthy ideas to keep the debate flowing; the quality of ideas being more important than the length of time they speak . She summed up by stating that she would be in favor of limiting the time to 5 minutes and Council needs to think carefully about which option, deciding on an ending time for Council meetings or placing a time limit on the agenda items. Ald. De Wane stated that he would like to see the Mayor take control and recommended a motion to refer to staff.

Motion made by Ald. Wiezbiskie to refer to staff (the Mayor’s Office and City Clerk), second by Ald. Vander Leest.

Ald. Vander Leest is in favor of starting to set an adjournment time with the next Council meeting on April 8^th. Ald. Kocha expressed concern with setting time limits that an item at the end of the agenda may not have fairly allotted time. Ald. Jeffreys agrees with setting an adjournment time with the next Council meeting as well as referring to staff. Ald. Kocha expressed concern with arbitrarily picking an ending time without looking at the agenda, with Ald. Jeffreys responding that it has to be an informed decision, in talking to the Mayor’s Office and Department heads. Ald. Kocha said the last time Council addressed this issue, they said that if it didn’t work, they would give the Mayor the opportunity to use his gavel, and she feels it has not been working.

A vote was taken on the motion to refer to staff. Motion carried.

*Scott Matejov stated that Ald. Nicholson called and said he has a flat tire and another meeting at the county, and would not be present.

6. Update on discussion by committee chairs regarding staggering the day of committee meetings.

Ald. Wiezbiskie said nothing has been solidified with this issue of all committees meeting at the same time. Ald. Vander Leest said it works well with Finance and Personnel staggering the start times on Tuesday night every other week. He suggested getting the chairs and vice-chairs together to look at the calendar for the rest of the year. Ald .Jeffreys said the issue is Protection & Welfare and Council wants to make sure that they are coming to committee to do committee work and it’s difficult when the committee is scheduled the same day and time that other committees are meeting. She stated that I&S starts on time, has regularly scheduled meetings, and gets their business done, adding that she has scheduled her life around Tuesday night meetings and doesn’t feel that the four committees that meet on Tuesdays are the problem, rather the one committee that started meeting on Tuesday. Ald. De Wane responded that Public Safety Committee started meeting on Wednesday and said he will speak with Ald. Nicholson about scheduling P&W on Mondays if it’s open, adding that at times Ald. Wery cannot make it on Mondays.

Ald. Wiezbiskie stated that Council members not attending committee meetings leads to long Council meetings, adding that if he doesn’t attend a committee meeting, he doesn’t speak at Council. Further discussion ensued regarding P&W holding their meetings opposite of Traffic and the other committees and the suggestion that the Mayor made the committee assignments and could he fix this problem? C. Weininger responded that it’s up to the chairman of the committees to set up their meeting times, adding that one person was assigned to three committees, adding to the issue. Ald. De Wane suggested someone making a motion for the Mayor to contact each chair to get this resolved. Chad Weininger again said they would be taking away the power of the chairman to set the time of their meetings and said Council could vote on when meetings should be held. Ald. Jeffreys stated that she doesn’t feel there’s anything to work out, again stating that Protection and Welfare is the issue and suggested holding P&W during the day. Ald. De Wane said this wouldn’t work with Ald. Wery, Zima and Nicholson. Ald. Wiezbiskie said the Plan Commission meets on Monday but he would be willing to work around it if P&W could meet on Monday, adding that they need to consider staff time as well. Ald. De Wane stated that he will try his best to get P&W scheduled on another day.

Motion made by Ald. Vander Leest, second by Ald. Jeffreys to refer this to the Mayor’s Office to work with the Chairs of the standing committees to set specific meeting time and days that coordinate for the entire Council. Motion carried.

There being no further business, motion was made by Ald. Vander Leest, second by Ald. Jeffreys to adjourn. Motion carried.