By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
During other regular business on Monday, the Delta Village Council passed several sweeping changes to how notifications are made regarding special meetings and other emergencies.
The rules previously required all vacancies on the council to be advertised in a newspaper, that applications submitted within seven days of the publication would be accepted.
Under the new rules, not only may the council advertise in any “media” of their choice, but it is made explicit that the council “shall have no obligation to advertise a vacancy, nor accept applications for said vacancy,” only doing so if a majority of the council agrees.
Rules on resignation by council members were also changed, previously only specifying that notification must be made to the mayor and council and that it must be voted on by the council, at which point it would take effect.
Now, council members are immediately suspended from all duties effective immediately upon submitting their resignation until the council has the chance to vote to accept the resignation. The same rules apply to mayoral resignations.
The chair was previously authorized to “recognize members and other persons who have signed in and wish to address council, prior to such members or persons taking the floor,” who were then given a five-minute time limit to speak.
Now, the rules state that the chair “shall not be required to allow non-members to address council,” and that “individuals shall not be permitted to address council prior to being recognized by the chair, who shall call their name and state the topic they wish to address.” It further reduces the time limit from five minutes to two.
With regard to ordinances passed on an emergency basis – without the full number of readings normally required – the rules state that “legislation passed as an emergency measure must have the reason stated for the emergency.”
However, the council voted to eliminate the continuation of the line, “and not in general terms, that such action is necessary for the peace, health, welfare, and safety of the village.”
The changes include the complete rewriting of the section of the rules previously called “Sunshine Law,” now called “Open Meetings.” Sunshine laws are laws which preserve the access of citizens to government meetings and records.
The first two statements were removed in their entirety, including “To establish a reasonable method for any person to determine the time and place of all regularly scheduled meetings and the time, place, and purpose of all special meetings” and “Making provisions for giving advance notice of special meetings to the news media that have requested notification.”
The first statement was replaced with a note that the council shall approve a schedule consistent with earlier rules, that the village clerk will post the meeting schedule in a public area of the administration building, on the village website, and on any applicable village social media pages.
“If the date, time, or location of a regular meeting is required to be changed, council may do so through action by motion, stating the date of the regular meeting being changed and the new date, time, and location of the regular meeting,” an addition reads.
The second was replaced with a notice that the agenda for any special meetings, committee meetings, or board meetings shall be posted at least 24 hours in advance.
However, later rules state that emergencies “requiring immediate action” do not require notice, and a line requiring special meetings not be held unless at least 24 hours notice had been provided was also removed.
“If an emergency meeting is required, effort should be made to post a public notice as soon as possible in advance of the meeting, however, there shall be no requirement to post a public notice in advance of an emergency meeting,” it continues.
References to some defunct media publications were removed, and the rules now state that meeting notices shall be posted at the clerk’s office in Memorial Hall, at “a local business designated by council,” and on the village website and social media pages.
“Notice shall also be emailed to any persons or media that have requested such notifications,” it says regarding media notification of special meetings.
Completely removed are lines requiring the village clerk to “post a statement of the time and place of special meetings no later than the second day preceding the day of the regular meeting of the council, zoning board, etc. in the designated posting places for the public to read,” to “post a statement of the time and place of any organizational meeting of the municipal body at least 24 hours before the time of such organizational meeting,” to “promptly post notice of the time and place of” qualified adjourned meetings, and “except in the case of emergency special meeting,” to “post a statement of the time, place, and purpose of special meetings in the designated posting places for the public to read” no later than 24 hours before the meeting.
The responsibilities of the development and government relations committee was changed to include consulting with the village administrator on public relations rather than pursuing public relations directly, and to require consultation with the village administrator on any newsletter or press release prior to issuing such publications to residents.
A section on the committee of the whole was also completely red lined. A change allowing council meeting agendas to be published on the Friday preceding the Monday meeting instead of on Thursdays was reversed before the rule changes were approved. It was the only item discussed during the meeting.
The new policies follow hot on the heels of changes to the rules regarding public wishing to address the council during council meetings.
Under those changes, anyone wishing to address the council during a meeting must first reach out directly to Village Administrator Andy Glenn to see if he can answer their question or get them to someone who can. If not, he can then ensure the person and the topic they wish to address are added to the council agenda.
No one from the public may address the council on a subject not on the agenda or if they have not signed up to speak.
