CONSTRUCTIVE COUNCIL DEBATE

The regular meeting of the city council is the showcase of local government. This meeting is attended by members of the news media and reported in the news sections of the local newspaper. With the advent of cable television, full television coverage of council meetings is available. The public will necessarily have to develop it’s opinions of issues before the City Council based on the quality of the council members’ debate. It therefore behooves the Council to understand how to effectively debate.
Only the barest skeleton of requirements for conduct of council meetings is prescribed by statute. For the most part, the chief executive or other presiding officer and the governing body itself are responsible for designing and applying rules for the conduct of council meetings and the accomplishment of other business matters before the governing body. Most statutes deal with not providing a public debate rather then how to carry on effective debates.
Orderly meetings require the application of good parliamentary procedures. Efficient administration of the legislative affairs of government by the council requires a division of labor for the purpose of sifting and winnowing matters before presentation to the entire body for consideration and action. The former is generally accomplished by the adoption of council rules and the latter by creating of committees of the governing body.
The council’s responsibilities under the open meetings law are complicated and varied. The council’s responsibilities under this law require conducting governmental business in the open so that the public knows what is being discussed, deliberated, decided, by whom, when, where and why. The legislature has incorporated the policy of openness into the legislation and has codified the notion that this law will be liberally construed in favor of openness, rather than in favor of the government's other concerns for efficiency, expediency, or lack of controversy. The court decisions and the Attorney General opinions relating to the open meetings law have stretched the meaning and application of the law beyond the words of the statutes, and the law has been rewritten to broaden its application to more circumstances, rather than fewer.
Put simply, the law requires that all business of the council be conducted at meetings that have been properly noticed to the public and the media, and that the notice sets forth in detail the items of business to be discussed or decided, and when the meeting will occur, and where the meeting will be held, and that the place of the meeting must be reasonably accessible to all members of the public wishing to attend. These meetings are required to be in open session, unless the proper prior notice of a closed session has been posted and stated at the meeting, and unless the legally authorized exception to openness has been met.
Try to keep in mind that debate in this format will cause conflicts and problems as you tackle important community issues. When you work out the problems as a group, you will make healthy decisions. Keep in mind, too, your commitment to the council, your colleagues’ commitment, the importance of your contribution, and the importance of making sound decisions.
The council should try to make the best possible decisions while maintaining effective relationships. You and your colleagues aren’t questioning each other’s good intentions or personal integrity. You are discussing options for making the best possible decisions. Don’t think about what you may not like about the person sitting across the table from you. Instead think about what he or she is saying, about the points that person is trying to make. If a colleague seems to be attacking your integrity, try to get that person back on track by asking him or her to make the point.
When your board seems to have bogged down, sometimes it is helpful to step back and think about the goals you have set for it. Keep in mind that you all have agreed on these goals, that you do have mutual interests, and that you are all serving the same constituency. Remember what is important!
Is there a compromise with which everyone will feel satisfied? Think about all that has been said throughout the debate. Can the best aspects of everybody’s ideas be incorporated into a plan? Ask your colleagues why a particular approach is not satisfactory and why other approaches are.
Examine your own approach to dealing with conflict. Are you really listening to what your colleagues are saying? Are you thinking about the implications? Are you considering them? Don’t be afraid to state your concerns. Be honest by revealing what you see as the options and by explaining what you see as shortcomings in the suggestions of others.
Each Council member should work to establish a good relationship with other members. The success or failure of efforts may be dependent upon the degree of cooperation evident among the individual members of the Board. Each member should keep in mind these important points:
Show respect for another’s viewpoint.
Allow others adequate time to fully present their views before making comments.
Be open and honest.
Make new members welcome and help them become acquainted with their duties.
Strive to minimize polarization and factions among members.
The council can achieve effective decision discussion where, with all the information available, final agreement is reached on the policy after a thorough and vigorous debate based on policy information and data gathered as part of the process. Having a model helps recognize and enhance the need for thorough debate of policy issues. Public confidence in decisions made by policymakers is strengthened when the public sees that an open discussion and debate has occurred. Building public support requires clear disclosure of advantages and disadvantages of issues under discussion.
By mapping out the process of decision-making into clear and definable steps, complex decisions can be tackled in doable, bite-sized decisions, retaining agreement among policymakers along the way. Separating elements of the decision-making process allows for substantive and focused discussions at each of the critical steps.
Finally, delaying taking positions on policy questions until all the facts are in permits a more open policy discussion and improves the quality of the final policy decision. The process also respects the need for various levels of public participation in different types of decisions. Some decision-making that involves difficult issues with important fiscal or other impacts on residents may benefit from public input at more than one stage in the process.