[This transcript was generated automatically from audio using AI and hasn't been reviewed by a person -- it can contain mistakes, including plausible-sounding sentences that were never actually said. Treat it as a starting point, not a verbatim record.]

[0:00] So
[0:06] I understand the turnout in voting was 260 people today. That's what the count I heard. I think for the first day of early voting, I think that's a good count in votes well.
[0:23] Typically, we have about half the voters turn out for a re-voting.
[0:30] Welcome to the city of Melodians, more of the commission training session, and we'll
[0:36] thank each and every one of you all for being here tonight.
[0:40] This has come about from feedback that we've received from the various committees.
[0:45] So thank you very much and I appreciate the time that y'all volunteer and give the city.
[0:55] The city has been making great strides of these last several years and certainly our board participation and quality is greatly increased.
[1:07] So thank you very much. The council greatly appreciates the hard work y'all do.
[1:12] We had this weekend, we had a nature walk, and we had a fish in Derby, which was excellent.
[1:21] And so we'll shout out to the parks and all.
[1:25] Before our speaker Joe Burfito's interviews, I'd like to explain the structures tonight.
[1:34] There's going to be four sessions that Joe will give.
[1:39] between the first and second session,
[1:42] there will be a short stand-up break
[1:44] between the second and third session.
[1:46] We'll take a 15 minute break
[1:48] and then again another short break.
[1:52] Hold your questions and comments till the end.
[1:55] So let Joe go through the four sessions
[1:57] right down your questions you have
[2:00] and give them to Joe.
[2:02] We are being video tonight,
[2:08] Dr. Ron Blan from the MISD and P&C will be doing the video.
[2:15] We're doing this other people that cannot make it and watch it and know where you can go back and watch it again.
[2:22] This is a very important session. We greatly appreciate everything that's all done.
[2:28] And also, we want to give a shout out to our city secretary, heavy hardware, and the hard
[2:35] work she does, and she makes our committees and all very productive, and also we think
[2:41] Tammy for her hard work, and I greatly appreciate it.
[2:47] So with that,
[2:51] just a coffin, our Mayor Pro Tem, but also our new mayor-elect, he's opened
[2:57] by a lamb's slides.
[3:01] So I'll turn it over to Justin. Thank you. Yeah, make sure and get out
[3:06] and vote. Listen, I had made several notes. We were supposed to have this meeting two weeks ago.
[3:12] So I made several notes and it was ready to go two weeks ago. Obviously that meeting didn't happen.
[3:17] So here we are today and haven't looked at my notes since and so I'm just pretty much going to
[3:22] what I have to say today. This is a good looking group. Good looking group. Well, mostly I see
[3:29] tighter back there, but other than that, pretty good looking group. No, I just want to start off.
[3:35] But first of all, I want to honor Mayor Reno. Mayor Reno has given us four years of his life,
[3:39] and it is a dedicated thing, and he has done a job well done. And so I want to take a moment
[3:45] to give honor where honor is due. And Mayor Reno, we thank you for your sacrifice, and we appreciate
[3:51] service to our community. So thank you Mayor Reno.
[3:58] I also want to quickly thank you all for
[4:00] being willing to serve you are in a highly competitive position. There are roughly 60 or 70 board
[4:05] members throughout the community throughout the city of Midlothian. There were about 40,000 citizens.
[4:11] Now obviously not all of them want to serve but I do know there is a roll of decks of hundreds
[4:16] of applications for the positions that we all get to sit in. And so it's in a highly competitive
[4:21] area that you are serving and choosing to serve the city and the city council and those that are
[4:26] applying to be on the city council, it's even more exponential. So thank you all to for being
[4:32] willing to be representatives of this great community that we call home. I want to say that the
[4:38] vision for our community largely has been set through the various plans and the programs,
[4:43] the downtown master plan for instance, the comprehensive plan, the parks master plan. These are
[4:48] visionary guiding documents that were put together by the citizens of Medlokin for us to have knowledge on.
[4:55] I know that the A-board also has a guiding document.
[4:58] The B-board is working on a strategic plan.
[5:00] The airport board is working on a strategic plan.
[5:03] These are documents that receive community feedback that empower our decision-making.
[5:08] So I want to challenge you and strongly encourage you to have an understanding of these documents specifically to the board that you serve on.
[5:18] because it should be an impact to what direction you give,
[5:22] what vote you make, or what advice you give to the council.
[5:26] So please, please, please, get that information in the Tami of Honor,
[5:30] our wonderful city secretary has all of those plans on hand
[5:34] and can email them out to you.
[5:37] So that is the vision for the community.
[5:39] I have the results from the survey, as Mayor Reno alluded to,
[5:42] the results of the survey that you guys took
[5:44] at the end of last year spoke to the need of training.
[5:47] and that's really what we're doing here tonight. Tonight is a very general training that
[5:52] Joker Feta City Secretary is going to go through. I will look to the boards and the board
[5:57] chairs, the board presidents, the staff liaison and the City Council liaison for board specific
[6:03] trainings going forward. So I'm hopeful that we continue the theme of continuing education
[6:08] and we continue the theme of learning because we're all in a learning process and push forward
[6:15] and that light so this will be the general training tonight and hopefully you as a board
[6:19] and your board leadership will also do board specific training because obviously that's a very
[6:25] important thing. So before I turn it over to Joe I just want to briefly hit on one thing that
[6:31] I'm particularly passionate about. I honor the season that we've come from. The season that we've
[6:36] come from has led us to the season that we're in and it's a good thing. But I'm excited about the
[6:45] that has been assembled literally to represent the will and the voice of 40,000 people.
[6:52] So you are the few, the proud, the Marines, right?
[6:58] Yeah.
[6:58] So I appreciate your willingness to serve in that capacity.
[7:03] But one of my deepest desires is to shift the culture around serving politics divide, naturally.
[7:12] but leaders unite around shared vision. So I'm asking you, as a representative of the city, to be a leader, and to help unite the community around shared vision.
[7:25] Okay? And so let's be a good representation of the organization in which we represent.
[7:31] Now, I would say a men, and you would also say a men, but I realize that that's not what this crowd is tonight.
[7:36] But I'm very passionate about the fact that we should represent well, because we literally
[7:42] when we speak, or when we act as individuals, it represents the greater good, it represents us,
[7:47] all, so let's all commit to representing well, because this should be a positive experience for all.
[7:54] And it's okay to disagree on policy, it's okay to disagree on points. In fact, it's encouraged
[8:00] because there's health in that. Every voice should have a seat at the table. But at the end of the day,
[8:05] We should unite around shared vision, we should unite around the will of the voting group and push forward as a community and not hold grudges when it doesn't go our way.
[8:17] So make sense?
[8:19] That's where you say amen.
[8:23] I'm going to have to learn how to do better at that.
[8:26] We are elected or appointed representatives therefore what we say and how we say it matters.
[8:31] and it directly impacts people's view of our organization, of our staff, and our volunteers.
[8:38] So when we are overly critical, it represents the organization that we represent.
[8:43] So I'm asking you to please be aware of that.
[8:46] What you say and how you say it in the community is a direct reflection on your peers, and on me, and everybody else up here, if that makes sense.
[8:55] Our decorum, our professionalism, will earnest the trust of the community.
[9:01] So let's disagree with grace, and let's disagree with honor.
[9:05] But let's push together as neighbors, as people that are working together for the betterment
[9:10] of our community.
[9:10] Because your voice has value and your voice matters, but let's emelate the collective voice
[9:17] that carries the way.
[9:19] So tonight we're going to go over the recently updated governance and ethics policy that
[9:23] We're going to be trained on, you're going to be asked to sign it at some point.
[9:27] Are they going to be asked to sign it tonight?
[9:28] You're going to be asked to sign it tonight and this will set the standard of the quality
[9:33] of serving that I intend to uphold with the support of the City Council.
[9:38] And so tonight, I encourage you, as Mayor Reno mentioned, please, if you have questions
[9:42] as we go through this document, please write them down because at the end, there should be
[9:47] time of Q and A to get all your questions answered because this is the document that holds
[9:51] all, especially me, I'm pointing to you, but thumbs are pointing back at me, holds us all accountable.
[9:57] And so we're going to take it with the value and the care that we should.
[10:02] And lastly, I just want to say it's a great time to be alive, and it's a great time to be
[10:05] surveying the city of Midlothian, so thank you for your volunteer service hours.
[10:11] They do not go unnoticed, you are appreciated.
[10:13] With that, it's my pleasure to introduce Joe, which I got a really long bio.
[10:17] I'm going to read it up.
[10:19] So everybody's still here.
[10:20] General, I read these words.
[10:22] General Feeta, we love the insidia attorney, has more than 20 years experience in municipal
[10:27] law.
[10:27] He's a partner in the law firm at Nichols Jackson and currently serves as the city attorney
[10:32] for five cities in Texas, but this is the best.
[10:35] And as a secondary city attorney for three other cities, as well as a legal adviser to
[10:41] two police departments.
[10:42] He also acts as General Counsel for the Denton County Transportation Authority and has an
[10:47] assistant general counsel for eight Texas appraisal districts. He is a frequent speaker on the
[10:52] array of subject matters affecting municipalities including land use and zoning and law enforcement
[10:57] open meetings in public information act and the state federal employment law issues. We're happy
[11:03] to welcome here and here to take a very smart guy. So we're very blessed to have him here.
[11:07] You're going to have a joke or a feed up.
[11:15] It's a copy of that from my body like that. So a couple of quick rules. Now for the boring attorney,
[11:21] Amen, right? I can't pull it off like he can. I see some of you flip through the back to see how many
[11:28] slides there are. Don't panic, okay? We'll get through it. Usually two hours, but the mayor put it,
[11:34] I think five breaks, so maybe four hours. Unless you were out, we'll go for about an hour to see
[11:39] where everybody is because I don't know who's, if anyone's keeping track of break time, if you need
[11:43] to get up and use the restroom, please do. And as you said, we'll keep our comments to the end.
[11:50] And this is being recorded, so if you want to go back and look at it again because it's going to be so exciting and interesting,
[11:57] you'll have the ability to do that or share it with your loved ones.
[12:01] But keep in mind, be careful what we say because it will be recorded.
[12:04] And when I go through ethics training, I have the tendency to use examples.
[12:09] And since it's being recorded, I want to say this, these examples are all hypothetical.
[12:14] They do not represent any cities that I've represented or that I currently represent,
[12:18] But any political city council members that I currently work with, they
[12:25] are this material, because
[12:27] it is what it is, it's ethics training.
[12:30] And we also have, so you have the slides in front of you, the policy of governor, governance,
[12:34] and twenty goals.
[12:35] So, this was recently updated by the city council, we'll get into this about midway through
[12:40] the presentation.
[12:41] I didn't want to get, you know, boo'd and fruit thrown at me if we start with this, right?
[12:46] It's a joke, kind of a long one.
[12:48] And so we'll also go through the policy on governance, but if you get a chance, please if you haven't, take time to read it, so you understand what it is.
[12:59] And then also, kind of what we start with our legal authority.
[13:02] We've got different types of boards and commissions in here.
[13:05] We've got a few boards that are final decision making boards.
[13:08] We have boards in here that are advisory nature.
[13:11] So everything that we discussed today is really in broad terms.
[13:15] There may be a few slides. I'll put up that may not be applicable to our type A and our type B corporations because of their structure
[13:21] I hope we try to remember to point out those those differences are those caveat caveats
[13:26] But for those part
[13:27] We all are governed by the same legal authority that both the city council is governed by as well as all the different boards and commissions and where does that come from?
[13:35] We just make that up and we say hey, you can't do that. Are we making it up maybe sometimes but most of the time where it where does it come from?
[13:42] It comes from several different places, chapter 171 and 176,
[13:46] the Texas Local Government Code.
[13:48] If you know the Texas Local Government Code,
[13:50] you can be a city attorney that's all takes.
[13:52] Just understand the local Government Code,
[13:54] and you can stand here.
[13:56] But that is where we get our conflicts of interest
[13:59] and what creates a conflict of interest.
[14:01] We also have the city charter.
[14:03] And that's the great thing about the city
[14:04] and the city and the city and the city and the people
[14:06] would call home rule charter.
[14:09] And it was at a conference all last week
[14:11] in Austin, and every speaker got up and they start by, how many of you in here are X,
[14:16] so how many of you in here are Y? So I realize I don't like asking that question anymore,
[14:21] but how many of you in here have read our Home Rule Charter? Don't lie. Okay? It's good.
[14:28] Kyle's raised in the same place, right Kyle?
[14:32] Again, take the opportunity to read the Home
[14:35] Rule Charter, because it's an important guide. And one of the things about Midlothian as well
[14:40] many of your other surrounding cities. We call ourselves home rule cities. So what is the charter?
