Council Policy Debate

Policy-making is a Council’s main function. Policy is defined as a plan or course of action, as of a government, political party, or business, intended to influence and determine decisions, actions, and other matters. A course of action, guiding principle, or procedure considered expedient, prudent, or advantageous. Policymaking is defined as high-level development of policy, especially official government policy that is concerned with policy, not administration.[1]
Policy-making is a values laden process that must deal with emotional issues that may generate unpleasant, self-serving and nonproductive behavior among council members which results in unproductive discussion. As a consequence of these emotional issues, the council, may not have full opportunity to hear all the evidence the governance process needs to proceed in an orderly and effective decision process. Policy decisions should occur after a proper and deliberate and full airing -- with all points of view fully debated and considered within the scope of our bounded rational capacity.
Debate is a critical part of the legislative process that helps us determine what policy changes we should embrace and/or reject. It attempts to justify changing the way people think and their related actions. Effective open debate during council meetings helps inform the public of the issue. Debate occurs daily in legislatures around the world, the Board meetings at the school, and at your dinner table. The procedures for these debates may differ, but the process is the same. People engage in a discussion that will determine whether a particular change is going to be used or not. The Council debated privacy issues and sump pump Inspections, school faculty meetings debate school policies and you debate with family members about domestic matters.
The debate process, which for the Council, must play out during public meetings, requires all interested parties be able to hear the council debate in an appropriate and civil manner. The process is used to generate ideas which may become options used in the evidence gathering process or may become evidence for an option. Each debate focuses on a topic, the subject of the debate. The topic may also be referred to as the “motion” or “resolution.” The purpose of having a formal topic is to limit the debate. Arguments and issues that are not relevant to the topic are irrelevant to the debate.
The method of formal debate, as set out in the Lake Mills Charter Ordinance, is one of the main methods council members have at their disposal to communicate with the council. It’s a very structured method of communication, with all ordinances, resolutions, memorials or other communications required to be in writing, contain a brief statement of their content, indicating the name of the presenting member, and, prior to their consideration by the council, be delivered to the clerk. At the first permitted opportunity, the clerk shall read and record each by title at a meeting of the council. Any council member may require at any time the reading in full of any matter while it is before the council.
Since the City Council is relatively small compared with other organizations using Robert’s Rules, some of the procedural formality can be dispensed with. The Council tends to use Informal debate which includes all discussion methods available. It has no time limit on an individual speaker, no research is presented to support positions and Roberts Rules of Order is only followed loosely, but it provides the council with more a fluid discussion on specific issues. Council members aren’t formally recognized by the presiding officer, but may begin their remarks as soon as the other council member has finished their comments. The presiding officer occasionally may have to decide on who may have the floor next. However, motions to close or limit debate may be entertained. Informal discussion of a subject is permitted while no motion is pending. It is normally expected, however, that discussion will follow a motion on the floor.
The presiding officer during formal debate will require a motion and second to start debate on an agenda item. Once the item has received a motion and second, the moving council member must then be recognized by the presiding officer before being allowed to address the council. The council member shall then address the presiding officer and keep all remarks to the question under discussion.
Decisions of the council generally fall into three categories: 1) those regarding projects or facilities; 2) those with respect to services, and 3) those relating to the need for regulations affecting the health, safety or welfare of the municipality’s residents.
The council member’s remarks should incorporate the process of making decisions with respect to any of these three principal areas of municipal activity which can be divided into six stages:[2]
“Need. The process whereby it is determined that something needs to be done. Such determination is usually based on an awareness of community conditions.
“Solutions. The process of determining which government is responsible, what resources are available, what the scope of responsibility is, and the manner in which an answer to the problem should be formulated.
“Projects. The development of plans for specific allocations of resources to specified agencies to undertake given actions for specified purposes.
“Approval. The official act by which action is authorized and resources are allocated.
“Administration. The action of management in issuing directives, supervising activities, reviewing results, and making required adjustments.
“Evaluation. The process of reporting and reviewing, whereby the policy-makers may determine the success or failure of the programs, in whole or in part, in meeting the needs defined in the first stage.”
Effective decision-making is the result of having sufficient data to provide the basis for making rational choices between alternative courses of action. Effective decision-making also requires a refining, sifting and winnowing of the issues and data, the creation of an atmosphere conducive to making decisions in an unhurried and judicious manner and the weighing of potential consequences of alternative decisions or courses of action.
The value laden democratic policy-making process can at times be messy and extremely stressful. Communication under normal circumstances is a difficult process and becomes more difficult during emotionally charged public debates. The meaning of each word associated with a value is independently assigned by each individual based on personal experiences and assuming they are using the word the same as you may lead to misinterpretation of the debate and final report. Elected Officials need to display consistent standards while also being sensitive to the need to compromise because:[3]
Good government is about values – not the right answer.
Value conflicts require compromise and negotiation.
This means the need to promote inclusion and goal accomplishment.
Alignment is crucial
Issues can be more satisfactorily addressed to the extent that there are clear and accepted processes for considering options and reaching the compromise position. Ultimately, all good public policy is the result of community participation, political vision and the ability to compromise.
The council member upon whose motion is subject to debate is first entitled to the floor, and is entitled to close debate after each member who wishes to speak has been allowed to do so.
There are points where another council member may wish to terminate the debate and can move the previous question. The presiding officer shall then announce the question as, "Shall the question before the council now be put?" If two-thirds of the members present vote in the affirmative, the question before the council shall be taken without further debate. The council then votes, first on any pending amendments and then on the main question.
In most instances, the affirmative vote of a majority of the members elected to Council present at a regular or special meeting at which a quorum is present and voting shall be necessary to adopt any ordinance, resolution, or pass other matters presented to the Council. Three members constitute a quorum.
The fundamental job of a governing body member is to make policy decisions for his or her municipality. Unless decisions are based on full, relevant and accurate information and with a clear objective in view, the results are likely to be mediocre at best and meaningless at worst. In fact, in view of the part-time, temporary involvement of most local governing body officials in Wisconsin, the political pressures under which local decisions must be made and the frequent lack of up-to-date, accurate, verifiable information available to these decision-makers, the process has worked surprisingly well.
In the world of public policy debate, it is human nature to look for simple solutions to complex problems; there must be a magic bullet which solves all our problems. Politicians who proclaim to have that magic bullet draw attention over those who offer more complex policy options.
Policies have been known to come into and out of vogue depending on the political winds of the time. It is common for political leaders and influential decision makers to seek out validation of their preconceived notions. Tell me what you want to hear and I can find a theory to support it. Great care must be taken whenever simple solutions to complex problems are presented as the answer.
As policy-makers, none can predict the end results of our decisions. Nor can anyone identify or recognize all available options in context, even if there were the time and financial resources to pursue them. What policy-makers do have is the insight gained from our experience to accurately identify the values that will come into conflict, deal honestly with social constructs (those of others and of our own making) and to bring in appropriate stakeholders, all the while reserving the right to exercise professional judgment, and be willing to change and adjust in the future.
[1] Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
[2] Wright, J. Ward, and Benson, Virginia, “Your Local Economy: Does City Hall Play a Role?”, Nation’s Cities, September 1972, p. 45.
[3] Nalbandian, John. High Performance Government.