CHESAPEAKE
The clock read 3:35 a.m. by the time City Council finished a November meeting, rejecting an ethanol plant proposal.
Sure, it was an unusual meeting, with 100 speakers. It didn't get even get started until 9:50 p.m.
Council meetings routinely went past 10 p.m. last year, and occasionally stretched to midnight and beyond.
Mayor Alan Krasnoff doesn't want another late meeting like that. At a council mini-retreat Wednesday, Krasnoff suggested ways to speed things up. They included: setting a time to adjourn, calling to continue an item if the council gets bogged down in technical questions, and setting aside special nights to vote on big projects like the ethanol plant.
Another suggestion was to start a live public television show for council members to talk about the events they'd been to - a segment that can take up as much as 45 minutes at a meeting. T he show could go on 15 minutes before council meetings and allow the members to talk about whatever they'd like.
Something needs to be done, Krasnoff said.
"There comes a point where you just no longer are making decisions," he said. "You just want to get out."
The c ouncil generally meets the second, third and fourth Tuesday of each month. Some South Hampton Roads councils meet just as often. The Virginia Beach council, for example, meets formally the first four Tuesdays of each month.
Other councils have some meetings during the day. Chesapeake's meetings start at 6:30 p.m. to allow the public to get to City Hall. The night meetings seem to go later than most other councils' do, although many meetings this year are getting done earlier.
Councilman Rick West said running a smooth meeting is kind of like golf.
"It's an unwritten rule," West said. "You play 18 holes in four hours. It's everyone's responsibility to make that foursome go through in four hours."
"What if one of the players is holding the group up?" yelled Councilman Dwight Parker from across the room.
"The guy that's holding you up will not be invited to the next round," West replied.
The Wednesday meeting to discuss shortening meetings adjourned at 9:10 p.m., an hour and 10 minutes after it was scheduled to end.
Staff writers Dave Forster, Jen McCaffery, Harry Minium, and Richard Quinn contributed to this report.
Mike Saewitz, (757) 222-5207, mike.saewitz@pilotonline.com
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Pablo
They are not obligated to hear anyone out. They do so as a courtesy to us. That's the purpose of civic league representatives and petitions. If more citizens of Chesapeake did that, all thoughts would be heard and addressed by the City Council in a more timely manner and maybe, just maybe the City Council would vote in a more informed manner rather than stupidly because of their fatigue. Collectivism isn't always a bad thing. In this sense, it's only makes more sense. Just my opinion...
I say, let's take a vote on the new change
Hey Mayor, just do this the old fashion way, take a vote on it! You have the votes so get going. 5-4 reducing the hours, 5-4 for lowering taxes, 5-4 for stopping some of this crazy spending, 5-4 to stop the building, etc..etc..etc...
I was wondering when Pablo custudio's bashing would start !
Less than a week after the city's reorganization and the bashing has begun, just like during the campaign. There is nothing wrong with a little efficiency and organization to keep the council's wheels turning during a meeting. Every citizen's concerns can be presented without being literally heard. How? (a)Petitions with signatures, (b) a leader to speak for a group, and (c) a showing of support by applause or standing after a speaker has spoken with whom one or more is in agreement. Mayor Krasnoff's point is to try and minimize having multiple citizens echo the same words over and over once the dead horse has already been beaten far beyond death. I applaud Mayor Krasnoff for drawing from his 18+ years of experience to suggest means of improvement, efficiency and organization. Without such progress by our leaders, Pablo, you would be stuck in the 19th century riding on horseback while sh
Citizens should be heard!!
The ethanol plant, biodiesel plant and real estate taxes and the budget are very important issues with the citizens but it sounds like they don't want to hear from all the citizens who want to speak on the issues. If you don't want late nights, maybe you shouldn't be in office because it's part of the job at hand... to listen to the concerns of ALL the citizens of Chesapeake. Mayor Krasnoff and Councilman Rick West, it's only one night a week! I surely hope that Councilman West doesn't start bringing his golf clubs to council meetings. If you don't like the long meetings, maybe you made a wrong decision in running for office. The ole saying goes, "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen." If you have 100 citizens wanting to speak, then you are obligated to listen to 100 citizens. Just because you want to get tucked under the sheets with a bed time story, it doesn't excuse your obligations to
Absolutely!
First things first...I like this mayor already! If they can't manage to wrap things up at a decent hour, then how can they manage more difficult matters? Sometimes we think if we just explain things the right way, then people will see the light and come to our way of thinking. But some people will never change their minds, and the vote just needs to occur. I look forward to seeing another article about how early the meetings are ending in the future.