Bluffton Common Council will livestream meetings, adds two members for 2024
By DAVE SCHULTZ
Changes are coming to Bluffton Common Council meetings, and the members of the city administration considered implementing those changes as 2023 turns into 2024.
Council member Chandler Gerber noted that the city will soon be mandated to livestream its public meetings, and he suggested that the council work toward making that happen immediately after the first of the year.
Another change is the addition of two more council members, raising the number from five to seven on the council, because the city has gone over 10,000 in population. State law mandates the number of members a town’s fiscal body is required to have, based on population, and Bluffton’s not at the seven-member threshold.
Another change will follow along with that: Where’s everybody going to sit? Mayor John Whicker said that Parlor City Cabinetry is working on two additional council desks that will match as much as possible the five already in place. There is also a three-person desk at the center of the Council Chambers on the second floor of City Hall for the city attorney, the mayor, and the clerk-treasurer.
There’s also a change in meeting times on the table, and each council meeting may be attended by a uniformed police officer.
As the discussion on the internet broadcasts, the new desks, and the seating arrangements proceeded Tuesday night, it was obvious that the matters were all interconnected.
As Whicker laid it out, when the desks for the new council members are delivered, a decision can be made as to how the desks can be configured for meetings. That will impact such things as camera angles and microphone placement that would make broadcasting council meetings over the internet possible.
With that in mind, Whicker asked the council members if they’d want any changes made to their desks. Some members suggested electrical outlets, and council member Rick Elwell, who runs an audio-visual company as his main occupation, said low-profile electrical wire protectors were available and could be installed to provide power to the desks.
Also discussed Tuesday was a change in the council’s meeting time to 5:30 p.m. The frequency of the meetings would continue to be the first and third Tuesdays of the month.
Whicker and council members Scott Mentzer and Josh Hunt serve on the Board of Public Works and Safety, which now meets at 4:30 p.m. each Tuesday. Often, but not always, there is a large gap in time between the end of the Board of Works meeting and the start of the council meetings. This past Tuesday night, the Board of Works meeting ended at 5:05 p.m.
At the council’s request, City Attorney Tony Crowell drew up a proposed ordinance to change the meeting time to 5:30 p.m. The change in the council’s starting time will mark the third change since most of the current members have been in office — from 7:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. to 6 p.m. and to 5:30 p.m.
While he was at it, Crowell said, he introduced an “Exhibit A” to the proposed ordinance on the time change which clarified matters of the city government’s organization. One phrase caught Mentzer’s attention and he made a simple statement about it: “Define boisterous.”
In Crowell’s proposed addendum to the ordinance, he inserted the following statement in a paragraph titled “Contempt and Disorder in Council Room:” It reads as follows:
“No person shall use violent or contemptuous language, behave in a disorderly, disrespectful or boisterous manner, or otherwise refuse to obey the orders of the mayor or presiding officer in the council room while the council is in session. The mayor or presiding officer may order the removal from the council room anyone who disturbs the decorum of a council meeting.”
Regarding “boisterous,” Crowell had a simple reply. “You know it when you see it,” he said.
Crowell made a point to note the difference between a public meeting and a public hearing. If the council meets in standard session, the public is invited to be seated and witness the proceedings but is technically not allowed to speak unless input is sought from a particular person. Having said that, spectators often raise their hands at Bluffton Common Council meetings and are allowed to speak — usually, to ask a question. When a public hearing is scheduled, the council is asking people to attend to speak to a particular issue.
The paragraph got some council members wondering — if a person is asked to leave a council meeting for being disorderly or “boisterous,” who effects that removal?
“I would feel better if law enforcement were present” at council meetings, Elwell said, and Gerber agreed. It was noted that Police Chief Kyle Randall, in his roles as a city department head, is often at council meetings although he was not present Tuesday night. Whicker said he would speak to Randall about having an officer present at council meetings.
No action was taken Tuesday night on any of the changes being considered, but they are likely to be discussed, approved if necessary, and implemented in the coming weeks.
daves@news-banner.com
