Cole & Crowley object to Berding's Rules of Order

Proposed rule changes intended to streamline City Council and get its members focused on the "big picture" are so far having the opposite effect.

The Rules & Government Operations Committee debated the new rules for nearly four hours Monday -- even as City Council members came in and out to meet with the mayor over the collapse of the Banks project.

Upset that the process was moving too quickly, Democrat Laketa Cole asked for a separate roll-call vote on each of City Council's 92 rules -- governing everything from where council members sit to how a motion becomes an ordinance. One debate, over who gets the best office space, went on for so long that freshman Charterite Chris Bortz suggested "a tournament of arm wrestling" as most fair way to decide the issue.

The new rules are based on a memo circulated by Rules Committee Chairman Jeff Berding, a Democrat, before being sworn in. The proposal no longer includes further restrictions on who can speak at a council meeting. It does abolish a requirement that City Council hold up to five "town hall" meetings a year in city neighborhoods -- a rule the council hadn't been following anyway.

Cole and fellow Democrat David C. Crowley, who seem to be forming a dissident voting bloc in the early days of the 40th City Council, sent out this statement explaining their position:

Today, at the first committee meeting of the new City Council, a proposal was brought forward that suggests 38 changes to the rules which govern the manner in which City Council conducts the public's business.

The document was first made publicly available at today's 1 p.m. meeting. They represent major changes in the way Council operates including how legislation is brought forward, what subjects are discussed at public meetings, how meetings are chaired, how legislation becomes law, how often Council members can speak during public meetings and much more. The Rules Committee wants Council to adopt these drastic changes on Wednesday of this week.

Members of Council first received the proposed changes at today's meeting and asked for more time for public review before implementing the dramatic changes. Despite the obvious objections, the Committee decided to rush a vote of the changes for this Wednesday's Council Meeting. Crowley and Cole want to alert the public and the media that these changes are being rushed to a vote and encourage them to contact their Council members to ask that the process be slowed down so proper public input can be gathered.

"This is more than just tweaking some rules, this is the way in which our government and elected officials operate. This is not Council's business-it is the public's. We have a duty to provide adequate public input before making sweeping changes to the rules, these aren't our rules they are the citizen's rules," said council member Crowley.

Cole added, "The new rules propose that new legislation should not be sprung upon Council, or the public without adequate time for public consumption. In fact, the way in which these rule changes have been brought forward violates this rule. The rules of Council have a major effect on the City's legislative process, and therefore the City as a whole. We should proceed with caution and allow for public input."

• Read the proposed Rules of Council (in .pdf format).