Town Council - Ordinance & Rules Committee

Braintree Town Council MEMBERS David Ringius, Jr, Chairman Committee on Ordinance & Rules Steven Sciascia, Vice- Chairman One JFK Memorial Drive Julia Flaherty, Member Braintree, Massachusetts 02184 Lawrence Mackin, Jr, Member September 28, 2020 MINUTES A meeting of the Committee on Ordinance & Rules was held Remote via Zoom Webinar on Monday, September 28, 2020 beginning at 5:00pm. Chairman Ringius was in the Chair. Clerk of the Council, Susan Cimino conducted the roll call. All votes were conducted by Roll Call Vote. Present: David Ringius, Jr, Chairman Steven Sciascia, Vice-Chairman Julia Flaherty, Member Lawrence Mackin, Jr, Member Approval of Minutes • July 22, 2020 A Motion was made by Councilor Sciascia to approve the minutes of July 22, 2020. Motion: by Councilor Sciascia to Approve the Minutes of July 22, 2020 Second: by Councilor Flaherty Roll Call Vote: For (4 – Flaherty, Mackin, Ringius, Sciascia), Against (0), Absent (0), Abstain (0) Old Business • 002 20 Council President: Town Council Rules or take up any action relative thereto (Rule Fifty-Six: Adoption of Rules) Councilor Ringius, Chairman of the Committee on Ordinance & Rules stated the Town Council Rules are generally updated every two years (that being the even years). These are the rules by which the Council governs itself. They are important for our meetings to run effectively and efficiently. We met a couple of times in person then COVID hit and we ultimately began meeting via zoom. We took this up at our previous Full Council meeting. There were amendments and things other Councilors wanted to see. As we went through that meeting it seemed the best thing to do was to refer this September 28, 2020 Committee on Ordinance & Rules 1 of 4 back to Ordinance & Rules to address some of these items the other Councilors wanted to see. I wanted to welcome District 5 Councilor Boericke. Councilor Boericke stated my proposal is the Citizens Participation Rule. My intension is to provide residents with the opportunity to address the Council on Agenda Items. I broke this down into two distinct components. The agenda is usually posted on Friday. Residents can review the agenda and if residents have a particular need to speak, they can make it known to the Council President and/or Clerk of the Council by Monday at 10am. (Polling Locations is one discussion that comes to mind). I still want to preserve the Citizens Concerns for all other items to get on the agenda. Councilor Sciascia stated I like the idea of giving residents more of an opportunity to speak. My concern is the agenda goes out on Friday, residents will see it but nobody will know that someone is going to speak on a given topic besides the Council. I fear that would create a lot of one-sided presentations. If we are going to allow the public to speak, we have to allow the public more broadly to speak. If people are going to challenge then we have to give people the opportunity to do that. Councilor Flaherty stated this raises Open Meeting concerns. I really like the prospect of allowing residents to speak. There is a lot of merit to those ideas. I take the Open Meeting concerns seriously. Councilor Sciascia stated his Rule “B” was any Councilor with a majority could make a motion before a vote is called to open any agenda item up to public discussion. This way you are limiting the topic to what is on the agenda so there shouldn’t be an open meeting violation there. Councilor Boericke stated her opinion is it would be for someone to speak about an item that is on the agenda already. For instance, a poll worker wanting to speak and give their opinion on changing of polling locations (when that was on the agenda). Most of us strive to strengthen citizen participation and resident input. That was the spirit of my change. Chairman Ringius stated I feel like Councilor Boericke and Councilor Sciascia are proposing similar amendments. Councilor Boericke is stating let Clerk Cimino know a resident wants to speak by Monday. Councilor Sciascia is stating if someone wants to speak at the meeting and allowing it. Both are speaking of items already listed on the agenda. Chairman Ringius read into record an opinion from Solicitor Taub. Ms. Taub stated “On the proposed changes to Rule 35, I have a couple of questions. My overall concern is that we may end up in a situation where there is an open meeting law concern if citizens are able to submit requests until the day before the meeting. I see the reference to “Citizens Concerns/Council Response” in the rules, but don’t recall seeing that on an actual agenda—if a citizen asks to speak, and the category is not listed on the agenda, it will be too late on Monday to add it. Also, this revision essentially creates a public comment period at each meeting. I recall some discussion on this concept and did not think it was something the council wanted to add to the meetings. It