01-22-13 Council Rules - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Rules Committee Ck South Bend Common Council The January 22, 2013 meeting of the Council Rules Committee was called to order by its Chairperson, Council President Derek D. Dieter at 4 p.m. in the Council Informal Meeting Room. Persons in attendance included: Council Members Karen L. White, Oliver Davis, Dr. David Varner, Valerie Schey, Tim Scott, and Derek D. Dieter; City Controller Mark Neal; Matt Sikora from the Mayor's Office and Kathleen Cekanski-Farrand, Council Attorney. Council President Dieter noted that the members of the Council Rules Committee included Dr. Varner, who is the Vice-Chairperson, Council Member Karen L. White, Council Member Dr. Fred Ferlic, and himself as Chairperson. He noted that Dr. Ferlic and Council Member Gavin Ferlic called to state that they would be unable to attend today's committee meeting. Council President Dieter stated that the meeting was called for the purpose of further developing communication strategies (Meeting Notice attached). He thanked Council Member White for taking the leadership role on this project, noting that she recently met with Mike Schmuhl, Chief of Staff. Council Member White noted that she had received feedback from Council Members Schey, Gavin Ferlic and Tim Scott since she sent out an email summarizing her meeting with Mr. Schmuhl. She noted that the overall goal is to enhance communications and transparency. Last year was a challenging year,however she is glad to be moving forward on this project. Council Vice-President Oliver Davis noted that he is glad that the Committee is meeting on this topic, since better communication at all levels will help resolve conflicts. He noted that many persons prefer to communicate face to face, and others on the Council prefer to communicate by email. By having ongoing discussions,hopefully all forms of communications will be embraced. Council Member White then continued the Committee discussions using the agenda (copy attached). Under Item III. "Proposed Levels of Communication" she highlighted examples of each of the six (6) levels listed. She stressed that open communication contributes to and is a component of good government; with benchmarks for each of the levels being needed. She noted that she had a meeting with Chief of Staff Mike Schmuhl. He agreed to send an email to all department & bureau heads to encourage them to make contact with the Standing Committee Chairpersons who oversee the subject mater area in which they work. She suggested that reaching out to neighborhood associations should be added to the list of levels of communication. Mr. Schmuhl was also going to ask for suggestions from department/bureau heads which would be aimed at improving communication. Council Member Schey suggested that the Council and Administration may want to consider developing "discussion threads". Dr. Varner suggested that such discussion threads should be grouped by topic titles. Council Member Schey also noted that she hopes to be more proactive rather than reactive this year; and would like to share her goals with the Council.