Ward 6 Alderman Roy A. Perkins took criticism from fellow board members Tuesday for continuing to block items from the city’s consent agenda. The move, critics say, wasted the public’s time and dragged out the business of running the city into the late hours of meeting nights.
The mayor pro tempore — who confirmed he will seek a seventh term in office next year — countered his critics Wednesday, saying aldermen who wish to shorten the length of board meetings should take their complaints to Mayor Parker Wiseman and have him schedule fewer action items or hold special-call meetings between regular agendas to tackle non-urgent city business.
“There are a lot of ways to tend to business respectfully without forcing, demanding, protesting or criticizing the vice mayor,” Perkins said. “I am within my legal right to block the consent agenda. What they need to understand is they need to accept my decision, because I do it with their decisions. I don’t whine or cry when I’m voted down. I’m not going to compromise the public’s right to know versus trying to rush through an agenda. With respect to whether there will be a consent agenda again this term, we’ll have to wait and see. I take things one meeting at a time.”
Consent agendas are filled with pending motions, ranging from travel requests to minor purchases, and are all approved in a single vote before aldermen move ahead through other items during board meetings.
Any alderman can suggest an open session item be moved to the consent agenda, but it only takes one objection to block its placement on the list.
With one exception, the city has operated each board meeting since the late summer without a consent agenda. Perkins previously said he was supporting transparency with city government by blocking fellow board members’ attempts to place matters on consent.
Without a consent agenda, city meetings have lasted on average about three hours. A majority of that time is spent on large-ticket items listed under the mayor’s and board’s business, while public hearings on planning and zoning matters also generate lengthy discussions.
Once the board reaches the minor business items usually placed on consent, leaders begin what Ward 3 Alderman David Little dubbed “the lightning round,” where items are introduced and motioned forward in a rapid fire manner without any discussion or debate.
Little attempted to place two items — a transportation board appointment and a motion allowing the airport board to attend a local conference — on consent Tuesday, but Perkins blocked both moves and said he would oppose any usage of the consent agenda for the rest of the night.
“It’s incumbent upon us … to handle the business of the city as expeditiously as possible,” Little said. “The way we’ve been handling these board meetings, that’s not the case. I can understand transparency, but that’s not the case since we have lightning rounds. It’s not for transparency, and I’m not sure what it’s for.”
Both Ward 2 Alderman Lisa Wynn and Ward 7 Alderman Henry Vaughn said they were frustrated with how long meetings last and suggested the city shrink its agenda. Vaughn also said information routinely goes missing from his packet and called upon Wiseman and city staff to do a better job at preparing leaders for meetings.
“I spoke to Mayor Robert Smith in Columbus,” Wynn said. “He was laughing because their meetings start at 5 p.m. and they’re home by 6:15 p.m. Our meetings start at 5:30 p.m. … and there are some times we don’t get home until 10:30 p.m. I don’t know the answer, but I’m willing to try and do something, because it doesn’t make sense for us to be here three or four hours.”
Perkins also cited the board’s 2014 passage of an equality resolution extending non-discrimination protection to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender city employees as how the consent agenda provides less transparency than open discussions.
The board unanimously approved the equality resolution that year, but aldermen later rescinded the motion.
Many aldermen who voted to repeal the resolution claimed they were unsure of the resolution’s impact and said information associated with another LGBT-friendly policy — the extension of health insurance coverage to partners of workers in same-sex relationships — were missing from their board packets when they approved both items.
“My thoughts are the public needs to be fully, thoroughly, completely informed and knowledgeable about all matters that are being handled,” Perkins said. “The board needs to have full transparency, and it is my intent for the agenda to not have a consent agenda so that the public taxpayers can have full knowledge of what business is being transacted by our city.”
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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