City Council Workshop

City of Lathrup Village Workshop Summary December 7, 2022 I. FACILITATOR OBSERVATIONS On Wednesday, December 7, the Mayor, Council Members, City Manager, and Clerk met to discuss mutual expectations. The obvious irony in the discussions with the members of this team is that when randomly divided into three groups of two, they all came up with the same expectations of themselves and each other. Yet, they frequently disagreed in discussions regarding the exercise of the expectations. This team did an excellent job designing the roadmap to effective governing as opposed to conflict, accusations, mistrust, and ultimately not fulfilling the needs of the people of Lathrup Village. My strong hope for them and the people they represent is that they actually do what each one says they want to do. Time will tell. I realize that time limits did not permit us to go into greater depth. Nonetheless, they created a very useful road map to a positive future. These notes reflect the results of the three breakout sessions. II. EXPECTATIONS Expectations of the Mayor  Running an orderly meeting (2)  Chief Executive Officer  Equal dissemination of information  Timeliness in the running of meetings  Prepared for meetings (2)  Move meeting forward  Positive representation of City and Council  Leader and Mediator  Equal respect and inclusivity (2)  Strong community presence  Allow all questions.  Organize town halls Expectations of the City Manager  Equal dissemination of information  Daily operations – CAO  Prepared for meetings, follow-through  Prioritize  Neutrality and mutual respect  Budget  Follow the Council’s direction  Hiring (HR)  Interaction with residents  Timely responses to emails  Provide fully supportive documentation  Strong organizational skills before decision making  Excellent customer service  Response to questions  Balance budget Expectations of the Council Members?  Prepared for meetings (2)  Timeliness of submissions for agendas  Mutual respect, respect all residents  Participate during the meetings instead of  Participation, do your homework sending emails afterward  Adhere to due dates  Represent the community  Go to the City Manager for all information  Packet preparation and CC the Mayor  Responsible and available  Volunteer for committees  Innovative  Bring suggestions and recommendations to  Collaborative the meetings  Talk to City Manager in advance  Be solution focused 1|Page tmpDF3D Ground Rules for Disagreement  Pay attention – listen  Go to the City Manager for all information  No side conversations and CC the Mayor  Everyone has an opportunity to talk.  Respect  Be respectful to the person speaking  Breaks – recess  No gotcha moments  Cut down on the back and forth  No attacks on staff  Courtesy  Be future-oriented and don’t dwell in the  Council comments limits past  Listen III. SUGGESTED NEXT STEPS 1. In the first work session, it is recommended that the discussion focuses on how to construct the work sessions and what the ground rules will be, for example, not voting on topics discussed in the work sessions on the same day. Hold a brainstorming session listing the topics for discussion in future work sessions. Identify the top two or three for the near future. 2. The Mayor and Council could use a task group approach for topics requiring deeper exploration. This approach involves the following:  The whole group discusses the topic in the work session without getting in the weeds– staying at the 10-15t foot level.  The Mayor assigns a small group to explore the topic further to come back with options, pros, cons, etc. 3. Packets are electronically distributed by the end of the workday on Thursday.  Supplemental/additional material might be added by the end of the workday on Friday.  The Manager should probably create a schedule on Monday that allows members of the Council to ask questions and get information before the meeting on Monday evening.  All inquiries should be directed to the Manager, not the staff.  Information shared with one member of the Council should be shared with everyone, including specific inquiries.  The Manager could experiment with providing a summary of the packet and periodically, initially ask the council members if the summary is useful or might be adjusted to meet their needs. 4. The Council did not get an opportunity to discuss all of these expectations. It is recommended that the Council take the time to discuss all of these mutual expectations. Periodically, review how you are doing in terms of meeting those expectations. Everyone agrees that each person is responsible for enforcing these mutual expectations. 5. Mold hates sunshine. Misunderstandings, half-truths, and assumptions quickly die with direct conversations regarding the issue. Holding things back from each other and only talking to friends will only further support the assumptions and the negative and create more unnecessary conflict. 6. If the Council is making an earnest effort to achieve mutual expectations, meeting with Lew Bender in two to three months will be helpful. Members do not have to be perfect in achieving these, but a unified effort will create success. 7. The Mayor, members of the Council should feel free to call me if you wish to discuss challenges as you go forward. The call will remain confidential between the two of us. Indeed I will not even share that we have talked. Respectfully submitted: Lewis G. Bender, Ph.D. lewbender@aol.com 618-792-6103 (cell) December 13, 2022 2|Page tmpDF3D