Council
of the Village of Yellow Springs
SPECIAL MEETING-MINUTES/RETREAT - March 15, 2008
At Yellow Springs Country Bed and Breakfast
Hilt Rd., Yellow Springs
CALL TO ORDER
Council President Judith Hempfling called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m.
ROLL CALL
Judith Hempfling, Karen Wintrow, John Booth, Lori Askeland and Kathryn Van der Heiden were present, as was the Village Solicitor John Chambers.
REVIEW OF THE AGENDA
Council agreed to follow the agenda as presented by Hempfling. Council also agreed to go into an Executive Session after the General Session for a discussion on Personnel-Employment.
DISCUSSION
Village Council processes and functions. Council reviewed ground rules for the retreat discussions, addressed various political issues and council meeting processes. They also discussed their relationship to their commissions, committees and boards as well as independent organizations and volunteers. (See the attached documents for further explanation).
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Wintrow MOVED and Askeland SECONDED a MOTION to go into an Executive Session for a discussion on Personnel-Employment. This is in accordance with Ohio Revised Code #121.22(G)(1). The roll was called. The MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
Wintrow MOVED and Van der Heiden SECONDED a MOTION to return to the General Session. The MOTION PASSED.
ADJOURNMENT
Having no further business, Wintrow MOVED and Booth SECONDED a MOTION to ADJOURN. The MOTION PASSED.
Yellow Springs Village Council Retreat
March 15, 2008
Village Council processes and functions agenda:
- Review agenda/ time frames
- Review Ground Rules
Suggested rules: We will follow rules of discourse similar to those used at Council Meetings. We will have go-arounds of discussion. Each Council member speaks once each round of conversation. This will ensure that everyone gets equal opportunity to express their thinking. This adds a little formality, but is a rule which ensures no one dominates and everyone gets a turn. If we choose to we can also add time limits. I have designated general time frames for discussion to make sure we don't get bogged down in one area. We can decide as a group to extend a discussion with a majority vote or if we get finished ahead of time great.
- Agenda;
A. Political Issues.
- Council-Manager Form of Government (45 min)
A. Roles of Council, Manager, Citizens
B. What does it mean to be a representative
C. Democratic discourse/debate; openness to new ideas/how do we frame issues
D. Partisan and non-partisan
E. Philosophy of majority and minority views vs. consensus
- More on Sunshine/ what about email discussions (10)
- The Press (10)
B. 10 minute break
C. Village Council Meetings
- Civil discourse (30)
- Robert's Rules and time limits- some role playing (30)
- How we receive recommendations from staff (20)
- Role of the president (15)
D. Council Commissions, Independent Organizations, Volunteers (30)
Council retreat
Ideas regarding council process, functioning
Lori Askeland:
Procedurally, I'd like to talk about courtesy to citizens and each other--how to disagree, clarify, without blowing up, for the most part. I'd also like to make sure that everyone has a chance to speak and that we try very hard to make sure we always have a single, clear motion on the floor.
Kathryn VanDerHeiden:
As for my concerns:
I would like to see us address our council process:
-how we discuss issues,
-personal vigilance about time in responding,
-do we respond primarily to one another or to the public,
-how to have a respectful process
-how can we focus on the task of doing the business of the village vs. still running for office
-how we practice diversity of thinking and openness to the issues from a non-partisan perspective
-how we understand the form of council -manager government work within that framework
-how we use the commissions and hold them accountable to the council's agenda
- managing our time more effectively so that meetings do not go beyond 9:30pm most days
-how we give time for public input but also limit that time so that we keep to our time frame
-how we stay open and curious to dialogue
-how we make decisions and move forward with our agenda
- how we look at the large picture as well as the immediate concerns
-how we frame the issues
-is there a distinction between and information gathering vs. policy making under Sunshine Law
-how do we work with the Yellow Springs News asking them to present issues in a non-partisan manner
I will probably have more thoughts once we are together but these are some of the thoughts I am having.
Judith Hempfling
- Council-Manager form of government: role of the Council; role of the Manager; role of experts; role of citizens.
A. Include an organizational chart.
- Council members as representatives; what does it mean.
- Council Meetings:
A. Using Robert's Rules:
Include a Robert's Rules Made Simple in the packet. I would like us to do a little role playing to familiarize ourselves with the use of the rules and how they promote good deliberative process.
B. Time limits.
C. How we receive recommendations from staff.
D. Role of the president.
Karen Wintrow:
Process/procedure Issues related to Village Council Meetings and general conduct of Council
- Discussion of the philosophy of majority & minority views on Council as opposed to forging a mutually agreeable outcome
- Accountability of task forces, commissions and special committees
- Depth of work we can assign to or accept from volunteers who have no legal accountability to the Village
- Protocol of interaction between commissions, et al & staff
- Protocol related to email communications
- The policy related to internal emails is relatively clear. I'd like a discussion of email communications that happen outside of Council where Council members are weighing in with opinions on policy matters.
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