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Transcript: Borough of Verona Supercommittee Meeting (Part 2) (2026-01-27)

Recording on YouTube · Official agenda

I'm hi
start.
>> Still 559.
>> Yeah.
double check.
See, I keep looking. Have to fix.
All right.
Good evening. It is now Tuesday, January
27th at 6 PM. At this time, I will
entertain a motion to come out of recess
from our Monday, January 26 at 7 PM
meeting.
>> I'll make a motion that we come out of
recess from
>> Second
>> January 26th at 7 p.m.
>> I have first by Councelor Carpenter. I
hear a second by Councelor Penza. Are
there any questions or comments?
>> All in favor?
I
>> Are there any opposed?
Motion carries. Welcome again. I hope
wherever you're tuning in from, you are
warm and safe. Um, at this time, uh, Mr.
Dailyaly, do you mind doing roll call?
>> Sure.
>> Councilman Sperling,
>> present.
>> Councilman Jalis,
>> present.
>> Councilwoman Carpenter,
>> present.
>> President Rezac,
>> present.
>> Councilman Long,
>> present.
>> Councilwoman Provenza,
>> present.
And I know that Mayor Rupro had said
he's on his way and that Councilwoman
Rodriguez is uh under the what?
>> Thank you.
>> Um
which would we like to open up with?
>> Sure. That'd be great. Um yeah, I
thought this might be a good opportunity
for us to share uh quickly here um
before we get started into our
presentation. Just a little bit of an
update. I think there's there's a lot of
folks that have some interest in um you
know kind of where we're at right now as
far as the winter maintenance goes. Um I
talked with AJ throughout the day today
and at the end of the day and as of
today we are 45% of the way through the
burrow right now as far as having our
streets plowed and having snow hauled
away making room for parking. Um, you
know, just to educate everyone, you
know, we it's been a while since we've
been in a situation like this where uh
we've had this many inches of snow and
we've had to deal with managing the
parking situation and the uh and so, you
know, when we have this type of
incident, um the snow actually needs to
be hauled away, not just plowed. um it's
a lot faster to just plow and push snow
than it is to actually have to go in
with a bucket and pick it up and load it
into a truck and haul it away. So um in
some in some instances right now where
we have nowhere else to plow the snow
to, we have to go in make large piles
and then haul this the snow away. So
that's what we're into right now. Um,
fortunately, we've we've requested
everyone to um observe our no on street
parking right now for Tuesday and
Wednesday. We're going to evaluate at
the end of the day tomorrow, you know,
what kind of headway the guys make. Um,
I have talked to them and they are in
agreement that they're willing to work
additional overtime this week uh in
order to accommodate and to continue to
make room for uh our on street parking.
So, um, that is going to be something
that's been authorized beginning
tomorrow, depending on how how far along
we get. Um, 45% right now isn't isn't
bad. We we'd like certainly uh, you
know, higher right now, but you figure
with yesterday being the post cleanup
day, uh, today is really the first day
that we are into being able to to really
get out and clean up the the streets so
and and to haul that snow away. So, um,
we're going to re-evaluate that tomorrow
at the end of the day to see if, you
know, if we need to extend, um, you
know, the no parking and if your road's
been cleared, of course, you can park,
right? So, um, but if there's if there's
still work to be done, we we would, you
know, appreciate if you could continue
to observe the no parking. Um,
additionally, um, we are working to
suspend ticketing right now while we are
performing this operation. know this is
a giant inconvenience for everyone and
you know we want to make sure that you
know we're doing our best to to clear
the roads and uh open up your parking
spots. So we also want you to know that
you know it's it's it's pretty much you
know where you can park right now is you
know I know a lot of folks are you know
you know having problems finding spots
to park but uh you know if you can work
with us um we are working to suspend
ticketing while we work through this
issue. you know, we we expect that, you
know, once we get ahead of this, we
should be in really good shape and
everybody can hopefully get back to
normal because I feel like the next
issue we're going to be dealing with is
trash right on Friday. Uh that's more
like that is already pushed today. Uh
but the quicker we can clear up, give
you your parking spots, give you a spot
to put your cans out for Saturday, um
that's going to be all the all the best.
Um, the last thing I wanted to touch on
was just that the salt supply right now,
you know, we are one of those
communities that has a very small
stockpile and our salt supply is
extremely low. Um, heading into the last
storm, we only had 15 tons. It typically
takes us 12 tons to do a complete round
of the burrow. So you can imagine we
were already operating in conservation
mode with uh the crews only spreading
salt on the the uh hills intersections
uh and where traction was needed. So uh
we still oper are operating in
conservation mode um we're expecting
that the barge delivery that arrived
this week um some of that salt is going
to start making its way to us. We have
six orders um that have been placed from
weeks and weeks ago uh that we've been
waiting on. But with the rivers having
froze over um you know throughout the
winter season that you know and it comes
up from Louisiana uh that has impacted
our uh getting delivery. So as of right
now, you know, just to kind of keep
everybody in the loop right now, this is
where we're at. Um you know, we'll
provide an update uh at the end of the
day tomorrow uh just to let everybody
know where we're at. So,
>> just to put a little bit of context, the
last time we had a storm like this was
16 years ago, and it actually uh dropped
18 inches of snow on Verona, and it took
weeks, I mean, weeks to clear the snow.
People were out there dig. It's an
inconvenience to get plowed in. U
believe me, um I dug out many people.
But, uh it it it's just it's it's a
thing. we can put a better plan in place
for when this happens again. Um
hopefully well another 16 years. Um
>> cross our fingers on that.
>> Um you know having people park on one
side of the street before the storm even
starts so then we can plow towards the
other side of the street. Then we don't
plow people's cars in and we push all
the all the stuff. Yes, it's going to go
onto your sidewalk, but at this point,
you don't need the sidewalks as much as
you just need a walkway to your house
because you walk out into the street. I
mean, that's where we're at. It's just
too much snow to even worry about. But,
hey, the sidewalks got covered with
nothing. Um, that's just where I was at.
Um, I said DPW did an awesome job. The
streets were cleared. They're clearing
them up now. I know it's a lot people
were complaining about they didn't get
to the street yet today, but I mean it's
a lot of streets and they're working a
lot of hours. There's three of them.
>> I mentioned we got dumped on again this
afternoon for a little bit.
>> I mean,
>> a lot of people were saying that we
might be getting some lake effect snow
come this weekend. Um I could uh it
could put more snow on the ground. Um we
just got to be patient. Um, let the guy,
like you said, let the guys do the job.
They're going to clear it out. We're
going to get it moved. We just, where
are we putting it right now, right?
>> Um,
>> well said, council long. I also want to
mention that it's nice to have you back
in person tonight.
>> Um, but yeah, it was and like I said, we
were out there then digging our cars
out, um, digging people out. This is
what we do as a community and it was
nice to see a lot of people out um,
shoveling people out.
>> So, to add on to what you share with us,
Mr. Bailey, I do want to acknowledge as
you did the hardship and um my fellow
counselors as well, experienced by our
residents and also the strength of our
community coming together, neighbors
checking in on one another, sharing
resources, bringing food down to our
staff who's working overtime and showing
once again what it means to be in a
place that truly looks out for each
other and makes us proud to be a
Veronian. I also want to recognize the
efforts of everyone, including everyone
on council, who went up above and beyond
stepping up in meaningful ways, often
behind the scenes to help our community
and support our staff. Um, I know Mr.
Long already mentioned helping to shovel
neighbors. I know several others of us
helped neighbors shovel get shoveled out
as well. Um, others who were unable to
do that secured bottled water for the
community in the event of prolonged
power outages, coordinated or donated
additional meals and snacks for our
employees working extended hours,
including DPW police, and also helping
pets find safety and shelter and again
checking in on each other. So, I want to
note that every one of us here uh as
well as the mayor also volunteered to
work in the staff warming center in the
event that that became necessary. So, I
just want to take a moment to express my
gratitude to serve alongside such a
caring, dedicated group of people who
truly embody embody servant leadership
and consistently demonstrates strong civ
civic leadership and action. Last and
not least though, the major praise
tonight, I think goes to our dedicated
staff, most notably DPW, along with the
police, fire, and EMS teams who work
tireless tirelessly through cold
conditions to keep all of us safe in our
community from clearing the roads and
responding to emergencies. Each one of
them did whatever was needed and our
community owes them a tremendous amount
of thanks. Can we give them a round of
applause?