[14:46] Well, the charter is more or less our guiding document of what we can and cannot do. And under state law,
[14:52] home rule cities can do pretty much everything anything they want to do. I'll put it that way.
[14:58] Unless they're legislating to tell them they can.
[15:00] Can't do it. I'm not going to pick on the legislature because it's being taped, but there are a lot of things now, the legislature is telling us we can't do, which is fine, and that's a lot of times because cities have over extended their authority, which have led to laws that sort of pull back the authority of home rule cities.
[15:15] So, but the city charter, which was developed, we became a home rule city, roughly 1980, I believe, because told me I'm not that fact, check that.
[15:22] In the interest in enough, the city charter has not been amended or updates since 1980.
[15:29] Good or bad?
[15:30] It's working, right?
[15:31] If you look at one of your, near by cities, the city of December, they're going to have 39 valid propositions,
[15:37] or propositions on the ballot that change the charter.
[15:40] So there are a lot of cities that, it's an evolving document, but it has work for the city of the city of the Lothian.
[15:46] So if you get a chance, go and read the city charter.
[15:48] It's online. You can find it. You can Google City in the Lothian City Charter and it's going to take you right there. The power of Google.
[15:58] So our code of ordinances, our code of ordinances book that is also online with the City Charter.
[16:04] Again, that is one of your other documents where you're going to find most of the stuff that we're going to be discussing today.
[16:09] So you got code of ordinances, your City Charter and the Texas local government code for the most part as how we get to where we are today.
[16:16] So, as I stated earlier, we are a home rural city with a council management form of government.
[16:20] What does that mean?
[16:21] That's much like a corporation, right?
[16:23] Where we have the stockholders elected board of directors, which are going to be your city council members,
[16:27] who are that highly chief executive executive, which is your city manager, to manage the day-to-day affairs of the city, or of the corporation, very similar.
[16:36] You know, your voters elect the city council, and they employ city manager to manage the city.
[16:40] And most cities, including City Manager, has in charge of the day-to-day affairs of the city and of all the employees.
[16:50] And we have a little caveat, carved out in ours, where our City Council does have some authority with kind of a given approval for certain positions in the city.
[16:58] But for the most part, the City Manager is over the staff and runs the day-to-day affairs of the city.
[17:03] And the city chart is very specific about what's the roles of responsibilities of the city manager and what are the roles of responsibilities of the city council.
[17:12] So when you look at a council of management form,
[17:17] if you do obviously that, I mean, our meetings would be a lot shorter if we only stuck at least four point points.
[17:21] They do a lot of things, but for the most part, the legislative body, approve the budget, set the tax rate, and they are the policy makers that determine the scope and function of city government.
[17:32] And I think that's important to run the policy makers, right?
[17:35] And there are other types of government or other types of municipalities, general law cities,
[17:42] I'll give you an example of the nearby general law city, which is the city of Hutchins.
[17:45] And the city of Hutchins is the city administrator for government, but you have
[17:59] as a city management
[18:00] form,
[18:05] so this is just a little bit back a little
[18:10] bit, some of the other ethics stuff.
[18:12] So under the city management form of government, the city council members, boards and
[18:16] commissions and members have no administrative duty, right?
[18:18] are advisory and nature, but you have no administrative duties, you are not employees of the
[18:23] city.
[18:25] Administrative duties are vested in the city manager who directs the workforce and manages
[18:28] the programs of the city, the ordinance rules and regulations adopted by the city.
[18:34] So what does that mean?
[18:35] Does that
[18:37] mean he picks on me?
[18:39] When you're driving down the road and you see an employee cutting a branch and you're like,
[18:45] man, he's cutting that branch the wrong way.
[18:47] Are you going to stop your car to
[18:59] members?
[18:59] Leave it as council members, we don't direct the day-to-day affairs of the employees of the city.
[19:05] You know, yeah, you're going to probably tell me, let me show you how this way versus that way
[19:14] of the city employees.
[19:16] And in the city mid-Lothian, those that report directly to the council are the city manager.
[19:21] The city attorney, I was a city secretary, if you mean that's a good thing I got promoted.
[19:25] And the city secretary and the judge, those
[19:32] are, okay, and then the city council,
[19:34] It looks to the city manager to hold the city manager accountable for the actions or inactions of the
[19:42] thing.
[19:42] I go to fit.
[19:47] And then why do we have the board to commission
[19:52] the city council in that policy?
[19:54] The policy making or decision that they need to make, you give the council recommendations.
[20:01] Commandations.
[20:02] So you say, yes, they must.
[20:06] Right.
[20:06] The mission set up is to assist the city council in the decision.
[20:11] They're solid advisory, solid advisory bodies to the city council.
[20:14] Why do we say that?
[20:15] When we talk about final decision making, you know,
[20:19] PNZ has some final decision making authority when it becomes proven the assertive types of
[20:23] plats and so forth, but the reality of it and obviously type A and Type B,
[20:31] city council
[20:31] for recommendations, they have authority within a certain amount to be final decision making.
[20:36] So there are caveats or car mounts if you will have some for some of the board to commit
[20:42] authority,
[20:43] but who gives them that final
[20:46] counsel?
[20:54] All right, the city charter prohibits city council from giving any orders publicly or privately
[20:58] to city employees other than city managers and all requests must go to the city manager.
[21:02] Okay, let's talk reality.
[21:02] we know where you go when you talk. You talk to employees, employees help you out. Okay, no big deal.
[21:08] But the bottom line is as
[21:13] expectations are upon employees to
[21:25] move this shed that the part
[21:30] of these are making these up seriously.
[21:34] But those are the things that we need to be aware of.
[21:41] I'm on the city council. Please bring, please bring,
[21:44] I have to use the city dozer over on my private public, you know, some of my dirt around.
[21:51] And surprisingly, that happened.
[21:53] You read about it in the paper all the time.
[21:54] Sometimes people just don't think those through.
[21:57] And sometimes the employees think, oh, they're on the board.
[22:01] Or they're on the city council.
[22:02] And they're asking me to do this.
[22:03] And I better do it.
[22:05] And that's what the city chart is.
[22:07] The city chart is specifically for Hivets that.
[22:09] They actually have been several cities where they're been recalled by the citizens have done a recall
[22:17] on the council members specifically for that reason because the council members were getting involved
[22:21] and the day-to-day affairs of the city and going to city employees specifically and directing city
[22:27] employees to do certain things. So
[22:33] missions or
[22:36] commissions or any other members,
[22:38] have authority to direct city staff for a form task. A lot of that times that comes
[22:54] up. Some of you
[22:55] just have, you know, a few paragraphs in the city charter or in the code or in your code,
[23:02] or it says it tells you what your authority is
[23:07] and then when we late
[23:15] until 244 we'll get into
[23:17] the more specifics of what are our guiding.
[23:25] Because the board's commissions are solely advisory
[23:27] and nature boards and commission members are not authorized
[23:29] to speak in official capacity for the city.
[23:32] Interview request from media as letters from attorneys,
[23:34] requesting responses, media and inquiries, legal statements,
[23:38] requests should be referred to the city manager's office.
[23:41] And this is something that I see frequently happens.
[23:43] You may have
[23:48] a, you know, people love the park.
[23:53] And if something happens in the parks,
[23:54] and a parks board members there, in the media,
[23:57] goes up to a park board member and asks a question
[23:59] And
[24:07] in our case, it's the mayor.
[24:10] They are the spokesmen,
[24:18] 2,000 individuals, so what?
[24:19] One can sit among the city, over a certain of that.
[24:27] And don't say, call the lawyer, please.
[24:31] Code of Ethics,
[24:33] this will be great.
[24:36] On the Code of Ethics, what is the purpose?
[24:41] So the purpose of the Code of Ethics.
[24:42] And this is a lot of common sense, feel good, feel good, type
[24:49] of mind.
[24:49] And sure, public officials are independent, impartial,
[24:51] and responsible only for the citizens.
[24:54] Prevent any interest, financial otherwise,
[24:56] director, and director, engagement,
[24:58] and any business transaction or professional activity
[25:00] of a public official to conflict with the properties
[25:03] charge of their duties in the public interest.
[25:05] And we'll talk specifically about certain
[25:10] coming
[25:10] conflict.
[25:12] Prevent a public official from being used for personal gain
[25:14] and ensure that the boards and commissions
[25:16] are all times maintained as non-biased bodies.
[25:21] do not participate in a vote or decision on any matter which the member has a substantial interest
[25:27] because that's chapter 17 one of the local government code and actually behind who
[25:42] will discuss what
[25:48] is a relationship
[25:49] or based on your business on something that is before your board commission or the city council
[25:54] and there's an affidavit of affidavit of conflicts for interest which is required by law to be filled out
[26:01] if you have a substantial interest you may not always have to
[26:04] not participate in the boat or not participate in the discussion but we first need to identify
[26:09] can you have a substantial interest in what does that mean and make sure the form
[26:20] members should have these somewhat handy. But one thing you don't want to be doing is you use
[26:25] boat it on something and then someone comes to you like three weeks later go oh you should have
[26:29] filled it south okay but again in the respect confidentiality of the information can
[26:34] start in the property personal affairs of the city. The city council, P&Z, the EDC's
[26:42] have the ability to go to executive session over certain matters, whether it's property,
[26:47] personal, I'm not going into executive session.
[26:49] The law has carved out reasons why courts and commissions can go into executive session
[26:54] why they don't have to hash it out in front of the public.
[26:58] We want to ensure that when we're going back into those executive sessions, that the information
[27:02] that we discuss in executive session remains right there in executive session, because if
[27:07] you come out and you just start telling everybody, then there's absolutely no reason for
[27:11] to be an executive session, correct?
[27:14] So I get a lot of calls from clients
[27:17] and hey, can we go and do executive session over that?
[27:20] Over this, that, and you know, I take them through the statute
[27:23] and sometimes, it's simply, we just don't want to have this
[27:26] to discuss it out in public.
[27:28] Because there's some hard discussions.
[27:29] Sometimes you have to have it out in public,
[27:31] you just don't want to do.
[27:32] But the statute is very specific as to when you can
[27:36] and cannot go into an executive session.
[27:38] So we're going to chance to look at a lot of the school boards
[27:41] because they always use the same firm.
[27:43] If you look at their agenda,
[27:45] they will take the executive session,
[27:47] and they'll list every provision under the statute
[27:49] that they're possibly is for executive session,
[27:52] drawing their meetings.
[27:53] If you look at, we are a lot more conservative,
[27:56] and we will only put those things
[27:58] that we believe will be having an executive session on.
[28:01] And we'll give you an idea of what it is
[28:03] provided that we're not disclosing any confidential information.
[28:07] So if you're ever looking at the agenda,
[28:08] and it says executive session on real estate, right?
[28:12] But it doesn't give you the address or it may sound
[28:13] the north side of the city.
[28:16] Why do we not disclose, why do we not disclose where,
[28:18] or we're going to do executive session?
[28:22] Why not?
[28:23] Come on, somebody, somebody, all right, I'll tell you why.
[28:27] So pizza, get into you, I'm like one piece.
[28:32] So usually what we'll go back into executive session,
[28:35] we'll have a discussion about a piece of property,
[28:37] maybe if we want to purchase that property, right?
[28:40] We decided to let's go ahead and purchase it,
[28:41] let's send somebody out.
[28:42] You don't vote in executive sessions. I'll talk about that here in a few and you know, we're going to send somebody off to negotiate with a property owner.
[28:48] We give a range. You know,
[28:52] be dollars.
[28:54] We give a range for, you know, whether it's a city manager or somebody else working on behalf of the city.
[28:59] Then when we come back, when we go out to the public, we go out to the public with that purchase salary.
[29:04] And so at that point, because public, because we don't want people to know that we don't want them to call out now.
[29:11] Those are things that you don't want to come out of executive session and be telling everybody,
[29:14] Hey, the city is going to be going after, you know, neighbor Joe over there and it's going to be, uh, asking,
[29:21] uh, so again, we need to keep those things and executive session that we discuss in executive session.
[29:27] Don't disclose confidential information without proper legal authorization or you use such information to advance a personal financial or other private interest.
[29:34] Just like those are you where might you need to see people.
[29:37] Development corporations.
[29:39] You know, when you go back and do executive session, you may have a company back there that's showing you their financials, right?
[29:43] Well, they're probably over a loss. I actually too should put them there financial also trying to get the best deal
[29:48] But you don't want to go out and a lot of time you're going to decide to sign a non-disclosure for
[29:55] those financials
[29:58] All right, and no
[30:00] Public resources that are not available to the public in general, such as city staff time equipment supplies or facilities for private gain or personal purposes, actually using the city copier to do your flyers for your election.
[30:15] Refraining from accepting any gifts, favors or promises of future benefits which compromise their independence of judgment or action or give the appearance of value for compromise.
