Milton Mayor Wesley Meiss and Council Member Alan Lowery took issue over a draft of rules and procedures regarding a new approach to committee practices during Monday night’s executive committee meeting. The debate involved the role of mayor in the newly structured ‘Committee as a Whole.’ Both elected officials inquired as to why the mayor was prohibited from presiding over the committee meetings.
The proposed draft stated the Committee as a Whole presiding responsibilities would be handled by the Mayor Pro Tem, in this case Council Member Lloyd Hinote.
While Meiss suggested the mayor should be allowed to preside over the committee meetings, Council Member Jimmy Messick thought otherwise.
“I don’t think so,” Messick said. “As a committee, the (city) charter says that the mayor shall preside at the city council meetings and may take part in discussion, but doesn’t say anything about committees.”
Fellow Council Member Marilyn Jones said the change in rules and procedures will not prohibit the mayor from attending or speaking at the Committee as a Whole meetings.
“Committee meetings have always been shared by council members, not by the mayor,” she said. “There is nothing saying he can’t participate in the committee and discussion…it’s just saying he cannot make motions and vote.”
In a follow up interview, City Manager Brian Watkins, who presented the draft of rules and procedures for the Committee as a Whole structure, said the city charter does not cover how each of the eight committees − Public Works, Administration, Public Safety, Storm water Management, Parks and Recreation, Growth, Development and Annexation, LEAP and Finance Committees are being handled.
“Technically, the charter does not discuss the committees,” Watkins said. “The purpose of the committee meetings is to allow the council, who are ultimately going to make the decision, have more of an opportunity to discuss and review the issues.”
On the committee level, the council could vote for moving a motion to the following executive committee, or regular council meetings, in which the motion could then be voted upon in an official capacity by council.
According to the city charter, the mayor is responsible for presiding at the city council meetings. The only instance the mayor could vote is in case the council is deadlocked in a tie vote, the mayor’s vote would then serve as a tiebreaker.
While he understood from the standpoint of not being able to vote or make a motion, Meiss felt the mayor should preside over the Committee as a Whole meetings.
“To me, I think the mayor should have a seat at the table and should lead the meetings, just as I have always witnessed the mayors before me do,” Meiss said.
While previous committee meetings had no structure, allowing Meiss and previous mayors to chair and even vote, Watkins said the change in rules and procedures only falls in line with the city charter.
While a majority of the council voted in favor implementing the rules and procedures with changes, the item will be passed along to the regular council meeting on Tuesday as a separate item from the consent agenda due to one nay vote from Council Member Alan Lowery. Council Member Ashley Lay was not present at the meeting.
Watkins said the idea for the Committee as a Whole change originated from a discussion by the council members during a workshop meeting last November. Previously, the committee meetings were held at different times throughout each month.
Each committee will remain the same, only allowing all of the council members to discuss each city issue at one meeting with more structure, Watkins said. Each Committee as a Whole meeting will be advertised in the Press Gazette.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Milton: Councilman, Mayor shares concerns over new committee meeting structure