>> With this storm emergency now behind us,
um, as councelor Long also alluded to,
we do remain open to strengthening our
response efforts. We welcome
constructive feedback during public
comment later this evening. We will will
be reviewing all the input that we
received for discussion at an upcoming
super committee workshop meeting. But in
this case, um, as counselor GMLA said, I
believe that everyone truly did their
best with the knowledge and information
that we had at hand, and our team all
worked incredibly hard. And so tonight,
I want to focus on the many positives
that emerged through this challenging
weekend. So, thank you. Um, without
further ado, we'll move on to our guest
speaker for tonight. Um, I believe that
is Melinda on Zoom. We're so glad you
could join us tonight.
>> Hello, everyone.
Um so Melinda is the Dormmont Bureau
assistant manager and she is going to be
sharing with us Dormmont super committee
structure how it's worked since its
implementation and whatever else she is
kind enough to share with us tonight as
we uh roll out this new structure. So
thank you again Melinda.
>> Yes thank you all for the opportunity to
be able to speak um and just kind of
share um our process. I have been the
assistant manager since March of 2024.
Um, and then part-time and then
full-time was in May of 2024. Um, so
almost two years. Very exciting. And
this super committee structure was
actually something that um, I inherited
from the previous assistant manager. Um
and what this is is it's trying to
really focus committees um focus on
different projects. So like many
communities we had multiple nights of
committees. Um so we have six committees
ourselves. We have finance and legal um
community affairs and recreation, public
safety and code enforcement, um property
supplies and public works. the um
sustainability
there's another one um planning
sustainability and diversity and then um
I'm missing one we do have one more and
then our executive committee and um with
the the build it's a business community
and development and so each of these
comm um committees are um headed by a
different council member and so we did
have used to have them all be separate
on separate nights throughout the month
since there would be up to three
different committee members per night.
Um, unfortunately that does take a lot
of time for council as well as staff for
staff to be able to attend um on top of
the um regular voting meetings as well
as um like a an agenda meeting. So all
in all, there used to be about eight
meetings a night a month um which if
you're also doing commissions and boards
um those tend to be a lot of nights and
um for staff as well as council. So in
20 at the end of 2023, this was
something that came about where the
super committee is basically putting all
of the committees together on one night.
Um cuz one of the things that was
noticed whenever they were doing
committees was people would meet because
they felt there was an expectation to
meet but there wasn't really a need to
meet. So sometimes they would be just
coming together to talk, but there
wasn't really any kind of action or
planning that was being done or it was
more of a social time, which is great,
but you're also using staff time as
well, um, which could be focused on
other ways. So one of the things
structures that they built to help
reduce the amount of time that everyone
is together, but be more focused on
their time, they came up with this super
committee structure. and the way it was
put um set for these last two years um
we kind of did make some changes along
the way. It wasn't anything very
structured um in that it wasn't very
rigid. So you didn't we didn't have to
sit for a certain way just as um the
main thing for us was that the agenda is
very similar to like any kind of
workshop or anything. The agendas be
posted ahead of time and that there's
still committee chairs and committees
that are focused on their different
unique areas. Um, so the way it had been
set up for the first two years, these
last couple because we had just had um
change in leadership and so we're being
a little more focused and she's changing
up kind of how they're set up. Um, but
the way it was was the first
so our voting meeting is the first
Monday of each month. So the prior two
Mondays of the previous month, usually
the third and fourth, but could be the
fourth and fifth, we would have our
super committee meetings as well as an
agenda meeting attached to the super
committee just to review what had been
already um discussed to be passed at the
next week. And what that is is then each
of the committees would then bring their
discussion topics or motions,
ordinances, resolutions, proclamations,
whatever kind of discussion pieces to
the whole committee. And this also gave
a chance for all of council to kind of
discuss and be part of the conversation.
So because of that um it allowed them to
not have to be repeating themselves
every time. Um or there if there's
discussion then the discussion doesn't
come back to the same point just because
someone else who hadn't heard it their
first time or um it really reduced a lot
of staff time and and it made the focus
it made it a lot more focused for this
discussion. So, this allowed our um
allowed us to do a lot of work in the
last few years. Um we were able to our
comprehensive plan was already part of
this, but we were able to pass that and
you probably heard that we had to shut
down our playgrounds, but then we were
able to quickly build another playground
within a few months. Um we've passed
some ordinances and resolutions as many
other um communities, but definitely
we've done a lot of work in this short
amount of time. Um, I think it does has
helped with with being more focused
about um allowing letting staff and and
council know and the and the community
know that like there are specific times
that we're going to discuss these
issues. Um, so um that's kind of how it
was in the first couple years. Now this
this year has been a little bit even
more focused. One of the challenges that
we had was because we divided it by
three and three each night. the second
week people um committees felt that they
weren't getting as much time sometimes
because the first week those three
committees could bleed over if they had
longer discussions that they felt they
wanted another week to be able to
discuss. So, we're currently trying a
new way of doing it where the first
super committee meeting of the month is
just to go over kind of like an agenda
review, but it's just any kind of
motions or anything that is ready to go
on the agenda um that may have already
been previously discussed in prior times
or if there's like contracts or work
authorizations or anything that's
already um set. So, for example, we have
like a contract for um a timing company
for our Dormmont dash, our race in
September. We had a lot of work
authorizations from gateway engineers um
our engineers just wanting to work on
the the different pieces. Um we have uh
the burough manager and my contract. So,
some of these things had already been
previously discussed or decided. And so,
in the first meeting, it was went very
quickly, which was nice. um we were able
to kind of just like go through what the
each of the motions were um and if there
was any discussion needed on those
specifically. Then this last one that we
just had yesterday which is was a super
committee and agenda review. This one
had more like presentations,
discussions, kind of more of that
workshop um time to be able to discuss
things as well as reviewing the agenda
to make sure that everything's on there
that needs to be. Um it was long but it
wasn't actually that much longer than it
had been previously. So it's about a
2-hour meeting is what it would become.
Um but I think it because it was
definitely very much focused. Um we were
able to um cut down a lot of the extra
discussions and a lot of it does come
from the um council president who's
guiding this conversation. And so
they're the ones who have to really
watch the clock and make sure that we're
moving things along. So that way then
we're not um holding up or if there
might be some times where we have to
like wait till another week or if we
need to get more information. So I think
it's been a really helpful way of
presenting information and providing
opportunity for people to speak while
also making it very focused. Um as
someone who came into it, it's been nice
that I don't have to work late eight
times a week or eight times a month. Um,
so and it's more reduced down to uh
those three main nights plus boards and
commissions. But if you guys have any
questions at all, I am also happy to
share kind of our agendas and how we set
them up and what they're um how they're
structured and everything. Um and also
if anyone has any questions on the
structure itself.
>> Thank you Melinda. It sounds like it's
been overall pretty positive in
Dormmont. Um, I guess one technical
question. I forgive me if I asked you
this previously, but I was curious how
often you uh allow your committees to
evolve with the changing needs of your
community?
Like how often do you update the titles
or maybe add one or remove one entirely?
>> That's a great question. Um, we have not
had to make changes, I think, um,
recently in the last couple years, but
that doesn't mean that they won't make
changes if needed. Um, I think one of
the things that's been a little hard or
at least some conversation is where do
some things like whi which projects line
which with which committees. So like
finance and legal has been our
quoteunquote dumping ground sometimes
because it's like our contracts and our
HR and our personnel and only financial
things when some of those contracts
might be like I mentioned the Door Dash
or Dor uh the Dormmont dash um running
contract that's more of like a
recreational contract. It doesn't have
to be under finance and legal. So, I
think maybe not so much the topics of
the committees themselves, but more so
just what does each of the committees
focus on or what are their what are
their goals? And then when you're
looking at different items or um motions
or different things, how which committee
would this be best fit? Or maybe it
might be that you might have to put it
with another committee because this
other one is so focused on like a larger
project. Um, for example, we have a
wreck plan, a recreation plan that we
need to do this year. Um, we were able
to get a grant a few years ago and we
finished our comprehensive plan. We've
had a parks plan. We've had a lot of
plans. So, we are um that instead of
being under like our planning committee,
we we've put it under more of our
recreation committee since it's more
focused on wreck. But, I think a lot of
it's just a decision that council
president or other council members can
make.
>> Thank you. That's really interesting
because it it does get very tricky
sometimes because there can be so much
overlap between the committees. So, who
truly owns one item over another? Um, I
think that will be an interesting
challenge to work through.
>> Other questions or comments, from
council?
>> Yeah, I have one. I may have also asked
this before, Melinda,
>> but I just was curious when you first
started, like your very first beginnings
of this, did you always have it split in
two or did you start it with just one
meeting and then found out you needed to
actually have two?
