Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
I was flipping through the pages of last year’s November Jacksonville Review – wow, what a difference a year makes! At that time, Jacksonville was in the midst of a political firestorm with a City Council race too close to call, a Mayoral and Council recall underway and a battle to preserve our professional fire department. Today, the scene is reversed and we find ourselves with a new Mayor, a new City Council, a new City Administrator and two new department heads, all of whom appear to be working harmoniously for the betterment of our charming town. I’m pleased to report that with the exception of a pending City/MRA land swap decision, the political horizon looks calm. (Looks calm, I said) City Administrator Jeff Alvis told me that the land swap will come before Council in November and December and that he’s hoping Council will resolve the matter by the first of the year. With the decision having lingered for years, The Review encourages the City Council to finally vote up or down on the matter and then move on!
In October, our affable new Mayor, Paul Becker missed two council meetings – he took some deserved time off and traveled to Istanbul, Turkey. He and I have discussed the possibility of recapping his trip in an upcoming article and the possibility of a public slide show presentation. I’m raising the mayor’s absence to illustrate a point I’ve been thinking about for a few years: the City Council should cut-down its meeting schedule to enable its VOLUNTEER councilors to spend more time enjoying life. Four of today’s City Councilors are retired or semi-retired while three work part-time and/or full time. All are busy in and out of City Hall; all are donating countless hours behind the scenes studying city matters, chairing committees and working on volunteer projects. Presently, council meetings are held twice a month with meetings limited to three hours in duration. The Planning Commission and HARC operate smoothly with monthly meetings – I believe council can, too!
Chapter 4, Section 14 of the City Charter states that the council “shall meet once a month,” and clearly says that any councilor or the mayor may call for special meetings at any time.
The Review encourages Council to consider altering its meeting schedule during March, July, November and December to accommodate personal time off. As stated in the Charter, in the event of an emergency, special meetings can be called. Additionally, despite a Charter mandate that all deliberations and proceedings be held in public, our City Charter should be amended to grant the City Administrator authority to solicit votes on non-critical matters via email. This process could come in handy during slow periods when a formal meeting is conducted simply to authorize the payment of city bills and acceptance of meeting minutes. In a digital age, tending to routine matters should not always require a public meeting.
Not only will fewer meetings result in less staff overtime, fewer meetings will attract more citizens to hold public office. Many retirees I’ve spoken with say council schedules are potentially burdensome and conflict with travel and other obligations and don’t provide a wide enough window for time off. Many who may wish to serve say they can’t commit to meeting twice a month, twelve times a year. The same holds true for the younger set which is busy raising families and building careers. It’s not that they don’t want to serve, it’s a matter of prioritizing their lives. Like Congress which breaks to go home and recharge its batteries, our VOLUNTEER councilors deserve the same consideration. With a limited populace from which to draw citizen-councilors, altering the current meeting schedule is a reasonable measure for the betterment of our Small Town with Big Atmosphere!