[30:24] So anything over basically anything less than $50 is not count is there anything that less than $50
[30:33] So I use it this applies all boards. This is across the board. This is a stock count. Oh, this applies all boards and commission members
[30:39] So if I give you
[30:42] Alan
[30:43] I
[30:44] Take it to the cowboy to the cowboys game, right 18th state of Cowboys get I need you take it right. I'm a vendor. I'm who don't want to be I
[30:54] So I didn't know.
[30:56] The
[31:20] violation of that first one.
[31:26] Pretty easy.
[31:27] Listen to me.
[31:27] You did that.
[31:28] I'm going.
[31:31] I do like to do that because you're a guy.
[31:34] I did have a mayor call me.
[31:36] It was on Sunday, right?
[31:37] Of course.
[31:39] And I knew you had the game.
[31:40] I could hear the commotion in the background.
[31:43] He's like, hey, it's okay.
[31:44] I took a ticket right for zero dollars.
[31:48] You know, right from the stadium was just got,
[31:50] just opened up.
[31:51] And I'm like, no, it's not okay, it goes, well, can I give it to my son?
[31:56] Wait, are you already at the game?
[31:59] Don't answer that question
[32:02] again, so if you have to basically anything that's less than $50, I did this last year and someone goes, what do they get a raise it?
[32:09] I don't know, talk to your legislator, because that's actually in the Texas Peele coat that $50, we didn't just come up with that number.
[32:16] So again, don't use your official position to influence government positions, which make it the appearance of conflict of interest
[32:23] Members don't represent the official policies or positions of the City Council Board to
[32:26] commission to the best their ability when it doesn't get delegated for this purpose.
[32:31] When presenting their individual opinions and positions, members don't explicitly state that
[32:34] you don't represent the body, the city, and the north, and north allow the interference
[32:38] to be.
[32:38] So we'll talk.
[32:39] I'll break that down a little bit here.
[32:40] So let's go with the first part.
[32:41] Don't use your official position to influence government positions, which may give the
[32:45] appearance of conflicts of interest.
[32:47] And what does that mean?
[32:48] And again, I using Hypothetic.
[32:51] We had a,
[32:55] for this council, look for another hypothetical city council, and the individual was up.
[32:59] They were discussing,
[33:02] I'm trying to, why this contract is city,
[33:05] council is at you seek on south real quick, right?
[33:08] But like an hour to this conversation, like when you're just about in the first three minutes,
[33:11] we know where we're going to end up, right?
[33:13] So what council members gets off the end of the dius?
[33:16] And he rips it, you know, this is my company.
[33:19] Please vote for this.
[33:22] Okay, that's a pretty easy.
[33:25] And so I'm sitting there and I was like,
[33:26] to turn forward about three hours, like what do I do, what I do, what I do,
[33:31] how I'm
[33:32] set up. But again,
[33:36] Mr. Member, you don't want to give that a
[33:37] appearance that you're influencing, whether it's your book, whether it's your
[33:40] commission, your council to vote one way or that or because of the
[33:43] position that you're in, especially if you're on a nonprofit, right? You're on a
[33:47] nonprofit,
[33:50] to the city or to one of your, one of your development corporations,
[33:53] you want to make darn sure that you fill out your conflict of interest for them, and
[33:57] you are not participating in that discussion. You can't, and don't sit there, either,
[34:02] give him dirty, looks or throw things out of him, excuse yourself from the room, leave the
[34:09] room to you're not there. And, you know,
[34:21] we got really hot, we had, we were doing
[34:23] excations, right? And one of the council members, who was on the council at the time that
[34:27] was voting in favor of the annexation, just wasn't in favor of this one, because it involved
[34:31] some of his property. It says, look, you know, you can't leave the room, go to the back.
[34:35] because it sits right in the front is like yelling out at the council members.
[34:42] So again the
[34:42] law does not
[35:00] work. We're presenting their individual opinions and positions of members
[35:05] so explicitly state they do not represent their body or the city of middle. What does that mean?
[35:10] You know, especially nowadays with social media. What does that mean? We can't get on social media
[35:15] and ever express our opinions. Am I taking away your first amendment right? I have been accused of
[35:21] it before, but no, I'm not. But I do think it's very important when you're on your own when
[35:25] you're on your own social media sector, you have your own opinion.
[35:29] One of them, we can't take that hat off, right?
[35:32] We're always going to be a council member.
[35:33] We're always going to be a part board member.
[35:34] People see us as that, but when you have an opinion that you think may be contrary to
[35:39] the city, I do think it's important sometimes to say, hey, put that, you know,
[35:42] put that to the screen, put it in my opinion, I wouldn't vote for it, or my opinion,
[35:46] I would vote for it, hopefully it's not something on your board that you're saying
[35:50] that about, but again,
[35:56] behind that.
[35:57] So it does not come
[36:04] up since can't make that distinction.
[36:06] So they may come to you and ask you a question and they're thinking that you're answering it as a body of the Holy.
[36:12] Hey, at the development corporation, are y'all going to, y'all think you're
[36:21] going to get it, it's tired, and like, wait a minute, you told me it was going to pass, right?
[36:26] So again, make sure you make sure you're not representing the opinions of the board as a whole when it's your own opinions.
[36:34] Can that business and open a well-publicized meetings in order to be directly accountable to the citizens of middle-of-the-law?
[36:40] and keep your business.
[36:45] I get a lot of you at Jen does.
[36:49] And just, how many of you look at your agenda
[36:51] before it's,
[37:00] I'm not too close to that, no, I'm kidding.
[37:02] I get a lot of questions, I get a lot of questions,
[37:04] I look at the agenda, so when I look at the agenda,
[37:07] this is the attorney looking at the agenda,
[37:10] so I meet the intent of the law.
[37:13] Is the public know what we're
[37:20] going to,
[37:20] especially now with the laws changed
[37:21] and before the law required that the public
[37:25] could cover the council meetings,
[37:26] But you only have to let the public talk for and what, a public hearing, right?
[37:32] So the city can go about their business, do all their, you know, the other nine things
[37:35] on consent, don't have to hear from your public.
[37:38] Have the public hearings, we listen to you, then just have the regular orderly business.
[37:43] By while we're never required to fill out the public to speak on those.
[37:47] The law has now changed and says that anything that we apply this to all boards and commissions,
[37:54] and you'll see that citizen comment portion.
[37:55] But any decisions, any item that's going to be a decision that night, not discussion but
[38:01] decision, the public has a right to speak on that.
[38:04] And that was implemented last legislative session.
[38:08] So again, that's why it's important.
[38:09] Look at your agenda and make sure the public knows what it is that you are going to
[38:15] use of having
[38:16] secret meetings.
[38:17] Supposing your agenda is in a way that, hey, they don't want the public,
[38:24] respect it here
[38:24] to the council manager, manager structure of the local and city government as outlined by the
[38:31] So I'm not interfering with the administrative functions of the city or the professional
[38:35] duties of the city staff.
[38:36] Nor shall they direct interfere with the ability of staff to implement council policies, decisions
[38:40] and recognize special roles in dealing with city employees in a no way creates a perception
[38:45] of inappropriate direction to staff.
[38:48] And kind of some roundabout way, in some cases that I've been dealing with recently, is council members,
[38:54] boards and commission members, although you're not employees, you're still held to a lot
[38:59] the same legal standards as another employee will be.
[39:02] So in other words, can you harass and even though you're not an employee, can you still harass a board member?
[39:09] So that's why, you know, you want, we need to be cautious about how we treat employees and
[39:13] and treat them with respect and the employees have to do the same with you.
[39:19] All right, let's talk about some substantial interest.
[39:20] And that goes back to that form that I showed you.
[39:22] How do I know when I should not be voting on something or when I should refrain from voting?
[39:27] And when I should leave the room,
[39:31] three times, we got business interest, I have an interest
[39:34] because of my business property because of the property that I own, or my former relationship
[39:39] that I'm in, no kidding.
[39:40] Our relationship, based on continuity or affinity, if they have a lot or merits, based on
[39:46] my relationship.
[39:49] So, there's two, there are basically two steps, I'm not going to say the text is two steps.
[39:53] There's two steps.
[39:55] Well, there's a business entity mean, ownership and stock.
[39:58] So we look at stock first.
[39:59] If I had a business entity, do I own 10% or more of the voting stock or shares of this entity
[40:07] for our own 10% or more or 15,000 dollars or more of the fair market value of that business
[40:13] entity.
[40:13] That's one way that you can have a substantial interest in a business.
[40:17] This is for the stock.
[40:18] There are, it's your income interest.
[40:20] The money down.
[40:21] It's the only paycheck I get, right?
[40:23] It's the only paycheck I get.
[40:24] That's going to be income interest.
[40:25] So, let's see, exceeds 10% of the person's growth income for the previous year, okay?
[40:30] So, if either of those two are met, step one, you're going to have an interest in that business.
[40:36] So, if that business is
[40:39] Board of Commission members in Council, then you need to think, okay.
[40:43] Is there going to be a conflict of interest?
[40:46] That's when we move on to step two.
[40:48] So, what is step two, the next question, okay?
[40:50] I met the business interest because that's the only check that I get is more than 10%.
[40:57] will the action on the matter have a special economic effect on the business at the
[41:02] status distinguishable from the effect on the public,
[41:08] but will the action on the matter
[41:09] of a special economic effect? Is that going to affect me working for this business? How they vote?
[41:14] How we vote? Will that affect me? Any differently than how it would affect the
[41:20] public, if you're part of a non-profit, and you receive funds from that non-profit?
[41:34] You are
[41:35] step two that answer is going to be yes,
[41:44] right under reason that I can vote
[41:57] and we can answer these questions beforehand
[41:59] The one thing that
[42:07] dropping to do this on the fly like when the cameras are rolling and having to make this determination
[42:12] Okay, this is easy. This one is easy, right make that determination. It's this get that gets a little bit more difficult
[42:18] Especially when my plan in the zoning folks
[42:20] Okay, plan in zoning plan in zoning y'all scared to raise your hands off
[42:25] You see this move off in then anybody else you're gonna see it's the 200 foot rule too
[42:29] When we get the property, you're going to see that more on your board more so than anybody else.
[42:35] That's why it's important, especially for you as P&Z members, read your agenda to make sure you get a few checks or mail now every day, right?
[42:44] And that's why I didn't check my mail.
[42:46] Okay, we'll still, you're still within 200 feet.
[42:47] So guess what?
[42:48] Can you or can you not vote?
[42:49] You can't vote.
[42:53] Pretty the person has an interest that is an equitable or legal ownership.
[42:57] It's only $2500.
[42:58] It's fair market of how you have $2500, okay?
[43:03] And then step two is a reasonably foreseeable that an action on a matter involving the real property will have a specific economic theft on the value of the real property.
[43:13] It's a negligible from its effect on the public.
[43:18] And 200 feet guess what? The answer that's going to usually be on a zoning case.
[43:24] It's going to be yes.
[43:25] Okay, but let's talk it through it. Maybe a different distinction if the city is acquiring a there's going to be a contract for a contract or to acquire
[43:35] Right away in a rather than front of your house,
[43:42] I should maybe different, but that's something that we need to talk through
[43:46] then relationships
[43:47] Public officials consider to have a substantial relationship
[43:51] of substantial relationships,
[43:52] substantial interest.
[43:54] If a person is related to the official,
[43:55] their first degree,
[43:57] consequently, our affinity,
[43:59] the substantial interest,
[44:00] consequently, that blood relationship,
[44:03] affinity, that's marriage, okay?
[44:05] I still have to look this up every time
[44:06] out to 20 years.
[44:08] Consequently, blood relationship, affinity is marriage.
[44:11] And it's first degree,
[44:13] father's son, aka parent,
[44:15] son or daughter, child.
[44:16] So again, you want the memorizing as we talk it through,
[44:19] look at the agenda and ask the question.
[44:23] Right, Clark,
[44:28] see if you're all the way, sorry.
[44:35] What 10 years ago, I think we're like,
[44:36] six real estate, just on the council.
[44:39] So, first of all, we have infinity,
[44:42] spouse, parents, child, that's her first degree of infinity.
[44:45] And I think it was really interested in first, second,
[44:48] and third degree, I got an amazing chart, I can send to you.
[44:52] And there are actually other cities that go,
[44:54] this is the basic of state law.
[44:56] There are actually cities out there that go further in the second degree and third degree.
[45:00] Relationships that they won't let you participate on votes. So in the thing to remember about this, and this gets a little bit into Robert's rules and order, which we'll talk about here shortly is, you obviously don't vote in this. When you legally cannot vote, you feel that for now, you legally cannot vote. So that vote isn't going to account against, we'll call the applicant, right? That vote won't count against, and because you're not there, right? So if there's only five left, because two of y'all had to, you know, it's a
[45:29] and it's basically a three-two vote, it's gonna pass, right?