>> So, that was um one of the things that
they talked about was having it all on
one meeting and then the second would
just be that agenda review. But I think
they found that having six committees at
one night seemed just like a lot. Um,
and so that's when they split it to the
three and three on each night with an
agenda review at the end. And that was
one of the things that I re had to
restructure
late late 24 early 25 was the way that
our I
would just put the motions at the bottom
of the super committee agenda itself
instead of like a voting meeting agenda
attachment. And so because I
restructured it to be rather than like
us go by line by line for each of the
motions into one agenda, it seemed like
we didn't have to like discuss every
single item again, rather than it's
rather just look at the agenda itself
and be like, okay, is there anything on
there that's missing or something that
needs to be added um for that? And it's
usually more the action items. consent.
The consent agenda part may have some
items already added onto it, but
sometimes those get added on the week
before.
>> How long did it take till you do you had
to have two super committees instead of
just one?
>> I think it took like about a couple
months. Um I think it depended also on
how much work council wanted to do. So,
um, our council is very excited about a
lot of different projects and loves to
work on things to make it better for the
community and, um, found that like
whenever we were doing a lot of these
projects, it just became a a longer and
longer nights and and a lot of, um, all
of our council actually are working
professionals. um about
I would say almost more than half have
like young children um under the like in
elementary school still. So they're are
working professionals, they have
families and they have other lives
outside of this. So, they really wanted
to focus their um their
um discussions when they were coming
together to just make sure that they um
because they're giving up time with
their own families or their own um
personal lives, they want to make sure
that they are um providing the best
value for the community.
>> Great. Thank you. That was my question.
>> You're welcome.
>> Other questions or comments?
Well, Melinda, we just want to thank you
again for your time. I'm sending an
email to Council Nel CC you so everyone
has your contact information, I should
just say when things and questions come
up. Um, I also included a link to
Burough the Dormmont Bureau's website
that lists all the different committees
that Melinda touched on if you care to
peruse them and their descriptions for
future discussion.
>> Do you guys have your recorded meetings
online for people to look at from the
past?
>> We do. Yes. So, you are welcome to come
and see all of them online. Um, I need
to go and check to make sure the most
recent ones have been updated since it's
still me that's doing them. So, I will
go look on those. But yes, the if you
were to go to our government page um and
then there's like meetings and agenda
items. You can go down and um there is a
separate section that says super
committee if you want that specific one.
And then burough council is our voting
committees. typically uh how long would
you say your your average uh super
committee meeting would be
>> on that?
>> So in last year it had been about I
would say twoish hours each each night
just because there was a lot of
discussion um this this month because it
was a little bit more focused. The first
one that was just that kind of agenda
review of already motions that were done
that was about 20 minutes and then the
yesterday's meeting which had a lot more
discussion um was just about two and a
half hours maybe 2 hours and 15 minutes.
So we actually reduced it down by
focusing it. Um which has been really
helpful especially because sometimes the
commit like the when we had it split
between the two
some of the things that were being
brought up were just those hey we have
work authorizations or there's this
contract we've already talked about we
are buying a vehicle and this is the
purchase for the vehicle. So it's not
really a full discussion item but still
something for council to be aware of.
So, I think this new setup is going to
be a little bit even more focused and
definitely provide more of an
opportunity of of um really diving deep
into specific things but not having to
like go over every single item multiple
times.
>> Right.
>> Very efficient.
>> Yes. More efficient. Exactly.
>> So, if we combined the two meetings
though approximately two hours each,
that'd be a 4hour meeting.
>> Right. if I think part of it too it can
be if you f if it's a little bit more
focused. Um I think it just depends on
how you structure it for some of that
stuff. So if you already have motions
that are like set to go and ready that
are just like I had mentioned like if
you're purchasing a vehicle or if you're
y'all have an executive session have
already discussed through um contracts
and so this is just that this is the
motion for that contract. um then that
could be something where you review
those pieces and then if you have more
of a discussion or presentations those
can be given a little more time.
>> Great.
>> Fantastic.
>> Let's thank Melinda again. Thank you
Melinda.
>> Thank you.
>> All right, but we won't be offended if
you hop off. I know you
>> actually just I just got a call from our
public works director, so I got to call
him back about the snow, too.
>> Take care, Melinda. Thank you again.
Thanks.
>> Bye.
>> Thanks for your patience.
>> No, no problem. Thank you.
>> Without further ado, we will transition
to our HR consultant, Tracy Hol. For
those of you who were with us when we
first began this meeting on January
20th, 2026 at 6 p.m. You will remember
that Tracy guided us through a series of
exercises.
The one was a code of conduct drafting
exercise and the second was a vision and
goal setting exercise on council. Um so
Tracy um I'll let you take it away from
here. I know you have a time constraint.
>> No, thank you. Yeah, thank you Trish. I
mean Jason, am I sharing because I did
get the most updated versions of the
code of conduct expectations and I also
got the most updated version of the
priorities. So I didn't know if you
wanted me to share it or you wanted to
share it. It's entirely up to you.
>> Sure. I'll bring it up and you just tell
me when to advance the slides here.
>> Okay. Well, I would say share the code
of conduct expectations word document
first if that's okay. I mean, I have it
up. If you want me to share it, it's
fine.
>> Yeah, you could. That'd be great.
>> Yeah. Yeah. No worries. Just give me a
minute. I'm like dying because my
husband is actually sick. He's actually
like had ended up going to the hospital
and they admitted him for the flu even
though he had a flu shot. And I feel
like I'm getting sick, too. So, this is
actually better for me not to be there.
So, I'm just like,
>> "No, it's just it's crazy everybody."
And then I like I reached out to people
that I have like plans with this weekend
and everyone's like, "We have we have so
much going on. Like, everyone's sick."
So, I hope you guys are like I see
Kelly's sick. So, I hope you guys just,
you know, stay stay healthy, eat your
vitamin C, that type of thing. So, can
you see um my document?
Yeah. Yeah.
>> Okay. All right. Perfect. So, first of
all, I want to thank um Trish, the rest
of council, um everyone, and I know
Jason, you got you got delayed when you
were traveling, um for allowing me to
work with you on this exercise. I
thought it was so much fun. Um and I
thought we really really did something
very different. We got some comments
from the public that they were very
happy with what they did. They we did
they never seen they've never seen
anything like it. and it was just a good
exercise overall. So, I want to thank
you for allowing me to be part of it
because I think it's um something that
probably every new council should be
doing. And I know Jason, it was your
idea initially with the code of conduct
as well as the um strategic planning
session. So, I think we accomplished a
lot. Um I don't know how everyone else
feels, but I think we did. So,
um but the this is what we came up with
with the expectations of council. So we
really came up with like what we had is
at council you know talked about in
different groups um what they wanted you
know what they expected from each other
what they expected from public and then
we did add a couple different things to
it in regards to the um interactions in
public spaces as well as virtual
attendance that type of thing because we
think that again as council members it's
very important um for them to obviously
be present be there with the public. Um,
be respectful, that type of thing. So, I
don't know, Trish, if you want me to go
over this document in detail or if it's
something that, you know, you want to
finalize with counsel. I'm not sure how
you tell me what you what your vision
is.
>> Uh, yes. Would you go through it quickly
for us and then I don't know if we want
to share now or wait until Mr. Daly does
a second case study? Probably wait till
we hear the second one before we
discuss.
>> Okay. Yeah. Sure. Yeah. So, so the
expectations of council. So, these were
things again they there these were
prompted questions. So, I left the
comments in here with the prompted
questions and everything like that, but
these were things that came up and they
decided to do. So, listen and do not
interrupt. Be on time and prepared
regularly. Attend meetings in person via
Zoom and extenduating circumstances. Be
professional, respectful. Do not use
profanity or swear. Do not personally
attack another council member. And if
needed, take a recess or break. Um, so
again, if things get heated, just be
like, you know, break. Um, and it and we
really talked about, you know, it's okay
to disagree, but to do so respectfully
and politely because nobody is going to
agree on everything. Um, and that is the
biggest thing. Like again, that's
because everybody is passionate about
your community. Everybody wants to do
what, you know, the the best thing for
their community and there's different
there's different views to that and
that's fine. And then for the
interactions with the public um because
obviously we wanted to make sure that
they were you know kind, sensitive and
caring. Um we wanted to also make sure
that people dressed appropriately for
the meetings and business casual attire.
