Operations Committee Meeting

MINUTES Operations Committee Meeting Tuesday, March 3, 2020 at 2:30 PM Carnegie Town Hall, 235 West 10th St., Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57104 1. Call to Order Present: Committee Chair Greg Neitzert, Committee Member Marshall Selberg, Committee Member Christine M. Erickson Absent: Committee Member Pat Starr Committee Chair Greg Neitzert called the meeting to order at 2:30 p.m. 2. Approval of Minutes A. Tuesday, January 14, 2020 A motion was made by Committee Member Erickson and seconded by Committee Member Selberg to approve the minutes. Voice vote to approve. 3 Yes: Erickson, Neitzert, Selberg; 0 No: (None). Motion Passed. 3. Unfinished Business A. Review of Draft Edits to the Policies and Procedures Manual Neitzert provided the purpose of the meeting. He explained that the last meeting consisted of identifying editorial changes to the manual. Today’s meeting would include staff showing the proposed changes. City Clerk Tom Greco reviewed one change to “Agenda Deadlines and Submissions” which included an update to the referenced Executive Order. “Public Input” now reflects changes made to City Ordinance last year and clarifies the process for submitting presentations. Dave Bixler, Budget Analyst, explained that the “Council Travel Policy” section now includes reference to professional organizations staff may be a member of and it includes “staff” in the “Education, Travel, and Training” subsection. Discussion followed about the passage and implementation of the new manual. A motion was made by Committee Member Erickson and seconded by Committee Member Selberg to recommend approval of the proposed amendments to the City  Council Policies and Procedures manual and to forward to the full City Council for consideration in the form of a resolution to adopt the new procedures manual. Voice vote to recommend approval. 3 Yes: Erickson, Neitzert, Selberg; 0 No: (None). Motion Passed. 4. New Business A. City Council Committees Council Member Janet Brekke provided a history of City Council Committees and explained that they did not work as effectively as envisioned. Their frequency of use has dwindled significantly in the past several years and are often duplicative of subject matter in Informational Meetings; often the same topic is presented numerous times. She showed a chart that illustrated the frequency of committee meetings compared to Informational Meetings since 2011. She also showed a sample of ordinances and resolutions sponsored by Council members and suggested most are legislative issues that are not entirely appropriate for committees. Instead, if such items need to be discussed by the Council prior to consideration, that should be done with the whole Council in an Informational Meeting. Her proposal is to eliminate (or at least not schedule) Committee Meetings going forward along with the weekly agenda review meeting. In place of this, and given extra time each week, she suggested an agenda review briefing could be held at the conclusion, or after, Informational Meetings. She envisions the new agenda briefing to be a more focused brief covering only weighty issues. She shared a list of other cities and their approach to meeting preparation. She concluded that cities vary to a large degree in whether they have informational-type meetings or other methods of conveying information. Committee Member Marshall Selberg said he appreciated the presentation, but does not see a compelling need to alter the current model. Brekke indicated he may have a different view because he has regularly attended the meetings. She also stated that the briefing should be for the entire Council, not just a few members with notes sent out. Committee Member Erickson explained that committee use was more prevalent in the past and the frequency of meetings very often depends on the Chair. She noted that committee meetings were broadcast and recorded, allowing for widespread access to the information covered in each. She indicated that she is not averse to not scheduling committees in favor of providing for more flexibility in the use of ad hoc groups and task forces. Erickson emphasized that she is not willing to completely eliminate them. She went on to caution that adding extra meetings can be burdensome to part-time councilors who work. Any structure, she noted, should be respectful of everyone’s availability of time. The weekly agenda review, as currently used, is an effective means of gathering information about upcoming agenda items; she also noted it is a meeting convened by the Mayor and not required.  Brekke stated that the short time period between the release of an agenda and notes and the actual meeting also places a burden on some, to include the public. She explained that the notes are useful and should be shared with the public as well. Erickson discussed how Friday meetings were structured during her time on the council and underscored the fact that they vary based on the Mayor’s preference. She recommended that Brekke draft a proposal for review. Brekke indicated that she felt the Committee could do this with further discussion. Neitzert agreed that the present committee structure is not effective. He suggested there would be many ways to avoid complete elimination of committees while being mindful of time constraints. He discussed how information is disseminated now and that there could be alternate means of sharing summary info about agenda items. He stated there was merit in the agenda brief concept, but cautioned about the time constraints it would impose. He agreed that there could be more effective ways in which to provide additional information to the Council and the public like a summary paragraph or other method. Neitzert asked Greco what it would take to implement such a change. Greco explained it would likely need to be done by ordinance or resolution. B. Use of Electronic Devices Due to time constraints, this item will be moved to the next meeting. 5. Open Discussion There was none. 6. Next Meeting Neitzert directed Jim David, Operations Manager, to identify potential meeting dates to occur after the new committee members are identified. A poll will be taken to see when members can attend. 7. Public Comment There was none. 8. Adjournment Committee Chair Greg Neitzert adjourned the meeting at 3:39 p.m. Thomas M. Greco, City Clerk