[45:33] So, but if you decide to, I'm gonna have staying just because,
[45:36] I don't know, I feel like I'm staying,
[45:38] and I don't know enough about it,
[45:39] and I don't like this guy, I can't vote one way or the other,
[45:41] I'm in the size of whatever, you have staying.
[45:45] That's when you start running into the problems,
[45:47] if you get too many people of staying,
[45:48] because if you have seven people,
[45:51] and two people decide to do up staying,
[45:53] just because you know I don't wanna vote,
[45:55] that affects the ability for that to pass,
[45:57] So if it's a 32, it's a 32 with two of a standing that won't pass.
[46:01] So that's why it's important when you're thinking, when do I have staying from a vote?
[46:05] As your attorney, I'm going to tell you, you should only have staying when you were legally
[46:10] required to abstain, okay?
[46:12] But I get it.
[46:13] I get it.
[46:13] I understand there's times when maybe it's your neighbor and you have no legal reason, but you
[46:20] just can't vote because it's your neighbor.
[46:22] Maybe you should just like stay home sick that night or something, I'm not completely kidding.
[46:26] But I do say that I can't jokingly, those votes are important, those votes are necessary and being in the positions that you're in and you have to vote, you're chosen, you're chosen by the people of vote, you're chosen by them to vote.
[46:41] So it is important to just suck it up and vote in my opinion.
[46:46] And there was sometimes if you missed a meeting and you don't have enough information, I get that.
[46:52] But you know, try to get the information you can before you come to the next meeting,
[46:55] especially if something's been carried over from the previous meeting.
[46:58] So you can make that decision on that, I know.
[47:02] I always get to make them both.
[47:03] Make them both.
[47:04] I'm like, hey, I'm just the attorney.
[47:07] So, all right.
[47:08] Substantial interest is determined following after David with the City Secretary of State from Deliberating and Body.
[47:12] A violation is a class eight misdemeanor class eight misdemeanor, okay
[47:17] It's intentional. I mean you've got to know that you intentionally did it
[47:24] I think I gave everybody at the fence. I didn't know
[47:30] The disclosure form we talked about it fill out legal room.
[47:36] I mean the break. We good
[47:38] Take five, okay, we're paying the attorney
[47:43] Everybody has the copy of the governor's policy
[47:50] We're always going to go through this quickly and we'll kind of slow down in some areas
[47:54] of the whole thing to report.
[47:56] So please read it.
[47:57] I think, is this what they're going to have to sign?
[48:00] That they read, not that you necessarily agree with, but you read it.
[48:03] The floor, your answer, just sign it.
[48:06] So, this applies to all boards and commission members.
[48:11] So when you read it, look at the top and who it applies to, because that's how it's
[48:19] commissions, whether applies to the city council, because there's some distinctions between
[48:23] the two.
[48:24] I'm probably going to focus on what applies to the Board's and commissions during this setting.
[48:30] So, and I don't really necessarily want to read these to you, but unfortunately, I think
[48:33] I need to.
[48:34] Governance.
[48:35] The chair shall preside and all meetings of their respective boards.
[48:38] The vice chair shall preside and his or her absence.
[48:41] We're going to talk a little bit about Robert's rules and more.
[48:44] But the role of the chair is let the chair be the chair, right?
[48:47] let the chair run the meeting okay let the chair run the meeting don't have seven people run the
[48:54] meeting becomes very confused
[48:57] okay but let the chair run the meeting let the mayor run the
[49:01] meeting that's what I always say it's the mayor's meeting we may have not liked the way that
[49:04] they're running it
[49:08] but vice chair presides in his or her absence the chair suffers our order in
[49:14] shall require board members engaged in debate to limit the discussion to the question that is
[49:19] consideration. And again, you know, a lot of times people, you
[49:32] want to help to you, and they're
[49:33] not the city attorney,
[49:52] you know, if we start going on
[49:57] a question, how does this relate
[49:59] back to the item that we're discussing? And then I was like, oh, it will, you wait to
[50:03] turn it, it will. That's a
[50:10] blessing to the decision at hand or the topic at that's why
[50:15] when I, when I approve agenda is where it just says, discuss the parks. Okay, seriously
[50:19] know, we're not going to just, we need to break it down into what it is that we're going
[50:24] So number one, the public knows what we're discussing, and number two, the chair next.
[50:29] So what we're discussing, and the chair can keep order.
[50:32] And for those of you that aren't chairs, you're going to be a chair, or it's sometime in the future,
[50:36] or a chair, you're chair, and your dreams, one way to kind of remember is, okay, bring
[50:41] important ever back in, okay, let's relate to
[50:48] this in a future, put it on a future agenda item,
[50:54] Read the agenda, understand the agenda.
[50:56] I keep the agenda in front of you, and I just do check marks, for me, as I'm going,
[51:00] you know, as I'm going through the agenda, that's probably good way for the
[51:03] just to kind of keep a reminder and look down and see what that topic is.
[51:07] Members must be present to vote, and members must be present in order to vote at any meeting.
[51:14] Okay, you cannot vote by proxy.
[51:17] All right, you cannot vote by proxy.
[51:26] That doesn't count.
[51:27] It's not there.
[51:28] I don't care.
[51:28] I can't call in and say, hey, you know, vote for me.
[51:31] And we do have, there are some changes in the rules, especially with a pandemic about
[51:36] doing meetings, virtual.
[51:37] I'm not going to get into
[51:40] some exceptions for that, but just so you have the exceptions
[51:45] if someone is going to be a virtual, which someday we may have the technology to do it,
[51:50] but it still requires the public to be able to see your face, if you're virtual, to see
[51:55] your face,
[51:59] you know, you can't just, you just can't be on the phone or in your car and
[52:02] they don't see your face.
[52:03] So the weather law was changed,
[52:08] the present, at the location where the meetings take a place
[52:11] so you can have, you know, depending on what your corner is, two,
[52:19] three, the following
[52:20] number of absences shall constitute the basis for replacement of the member. Now remember,
[52:24] uh, council members are elected, right? And how do we get rid of council members? Not that
[52:29] we ever would want to, but how do we get rid of council members? Or their terms run out?
[52:35] Or yes, vote them out, recall, or their terms, or their, well, they've termed out, some
[52:41] places. Okay. So, uh, as far as,
[52:48] you have no rights, right? Yeah. You're, you're pointed
[52:51] you're appointed by the city council. I say that just, you know, kind of like not the
[52:54] mode, but the falling number of absence of child council, the base of replacement of
[52:58] a member, three consecutive apps,
[53:02] you consider the
[53:09] addition of any member who has four
[53:11] absence and a rolling 12 months period job, you also consider making. So that's the policy,
[53:19] there's going to be exceptions and you'll work with your liaison and the event, any of those
[53:23] exceptions come up so we can address those. Okay, so this is kind of a mouthful, let me get through it.
[53:28] should a conflict arise among board members
[53:30] that the chair cannot resolve.
[53:32] So you have a conflict amongst board members
[53:38] as between board members and the chair can't resolve it.
[53:41] So, chair, guess what?
[53:43] This is, you've got a first try to resolve it.
[53:45] The council liaison, or the city secretary,
[53:48] Richard Hanover, she's like, well, I'm in there.
[53:51] The city secretary shall call meeting
[53:53] with the council relations governance, the subcommittees.
[53:55] We have a council relations sub-governance subcommittee.
[54:00] If a conflict arrives between the board member
[54:01] liaison in the board member, Cameron Quest, a meeting with the council relations government
[54:06] and subcommittee to resolve the conflict. So that's really the purpose of this council
[54:10] relations governance subcommittee is to step in and help resolve those conflicts that are
[54:14] amongst the board members that the chair, him or herself cannot resolve on their own or
[54:19] but honestly maybe they just don't, it shouldn't be resolved in on their own. We turn it over to
[54:24] the council relations governance subcommittee. Mayor and the mayor and the mayor and the mayor
[54:31] subcommittee level, then the entire council shall assemble an executive session that is provided
[54:36] under this under state law, and the event is determined that a board member is to be removed.
[54:41] The council shall convene a executive session to discuss such removals, and then members shall
[54:45] have the opportunity to participate in the executive session.
[54:48] So, again, the chair of the private
[54:58] procession and that individual or individuals would be
[55:01] invited into that executive session and try to resolve it.
[55:04] So, that is one, and it's under personnel, that's one of the reasons we can go into executive
[55:08] session under personnel.
[55:12] Stay with me.
[55:28] Povercials of order nearly revised shall be observed as a general guide for following the
[55:32] third procedure except where our council has superseded these rules. We are going to
[55:35] talk about council, you know, cyber-propercials of order. And I do want to say this,
[55:40] robber's rules of order. How many are very comfortable with robber's rules of order? Wow, I'm
[55:46] impressive, okay. How many, when a degree, robber's rules of order are probably not the easiest
[55:52] guy to follow for running a meeting. Yeah, and they're not real friendly, and Robertson,
[55:58] those of you that know Robertson rules of order real well, can take advantage of those
[56:02] that don't know Roberts' rules of order real well, and that is not the intent of us falling
[56:07] Roberts' rules of order. We want to be able to have meetings that are easy. We don't want to
[56:13] want to make them difficult. We don't want to get bogged down in Roberts' rules of order,
[56:17] but we do want to run the meetings orderly, and that's the portions of Roberts' rules
[56:21] that we really look to.
[56:41] To perform their duties in accordance with the processes and roles in order to establish
[56:46] by the City Council and Board of Commission, government deliberation of public policy issues.
[56:51] meaningful involvement of the public and implementation of policy decisions of the City Council
[56:56] by City staff.
[56:57] Okay, so basically the duties that you have or those duties are given upon you by the Council
[57:02] for those boards and commissions and we need to stay within side of those duties for
[57:09] our
[57:09] Board members shall attend all state required training courses.
[57:12] A lot of you don't have any state required training courses.
[57:15] The EDC members, there are state required training for some people that are part of the economic development corporations.
[57:25] But for the most part, a lot of you don't have state required training courses.
[57:29] Each member is encouraged to further their understanding of good municipal governance through available training programs.
[57:34] So there's a lot of training programs out through those review that are on the P&Z.
[57:38] There's, there's, you know, you know, you can go online and there's lots of different courses out there, even for parks boards, the EDCs, library boards,
[57:46] come on, Mr. and, um, Airport, thank you, Airport, I don't think there's anything out there, sorry.
[57:55] Education to be paid for with that tax money, salary requested in advance, through the staff liaison or city secretary.
[58:03] It's responsibility of each of y'all to be informed about previous actions taking this
[58:06] while speaking about early.
[58:07] If you're not in the meeting, it's your responsibility to understand what happened at the
[58:11] meeting before, so you can make good decisions.
[58:18] Okay, so should you call each member individually and ask them what happened at the last meeting?
[58:25] Could you?
[58:26] Hey, what happened at the last meeting?
[58:29] Is that a violation of the upper meetings?
[58:32] No.
[58:32] No?
[58:32] Yes, maybe defend the way you ask them. Okay, we'll say that for the end
[58:38] But yeah, so you can call you talk to your other board members if you're trying to just get information on what happened
[58:42] Obviously if it's a decision if it's a decision that is was held over something was continued and
[58:49] Yeah, you should not be talking to you cannot talk to each member to find out how you think they're gonna vote
[58:54] So it's gonna influence you on how you should vote. That would be a violation
[58:59] Members shop, prepare themselves for public issues, listen, be courteous, in a tent of.
[59:05] This is the interesting part that the legislature did, I believe, was the last legislative session.
[59:10] They put a provision in the code, and a lot of cities that are represented, we would have under public comment section.
[59:16] Which again, public comment section just to come up and talk about, you know, whatever, even if it's not on the agenda, it's not illegal required by law.
[59:24] And you actually will see right now there's been some cities that have been discussing removing that
[59:29] Because you get these characters that show up in like costumes and they do crazy things right that have absolutely nothing to do with the meeting
[59:35] It's happening and like play no and Allen. They just show up, right and they just act them noxious
[59:42] And so they were looking up here to we put it at the end you know if we if we allow the citizens to speak on the items that are on there
[59:49] We can do away with citizen comments, but what if some still having this because that's a you know that's a difficult decision to make
[59:55] But as far as the legislation, they used to say, you know, no.
[1:00:07] So, the citizens can stand up there and they can say, you know, mayor, I don't like the way that you voted in the last meeting. And I don't like that hat that you're wearing and you know, before the mayor, like, get out of the ring, you know, throw it with throwing out the meeting. And that's why I believe that, if you look at the intent, that's why, it was a good idea.