You know pay attention, make eye
contact. Um act with integrity and
transparency. Do not make faces. Roll
eyes. Sigh or dismiss comments. I mean,
I know some of this is elementary, but
again, it is something that I again is
just an expectation of council. Remain
neutral. Ensure that there's follow-up
by management. Attend public events for
visibility in the community. And if
council member or the mayor has a
meeting with a resident, please share
the contacts and information with others
as necessary. And John, I mean, you were
very vulnerable in our session, so I'm
going to call you out, but I appreciated
your your your vulnerability and sharing
the fact that you realized, you know,
when you were on council last year that
you did meet with a resident and you
didn't share it with the rest of council
and it actually bothered some people.
So, I think that was a really really
good call out and context for everyone
to understand in that regard.
And then criticism should be directed as
council as a whole not individual
members and should include one to two
constructive suggestions. So instead of
like saying you know criticizing
somebody being like okay well could we
do this or could should we do this or
something that's more positive in nature
and more helpful rather than critical if
that makes sense. And then interactions
in public spaces including social media.
So I mean I've and again I've seen the
Verona social media pages. I've seen a
lot of different things. I did see
recently. So, Jason, I appreciated your
insight on the public works um and
everything that's going on because every
community is really having a hard time.
I just I just found out I was texting
and I mean there's so many communities
that are running out of salt um or they
have run out especially like Arnold, New
Kensington over that way. So, you know,
maintaining a positive professional tone
in public communications is critical.
not publicly disparaging the bureau
staff or fellow council members. Avoid
posting personal opinions that could be
interpreted as an official burrow
position. Use social media to inform,
uplift, and support, not to debate and
criticize. Direct concerns or issues
through appropriate internal channels
rather than public platforms. And
remember that council members represent
the burough at all times in public
forums. And this is, I think, critical
because I, again, you know me, I have a
history of being on counsel, but I
always very much like knew that people
were watching me no matter where I went.
And that's not a bad thing. It actually
help because you're held to a higher
standard because you are a public
official. And then the virtual
attendance, um, we talked a lot about
this at the meeting. Um, just if people
did not watch it, watch the last meeting
or they weren't able to make it. Um, but
we talked a lot about, you know, really
trying to be present and it's going to
be the exception, not the norm. When
used, um, council members should
definitely appear on clear video, use
headphones to ensure audio quality, and
if the standards cannot be met, virtual
attendance should not be used. So, those
were the things that we came up with as
far as expectations.
Um, Jason, council, Trish, council, I
will defer to you if you want to say
anything else about this document.
I think not at this time. Um, to
conserve your time, Tracy, would you
walk us through the goals and visions
exercise summary?
>> I absolutely will. So, give me one more
second.
>> Thank you.
>> Absolutely. I will pull it up.
>> And it's helpful to have your insight um
like Mr. Dies as well, just from working
in different places and similar
challenges that are experienced. Yeah.
So, first of all, I mean, I think that
this was an amazing exercise that
council did. I um think that it was
really, and again, I've been on council,
we've talked about council, we've talked
in the h, you know, the HR meetings and
stuff like that. Everybody does have
competing priorities. So, everybody
really wants to do so much for their
community. But the problem is when you
have and the burough manager knows this,
Jason knows this and the new bureau
manager will know this, but the problem
is when you have too many competing
priorities,
everything gets lost in the shuffle and
you don't focus on certain things. So
this exercise I thought was amazing um
from that that perspective because we
actually really focused in on different
things. So tell me I'm trying to think
what screen you're seeing. Bear with me.
Are you seeing the one that is
>> which one? I'm sorry.
>> You're Are you seeing the one that's
like actually like the PowerPoint itself
or you seeing the the one that's still
in the
version?
>> Yeah, the
edit mode.
>> All right, let me just share I'm gonna
share another screen, so bear with me.
All right. Okay, so we're going to go
through priorities.
Perfect.
>> Okay. All right. So, we talked about the
short. So, what we did in the exercise,
just to give everybody context, is we
did considered like short term, which
was 3 to 6 months, long-term, which was
6 to 12 months, and then um or I'm
sorry, midterm, which was 6 to 12
months, and then long-term, which was um
12 to 18 months. Uh, so these were the
short-term goals that the council came
up with. And if you notice, I did put
some highlights in here because there
was a lot of things that were kind of
reoccurring. Like it could be a
short-term goal, it could be a midterm
goal, it could be a long-term goal. It
would it's almost like a continuous
goal. Um but these were some of the
things that the police grant application
the citizens advisory board hire the
burough manager um initiate talks with
Oakmont and to give um you know John I
know you you're the one who initially
brought that up. There were a lot of
people um actually voted on that because
it was like you know it is a a burrow
that's right next to you like you should
be doing things and sharing different
things and working together. So um
address address blight in the community
um and implement the super committee
structure. So those were the priority
ones and then these were the
supplemental ones. So I'm not going to
read all of these off in detail, but
there was a lot of things that came up
as far as like supplemental people
really wanted to do. Um we haven't put
them on I called it a parking lot. So we
haven't put it on a parking lot yet
because I figure council still needs to
digest this. They still need to review
it. They still need to kind of if they
wanted to tweak it. I didn't want to be
like, "Okay, you know, again," and I
know Trish, you didn't want to be We're
going to do this like you you you really
wanted to give people the opportunity to
kind of finally review this and and
continue the discussions on it. So, um
but again, I highlighted cameras because
cameras came came up in so many
different things. Um and you know,
increase the parking, provide council
updates in a community newsletter, those
type of things.
and then the midterm. So, here we go
again. The the cameras, the plate, um
they came up as priorities um in the
midterm. So, we could clearly see a
pattern here, you know, address
unnecessary spending, update
codification, and eco 360. I was
laughing because I was like I was like,
did I get that right, Trish? Because I
wasn't sure what all we were talking
about. So,
>> yeah, swings in the park. Um this was
actually Curtis's idea, which I
absolutely loved. Um, but he talked
about like, you know, and again, I I
don't want to put words in your mouth,
Curtis, but like he talked about the
autistic children and, you know, and
even like the dis potentially dis
disabled children and really having the
equipment to be for them to be able to
use in the parks and um fixing the
sidewalks, um, continued development,
analysis of long-term financial goals,
and training of staff. So, and I'm
sorry, I'm I know I'm going fast, so I
apologize. I'll pause right there. Does
anybody want to add anything or say
anything about what I've covered thus
far?
>> I'll just say that I think I'm the one
who put the cameras on two different
places. And the reason I did that is
because I know we will have some money
sooner to do some cameras and then we'll
have to wait for other money to do other
cameras. So, I didn't get specific in
what cameras. I don't really know, but I
just know that it's going to be an
ongoing thing, but hopefully a year from
now, we'll have c all the cameras that
we're looking to get.
>> Yeah. Okay. All right. Thank you.
And then these were the supplemental
ones. So, obviously the capital plan is
definitely something that's going to be
worked on though. The grants um you
know, and the grants came up grants came
up a lot. So, I think it's very
important that, you know, grants be
reviewed and everything like that. Um,
because I think that there's a lot of
grants out there according to
conversations I've had with our state
rep, things like that. So, I definitely
think that these are supplemental. And
again, Trish, I think for you and the
council, like for your discussions, like
do you want is there one you might want
to swap out? or one you just don't want
to think that you can accomplish for
midterm, but you want to swap out like,
you know, you know, all the applications
for grants. And the applications for
grants, quite honestly, is an ongoing um
another one that's ongoing that you're
going to be continuously working on.
And then the long-term, these were the
priority ones that you came up with
again, and this is where just to give
again people the idea like we had them
vote. So, the ones that I put as the
priority ones, the ones that I put as
the most important were the ones that
had more votes um from all of council
because everybody had an opportunity to
say what they wanted to accomplish. So,
this was like the multi-year capital
funding framework, the riverfront
development, start a paving plan,
comprehensive plan, um apply main street
matter funding, and then a social worker
for the police.
And then these were some of the
supplemental ones. Um the you know
obviously the HR management system for
compliance um twin buroughs forum
partnering with the school district for
safe routes to school programs
evaluating police pension fund um moving
the salt pal and then implementing fees
for LLC's that buy properties in the
burrow. So any any comments from
council? Anyone want to elaborate on any
of those between the priority ones or
the other ones?
I just think it's a great summary. It
It's really helpful how you put it
together so that it made some sense of a
bunch of colored posters
now in something we could print out on a
printer.
>> Yeah.
>> So, thank you.
>> No, it was fun. It was fun. So I did
create this slide with recurring themes
because I do think that that's very
important especially for all of you as
council members. This is all what your
priorities are. This is all what you
want to focus on. So I think that um it
was clear it came through clear in all
the the exercise that we did. So, I just
put that slide together for you. And
then I put this slide as a placeholder
because I do think as you continue
discussions as council members, you
might want to be like, you know, hey,
let's add this to supplemental
priorities to be reviewed in the future.
