A squabble has erupted between Mayor Al Pinheiro and council
members frustrated over meeting agendas that never seem to include
their priorities. Controversial items like repairing Gilroy’s
buckling sidewalks, a local Sunshine Ordinance and the huge sums of
money being paid to the law firm hired to represent the city have
been identified as topics at meetings and summits by Bob Dillon,
Craig Gartman and Perry Woodward. Yet, the topics have languished
in bureaucratic limbo. Thus, the current conflict.
1. Topics brought up over and over should not be allowed to languish
A squabble has erupted between Mayor Al Pinheiro and council members frustrated over meeting agendas that never seem to include their priorities. Controversial items like repairing Gilroy’s buckling sidewalks, a local Sunshine Ordinance and the huge sums of money being paid to the law firm hired to represent the city have been identified as topics at meetings and summits by Bob Dillon, Craig Gartman and Perry Woodward. Yet, the topics have languished in bureaucratic limbo. Thus, the current conflict.
The salient question is where do we go from here, and the answer is, hopefully, forward.
How?
2. In all fairness, the Mayor should not hold sway over agenda
First, while acknowledging that the mayor holds a special position with regards to the city charter, that does not include holding sway over the agenda. In the last election, people clearly sent a message that business as usual at City Hall wasn’t cutting the mustard. Because “it’s been done this way” means little.
Second, every Council person should have timely and formal access to setting the agenda. To do otherwise is to dismantle the process of our local government.
Just because it’s “worked” previously, again, means little.
What’s clear is the need for a public Council discussion on how items will formally get to the agenda going forward.
3. Figure out what will work in the future and put the system in place
The process of representative democracy clearly outweighs the “Why can’t we all just get along?” factor in this squabble, though the latter is difficult to surmount without being unfairly demonized as a rabble rouser. After all, we elect Council members based on their agendas and expect them to follow through.
So, the quicker the Council addresses the procedure for placing items on the agenda in a timely fashion, the better.
Candidates shouldn’t have to wait a year to bring items they campaigned on – and won because of – before the Council.
Our system clearly isn’t working. What’s in the past is irrelevant, and if the discussion and the subsequent resolution tweaks some noses, too bad. What we have here is a failure to communicate, and that needs to be fixed ASAP.