[1:00:30] put in there that basically is council members, board members, you know, we have to have a
[1:00:34] little bit thicker skin than those that are up there criticizing us. So we're frame from
[1:00:39] interrupting others, this is you as board members, we're frame from interrupting other speakers,
[1:00:44] making personal comments that aren't related to the business interfering with Orley conduct
[1:00:48] of me. This is just all about running a good meeting. This is like the chair, responsibility
[1:00:53] of running a good meeting. Let each member speak, go down the dial, go down the table, let
[1:00:57] person, speak their mind, speak the speak. And then if you need to go back,
[1:01:03] speak that one more time. But there comes a point too, when a lot of this talking,
[1:01:07] it's repetitive, right, or you're saying the same thing over and over, and the
[1:01:10] meeting started at six, and it's now 10 o'clock. You're still an item number one.
[1:01:15] So that's the chair's responsibility to keep those meetings running.
[1:01:18] And when we get the robbers rules and orders, you can actually check and actually put
[1:01:21] time limits. Or say, all right, I'm going to give everybody one more minute and
[1:01:26] go down and down the dice. It's when we start talking over each other that our meetings become
[1:01:30] very unproductive. And there's some cities now with all the new mic systems. It's great. Only
[1:01:36] one mic works at a time. And the only person that can override the mic is a mayor. That's either
[1:01:40] good or bad, right? And the city attorney can override everybody's mics. So members shall refrain from
[1:01:46] abusive conduct. Personal changes or personal changes. Charges or verbal attacks upon the character
[1:01:52] or motives of other members of council board in commissions and in the staff or the public,
[1:01:57] but you know the public can attack you. Obviously nothing that raises the level of being
[1:02:03] against the law. So any member may request the charity and force the rules established
[1:02:08] by the city council to the chair fail to do so. The majority of the members present can require
[1:02:13] him or her to do so. So if we get to the point we had to need to have more training on this.
[1:02:17] But basically, y'all is a board working together, asking the chair to do some, just like
[1:02:21] you would know a chair, can you please do this?
[1:02:23] Could you do that?
[1:02:24] That's what I said, please.
[1:02:26] Any member may request the chair to enforce the rules of staff, which by the City Council.
[1:02:32] Members shall face their decisions on the merits and substance of the matter at hand, rather
[1:02:36] than on unrelated considerations.
[1:02:40] Yeah, and that goes into the deliberation.
[1:02:42] How much deliberation do you have, though, is the purpose of the meeting that you're having?
[1:02:47] is a purpose of the meeting you're having to educate the public, okay?
[1:02:55] Be get the business of the city done or get the business of the board done,
[1:02:59] is that be, or see, get away from here, family, or all the above, be and see, right?
[1:03:07] No, it's to get the business of the city done and that's what really
[1:03:14] is, you know, some people have a hard time with that, and all the years that I've been
[1:03:19] sitting up in different council meetings, you have some council members, some, and I don't
[1:03:23] mean to think on council members, but that's just in my brain, but you have board members,
[1:03:27] also in commission members, that they feel their job is to spend that time educating the
[1:03:33] public, show how the sausage is being made, right, taking the time to educate the public.
[1:03:38] Is that really your responsibility as a board or commission member?
[1:03:41] But how do you think I need to educate the public?
[1:03:43] Do I need that?
[1:03:44] There's no right wrong answer.
[1:03:46] There is.
[1:03:47] But how do you feel you need it?
[1:03:49] How many of you been at meetings where you're like, oh, my gosh.
[1:03:52] This is not that you feel they're educating them too much.
[1:03:55] So get it's a fun balance.
[1:03:57] You want the public to understand why you're doing it and why you're making the decision you're making.
[1:04:02] And you want them to leave understanding.
[1:04:03] They may not agree with you, right?
[1:04:05] But at least why you made that decision.
[1:04:07] But the education part of it is spending that time.
[1:04:10] You're there to get the business at the business that's before your board.
[1:04:13] You're there to get that done as opposed to spending the time educating the public.
[1:04:17] Send them to the city manager, he can educate them.
[1:04:22] Oh, he's in the back.
[1:04:30] Find it for in the board or commission bylaws.
[1:04:33] The chair or any three members of a board can place an item on an agenda by making the request
[1:04:36] to the staff member whoever sees that board at that board.
[1:04:40] So that question gets asked a lot.
[1:04:43] How do I get something on the agenda?
[1:04:44] How do I get something on the agenda?
[1:04:46] So unless you have pylons that are contrary to this, when we do the breakouts over the next couple
[1:04:52] months, you'll know whether or not you have anything that's contrary to this, but the chair
[1:04:56] or any three members of a board can place an item on the agenda by making the request.
[1:05:00] For the most part, most of our three will not equal, there's not equal of core.
[1:05:05] But it's important when I call, you know, I call one of the board members.
[1:05:10] I want to board, I call the board member.
[1:05:12] I'm not trying to convince you how to vote on it.
[1:05:14] I just want your support and putting it on the agenda.
[1:05:19] What request made, one week in advance, if the request is made after the one week in
[1:05:24] the case period, I will be added to the next month's agenda.
[1:05:32] You are required to attend the mid-Lothian University at newly appointed board member that
[1:05:36] has not attended the mid-Lothian University as a required to do so within one year, or
[1:05:40] next available session after that appointment of this requirement, the board member is
[1:05:48] If a newly appointed board member has a scheduled conflict with the next mid-Lothan University date,
[1:05:54] that member may request a one-year extension of this requirement through their board liaison or the city secretary,
[1:05:59] who will take the request to the Council Relations Government Subcommittee.
[1:06:04] Sign up for the forms of information in the back.
[1:06:08] All board members are required to take the seat.
[1:06:10] I can't read that.
[1:06:12] Let's read that.
[1:06:13] There I go again.
[1:06:15] All board members are required to have a basic understanding of the city mid-Lothan Comprehensive Plan,
[1:06:19] down town master plan parks master plan
[1:06:21] of which those are all online.
[1:06:27] You can take a look at all the,
[1:06:29] all those mentioned above will be provided
[1:06:31] to board members and commissioners either
[1:06:33] by hard coffee or electronically.
[1:06:35] So that was the down town master plan
[1:06:37] parks master plan and comprehensive plan.
[1:06:41] I did want to talk about which one?
[1:06:46] That one.
[1:06:47] How board members are required to take the city
[1:06:49] of the Lothian boarding commission?
[1:06:50] Oh, yeah.
[1:06:52] This is the all, this is the all,
[1:06:53] But this is me, that's why I escaped.
[1:06:55] On board training, either prior to being appointed
[1:06:58] or within six months after appointment,
[1:07:00] if this requirement is not met, the board members automatically
[1:07:03] remove from the appointed board in the event
[1:07:05] of an unaboidable conflict that members
[1:07:08] on edify their board, the A's on over the city secretary,
[1:07:10] who will take a request to the Council Relations
[1:07:12] government's subcommittee.
[1:07:19] All right, so we're on a map right now, yes.
[1:07:21] Okay, turbulence, sorry if I'm making y'all dizzy.
[1:07:24] A board and commission member term limits are set
[1:07:25] at six consecutive years with a mandatory one year off between each six-year term limit
[1:07:32] on any board of commissions. You get a year off. Most board of commissions have either
[1:07:38] two or three year terms allowing the members to be re-appointed either twice or once respectively.
[1:07:43] This is not applied to historic advisory board industrial development corporation, the housing
[1:07:49] the throat, middle of the housing authority, due to the fact that you just don't meet that
[1:07:53] often.
[1:07:55] Also does not apply to permanent positions on the joint library board and city staff members
[1:08:00] on the low-the-development authority.
[1:08:03] In the event of Warmember Commission members elected or appointed to any elect, this is
[1:08:06] new also, to any elected federal state, county, city, school district position within
[1:08:10] the county or city, upon such election, they shall automatically forfeit their position
[1:08:14] on the city board commission and such positions shall be declared vacant, excluding the election
[1:08:19] as precinct chair of any respectful political party.
[1:08:24] And then except for urgent personal, this is new also.
[1:08:27] Except for other personal matters and to avoid disruption, all board members are prohibited
[1:08:31] from sending or receiving electronic communications during the meeting.
[1:08:35] So please have your phone just turned off or on silence.
[1:08:40] All electronic devices shall be placed in the silent mode, just said that, electronic communications.
[1:08:44] That pertaining to city business are subject to the public information act.
[1:08:47] Additionally, Council members need to be aware of the Open Meetings Act and the Boy Communications and the other members that would be a violation of the act.
[1:08:54] I want to hit on that a little bit, because we have so much, you know, before our means of communication 20 years ago was limited, right?
[1:09:00] But it was like blackberries. Now we have our phones, and most of you, no one in here, the city buys you a phone, do things.
[1:09:07] They want to have other than the city manager who, who and here, say about it, this is that your own phone.
[1:09:12] And so when you are texting city business that pertains to city business on your own phone
[1:09:18] and you text it to whether it be, you know, whether it be the city manager, you text it to another board member.
[1:09:26] What you put in your phone, that text, as it relates to your board, what your board does.
[1:09:30] To that other board member is subject to public information.
[1:09:33] You need to remember that.
[1:09:34] And the public is now become aware when they submit public information requests.
[1:09:39] And we get a lot of public information, but especially in election season, where people ask for all electronic communications, including emails, including text messages.
[1:09:51] So anytime you're communicating at your work through your work, email, and it's city-related, that email.
[1:09:57] And we're not going to come in and grab your hard drive unless it's, you know, the judge tells us to, but that email is public information.
[1:10:05] So you need to keep those and there's a retention period for all of that usually general correspondence
[1:10:10] What it's going to be two years or what most of them are some of y'all may be long gone
[1:10:15] So it's just it remember what you're using to communicate on and that that is subject to public information
[1:10:21] You need to keep it going to lead it turn it to the city secretary
[1:10:25] There's a lot of new stuff now where just in another city we had a request and can also members have two phones
[1:10:31] They have their own phone and then they have their city phone
[1:10:35] And so they figure, well, I just won't use the city at home,
[1:10:39] and this just happened a few weeks ago,
[1:10:48] you're in some East
[1:10:58] City issue phone, or if it's your personal phone, it's something
[1:11:00] that the public information.
[1:11:02] So, if you have questions about that at the end, we can get to that.
[1:11:06] What's not public information, obviously, if you're texting, you're your wife, it's good
[1:11:10] to get out there on, like, what's for dinner, I mean, that's not business related.
[1:11:15] Okay, that's the government's policy.
[1:11:17] Y'all want to add anything to chime in on the government's policy or keep on going.
[1:11:21] Okay, Robert's rules of work.
[1:11:22] This is a lot of fun, but I'm keeping it very basic and the council asks for to sort of do an overview of Robert's rules of order to kind of help us with some of our meetings.
[1:11:32] So I have some stuff in here and again, very basic.
[1:11:37] So a cool must be present to do business.
[1:11:40] The majority rules.
[1:11:43] One question at a time, let's speak right at a time.
[1:11:47] Motion must be related to matters under consideration.
[1:11:51] Once a member has been recognized, once a board member, commission member, council member has been recognized, that we call that the floor, right?
[1:12:00] They have been granted the floor, and let them speak, and we should not be interrupting them while they're speaking.
[1:12:07] That was the one council member, I want you to have the new microphones, and that was a really nice thing about it, is what is on, nobody else can speak.
[1:12:14] The only person I said that could override is the city attorney or the mayor, and it really
[1:12:19] kind of trained them.
[1:12:22] When it's one person speaking at a time, we all have something to say, but if we just wait
[1:12:26] until you're being recognized by the chair, and the chair, it's important for you to understand
[1:12:31] that role to recognize those individuals and keep it order, just going down and go one
[1:12:37] way, one time, go the opposite way at the next time, so no one feels that they're being left
[1:12:42] out of there, you always get stuck, speaking last.
[1:12:46] Motion must receive full debate.
[1:12:49] The chair may not put a motion to vote as long as members wish to debate it.
[1:12:52] And debate must be directed to motion.
[1:12:55] So make your, discuss your motions or discuss the business at hand,
[1:12:59] which should relate to what's on the agenda.
[1:13:02] And you can always put a motion out that I make a motion to approve.
[1:13:07] You have a second, and then you can have a discussion,
[1:13:09] and then you can relate, you can keep that discussion.
[1:13:11] And related specifically to that motion, which really kind of keeps y'all within that
[1:13:18] silo.
[1:13:20] And once you go down the dice, then you can call for it on and move on.
[1:13:28] Debate can be ended by any member stating I call the question.
[1:13:31] If a second is obtained, vote it on and pass.
[1:13:33] The motion on the floor is voted on immediately.
[1:13:35] There's actually some laminated sheets on some of these that as a chair if you're interested in them we can get them to you and you can pass them out of your meetings and we can
[1:13:46] I'm gonna film with them.
[1:13:48] All right.
[1:13:49] Any voting member may make a motion.
[1:13:52] Another member must second the motion.
[1:13:53] I make a motion I second, discuss, may then take place.