Let's look at, you know, this in the
future or something like that. So, even
though you know you can't accomplish it
in the next 18 months, you will have a
placeholder for it and you'll be able to
do so. Um, and you'll be able to be
like, okay, wait, we talked about this.
This is going to be on our goals for two
years or this is going to be on our
capital plan or this is going to be
somewhere. So, it really helps you focus
on what you're going to accomplish.
And then I just put a next steps summary
in here. So, discuss and review
priorities identified, prioritize and
move around as needed. Um, focus on up
to three categories at least for the
short term, midterm, and long term. And
then I think that we and I I'm willing
to help with it and every and Jason I'm
sure you're willing to help it but like
really develop some clear timelines for
identified priorities with clear
deliverable dates and again if we don't
if a date gets moved or it gets miss
like but again I think that's very very
important um and I think it's very
important from a bureau management
perspective to say and Jason I don't
know if you want to weigh in on this but
to say like okay well these are our
priorities for the next 12 months we
can't add this in or we can't put the
like because we already have these
priorities identified and we're going to
be delivering on them by um you know
June 1st or something of that nature.
>> Wow.
>> Yeah, that's it. I mean any questions,
other comments, anything like that?
>> Thank you, Tracy. you hit on some things
that I've been wrestling with, which one
is that some things in the 12 to 18
months category are clearly multi-year
projects such as a comprehensive plan or
river
>> riverfront development. Thank you. Um so
that's a challenge, but I think it makes
sense to keep it there for now. Perhaps
um we can break it down into further
Yeah. specific action items that are
dable within that time frame. The other
is that we have some items in the
supplemental categories that are
actively happening such as our
multimmoal transportation fund grants
for improvements most notably on Arch
Street and coming soon Jones Street. So
I don't know what to do with that
because they're happening, right? So we
have to find a way to um to fit those in
somehow. Um but uh overall it's a
challenge that I think we're all looking
forward to embracing. Um this is very
good, very positive. Thank you so much
for your help and insight. I will add
Tracy I didn't add anything to your next
step slide but um I will add it now that
we are actually so insert step um using
these priorities to inform our council
committees and we're aiming to share a
draft out with everyone at our
interpersonal exercise scheduled for
Saturday which is the DISC assessment
with Tracy. Um from that then we will
resume what Tracy has laid out in time
of each committee helping to self-
select the priorities and then we'll
revisit as a council. So that's the plan
tenative as it stands.
Welcome feedback throughout this process
since it is new to us. Um I don't want
to talk over anyone. Does anyone else
have questions or comments on the
priorities and visions exercise?
just started it'll be helped I think to
consolidate
and as we go through the process it's
how we can focus instead of just going
all over the place you know
>> my opinion
>> great point I may or may not have said
this publicly but our ultimate goal is
to have a version of this that is posted
within this chamber as well as the code
of conduct that we can refer to
throughout the year as new things come
up we'll have to reassess the priorities
that we are selecting right now. So,
>> and put it on the website eventually.
I think maybe Sylvia will Silia, did you
want to say something?
>> No, I was just listening. I'm listening.
I'm here.
>> Can you mute yourself?
>> Um, so if there's no other questions or
comments from council on the values
exercise, Tracy, we will thank you for
your time. I know you have another
commitment and we will return our
attention to Mr. Daily who is going to
lead us through a case study um similar
to what Melinda did regarding dormant
structure. He's going to walk us through
another community who has developed a
code of conduct so that we can kind of
compare and contrast notes and see other
things may want to add or
>> byebye. So you know I I I think you know
this idea of a code effect I think
strikes you know some people differently
right it it you know is you know do we
do we need rules to to operate our
meetings do we you know how we function
how we interact with one another as a
council and you know I think this idea
you might have been perceived originally
as something that was out of left field
and maybe this is you know just a Verona
thing and you know why are we under the
spotlight in needing a code of conduct.
Um and so I thought it was important to
emphasize where did this idea come from
right where who else is doing this? Why
is something like this really even you
know you know being brought up? So, you
know, the you know, there's a community
over in Butler County that had developed
this code of conduct
that really was incorporated into a a
new um member orientation is. And that's
really where the idea came about was,
you know, when new members come on to
the board, uh, this is a secondass
township where this is was from, uh,
when a new board member was elected and
they came on, you know, there's no
there's no one here that that knows
exactly how to operate, right? How to
conduct themselves. Uh, how do you act
whenever you're sitting up here? Um, you
know, is there a way that you're
supposed to act whenever you're not in
this chamber, right? Because when you're
running for election, you're a private
citizen, right? When you get elected,
all of a sudden you're on display,
right? And now your private life becomes
your public life, right? And and they
they intertwine and they cross over and
you don't often times realize, you know,
is there even a difference anymore,
right? Um and so what some communities
have done is that they've adopted what
is this code of conduct that the entire
board, the entire council uh would adopt
that said that would would outline how
are we going to agree to behave whenever
we're sitting up here whenever we're
we're dealing with a resident whenever
we are working to resolve you know
problems and issues that are brought to
us as council, as a board. Um, and how
do we act individually? How are we
expected to to act individually? And I
can honestly tell you, you know, these
codes of conduct are only as good as
council is going to follow it.
So,
>> these these have a place. They they
provide a framework. They provide some
guide rails we'll say uh you know for
how we operate but again they are only
going to be as good as you all want to
self-govern yourselves and want to hold
each other accountable uh on this
council up here uh in if you choose to
adopt this how you'll function right so
you know just kind of walking through
you know the document that you have in
front of you is is is the example right
this is the case study
that you know this this this came from
this one was from Clinton Township in
Butler County. Um, again, that's a three
member council up there, which you might
or board of supervisors rather. Um, and
you might think that that's a very easy
way to govern, right? Oh my gosh, if we
only had three three members, wouldn't
it be great? Well, I can tell you that
it is equally as challenging, right?
Because, you know, a majority is only
two in that instance, right? And it
only, you know, there's a there's a lot
of different ways to manage a three
member board than there is managing a a
five or a seven member board. um and and
so majority is different in that
instance. However, the responsibilities
remain the same as a council member as
they do with a three member, five
member, however many are on the board.
And that is is that you all are
entrusted with the responsibility to
govern and and at that level that means
that you are setting policy, right? you
are overseeing this burrow and you are
establishing, you know, the different
roles and and ways that this community
is going to advance. You know, one of
the the ways that, you know, in at the
next upcoming meeting that you're going
to be considering that is going to be by
adopting a new fee resolution.
You know, you're that is a policy that
you're going to set. You're going to say
how much a a you know, someone's going
to pay for a lean letter. That's a
policy that you're going to set, right?
Um, and then it's going to be up to
staff then to carry out your policy
decision whenever you put that in in
place. But you all are entrusted to, you
know, you know, uh, to to govern in that
regard as an elected official at this
point. So, it's it's going to be up to
staff to provide you with the
information that um, you can make an
educated decision with. Uh, you should
be doing your own research,
factchecking, right? Um, you you know, I
think a lot of us did that during the
budget this year, right? I was new to
your budget. Tim did a, you know, a nice
job of digging in and really doing a lot
of questioning, right, of of, you know,
yes, thank you staff for bringing me
this, but I have some questions about
this, right? That and that is exactly
how you all should function, right, at
that level. Um, you know, trust and
verify, of course. Um, you know, there's
going to be things that you may request
of staff um, as individuals, but also as
a board, as council, um, and in order to
to help make those decisions and to and
and how to conduct yourself
in order to conduct business, right?
Council's, you know, has has agreed that
you're all going to set meeting dates
and meeting schedules. And we're working
through right now that what is going to
be conducted at those meetings. Um how
you're going to conduct those meetings,
you know, when when you're in person and
when when you're uh remote. Um the code
of conduct starts to dig into a little
bit more details on that, right? Um you
know, there are communities out there
that say that when you're on Zoom, you
you have to um you know, you your
microphone has to be on, you have to be
visible. um you have to um have
headphones on uh especially if if it's
an executive session. They go into that
level of detail to determine if that is
an acceptable way that you're going to
agree to conduct yourselves. Now, every
one of you has the opportunity to be on
Zoom at one time or another, right? To
attend a meeting that way because of
life gets in the way, right? And you you
you're not going to be able to attend
every single meeting. So, you know, when
you think about how you're going to, you
know, uh, agree to attend meetings and
what you're going to agree to do, you
know, what's going to be an acceptable
way to attend, you all should be
thinking about, okay, if I have to if I
have to be in that situation, is that
all of those rules, can I meet all of
those rules, right? Can I can I do that?
