(13th in a series of posts on City Government)
Peter Crownfield is officially retired but spends most of his time working with students in his role as internship coordinator for the Alliance for Sustainable Communities–Lehigh Valley.
Gadfly:
I agree that
• Being civil does not negate healthy, open debate
• Roberts Rules is mostly about procedure & decorum
• Councilman Callahan was disrespectful and went beyond acceptable decorum when he said “If you think,… you don’t have a clue”
It’s also worth noting that RR can be used to censor content—
• by not placing some topics on the agenda or removing it to accommodate a particular point of view
• when a committee is allowed to sit on a bill for an extended period to avoid the topic
Most importantly, in recent memory, rushing through a vote when new information has been introduced without adequate time for public deliberation.
Peter
