James Salsman ([info]js7a) wrote in [info]mountain_view,
@ 2004-09-08 13:11:00
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Current mood: working

If someone asks you to vote for them into City Council...
... then I recommend that you to ask them to sign this -- have two copies ready per candidate:

PROMISE

Whereas, the Constitution of the State of California requires that the public be provided easy means to communicate with government officials.

And whereas, the Mountain View City Council's policies for City Council meetings, in particular the order and constraints under which communication is accepted from the public, make it difficult for those on a pressing schedule to speak to the council.

Therefore, item number 2A in section 4 of "Council Policy A-13, City Council Meetings," should be renumbered as item 2B, and inserted immediately prior shall be the following,

"2A. General Communications from the Public

"At this time any person may distribute documents to any attendee. After the chair sees that all persons wishing to distribute documents have done so, any member of the public, subject to a maximum of ten people, may speak before the Council on any matter within the City's subject matter jurisdiction. Council members may ask clarifying questions of the speaker following his or her comments to the Council, and persons addressing the Council during this item may ask questions of the Council as a whole or any attendee. Each member of the public choosing to speak before the Council shall have 3 minutes, and each person answering a question shall have one minute. Any speaker who represents three or more persons of the public may have 10 minutes to address the Council, if the Mayor determines that such extension will reduce the total number of speakers."

In agreement herewith, I, ____________________________, promise to support this policy change with promptness and diligence. If I am unable to support this measure I will inform all interested parties of my reasons why. Should I be unable to support this promise and unable to provide my reasons, then I shall resign any office related to the subject of this promise.


signed: _________________________________ date: _________


I'm not sure if this alphabetical list of candidates is complete:

Margaret Abe-Koga
Nick Galiotto (incumbent)
Laura Macias
Tom Means
Matt Pear (incumbent)
Stephanie Schaaf

Please post here if you get a signature or refusal.


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[info]js7a
2004-09-08 02:25 pm UTC (link)
There are many reasons, some of the more important are that it takes forever to wait for an agenda item to come up, and there's no reason that there shouldn't be a limited time at the beginning for people such as:

1. Second-shift workers

2. Single parents

3. People with better things to do than wait hours for an agenda item when they only get 3 minutes to talk about it

Plus, the Council and administrators often abuse the public on issues which are embarrassing to them. I have been threatened with arrest three times, and virtually arrested (but not booked) once, while trying to ask why our $800,000 train station has private rest rooms and a spacious break room for VTA employees, but no public rest rooms.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]js7a
2004-09-09 02:37 pm UTC (link)
For more detail, please see my Letter to the Mountain View Voice Editor.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]js7a
2004-09-08 02:18 pm UTC (link)
Something else I've noticed: The "study sessions" for controversial issues are often standing-room only in the tiny meeting room to the left of the spacious council room. A lot of people just give up and leave rather than stand through a packed study session. That's wrong.

Shouldn't there be a general meeting policy to the effect of, "If at any time observers of a council or committee meeting exhaust the available supply of chairs, and a sufficient larger room is currently available, the chair shall order a recess and the meeting shall move into the larger conference room. In such an event, a sign indicating that the meeting has moved shall be posted upon the locked door of the original room, and lobby signs shall be updated indicating the new location."

Which section should that go in?

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