[1:13:57] And also, if you all do this differently
[1:13:59] where you just, you present it and you discuss it,
[1:14:02] I make you make motion to approve.
[1:14:04] Second, all in favor, you know, I.
[1:14:06] That's fine too.
[1:14:07] You can do it that way.
[1:14:08] But you can make a motion, make a second,
[1:14:10] and then have your discussion.
[1:14:11] That's the way Robert's rules ordered of it
[1:14:13] is you're having discussion,
[1:14:14] because it's limited to the motion at hand.
[1:14:16] And you can't get a motion to the floor, you know, that's going to make, that's going to make the discussion, no, a quicker.
[1:14:23] So, following the discussion, the meeting chair must call for a vote.
[1:14:26] Those in favor, and then those opposed.
[1:14:30] So, here's a few little types of motions that we see most often.
[1:14:35] These are the simple ones.
[1:14:36] Motion to amend motion to table.
[1:14:38] Motion to limit.
[1:14:39] I'm going to go through each of these.
[1:14:41] Point of information.
[1:14:42] Point of order.
[1:14:43] Motion to appeal.
[1:14:44] The chair's decision.
[1:14:45] We rarely see that.
[1:14:46] and then a motion to reconsider it on the top of it, I want to spend time on these briefly.
[1:14:52] So motion to a man.
[1:14:54] A man that can be added to a motion before an amendment can be added to a motion before.
[1:15:00] Or it can be voted on. Use this motion when you want to change the wording of the motion under consideration. So I'm going to get real, this is going to get confusing, but I'll try to make it as simple as possible.
[1:15:11] If let's say that we've got a contract to approve the purchase of chairs.
[1:15:19] So I make a motion to approve the contact of the purchase of chairs.
[1:15:23] I second the motion.
[1:15:24] Any discussion?
[1:15:25] In somewhere in that discussion, someone said, well, I want the chairs to be red.
[1:15:30] I want those chairs to be red.
[1:15:32] And then someone said, well, I want the chairs to be green.
[1:15:34] I want to be red.
[1:15:35] You can actually take just a vote on whether or not you want those chairs to be red.
[1:15:40] All right.
[1:15:41] Well, I want to make an amendment.
[1:15:42] I want the chairs to be red.
[1:15:44] So you take a vote.
[1:15:45] So, you have your motion, you have your second on purchasing the chairs, you take a separate vote, right, on whether or not they're going to be red.
[1:15:53] That passes, you go back to your initial motion that's on the floor of the chairs, and guess what? They're red chairs, right?
[1:16:01] And that's a way to kind of end that debate if you're going back and forth on something.
[1:16:05] Okay, well, if someone had a motion to make it a amendment, and then you just vote on that amendment alone, is the easiest way to do it.
[1:16:16] But that's the easiest way to do it and you'll practice, and that's the only other way to figure this stuff out.
[1:16:22] The amendment is not adopted until that until the motion as a minute is voted on in the past.
[1:16:26] If a motion to a minute fails, you just go back to original motion.
[1:16:28] Okay, I got a motion. I got a second. The first.
[1:16:31] Red failed. All the favor I. Okay, we're done.
[1:16:34] Go on to the next.
[1:16:39] You'll make an emotion to amend the same thing by changing the start date to January 1st,
[1:16:43] or as a second majority vote.
[1:16:45] The main motion is to then vote it on with an amendment to change the change it's January 1st
[1:16:49] If the amendment fails, the main motion is voted on as originally presented to help start date of a different date
[1:16:55] Okay, table. I love table in it
[1:16:58] P and Z loves table in it, right?
[1:17:00] How do we use the motion to table or lay on the table? What does that mean?
[1:17:05] I moved the table to the first median in June. I moved I moved to post on it definitely
[1:17:09] That's what we need to be careful when we have our public hearings and
[1:17:13] And like with the PMZ, the PMZ is a recommending body to the city council.
[1:17:18] The PMZs, you have to post notice of your meetings.
[1:17:22] So it's important, if you're having a public hearing for the development corporations.
[1:17:27] So when you move to table, you always want to table something to a date specific.
[1:17:33] You want to table to a date specific.
[1:17:34] If you just want to kill it, that has to move to postpone it indefinitely.
[1:17:38] If you just want it done, get away with it, go away, worry about it later.
[1:17:41] Then just postpone it indefinitely that will kill the motion and then we'll worry about reposition it going to go into those requirements if it's something that requires that
[1:17:49] But a motion to table does not make it go away, okay, and that's my point here
[1:17:53] It doesn't kill the motion indefinitely if your motion to the table table it to went to a date specific
[1:18:02] Motion to limit to bank use this motion to limit discussion
[1:18:05] This is helpful if you think that too much time is being consumed by debate and so I make a motion that you know the limit
[1:18:11] Discussion you can determine what's on it, too. That's a chair
[1:18:17] point of order. I don't think we've ever had a point of order here. We wanted to use it before.
[1:18:25] But so what does point of order mean? So you use point of order, and all these things,
[1:18:29] point of order. The number of things, the rules are being violated. Just don't say point of order
[1:18:34] because you're angry and frustrated. Make sure you know why you're using point of order.
[1:18:38] And one point of order is raised and the chair makes a ruling. The chair may look at you like,
[1:18:41] okay, point of order, what is it? Point of order cannot be reconsidered.
[1:18:45] It isn't the baitable, it cannot be amended in the decision of the chair is final, right?
[1:18:51] It's a point of order, this is off top, you have a point of order, this is not on the agenda, and then the chair makes the decision correct.
[1:18:58] Well then the member may appeal the chair's decision, that's really just the body as a whole making the determination of whether or not the chair's decision was right.
[1:19:09] All right. Still a way, great.
[1:19:12] Roberts was a order to appeal the chair's decision.
[1:19:15] This is kind of the steps.
[1:19:16] For the setting officer and chair's rules, a procedure followed,
[1:19:19] maintains the dignity of the meeting.
[1:19:21] Calls the meeting, no, no, no, no, no.
[1:19:22] This is the, well, these are the rules of the chair.
[1:19:24] I'm sorry.
[1:19:25] Chair's a presiding officer.
[1:19:26] In chair's rules, a procedure are followed.
[1:19:29] Maintains the dignity of the meeting.
[1:19:31] Calls the meeting, no order.
[1:19:32] Confines the discussion.
[1:19:34] Recognizes members for motions and statements.
[1:19:36] It allows audience participation at appropriate times.
[1:19:39] And the reason I put this up there, I think sometimes as a chair, we get so passionate about an item we forget who we are, that we're the chair, and we still have to run the meeting.
[1:19:50] And so, as the chair, I keep that in mind, I'm the one that has to run the meeting, I'm the one that making sure that the audience is getting recognized, don't forget what your role is as the chair, because that's when the meeting starts getting out of hand, when you don't have anybody that's really leading the group.
[1:20:04] All right, part of the motion is to reconsider,
[1:20:10] must be made to join the meeting.
[1:20:12] Plus, caution that there is a public hearing requirement.
[1:20:16] So if you want to reconsider something, you made a motion, it's been second and agreed
[1:20:21] upon.
[1:20:22] There can be a motion, there can be a motion to reconsider if necessary.
[1:20:27] I don't advise doing this a lot because you're really going to upset some of your applicants.
[1:20:30] But as far as public hearings, I do not advise doing motions to reconsider at a P&Z meeting.
[1:20:38] When you had the public hearing, you've closed the public hearing, you've made a decision, all the developers and accidents have left the room, and two hours later, you go back,
[1:20:47] I want to reconsider that item.
[1:20:50] That's not what this is for.
[1:20:51] This is not to get everybody out of the room and then do a fine.
[1:20:54] They're behind their back.
[1:20:56] But you can't make a motion to reconsider as long as it's done, drawing the meeting.
[1:20:59] But I do not use it for your public hearings.
[1:21:03] He is after the vote is taken, and must be made by a member who voted on the prevailing
[1:21:07] side of the motion to be reconsidered.
[1:21:09] I think that fourth bullet points is interesting that that member to the motion to reconsider
[1:21:13] has to be made by the one that was on the prevailing side of the motion to be reconsidered.
[1:21:22] Okay.
[1:21:22] Are you on?
[1:21:22] Is that it?
[1:21:23] Okay.
[1:21:30] Come on.
[1:21:30] We're getting to the end here.
[1:21:34] Right discussed a lot of the open meetings and public information, so I'll be pretty
[1:21:37] quick through this.
[1:21:38] All of our meetings are open to the public.
[1:21:41] Any regular, especially column meeting is open to the public unless there's close meetings.
[1:21:45] I've already talked about close meetings when you can and cannot go into close meetings.
[1:21:48] Some of you as board will never go into a close meeting.
[1:21:53] Government bodies include the second bullet point.
[1:21:56] I put that up there because if you ever get bored and you want to go read the open meetings
[1:22:01] law, there's a manual out there, it talks about certain advisory bodies are not subjected
[1:22:09] to the open meetings requirement.
[1:22:11] Pretty much every city that I've represented or do represent have this provision in their
[1:22:17] charter or in their ordinances, even the quasi-judicial boards, that's the advisory boards
[1:22:22] are subject to the open meetings act.
[1:22:24] We have no boards here in the city of Mid-Lothian that are not subject to the open meetings
[1:22:28] rules.
[1:22:32] So city council, planning is only a four-day, four-day board of the adjustments.
[1:22:38] I have to follow the act.
[1:22:39] Committees and subcommittees of governmental bodies also are required to follow the act if a
[1:22:47] committee is being formed of the main body. So if you have less than a form of people and they're
[1:22:54] forming a subcommittee, okay? And that subcommittee is going to make a recommendation to the body.
[1:23:03] And the body is just going to simply rubber stamp their decision, right? They're not going to discuss it,
[1:23:08] not going to debate it, but it's going to be a simple rubber stamp than the subcommittee
[1:23:12] meetings have to be posted because you've just taken away the public's ability to participate.
[1:23:19] Most of our subcommittees that we put forth are not just, we don't rubber stamp things.
[1:23:24] So that is one thing important that the AG has stated, and I dealt with this on the
[1:23:30] Democratic Transportation Authority.
[1:23:31] We have a lot of subcommittees, luckily we were, and the subcommittees were only, I
[1:23:37] At that time, the board was made up of 15, I believe, 15 members.
[1:23:40] We only had five in the subcommittee.
[1:23:42] We weren't actually posting them, but someone complained that we were still violating
[1:23:46] the Open Meetings Act, and that actually that's when the AG came back and stated, as long
[1:23:50] as those meetings were posted and opened to the public, and they were allowed to come to
[1:23:54] the meetings, then you did not violate the Act, because that subcommittee was presenting
[1:23:58] stuff to the DCTA board, the DCTA board was simply rubber stamp, and they weren't having
[1:24:03] discussions on.
[1:24:06] At any time, you wouldn't put together a subcommittee
[1:24:09] to have that conversation with your staff liaison
[1:24:11] if they have questions, they'll check with the City Manager
[1:24:13] or with myself, and we'll make that determination
[1:24:15] on whether or not it needs to be posted.
[1:24:18] So any discussion or deliberation between a quorum,
[1:24:20] that's a majority or between a quorum
[1:24:22] and another person regarding the public business
[1:24:24] or policy, which the governing body controls
[1:24:26] or supervisors are going to which formal action is taken.
[1:24:29] It's going to be subject to the open means act.
[1:24:33] So obviously, if you get on the phone
[1:24:34] and you have a conversation with another board member
[1:24:37] about an item, is that violate the act?
[1:24:39] No, that doesn't violate the act
[1:24:40] because it's not a form, right?
[1:24:41] And that you're talking about the business
[1:24:43] of the body that you start on.
[1:24:46] But then if you pick up the phone and call somebody else,
[1:24:48] there's three, they pick up the phone and call somebody else
[1:24:50] there's four, I was saying four people
[1:24:51] talked about the business of what's going to be discussed
[1:24:54] at the next meeting, possibly how the discussion is going
[1:24:56] to be, that is a violation of the open meetings
[1:24:58] and you don't want to do that.
[1:25:00] What is the deliberation?
[1:25:02] It's defined as a verbal exchange, drawing a meeting between a quorum or between a quorum, and another person regarding public business or policy, verbal exchange, written communications, emails, text messages, electronic communications. Those are all considered deliberations.
[1:25:19] And again, if you're on the parks board and you're talking about something completely unrelated to parks, but it's related to the city, but it's not within your purview as the board, then that's not going to apply.
[1:25:30] I
[1:25:34] talked about secret deliberations, meeting the numbers less than a quorum, and that we
[1:25:37] they should call it, they still do call it like the Daisy chain.
[1:25:40] We have, make meeting numbers less than a quorum, and then you go and you talk to other
[1:25:44] members, and they talk to other members, and again I always use the example of the first
[1:25:49] city that I had to represent, a very small city, out in the middle of nowhere, this is
[1:25:56] hypothetical.
