The calendar up for approval at the annual reorganization Monday adheres to the one agenda session, one regular meeting per month model that quite a few regular attendees found problematic. Among the objections, citizens said the meetings ran too long and not all topics got the attention they deserved.
At the Dec. 27 agenda session for the reorganization, incoming Councilwoman Rebecca Williams spoke in favor of the traditional schedule, but a majority agreed on the once-a –month plan.
The most outspoken citizens against the shorter schedule were absent on Dec. 27, perhaps because it took place after the weekend blizzard and drivers were cautioned to stay off the streets.
For January, the first agenda session for 2010 will be held on Jan. 10, followed by the regular meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 18, after the Dr. Martin Luther King holiday.
Other proposed meeting dates are Feb. 7 and 14, march 7 and 14, April 4 and 11, May 2 and 9. In June, due to the primary election and the subsequent Democratic Party reorganization, the agenda session will be Tuesday, June 14 and the regular meeting will be June 20.
The summer schedule has meetings on July 11 and 18 and Aug. 8 and 15. Labor Day will be followed by an agenda session on Tuesday, Sept. 6, with the regular meeting on Sept. 12. The Oct. 3 agenda session will precede a regular meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 11, after Columbus Day.
Due to a hiatus for the general election, the council will meet on Nov. 14 and 21. Meetings on Dec. 5 and 12 and a Dec. 19 agenda session for the 2012 reorganization will round out the year.
One thing the council members offered to do for the sake of brevity is to limit their own comments to five minutes each on any given topic, with a timekeeper from their own ranks. This strategy was tested late in 2010 and seemed to work.
The reorganization meeting is 8 p.m. Monday in Municipal Court, 325 Watchung Ave.
--Bernice Paglia
Why would Council be in agreement to double the number of meetings they would have to attend? That's too much work. When Council raised their salaries, one of the reasons was in comparison with other towns and the number of meetings they have to attend. They increase their salaries and then turn around and reduce the number of meetings they have to attend.
ReplyDeleteHow soon we forget.