And if not, either you your expectation
is going to be that you don't attend
that way or that you're not permitted to
be in the room and and all of council
would need to agree to that code of
conduct that would say, you know, if we
don't all agree to this and we don't all
follow the rule, then this is how we're
going to handle ourselves.
So those are the you know when I that's
why I say you know this is only as
effective as you all are going to
enforce it upon yourselves because it
can't be up to the manager. It can't be
up to the mayor or the solicitor to say
that you're not following this right. Um
it it it's got to be up to you all uh in
order to do that
as far as your uh the information that
you get for the meetings. And this comes
up pretty frequently here and I've seen
it and maybe part of this is, you know,
my newness in in my part-time aspect as
the as the interim here, but the way
that things get on the agenda sometimes
come up last minute and they sometimes
get rushed and sometimes board members,
you know, council members feel like I
don't I didn't have enough time to look
at something, right, because it came on
too quick or it got added last minute.
And you know, as Craig indicated, there
was a recent rule change that said that
we can change the agenda now right ahead
of the meeting. So that could, you know,
that could further make things a little
more last minute, right? But if we agree
uh through this code of conduct that we
say, you know, agenda items have to be
at a certain day, there has to be a
count. we don't agree that you know
ahead of a meeting unless it's an
extenduating circumstance that meets a
certain set of criteria that we're going
to put something on the agenda that
could be something that you all want to
consider because I know that you know
again on occasion just from my
experience that has been something that
has come up here that has that has
caused some uh some concern.
So in order for these meetings though to
be effective and you know we've talked
about you know not going having a
business meeting and having a meeting
where committee type work is going to be
done. It is so important that everybody
come prepared in reviewing the packet
and coming you know ahead of time for
the meeting. um if if you're showing up
to the meeting and that's the first time
you're looking at that packet, you're
not going to be an effective contributor
to the meeting at that point. Um you
know, there should be questions that are
thrown at the manager that say, "Hey, I
was looking at the packet. What is this,
right? What is I don't you know, what
does this motion mean? What does this
you know, what does this uh document
mean? Can I all, you know, I also need
something else?"
you know, that came up, you know, as an
example that also came up for us during
um some of the hirings recently, right?
There were some members that said, "I'd
like to have seen, you know, their
resumes ahead of time because I don't
know who I'm voting for. I don't know
who these people are." Right? So, that
was a good comment, right? I'd like to
have more information. You know, those
are those are some good comments that um
that do come up. But coming uh ahead of
time by reviewing things at the meetings
will not only make the meetings go
quicker but you'll be a a more
contributor you know a better
contributor to the meeting itself.
>> Sure.
So as far as you know guidelines during
the meeting um you know and you Tracy
kind of highlighted this in her uh
session there about being respectful
about um having civil discussion and you
know you know that the meeting should
follow an orderly process. Um look that
a list of items that you guys just went
over about your priorities for the short
term, midterm and long term that's a lot
of work. you guys have a a lot of really
good things to focus on as you start
looking forward, right? Um I know that
and I've seen it that it, you know, at
times, you know, discussions can get
heated. Um you know, they can um you
know, elevate to, you know, to feel
personal because you guys are so
passionate about the things that you're
talking about and the things that you're
doing. Um but it's really important that
you check that type of of attitude and
you know and to check yourself before
each meeting. So whenever you come into
this chamber you're operating as a full
board and as a full council you know
making sure that you're going to work
towards having those respectful
conversations, those you know um quality
conversations with each other so that
again you're not here to attack each
other. You're not you're you're here to
get the work of council done and to move
forward. Um like I said, that list is
it's aggressive. It's those are quality
items that you have on there. You know,
these aren't just pie in the sky things.
These are very real things that you can
get done. By the time you end your term
on council, you're going to be able to
look back on your time here to say, "I
did something right. I accomplished. We
set up goals. I was able to accomplish
these things." And you know, it's you're
fortunate this early in your terms and
this early after an election that you've
already gone through that exercise
because a lot of councils will, you
know, they'll wait a year to do that to
let people get settled in and to let
people, you know, start coming up with
items. But because of the fact you guys
had a majority of the council returning,
you were able to do that and be able to
really put together a really good list.
Um,
again, the meetings have, you know,
they're structured. I think that, you
know, we we're starting to work on
really enforcing the time limits for
public comment. We are really working
on, you know, trying to be respectful
and, you know, you know, keep keep to
those time limits, which is good. Again,
I think that that helps the
effectiveness of the meetings in
general. And that's one of the items
that that you know the Clinton Township
had called out as well was look we want
to let public comment out there but we
also have to make sure that our business
gets conducted and that we're able to
keep you know uh moving
as far as executive sessions go
you know your executive sessions are
privilege um and that's kind of you know
and when it's considered a privilege
that means just like with anything I'm
sure your parents might have said this
was they can take it away right? Or or
you can lose that privilege. Right?
That's the exact same thing that can
happen to council is is that if if the
if the the rules that govern executive
sessions, meaning that if things are
talked about in that that are in closed
session behind closed doors, um
personnel, property acquisition, legal
matters, if they find their ways outside
of council chambers in any way, if
you're texting somebody, if if if
you're, you know, recording it when
you're on Zoom, you know, on the side.
Um, if you're talking about what was
talked about in executive session and it
leaks out, you know, of of this chamber
right here, you know, you can lose the
trust and the privilege that you're
given as a council to be able to discuss
those matters behind closed doors. And
that was one of the the items that was
called out in this in this case study
was how important it is to maintain
confidentiality and trust in in the
executive sessions. Now, I can tell you
that from my experience in working with
this council, you guys have done that.
You guys have maintained your
accountability
um up until this point, right? You all
have maintained that and you you have
you have made sure that you do not talk
about those things outside. So, it's I
think that it's an important thing that
if you do adopt the code of conduct that
that be a a very important piece that's
in there still because it is it is so
important for council to conduct
business.
So you all are governed by the, you
know, the the burough code, the
Pennsylvania burough code, by your
adopted code of ordinances. And, you
know, even though your your
comprehensive plan is outdated, your
comprehensive plan, your, you know,
outlines your development and and uh how
you will progress with with your your uh
activities. I know we're going to be
working on a an updated comprehensive
plan, you know, in the near future, but
the legal framework that you have is
something that we should always kind of
keep at the forefront of, okay, is it
legal for us to do? Should we be
consulting with our solicitor? Do our
documents align with how we are are
conducting ourselves in this chamber? Uh
just as you know we talked uh when Tracy
was outlining her items we talked about
you know putting those front and center
in front of council members. Um it's as
equally as important that you all
understand that you do you are bound by
law right to you know what you can do
how you can conduct activity and the
things that you can actually execute.
There are there w there should and will
be times whenever the solicitor, the
burough manager, the the burrow engineer
will just say no, you cannot do that by
by code. You cannot do that. Right? Um
and we have to be willing to accept that
and move on from that and just accept
that there are some things that we are
just not going to be able to do and and
recognize that that is the the the law
that we're we're going to be governed
by. Um I think that the last item here
uh and sorry that I have the word
township long there. Um is is that the
you know the the you know council is is
governed collectively and this is
probably not the last you know this is
not the last slide. Council is governed,
you know, uh, collectively by the
majority in here, right? And so, not an
individual member can, you know, direct
an action to be taken or direct a, you
know, one particular program to be
implemented outside of the full
council's, well, not full council, but
the majority of council approving that
action. And sometimes that can be, you
know, I know that we come in with a lot
of uh ideas and a lot of desire to, you
know, to to have something done, but
the, you know, your role as a council
person is to gain consensus by the
majority. So, it's it's making friends
on council and being able to have the
majority then adopt that policy or adopt
that program to have it done. uh once
that once that is done then it becomes
you know uh you know policy that the
manager and staff are supposed to carry
out. So, you know, and again, this would
all be outlined in the code of conduct
that, you know, not individual board
council members, you know, carry out
individual policy, right? You know,
policy gets adopted. Once it's adopted,
it's the manager's responsibility then
to carry that out and to provide updates
and, you know, uh check-ins on things
that are are taking place. Um so that
kind of leads us to the chain of command
that you know in the in the burrow the
uh you know the police department you
know reports directly to the mayor. So
that would be you know the police chief
and all of the officers are under the
mayor's direct supervision. Um and
everything else falls under the burough
manager. Um so that if there's activity
of public works, if there's code work,
zoning work, um you know, anything else
that would be taking place out there,
you know, activities that are in the
parks, any of that stuff, all of that
should then run through the burough
manager's office and they should be
entrusted to either direct staff uh
directly for to consult with uh
contractors or consultants to carry that
work out. And um and so the the the
reason that I bring this up and and it
is important is is that you know
occasionally you can have council
members that feel a need to dip down and
it you know you while they may be just
be feeling like they're checking in
sometimes that can add some interference
to to the work that's being done. Um I
know that you are all very involved and
very active in in the activity of the
burrow. Um and so it is important that
there be one chain of you know one chain
of information so that that information
runs through the manager's office and
you should entrust that they are going
to carry that out.
