Raymore City Council Report Paper

I did not see a whole lot of rebuttal happening in the meeting, but as soon as the members voted the audience could see the results on the screen. Often there were a few members who disagreed with the majority vote. The majority vote then decided what the decision for that topic would be. Even if a member who did not agree, and was trying to state their point, majority still ruled in the case.

The Board President called the meeting to order, and the board secretary did the roll call. The agenda was comprised of various reports and the secretary would go though each agenda item, beginning with the board secretary’s report, finance, personnel, listing of approvals for salaries that included names of staff/faculty, retirements, leave of absences, bills, travel, field trips, etc.

All of the city commissioners were present for the meeting, they include: Todd Neville, Nancy Sikes-Kline, Leanna Freeman, Mayor, Nancy Shaver, and Vice Mayor, Roxanne Horvath. At the meeting just about every type of group was represented, city residents of St. Augustine, business owners, special interested groups, in particular the Clean Up the City of St. Augustine initiative represented by Ed Salvin, and even a local Neighborhood Association represented by its president Susan Rathbone was present. Almost all of the individuals I mentioned attended the meeting to voice their belief that there should be an increase in the budget for improvement of local roads.

The meeting had an agenda that was published two days in advance per required by california state law. It was followed religiously by the council without deviation. They called the meeting to order and when everybody was quiet they started with the flag salute/presentation of the colors. They had the system of nominating ideas and seconding them to vote. They were speedy about it and there was no hesitation. However, out of the five city council members only three of the individuals so while the voted to vote they moved almost all of the votes to the next meeting when there would be more Council members.

During the city commission meeting votes were taken. The voting would occur verbally. All those in favor would have to say the word “I” right after they asked if they were in favor. It occurred often during the whole meeting. Most of the time there was one of the council members approving and second as well and they would move on to another subject right after they finished voting. There was one time where one of the commissioners neglected himself from saying any comments or being involved with the issue in any type of way. I did not understand what his reasons were for this

The board meeting was well run. The atmosphere was positive, supportive, inspiring and respectful. As you entered the boardroom, a table was set up with a sign-in sheet, agendas, handouts, and blue cards. The blue cards were for the public. If they desired to address the board concerning an agenda item, they must fill it out and submit it to the secretary.

The issue did not draw the same amount of comments during the citizens forum portion of the meeting.

The meeting started off with Public Comments which allowed the public to address the City Council and others on any issues or comments they needed to discuss. Each person got only three minutes to speak, that was their limit. Robert Dahl’s criteria, Effective Participation: all must vote and participate, was really inputted in this part of the meeting. The public really did participate in

At the meeting they addressed issues I had no idea about and discussed voting for proposed amendments to Georgia’s constitution. One possible amendment that was especially interesting was that of government takeover of public schools, keeping them and not giving them back to the community. As I looked on the sample ballot I noticed the use of diction that would confuse most people into voting yes to something that would ultimately be a bad decision. Had I not attended this meeting I personally would have probably voted yes to this amendment without knowing what it was I were agreeing

Following the portion of the meeting where the public could bring things to the table, the Council continued with its agenda. Multiple departments came and gave reports on what they were doing and their progress. Including

"This meeting is now in session," junior Mason Miller said so everybody could hear him in the midst of the large, table-filled room, surrounded by blue-and-gold banners. "Now, what is on the agenda for today? Let's get down to business.

On April 3rd, at 7:30 pm I went to a Town Hall meeting in Annville, PA. This representative town meeting was led by five individuals elected by the township voters, and are known as the “Township Commissioners”. These people are Thomas Embich, Henri Lively, Rex Moore (President), Jim Scott (Vice-President), Joann Zimmerman. The job of these elected board members is to be“responsible for the general governance of the Township with legislative, executive, and administrative powers to ensure sound fiscal management and secure the health, safety, and welfare of community residents.”(Administration) With this in mind, the board was able to successfully go through and cover all topics listed on the agenda in an organized fashion with

The meeting resolved the issue of theRuby’s proposal to build townhouses, but the status of the OSA’s expansion is still uncertain. They cleared the first hurdle by having the PC conditionally approve it, but they still need to appeal to the city council to change zoning laws. I learned how zoning laws impact every aspect of use of private property. This includes the proposed usage of each building and the impact all structures have on the flow of foot and car traffic. I also learned all about the good OSA are doing in trying to solve the problems of re-incarceration, homelessness, and drug addiction. I do not feel the meeting should be conducted in a significantly different way. Having STAFF present the proposal from a neutral perspective sets the facts down, so that the representatives of the program can address the concerns of STAFF while also telling the PC their vision and positive impacts of their program is a good order of

President Emy Roux called the meeting at 7:00pm by ringing the Key Club Bell. She led us to reciting the American, Texan, and Key Club pledge and finished the introduction with a short prayer for the success of our meeting and social.

I chose to attend a city council meeting for this assignment and was very surprised at what I witnessed. The city council served an important purpose and the meeting actually accomplished many important goals. Among the interesting things that I saw at the council meeting were the people who attended, the people who presented, the people who sat on the council, and the subjects that were being voted upon in the meeting.