[1:25:57] Okay, so I was going to the meeting and and I was I was given the city because nobody else in the firm wanted to see
[1:26:08] These were they put like three things on the agenda and they would start in six. I think I was leaving there two or three o'clock in the morning every day every
[1:26:15] After every meeting I'm in to have like really deep bar ditches like you and these little tiny rows and I figured the morning
[1:26:22] It was like please don't let me go off into the bar ditch. Oh, there's a reason I'm saying that
[1:26:26] So, anyway, I was going to the meeting, and I told the council, the story was going up to the meeting, and I stopped at some little, I don't know what was McDonald's or where it was, it was a grab coffee, because it was going to be a long meeting, and I see all these gentlemen sitting around a table, right?
[1:26:42] anything anything other coffee what city hall nobody there two meetings before the two
[1:26:48] minutes before the meeting is about to start these gentlemen showed up unlocked the door we
[1:26:51] went in
[1:26:53] currently all anybody filed in behind and they sat down on my own they were you were at McDonald's right
[1:26:58] why don't you come over and join us who we were just discussing the meeting okay
[1:27:04] sat down that meeting lasted all about ten minutes yeah they made their decisions real quick
[1:27:10] So I left there, didn't hit a bar to it's on the way home.
[1:27:13] Funny story is when I did pass that along and over to my associates.
[1:27:16] The first meeting he went to was so late he was coming home.
[1:27:19] He ran his car to the bar and did it because he was so tired and poor got.
[1:27:24] You know how to work for us.
[1:27:29] 72 hour meeting notice is required.
[1:27:32] Let's say the date hour in place.
[1:27:34] That's why we can't do this all the time.
[1:27:36] We're meeting here and then we decide we're going to pick up and move to another location.
[1:27:39] You can't do that.
[1:27:41] Notice this must be sufficient to perform the public of the subject matter to be considered in an open closed binary touched on that more critical the topics going to be want to make sure the more information you have on the agenda
[1:27:53] We the city now are required to post notices of our meeting on the website, so they're all opposed to there and a good faith attempt to continuously post so that obviously leaves
[1:28:05] Some wiggle room if there's some sort of technical
[1:28:08] Litch not that the city's secretary of the on vacation or something that's not a technical glitch
[1:28:14] I was a community interest and public I like talk about it was community enters public comments
[1:28:19] I've already talked about we have to allow the public to speak on anything on the agenda and which you're going to act
[1:28:24] All right, is that just the question the public on half speak on that if it's just discussion
[1:28:29] I didn't if it's an executive session
[1:28:31] and we have executive sessions, the public wants to speak on executive sessions, and we just
[1:28:36] need to communicate with them to them that they can do that during the public comment section
[1:28:40] or before we go into executive sessions.
[1:28:42] They do have the right to speak on executive sessions, either even that they have no idea
[1:28:46] what they're about.
[1:28:46] They usually can guess because they'll just hold them.
[1:28:50] If the state's on the agenda, like the Scottish and City of Minnesota, I didn't make
[1:28:55] this one up.
[1:28:55] city administrative or city or city managers comments. That's clearly not sufficient. You'd
[1:29:03] be surprised a lot of these smaller towns that just put city out of this book comments
[1:29:09] by public works, comments by library, comments by that's not sufficient.
[1:29:16] Okay, so public
[1:29:17] comments, we know this, in the mayor kind of reads these rules each time, it's okay to respond
[1:29:23] public comments if it's specific fact. So if you have someone that's coming to a meeting and
[1:29:28] they're giving information and that information is incorrect, it's okay to correct them,
[1:29:33] whether you know the dates wrong or it's okay to say the information you're giving, let me
[1:29:38] let me correct it. You can recite policy if necessary, but you just don't deliver it because it's
[1:29:45] not on the agenda, you don't get into a deliberation, but you can quick concise statements to
[1:29:52] There's no misunderstanding about what they're saying or they're not trying to hide the meaning from you.
[1:30:00] We just drop moms of incorrect information.
[1:30:04] Let's see what the meetings are not applied to. Convention, seminars, workshop, ceremony, events, press conferences.
[1:30:10] No formal action is taken, and any discussion of public business is incidental. So social events, social meetings are related to public business.
[1:30:19] That doesn't mean that if the entire board of commission or council is going to go to a written cutting ceremony, that's social nature.
[1:30:27] But that doesn't mean once you get through, you can say that on the start talking about public business.
[1:30:32] And so a lot of times we will post certain things in a corner of counsel or a corner of the board.
[1:30:37] Just like tonight, we posted this in the corner of the board, mayor and not the president, but y'all have not said anything to me the whole time that I've been here.
[1:30:46] Oh, oh.
[1:30:47] Ported being as we still posted as a corner of the board, mayor may not be president.
[1:30:53] Where I'll leave off testimony before legislatures and agencies are not required.
[1:30:57] Candidates forms provided no formal action is taken into discussing a public business.
[1:31:02] It's in a incidental form.
[1:31:03] That's important. It's just going to this time of year. Candidates forms.
[1:31:07] The council can go to a candidate form. The boards and commissions can go to the forms.
[1:31:12] Your entire board can be there. You just can't don't discuss business in the board.
[1:31:19] And what is the public always think when the whole tower counts to stand in there together?
[1:31:22] What do they think they're doing? Well, they ought to have to think they're doing, right?
[1:31:26] Violet in the open meat. We can't follow that, too. No. Violet in the open meetings. Do the cameras can't see you do that, so
[1:31:33] Violet in the open meetings discussing public discussing public business. So
[1:31:37] Just because it's this becomes the I've had I've had council members ask me before that there's a P and Z meeting and the P and Z meeting is going to be like a hot topic
[1:31:45] I didn't they all want to go to the P and Z. I'm like
[1:31:47] PNZ is a wreck, I mean they are on advisory body. We have a liaison at the PNZ meeting. There's no reason
[1:31:53] for the entire council to go to the PNZ meeting, but that why want to go? Okay, that's fine. You can say at home and
[1:31:58] watch it and eat and yell at the TV. If you watch still want to go, okay, then we need to know. That's fine.
[1:32:05] Because we're going to have to post it at a corner of the council, maybe present at that meeting. So as chairs,
[1:32:10] always look around and count. And if you see a corner of another governing body there,
[1:32:16] You know, call me 0.25.
[1:32:20] That's what they know what that means.
[1:32:22] So let's see where I leave off.
[1:32:25] All right, I think we're good.
[1:32:27] Talk about secret deliberations.
[1:32:28] I've already talked about walking forms.
[1:32:33] Mayor, you know, meeting.
[1:32:34] And this was an example out of out of Paris, Texas.
[1:32:37] This was case out of a Paris, Texas.
[1:32:39] That last bullet point where the mayor and the city attorney in the city.
[1:32:43] I mean, the city attorney break the law really.
[1:32:44] But the mayor in the city attorney would before the council meeting they called each council member in and have an discussion
[1:32:50] They go over each item with them and tell them how the vote or how they believe the others were going to vote on that item
[1:32:56] And it was interesting when this came out because at the city the mayor in the city the mayor and the city
[1:33:01] The mayor said, well, I just was following the advice of the city attorney the city says, well, the mayor made me do it
[1:33:06] The mayor was the one time out of vote not me
[1:33:09] so
[1:33:10] But that's not a good idea though, and it's okay to meet and discuss the agenda and get clarification on it.
[1:33:16] But you shouldn't be meeting and, you know, for purposes of truly come into it,
[1:33:21] getting the entire board of commission to come into the consensus.
[1:33:24] Social media, majority of scholars probably face book Twitter or Instagram.
[1:33:28] So, how many people have Facebook?
[1:33:31] Okay, how many people have Twitter?
[1:33:35] Answer your answer.
[1:33:35] How many of y'all talk about city business on your Facebook account?
[1:33:40] I've seen them.
[1:33:45] On your own, and so our social media are subject to public information.
[1:33:53] Are they subject to open meetings?
[1:33:55] And there's, we're just now starting to see a lot of the law developing in this area.
[1:34:00] If you have your own Facebook account, fine.
[1:34:02] All right.
[1:34:03] As I always tell elected officials, keeping elected officials,
[1:34:06] Facebook account separate from your own personal accounts. It's just easier. It's easier to keep all that information
[1:34:12] And what what was happening in a lot of cities is you had elected officials or boards and commission members who would have Facebook pages
[1:34:21] Our Facebook page and they would discuss city business or there's get this got their board business
[1:34:26] Okay, you can I mean there's a distinction you're discussing your board business that you have purview over
[1:34:32] Okay, and then they start discussing with citizens
[1:34:35] And then they start either the lead, they kick citizens off of their Facebook account, don't give them access.
[1:34:42] They delete posts.
[1:34:44] And it's interesting because Texas does Pennsylvania has a requirement that if you're elected official,
[1:34:50] you cannot basically, what's a call on Facebook.
[1:34:54] You gotta have it open, right?
[1:34:56] You can't de-friend.
[1:34:57] Is it different?
[1:34:58] Block?
[1:34:59] Un-de-friend?
[1:35:00] Un-friend?
[1:35:00] Something like that.
[1:35:01] You can't kick them out, right?
[1:35:02] You gotta have it open.
[1:35:04] There's a few other states like that and Texas Texas is way of dealing with it is it's just all subject to public information
[1:35:12] So another fictitious city had a council member and that council member was also part of this HOA
[1:35:21] And so he mixed his HOA business and the city business and he would get upset with some of the members and he would block him
[1:35:28] right, and so that those individuals who were being blocked, then put in public information
[1:35:35] requests for the printouts of those Facebook pages, because he was talking about them
[1:35:40] on their actions.
[1:35:42] So they want to printouts of those Facebook pages, and they're like, oh, he's like, oh,
[1:35:45] they don't have them deleted on the race.
[1:35:48] The AG wasn't real happy about that, and the AG is just that.
[1:35:51] It's another attorney with another opinion.
[1:35:53] But basically said, no, those are subject to retention.
[1:35:55] and it was related to the city business and subject to retention.
[1:35:59] And so essentially what we do if a public information
[1:36:02] request comes in with our council members,
[1:36:05] public officials, and they're asking for stuff off of your
[1:36:08] cell phones, your electronic devices, your computers.
[1:36:10] Well, put that request to you.
[1:36:12] We'll ask you to give that information to us.
[1:36:15] OK, we'll help you.
[1:36:16] If you need help getting that information off of your computers,
[1:36:18] your phones, wherever it is, we'll help you get that information off, right?
[1:36:22] Yes, we will help you.
[1:36:25] Having, and you say you don't have it,
[1:36:27] That's what we have to represent to the A.G.
[1:36:29] And they'll be an affidavid.
[1:36:31] If someone complains, they'll be an affidavid,
[1:36:34] that basically you sign and say that you're given all
[1:36:37] the information that you have.
[1:36:39] So bottom line is if you're on Facebook,
[1:36:41] you're on Twitter and you're discussing public businesses
[1:36:43] because of what it is that you're discussing
[1:36:45] and know that it is subject to public information,
[1:36:48] you would have to produce it for questions
[1:36:50] to produce it, so don't delete it.
[1:36:52] I can, 20 years ago, 10 years ago, 10 years ago, I used to stand up, I don't know how
[1:36:58] was Facebook going.
[1:37:03] First came out.
[1:37:04] When these first came out, I would go to these conferences and there be lawyers like, don't
[1:37:09] get on Facebook.
[1:37:10] Don't get on Twitter.
[1:37:11] Don't get on Twitter.
[1:37:12] As a lack of official shame on you, you shouldn't be doing it, but you won't get elected
[1:37:15] now if you're not out on these public platforms.
[1:37:17] There's an expectation that you're immediately responding to your constituents.
[1:37:22] So there's no way I can stand up and I get fired if I said, don't get on this and
[1:37:26] don't respond to text by saying, we know it's going to happen. Just be responsible about your
[1:37:30] responses and make sure you're keeping those. So we don't run into an issue of where they go,
[1:37:35] you know, they're gone. Joe, can I chime in real quick? Yeah, go ahead. I would strongly encourage everyone to
[1:37:43] to not engage in discussion about future agenda items on social media and just be factual about
[1:37:49] things that have already taken place. And so when people engage, that hasn't been voted on yet.
[1:37:54] can't speak to that, or if it's already taken place, the agenda items closed, you can present
[1:37:59] facts of how this went. That's kind of what I do personally and I recommend that.
[1:38:05] You know,
[1:38:09] the city's page of
[1:38:16] it. Let's say, let's say you have a board member who gets on there
[1:38:19] and says, hey, we've been in our meeting on purchasing seven red chairs. Come on out and vote.
[1:38:28] And then
[1:38:30] we're getting on their likes and another board member gets on their likes.