would also potentially conflict with one of the proposals noted at the end of the draft (Rule B).” September 28, 2020 Committee on Ordinance & Rules 2 of 4 Chairman Ringius stated it is almost that you are allowing a public comment at any meeting. It is a balance. School Committee always had the public comment period. It can be great and we do want to be open and transparent and allow folks to talk about issues but on the same token that can add a significant period of time to a meeting. As representatives of folks, they can contact there Councilor to speak on their behalf. Chairman Ringius asked for clarification from Town Solicitor Taub. Councilor Sciascia stated none of us are asking for a permanent Citizens Concerns were anyone can get up and discuss whatever they want. We are saying a public comment section done either that evening or ahead of time. Chairman Ringius stated in Rule 32 there is a Citizen Concern section there. We should look at that rule. Councilor Sciascia stated Rule 65 O&R discussed moving amount of $2,500 to $1,000 and it shouldn’t be converted back to $1,000. Rule 30 title should be Public Hearings and Public Comment – same rules in place like 5 minute time limit. Councilor Sciascia’s amendment Rule “A” is to post Council expenditures. Rule C is correspondence received by a Councilor should be forwarded to other Councilors in a reasonable amount of time through Clerk of the Council. Councilor Flaherty stated this is a change I can support this but it seems like we are making rules about professional courtesy. Chairman Ringius stated this makes sense if we receive a communication that the resident wants it to be forwarded to all members. Where would we insert this Rule “A” into the rules? We could make this a new Rule 37 and everything else gets bumped down from that. Discussion on Rule “A” ended with it being renumbered to Rule 66 and titled: Councilor Expenditure Reports. Rule states: A running list of all expenditures of funds for the year by the Council will be published to the town website regularly and the list shall be updated within 30 days of the approval of the expenditure. For Rule Thirty-Six: Anonymous Communications - Unsigned communications shall not be introduced in the Council. Members asked this to be forwarded to Solicitor Taub for legality then decided these are Town Council Rules and this is by which the Council governs themselves and it is their decision whether to introduce or not. Councilor Sciascia stated for Rule 37, O&R was going to discuss reducing membership for the Committee of Ways & Means to 4 members instead of the current 5. Councilor Flaherty stated there is value in having an odd number in a committee so you have a tie breaker. Being on a committee means you have put more time in it and your recommendation is not binding. If someone wants to be a 5th on a committee, I do not see that as a negative. Councilor Sciascia stated I would prefer 4 members but I do not prefer 4 right now and kicking someone off the committee that is currently on it and invested a lot of time and effort. September 28, 2020 Committee on Ordinance & Rules 3 of 4  Chairman Ringius stated it does say originally 4 to 5 members. I say leave it at that for now. Councilor Mackin stated Rule 65 was originally $2,500 and O&R lowered it to $1,000. We did decide to lower it for a reason for public perception we might come into hard times. Chairman Ringius stated there might be some tough financial decisions to make. My feeling is send it back to the full Council with $1,000 and if they want to address to increase it they can. Councilor Flaherty asked what MMA typically costs per Councilor. The answer being approximately $450. Chairman Ringius explained Rule 38 which was amended by Solicitor Taub per the request of O&R. Rule Thirty-Eight: Attendance of Councilors at Public Meetings: Councilors may attend committee meetings or meetings of another board, committee or commission or like entity of the Town; however, when a quorum of councilors is in attendance they may not deliberate on matters within the Town Council’s jurisdiction. Deliberation includes expressing an opinion on matters within the Town Council’s jurisdiction, even if no other councilor responds. O&R agreed to Rule 38 as written. A Motion was made by Councilor Sciascia to TABLE to the next O&R on September 30, 2020 at 5pm. Motion: by Councilor Sciascia to TABLE to September 30, 2020 at 5pm Second: by Councilor Flaherty Roll Call Vote: For (4 – Flaherty, Mackin, Ringius, Sciascia), Against (0), Absent (0), Abstain (0) New Business • None It was unanimously voted by Roll Call to adjourn the meeting at 6:13 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan M. Cimino Clerk of the Council Documents provided for Meeting • 002 20 Council President: Town Council Rules or take up any action relative thereto • Minutes July 22, 2020 September 28, 2020 Committee on Ordinance & Rules 4 of 4