Dear Editor, During the past few months the subject of the
yellow speaker cards has come up during the City Council meetings
several times. The speaker cards are the means by which the public
may express opinions and participate in the process.
Mayor, council appear to have lost track of the details
Dear Editor,
During the past few months the subject of the yellow speaker cards has come up during the City Council meetings several times. The speaker cards are the means by which the public may express opinions and participate in the process. A seemingly simple item has shown itself to be unmanageable for the mayor. After an allegation of violation of the Brown Act in July, the city later responded that there had been no violation and that they were legally entitled to “require” speaker cards. However, the mayor also announced that they had now revised and reprinted the speaker cards to acknowledge that citizens were not required by law to supply their name and address. But the revised approach didn’t work well for the public: “It lacks common sense,” cried out one member of the public. Subsequent to the meeting, the mayor met with that Morgan Hill resident outside of the public meetings to discuss the speaker card issue, and on Sept. 22 announced that there was yet another change to the speaker card policy. If we weren’t confused before, we certainly confused now.
Over the years, the council has written policies and procedures for how meetings are to be conducted, one of which is CP-97-01. It was first created in 1997, and has gone through multiple revisions. CP-97-01, Article 6.3, states a specific procedure regarding the use of speaker cards. The current ‘guidelines’ or ‘policies’ (as there seems no acknowledgment that actual ‘rules’ exist), which have been announced by the mayor, violate some of the article’s provisions. The mayor, supported by staff, indicated that speaker cards are “required.” Yet, CP-97-01 states “each speaker is requested … ” The words ‘required’ and ‘requested’ are distinctly different, and in no way interchangeable, as the city and mayor may allude. Secondly, CP-97-01 Article 6.3 states, “The card shall contain the name and city of residence of the speaker … ” First of all the word ‘shall’ is an imperative, not an option. The speaker card and the mayor’s announced procedures, which make this item optional, conflict with the word ‘shall’ in the city’s written policies and procedures. Secondly, the speaker card requests the speaker’s street address and telephone number, which conflicts with the CP-97-01 requirement to provide name and “city of residence” only. So portions of the written policy are now in conflict with multiple changes that the mayor has imposed during the past few months. What was a clear and simple policy, has become as clear as mud.
Many of us enjoy sports, not only for the athletic aspect, but because of what is accomplished by the coaches as well. A winning strategy includes paying attention to detail. Games can be lost by one small error. We can lose this game of conducting the people’s business if we do not pay attention to detail.
We have some serious money at risk in the downtown development. I am concerned that we have people at City Hall controlling significant decisions that, if wrong, could financially sink the city.
I believe it is time for a change, and hopefully you agree. If they can’t get the details right, what makes us think they stand a chance with the larger details? Please keep this in mind on Nov. 2.
Rich Jensen, Morgan Hill