So as far as um ethical guidelines go,
you know, there's um you know, I think
that we all have, you know,
want to be uh giving the
perception that we all are operating,
you know, to the highest ethical
standard that that we can. uh that we
show that we avoid conflict of interest,
that you know, you know, we submit our
financial disclosure statements that
show that we do not have a a vested
interest in decisions that we're we're
voting on. Um that we avoid harassment
or hostile conduct between one another
and the public. Um these lines start
getting very blurred whenever we start
introducing social media, right? Um and
how things get interpreted. You know,
before they used to get very, you know,
blurred whenever we were just texting
each other because we we try to infer
tone or extrapolate meaning out of a
text message that we're not talking to
someone. That becomes even more so with
social media now where, you know, the
platform is wide open. And it's great
that it encourages open dialogue, but
it's also a challenge, I think, for you
as council members to choose how you
engage with that both professionally as
a as a public official, but then also
personally. Where is that line, right?
Where is where is that line that we
talked about early on about your
personal life and your public life,
right? Um, and you know, sometimes that
can become a a very real challenge and I
know that we all we all suffer it,
right? And especially now whenever
things are getting heated right now and
things are, you know, and folks might
have a lot of concerns about how we're
conducting business. Um, you know, our
street didn't get cleaned quick enough.
Our, you know, I just plowed out my
parking spot. You plowed me back in, you
know, and folks are starting to really
let us know how we are doing right now,
right? Um and so that is something that
you know we can address in this code of
conduct as to how you are expected to
behave both you know on social media in
text messaging to each other text
messaging to the public uh if you get
text messages um you know just how you
handle those those issues. um you can
you you all can lay out a plan or a
policy here in your code of conduct if
you choose to do so. So this can
probably one of the harder areas for
council members, you know, for elected
officials to deal with. We see this at
every level of government, right? We
don't this isn't just a Verona issue,
right? This is this goes out to our
federal government, our state
government, right? We always see you
know challenges with this uh and how
people you know perceive um you know
what how they should be you know
protecting themselves.
Um you know lastly you know I think is
you know as far as citizen concerns go
and how you interact again in in this
example that you know that Clinton
Township had provided you know they
really emphasize running everything
through the the manager's office. You
know, you all are out there to set
policy. You're hearing about what's
going on. You're you're you're coming up
with ideas on how to solve problems, but
the initial problem should always be
direct manager's office to to resolve.
And you all have done a really good job,
I think, since I've been here. Um,
you're certainly not shy of sending
things to the manager's office. So, uh,
with batting is good. I mean, that's how
that's how it should be. Um, but I also
think sometimes you there's an
opportunity for you guys to get caught
up in it because you're on the front,
too. Um, and you're you're dealing with
it as well. So, you know, so I'll just
finish with, you know, in this case
study here,
you know, this was this was this
township's way to try to keep the guard
rails up to try to help themselves, you
know, have some, you know, some rules
and to give them a playbook on how to
handle some what are otherwise sticky
situations.
um if you don't know exactly, you know,
how to act, if you don't know exactly
how to, you know, respond to things,
this helps you do that, uh if you choose
to adopt it. And so, I'll just leave you
all with that right now. Open up for
some discussion and some comments as to,
you know, what you know, how you
you know, proceed with what you
drafting something like. It's all
difficult.
>> Is he in favor? Sorry. Can you just
check the participant list and mute?
Anybody who's not muted, there's some
through.
>> Sure.
>> Two quick comments that will provide
some framework for an effect discussion.
One, we plan to put this up for adoption
at our February business meeting.
Meaning, we really need to focus in on
what needs revised tonight. Two, also
keep in mind this is not written in
stone. This is a living document that
will be revised from time to time. This
is a starting framework. Again, it will
be posted in this room, but it doesn't
have to be perfect at our adoption.
>> Should the door be open?
>> Oh, there was there was a lot of um the
police were coming and going, so we just
shut it. But of course,
>> maybe there's people waiting on Oh, I
don't know.
>> The main door was locked.
>> It was locked for me, too. Yeah.
>> Oh, really?
>> Well, that shouldn't be. Let's let's
let's open that.
>> I couldn't open it.
>> No, I know you couldn't. I
>> Please open the door for me.
>> Excellent presentation,
Governor L.
You know, we we were working on a code
of conduct policy last year with Tracy
in the personnel committee. started
working on a little framework on it last
year. The social media thing has been an
ongoing issue. We talked about it in
local government academys.
Um it is kind of a hot topic because
tough to avoid it. I mean it's, you
know, we're on our phones. It the phone
is part of our lives now. Everybody's on
their
tough to avoid and uh you know hard to
hard to stay away from it. But you know
the the problem the problem is
you know when you're a public official
you're going to jump into those rabbit
holes.
You know addressing topics
where you know the entire council should
be involved.
and and you know
when it's a discussion
you know you want to have a a town hall
maybe you could do that
but
opening up something online you're also
exposing yourself personally
when you're doing that they can attack
you personally
or you might attack somebody you might
be compelled to attack somebody
personally may not be the greatest thing
to Dude,
that's why I mean I try to I'm online
too, but I I I'm just saying what I I
can't speak different for everybody
else, but I avoid talking about
Burough Business online because it just
it's not good. Want to talk about
Burough Business, we have meetings for
it. Come down here. Let's talk about it.
>> You know, we're on Zoom. We're here in
the meeting.
John, I'm so glad you brought up social.
Do you think our drafts currently
captures enough about our behavior on
social media or would you suggest any
tightening?
>> I think it's okay. I I just think we
Yeah, we can just limit it to just not
talking about Business.
>> Yeah.
>> I just, you know,
>> especially if it's, you know, related
about personnel matters or uh contracts,
you know,
a lot of stuff. I mean that's a Yeah, I
bet it's you know it's a
>> Yeah, it's a lot of lot of stuff that
>> please.
>> Sorry.
>> Yeah, but you know we we really don't
want to we don't want to disparage
other people, other you know officials,
employees.
>> You know we don't want to fall into
those rabbit holes. You know the idea is
we want to be a team. you know, no
matter if we disagree here, we're always
going to disagree on something. You
know, uh, Mayor Clutch once said, you
know, if if you know, sometimes you
might agree with me 50% of the time, you
might agree with me 78% of the time. If
you agree with me 100% of the time, you
need to be you need to get your head
examined, you know, because
so
>> because no one is going to agree on
everything 100% of the time,
>> right?
>> It just doesn't happen.
>> Right.
>> Right. So that's why we're we're we're a
we're a a legislative body here. We're
going to have disagreements, but we have
to be professionals.
>> Definitely.
>> You know.
>> Did you have anything, Warren?
>> That's it. Um, Kurt and Tim, you both
started to talk. Did you both have
comments?
>> No, I mean I just was gonna reiterate
that. I mean, no one I don't think in my
time on council when before my time on
council, no one has ever posted anything
about personnel or contract
negotiations. Uh, there are certain
things I I mean, I posted something
today and I I I
don't think it was completely negative.
Um, but it it it addressed some concerns
that I had that I thought were kind of
pushed to the wayside. I sent several
emails over the last couple weeks and I
got frustrated so I posted. Um,
but I didn't bash anybody. I was really
trying to just put the light out there.
I just it was nothing negative about you
guys and the plan. I just thought the
plan was a little bit it was rushed. It
was a little last minute. Um, we had
multiple weeks advanced notice before
the event happened. We knew I knew two
weeks ago we were going to get hit with
a blizzard because the weather said so.
And did I trust that we were going to
get as much as we did? No. But as we got
closer, it looked like I mean for this
discussion, I'm going to pause that
because I'm sure we'll have comments.
>> But I'm just saying I it it we shouldn't
be posting and I do apologize if I
feelings what I said today. Um
at the end we have
>> I just I I want to
>> so
>> acknowledge uh you're sharing that and
the vulnerability in sharing that and I
think we all make mistakes and we can
certainly strive to forward and all be
more positive and um professional
on social and in general.
