The Chelan City Council is looking at how it does business. At last Tuesday's workshop, the council discussed a proposed procedure manual that covers almost every aspect of a council member's duties and responsibilities, how meetings will be conducted, and other formalities regarding the council's business. Much of the discussion was focused on attendance at council meetings, including how many meetings a council member can attend remotely. The proposed manual suggests a maximum of six remote meetings a year for a member; Mayor Bob Goedde called that “antiquated:”
City Administrator Wade Farris said that while Zoom meetings were valuable during the pandemic, in-person attendance brings more engagement:
And that was followed by face-to-face interaction between Goedde and Farris:
Other topics discussed were times allowed for citizen comments at meetings, and whether a council member's attendance at a, say, planning commission meeting is proper. Councilman John Olson:
Olson once attended a planning commission meeting and was later called on the carpet for it. City attorney Quentin Batjer:
It was also suggested by the mayor that a council member's attendance could be very intimidating.
The “City Council Rules of Procedure” manual will be considered at tomorrow (Tuesday) night's meeting.