Council work sessions slated to resume, with some changes

It looks like City Council work sessions may be resuming soon. After three consecutive cancellations, there was some speculation that work sessions might be eliminated, or only utilized for necessary Council briefings. However, today, Council will vote on a proposal from City Manager T.C. Broadnax to restructure work sessions beginning in October.

Work sessions are typically the Tuesday before a regular Thursday Council meeting and provide an opportunity for members of the dais to hear departmental briefings or publicly discuss items on the Thursday agenda without voting. The recent cancellations seemed to be in response to a court ruling last month, when Judge Daniella Deseta Lyttle provided further clarification on an April ruling against the city in a lawsuit over violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act. The August clarification determined that public comment may not be necessary during briefings alone but should be required at work sessions if Council is discussing items slated for future votes or action.

In a memo on Sept. 20, Broadnax outlined an ordinance that was added to the addendum for today’s Council meeting agenda. The ordinance would repeal and replace the prior procedures for future Council meetings and work sessions, likely reinstating regular work sessions. The memo explained that, for work sessions beginning in October, “The public will be allowed to register to speak on briefings, preselected Council meeting agenda items, and Council Items of interest posted on the work session agenda.”

Under the new ordinance, speakers at work sessions, like at Council meetings, would be given a minimum time allotment of two minutes per item and they could donate their time to other speakers. Unlike Council meetings, which include a “General Public Communication” period, where up to 10 people can speak on items not listed on the agenda, public participation at work sessions would be limited to items on the work session agenda.

The proposed ordinance does not include significant changes to the rules for Council meetings, although it does expand expectations for conduct and decorum. If Council approves the city manager’s proposed changes today, the new rules would apply to the work session and Council meeting scheduled for Oct. 8 and 10, respectively.

Save Our Springs Alliance Executive Director Bill Bunch, who initiated the lawsuit, said he believed the proposed ordinance was beneficial, but it wasn’t addressing all of the issues that led to the suit: “It’s moving in the right direction, but there are still real shortfalls. … Legally, the proposed ordinance doesn’t address the problem that got the charter amendments thrown off the ballot … posting multiple items under a single numbered agenda item.” Ideally, Bunch said, the ordinance would be amended to prevent this.

Bunch also highlighted an issue attorney Bill Aleshire had identified with both the prior Council rules and the proposed changes, which was not something they had litigated: limiting public testimony on a postponed agenda item to the merits of the postponement, rather than on the item itself.

“That’s the legal side of it, but just on good public policy, someone is taking the time out of their day to speak on an issue. …They may not be able to come back later,” Bunch told the Austin Monitor.

Bunch added that these issues were symptoms of his broader concern about the mayor allowing time for dialogue on the dais and adequate public involvement in decisions that will impact Austinites: “That could be bare-bones Open Meetings Act compliance, but it’s (also) terribly disrespectful of members of the public who want to be heard and deserve to be responsibly considered.”

The ordinance has been pulled from the consent agenda, and Council will discuss it this afternoon after the executive session. Council Member Alison Alter told the Monitor she was looking forward to potentially resuming regular work sessions: “I think work sessions are valuable for helping us make better policy.”

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