[1:38:33] And all of a sudden, you got to call them a board members that are liking the fact that we're going
[1:38:37] to have our agenda purchasing seven chairs. Do we just violate the other meetings?
[1:38:42] Absolutely. So, once when you do this or this, I will do no more guests. That's it.
[1:38:58] Session is already talking about the reason we go into executive sessions and the
[1:39:01] opening of the specific purposes, consulting with your attorney, deliberating regarding
[1:39:06] real property personnel matters, security, and economic development negotiations.
[1:39:16] Again, notice must be posted in the specific section of the government code.
[1:39:21] brief description of the description that's going to give away how's that great project names if you have any code names
[1:39:27] He's got a whole list of them back there
[1:39:29] Request your attorney's advice on an issue come an example for a closed meeting
[1:39:34] Not just to go into discuss something that you don't want to discuss in public
[1:39:39] And if you've been back in executive session with me, you know that I had many faces
[1:39:43] And one of those faces is okay, we need to save this for when we get out in the public
[1:39:48] say this deliberation we're back here. You're getting legal advice out of me. I have no
[1:39:52] one legal advice to give. Let's get your snacks and go, right? Let's go back. And, you
[1:39:58] know, and honestly, the counts as I work with our horror stories that I hear about, you
[1:40:05] know, folks that violate this. And there's no, there's no reason to it. General topics,
[1:40:12] litigation, and personal matters are insufficient to go back and talk about litigation, litigation
[1:40:16] has to be truly anticipated. Meaning you've got to let us say we are going to sue you.
[1:40:23] And this
[1:40:24] Yeah, I want to mention this for those of you that do have executive sessions, make sure you have a
[1:40:29] quorum.
[1:40:30] Once you convene you open the meeting, do your priority, your pledge, read or announce the
[1:40:34] reason that you're going into executive session, and then you go into executive session,
[1:40:39] usually tell the public, we'll be back out.
[1:40:41] Make sure you come back out from executive session to make an announcement whether there is any
[1:40:45] action that's going to be taken.
[1:40:48] No acts, you simply say, you know, item bubble, blah, blah, no action, necessary or or you
[1:40:53] what your action is. So you may see the council may go in on two and
[1:40:58] executive session for an economic development agreement on with a codename,
[1:41:02] like you know, if we come out and we may, you know, we make action to enter
[1:41:07] into an economic development agreement, a 380 agreement, you know, with whoever.
[1:41:16] H-E-B.
[1:41:25] Or we do have a certified agenda and if you are the chair, please take on the
[1:41:29] responsibility to make sure that you're in an executive session that
[1:41:32] there's a certified agenda back there with you, nothing worse than
[1:41:36] 10 years later, that's where the certified agendas are, you're like, oh, it attendance should be limited to persons necessary for the purpose.
[1:41:44] I'm an executive session, so you should have somebody back in an executive session who has no
[1:41:54] reason are going to be those that are members of
[1:42:07] obviously, if
[1:42:10] they're going to be, they'll
[1:42:16] be decisions should be made in public, no secret ballots, it is okay, when you're in close session, you can't vote and close.
[1:42:31] how do you feel about this and so you have a consensus or an understanding, but the voting
[1:42:36] you do out out of the public and don't disclose what you discussed in executive session.
[1:42:46] That's basically what an offense is if you disclose what's been discussed back there as part
[1:42:50] of what's on the certified agenda and then you can, and this is really, especially important
[1:42:54] for economic development folks, you can become liable, personally liable, print damage is
[1:42:58] is defamation. Most of the stress, reasonable attorney's fees, court costs, but individuals
[1:43:04] slandered, you know, as a result of something that you said. Public information, keep going.
[1:43:10] What is public information? Any information that's collected assembled maintained in the
[1:43:13] lower ordnance and connection with the transaction of city business by or for governmental body?
[1:43:18] I've already talked about
[1:43:21] your cell phones. We talked about your eotexamuses. We talked about
[1:43:25] if you're discussing city business on your Twitter accounts on your Facebook account. That's all deemed
[1:43:30] to be public information because it is information
[1:43:32] that is discussing city business provided.
[1:43:35] What you're discussing relates to your board
[1:43:37] of your commission, okay?
[1:43:38] If you send a text message to Chris
[1:43:41] and you say, hey, there's a tree branch hanging down
[1:43:44] on a fifth tree and you're getting on the economic development board.
[1:43:48] That is nothing to do with economic development.
[1:43:50] So what makes a request for that?
[1:43:51] Chris is gonna have it anyway,
[1:43:53] but that's not something that's within your purview.
[1:43:56] That's not related to what you have to keep.
[1:44:02] for the protection period.
[1:44:04] So we talked about public information,
[1:44:06] focus on the content.
[1:44:07] Just focus on the content, not the media through which
[1:44:09] you are sending it, OK?
[1:44:11] So if you send it, well, it's not
[1:44:13] worried about how you sent it, what you sent it through,
[1:44:15] what's the content of it?
[1:44:17] And that doesn't relate to city business.
[1:44:21] All right,
[1:44:23] and we are talking about the content.
[1:44:24] Communication between public officials
[1:44:26] on Facebook page or Twitter,
[1:44:28] account-considivallation-texts of a meetings act,
[1:44:30] answered yes, communication among a quantum account
[1:44:32] from outside of an open meetings with constitutive violation.
[1:44:37] Quick run down on social media.
[1:44:39] These are not ingrained in law.
[1:44:41] This is common sense stuff.
[1:44:44] Officers posting on any social media website
[1:44:46] viewed by the public, exercise a highest level
[1:44:49] of the accuracy, professionalism, respect,
[1:44:51] and concern for the reputation of peace of mind
[1:44:53] of individuals who may be affected by the post
[1:44:56] and the city's reputation and image.
[1:44:58] Any comments, opinions, or statements?
[1:45:00] Our subject to restrictions under the Texas Obamitians Act.
[1:45:03] All the law officers, I'm not comment on the same post.
[1:45:06] I was not to create a walking quorum of the City Council Board Commission.
[1:45:09] I've already hit on that.
[1:45:11] It's your thumbs up.
[1:45:13] We're freeing from posting your personal opinions on that.
[1:45:15] I was brought before the City Council Board of Commission, including, but not live and do.
[1:45:19] Personal opinions on pending matters.
[1:45:21] Wait. Deliverate it.
[1:45:23] Give them. You know, talk about it at the meeting.
[1:45:26] Decorations on how officer intends to vote on an issue.
[1:45:29] Engage their debating with citizens on items presented to the City Council Board of Commission and officers are you meant for a guest and item
[1:45:36] Because what happens is if you if you're a council member and you're already on there
[1:45:39] You're on a border commission and you're already on their discussing something that's been posted on your agenda
[1:45:43] And you're having that discussion, okay, and you're telling the public all these things are you violating the law?
[1:45:48] No, you're not but then you get another member on there, right and they start engaging you in the same thing
[1:45:54] Are you violating the law?
[1:45:55] No, you're not but then you go another member on it
[1:45:58] That's what you start having the problem.
[1:46:00] So it's hard to say, OK, we know this particular person on the board of commissions
[1:46:03] is going to do this every time.
[1:46:05] So the rest of us are never going to do it.
[1:46:07] The bottom line is we should all try to abide by this so that we're saving that deliberation
[1:46:11] or that debate before that meeting.
[1:46:13] Let the public come to the meeting or tune into the meeting to hear all those things.
[1:46:20] Do I post statements on behalf of the city, official statements come from the mayor,
[1:46:24] mayor programs, city manager, city attorney, or other persons designated by the city manager or mayor.
[1:46:28] And even for myself, I get calls all the time from the press, and I never make a statement
[1:46:34] unless I'm told to make a statement, and then I usually don't make a statement now.
[1:46:41] May tell your professionalism common currency on your post when you're commenting, commenting,
[1:46:46] commenting your official capacity.
[1:46:47] I don't care what you do.
[1:46:48] I don't have to look at capacity.
[1:46:50] But in your physical capacity, you're respectful, and then you'll be neutral to rent
[1:46:53] the interpretation that a decision has already been made in an open means, which is a violation
[1:46:58] know the open meetings act and that's what goes back where I was talking about before when
[1:47:01] you get a bunch of council members and there's been so many times I've been at a council
[1:47:04] meeting and my fictitious cities and somebody in the public sky I'm going to go oh
[1:47:09] council you're already debated this anyway so we know where it's going right you your official
[1:47:15] uh don't use your official position to post negative or drogatory for argument or boys
[1:47:20] personal opinions against an individual business or entity um that's again using your official position
[1:47:26] in your official position to do that.
[1:47:29] When you're posting online communications of a city related business, which is not posted
[1:47:33] as an approved representation of the city on the city's behalf, make it clear that you
[1:47:37] are speaking for yourself on behalf of yourself.
[1:47:41] Some council members put a disclaimer, this is just me, only me responsible, this is my opinion.
[1:47:48] Again, we are not in any way trying to take away your first amendment rights whatsoever, and
[1:47:52] we're seeing in the laws where they're following finally with social media and what are your first
[1:47:58] your first amendment rights? I can't tell you that you can't go post the sign for against the
[1:48:02] candidate, right? You don't know how many times I've gotten that question? We want to pass an
[1:48:07] ordinance that board members or council members can't post the sign in their front yard supporting
[1:48:11] the candidate, okay? No, we can't do that. You have your first amendment rights to do that.
[1:48:19] No questions, I'll be going to see you later.
[1:48:23] Joe, can I pick a question? Yes, they've never
[1:48:24] regarding some of the social media stuff.
[1:48:27] I just want to say that I'm about representation
[1:48:31] and we all are, as I said before,
[1:48:33] we all representatives of the city,
[1:48:36] and so what we say and how we say of matters,
[1:48:38] and we represent one another.
[1:48:40] And so you all, all of us have a direct access
[1:48:44] to the source of the issue.
[1:48:46] And so I would strongly encourage you,
[1:48:48] when you have an issue or you're upset about something
[1:48:50] or something's going on,
[1:48:52] You have direct access to myself and the rest of Council, so let's resolve it.
[1:48:57] There's no need to blast the city on social media if that makes sense.
[1:49:01] So please do me the common courtesy, the professional courtesy, have an professional courtesy
[1:49:07] to come to us and let us try to attempt to resolve the issue before it escalates if that makes sense.
[1:49:14] Okay.
[1:49:15] Thanks.
[1:49:18] It's the Italian.
[1:49:19] I mean, I guess I'll blame it on that.
[1:49:20] As we're getting close to the two-hour mark, because that was my goal.
[1:49:23] And there's a lot of information in there so please if you have any questions whatsoever, ask you can ask them now, ask me afterwards, ask your staff liaison and then, you know, dollar volunteers.
[1:49:35] So we appreciate what you do, I appreciate what you do, and please don't have, there's no stupid question.
[1:49:43] And thank you for saying away. This is our
[1:49:56] planning and zoning.
[1:49:58] Okay, Plating Zoning has final decision making on Plats.
[1:50:03] We've got the,
[1:50:08] yeah, there you go.
[1:50:09] Zoning Board of the Justice, which is a quasi, did they ever meet?
[1:50:13] Yes.
[1:50:15] Zoning Board of the Justice was basically quasi-judicial.
[1:50:17] They are final decision making.
[1:50:19] Variant yield when they grant variances or not.
[1:50:22] We've also got a few final decision making as a relates to our type A and our type B.
[1:50:28] They have final decision making authority as it relates to
[1:50:30] Certain purchases or certain contracts if they're under a certain amount of money
[1:50:34] Who might miss an airport board also has some final decision making authority as it relates
[1:50:38] They're spending authority come on anyone else. What I'm missing
[1:50:45] NDA. Yes, NDA too
[1:50:47] So there's some that those are some limited authority parts board has no final decision making authority
[1:50:55] Those we have out there with no library board has no final decision making authority
[1:50:59] The store could buy as a reward has no final decision making authority
[1:51:04] Sorry guys, so that's that answer question
[1:51:28] and I'll say that for those that are that
[1:51:30] because this is being recorded. What was the previous name?
[1:51:38] So I'm going to let you sit and sit and sit and sit and sit and sit in the cabin.
[1:51:41] You're taking it. You're done with your requirements.
[1:51:46] Anything else?
[1:51:48] Any pizza left?
[1:51:53] So can we clarify the next steps, each board, by themselves, one of their own training?
[1:52:00] Yes, and as mentioned earlier, the next step is this, as you'll see over the next month and a half,
[1:52:05] each board will be having their own specialized training as of now,
[1:52:10] or whatever takes either before your regular meeting or as a special meeting, as of relates to your board specifically.
[1:52:20] You have your policy on governance process.
[1:52:23] if you could sign them and give them to Walter on the way out.
[1:52:27] No kidding, do the city secretary.