ANSWER TO A QUESTION & DECIPHERING THE MEETING AGENDA In each of our lives, we sometimes forget that others arent familiar with terms we frequently use or practices we routinely follow. QUESTION: What is an ALDERMAN (I was asked this just yesterday)? An alderman is like a city councilman on a city council. But instead of a city council, Willard has whats called a Board of Aldermen (often referred to as BOA or Board). This board is the governing body for the city. The city is divided into three separate wards (which are geographical areas determined by population). Each ward has two aldermen. Aldermen act as the representative for their ward. Willard has a total of six elected aldermen and an elected mayor who meet and conduct city business at Willard City Hall at least once a month. THE MEETING AGENDA The Meeting Agenda is a tentative list of the boards normal procedures and of timely items up for discussion, vote, or both. In this case, the agenda is for an open session (a meeting open to the public). Item #1: Agenda Amendments / Approval of Agenda Here, the aldermen decide whether or not to change anything about the meeting agenda (see attached photo). If no changes are made or objections are heard, they vote to approve the agenda and proceed with the meeting. Item #2: Approval of Meeting Minutes Meeting Minutes are the legal record of a Board of Aldermen (BOA) meeting. Here, the aldermen vote whether or not to approve the meeting minutes of their prior meeting(s). Sometimes, because of changes being requested by aldermen or due to other circumstances, prior meeting minutes are not approved at the very next meeting. Item #3: Citizen Input Basically, its an open mic for residents to raise concerns before the board. Sometimes, input on specific issues is requested by the board, such as when the board is getting ready to approve the citys annual budget. Item #4: Financial Reports Here, the board votes whether or not to approve an accounting of the citys current finances (provided by the Chief Financial Officer - CFO) after asking the CFO questions about specific items that may be cause for concern. Item #5: Department Head Reports During this time, the manager of each city department discusses accomplishments and concerns occurring since the last regular monthly BOA meeting, as well as answer any questions aldermen may have. The departments that provide both written and oral reports are: -City Clerk -Public Works -Parks and Recreation -Police Department -Planning and Development Item #6: EMPG Grant Discussion presented by Donna Gordon EMPG is the acronym for Emergency Management Performance Grant. EMPGs are a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) initiative whereby the federal government gives money (that it either prints or borrows, because it doesnt receive enough revenue to cover the cost) to state and local governments to prepare for hazards, i.e. tornados, hurricanes, etc. Some, including myself, recognize this federally directed process as unconstitutional, and see states, localities, and individual persons better able to provide for and administer disaster preparedness and relief. More info can be found here: fema.gov/fy-2013-emergency-management-performance-grants-empg-program-0 Item #7: Board discussion of various environmental improvement programs I find it unacceptable that no explanation is provided. I routinely attend the meetings and have no idea what this is or what issues will be discussed. A citizen shouldnt have to ask. Item #8: Board discussion of city website improvement options Again, a brief list of options being considered would serve the public interest and alleviate questions. One option Im familiar with (from having attended BOA meetings) is to partner with the Willard School District and have technology students design and maintain the site. A question I would raise regarding this option would be the feasibility of the continuity of maintenance from one years students to the next. Items #9 & 10: New and Old Business An opportunity for each alderman to raise any new or old concerns, questions, or ideas from their ward. Sometimes, these items are set for further discussion at subsequent meetings. Item #11: Adjourn Meeting With no further business, the board votes to end the meeting. On many occasions, the board will have scheduled a closed session (not open to public attendance) to commence directly after the end of the open session. A session may be closed to the public (although not required) for a few select reasons, usually revolving around one, or a combination of, the following issues (though not an exhaustive list): -Legal -Real Estate -Personnel Missouri state law regarding closed sessions can be found here, specifically section 610.021: moga.mo.gov/statutes/c610.htm
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 08:39:37 +0000
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