>> Correct. So I it might be something that
doesn't have any effect or minimal
effect but like on my Facebook just
because I'm working towards a um on top
of council I'm I'm working towards a
social work uh social worker license. So
I have on there like a disclaimer
everything or you know whatever I post
on here my opinion my opinion only
representative
burrow organization like again it might
not have any effect if you know council
was like hey if you're going to have a
social media um we would may appreciate
putting
>> that's an interesting thought anyone
have comments on that is it best to
refrain or added disclaimer.
>> I mean, at the end of the day, we're all
residents as well as council members.
So, we have the same concerns and I
mean, some of us might have concerns
about how
council is governing
and I mean, Facebook is not the place.
Facebook
thing. Uh but listening to the the posts
and a lot of things have been
uh a lot of people have been feeling
like they're being silenced on Facebook
and a lot of it is it it might not be
the best but there are a lot of good
ideas in there and the the community
being allowed to talk about these things
that should be allowed um because we can
take feedback on that um and then use
that to implement policies and time or
help with uh future disasters. Um
>> everything was negative on all those
posts. There was a lot of good ideas
about how we could have uh did a better
job with I'm just using this recent
thing because it is the most recent
thing that had happened.
>> Yeah, I I would I would agree. I don't
think there's never any value in
considering it. Um but I do prefer at
least among counselors what John was
saying that um a most productive
conversation comes from being here in
person and having that face to face
because often I found it with myself on
social it's very easy just to say
something because you're angry or
frustrated but when you think about it
you realize X Y and Z or you have a
whole idea that's worth sharing and it's
a much more productive place to move
forward from and actually grow versus
just venting frustrations.
Um, so I I would lean towards like
council
having I think it's written like
productive um positive dialogue versus
engaging in these things even with a
disclaimer.
>> Well, I think I think that here when it
happens in here and you have the
engagement with the with the residents,
>> you also have the entire body here so
that there is a discussion
>> and then we can we can act on it.
>> Absolutely. you know and then if there
is a problem that we can it's it's done
like
>> right
>> we can move on it
>> right
>> if if there's some sort of an issue
>> Mhm. you know, we're on Facebook, it
could get lost in the shuffle in some
sort of thread somewhere, you know, or
it gets gets forgotten about and some
someone remains angry.
>> Absolutely.
>> You know, where here, you know, things
actually can have Well, I'm not saying
that they can always get done, but I'm
saying they have a higher probability of
getting done here,
>> right? Um, I want to make sure we allow
some time to talk about virtual options.
Does anyone else have any other thoughts
about social media?
Okay, so regarding Zoom, what are our
thoughts about when we're on Zoom? Do we
want to require camera, headphones, just
camera?
>> We are as counsel.
>> Let's start with council. Yes, this code
of conduct will focus on us.
>> Whatever was presented a little bit ago.
>> Yes. Um
I uh I I think I agreed with with most
of that especially what
concerns me is an exact session where
the person is not living alone.
>> Okay.
>> I live alone so it's not a thing but you
know you don't know you may you invite
over some friends or something. Um, I
like the idea of using um
of of using headphones
>> for example
>> and being on camera so that see you've
got the little things in your ears or
the headphones on or whatever.
>> Just to clarify, you mean specifically
for exact or all meetings?
>> No, for exact.
>> Okay.
>> It's a public meeting. I don't I I'm you
know, it's public meeting so I don't
care what happens. I mean, most of the
go public meeting, I mean, you might not
be here because you're sick. I mean, I
can understand executives testing his
camera on,
>> but in the meeting, if I'm sick and I
look like crap, I'm not going to put my
camera on so the whole time I can see
how bad I look.
>> Yeah, I would I I agree because I look
bad a lot, too. But I think if we're
sharing, if we're talking about
something, I think our camera should be
on
>> because, you know, maybe, you know,
you've worked all day and you barely
made it into the house and you turn on
Zoom and, you know, for whatever reason,
you're at home with Zoom and you're
eating dinner. So, mute yourself and and
keep your camera off. But if you're
talking, presenting, I do like the idea
of the camera being on. Well, I think um
if I may, Vincent brought that up that
if you're going to speak on Zoom, we
should see who's, you know, speaking
>> even for public or just
>> for public also.
>> We're just talking.
>> Oh, you're on I'm sorry. You're on
>> just us how we should be unless you
>> Sorry, I jumped ahead.
>> We can also include that. I was just
clarifying.
>> Yeah, I I jumped ahead. I apologize.
>> Well, do you agree with the public as
well or
What I for myself personally, I look out
in the audience. Let's say that's not
Sherry. Let's say that's some person
I've never seen.
>> So, I do see their face. Um, but but say
I don't know their name.
>> So, we have something going on here
tonight
>> that's very creative.
Mr. Jackson, conserved citizen. I don't
know who those people are, but if they
were sitting here in the audience and I
didn't know them, I wouldn't know who
they were here.
>> But I can see the person's face. So, I
don't know. I I'm not sure that I I
don't know. It's hard because I am a
nonvideo personally.
>> I don't like how I look,
>> you know, and I may forget and do
something inappropriate on the video,
you know, just I don't know. Real
quickly, let me ask something. What What
do other communities do if they're, you
know, somebody on Zoom wants to, you
know, speak?
>> Uh, most of the ones that I have seen,
they are on video. So, whenever they
want to speak, they turn their camera
on, you know, to address. But if they're
just listening, they'll oftentimes mute
and put a picture on, uh, you know, as a
member of the public. Okay. Um for
executive sessions, I have seen all
video uh headphones
um you know as kind of like a a
safeguard for a council to assure that
that stuff is taking place behind the
you know the closed door essentially.
>> Is there any requirement for their names
to on their display names? So you know
the the technology oftentimes will
dictate that uh you know and there is
ways to manage that and we do have the
ability to manage that here at the
burrow now with the updated platform
that we have. So um that is an issue. I
think that you know some members of the
public will put
funny things or you know right funny
things right um on their uh for their
new game or put a graphic up that's
inappropriate um or meeting bomb right
like the you know the thing. So yeah, we
do have the ability now to manage that.
In effect of the next meeting, we will
have more control over that with the new
platform we'll be using
>> which is
>> which is the webinar platform, not the
meeting platform for Zoom.
>> Great suggestion.
>> Yeah. And do we have to issue any type
of disclaimer prior to the meeting
whenever we do put it on Zoom and say
that any
inappropriate
you know u display names or material you
know should you know we reserve the
right to
>> I think
that we're we'll try
>> or do we just
>> you don't see them there's no names
>> you won't see all these on in for the
next meeting you we won't see all those
people that are on there uh even a
gallery form or anything like that it'll
just be if you've ever attended a
webinar before you know you know it.
>> Right. Right. That's okay. I gotcha.
It'll be just like that where the you
>> there's like a panel or a there's
attendee list.
>> Yes. Yes. Yes. It's not like that.
>> Right. Right. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
>> So, this is great. It does sound like we
have some consensus on an expectation
for the camera to be on when a counselor
or the public is speaking, making a
presentation, etc. But the requirement
of it being on all the time is not
needed for public meetings. However, for
executive session, we would ask that it
be turned on with headphones. Is that
>> That sounds like a good summary. Yeah.
>> Okay, very good. Um
then I guess um the last subject related
to this is just anything that we missed.
Um, I have two items in mind that came
out when Jason was presenting and Jason,
I want to invite you to give us your top
one or two thing I don't currently have.
The first is the requirement for
submitting agenda items ahead of time.
Once upon a time, no fault on anyone,
but we used to have our packets on
Friday, so you'd have a whole weekend to
review the material. Um, which I think
enabled council to be uh set up for
better success. Um, so I think that
would be a great goal to move towards.
And the second item, because having a
burrow manager is still very new for all
of us, I think seeing something about
the chain of command that no one of us
is supposed to direct staff and those
kinds of things, as you said, should all
go through the bureau manager wouldn't
be a bad thing to clearly reiterate. Um,
am I missing other things? What are your
thoughts about things we should add?
>> No, I think those are those are all
really good um, you know, priority ones
to have on there. So I think you know I
think these other items that we went
over uh you know like you mentioned by
coming prepared and all that I think all
this is a little bit of a work with you
know it being a a temporary thing right
now being permanent manager but I think
those are great expectations to lay out
for council and for the next meeting.
>> Um I might ask you to suggest some
language for that in our current draft.
>> Definitely. Um, does council have any
other questions, comments, thoughts on
those items or anything in general
related to code of conduct?
>> Do we have a draft of the actual policy
or that we're going to adopt that you're
referring to?
>> Um, yes, it was emailed today.
>> There's email today. Oh,
>> okay.
So again, please review and when we add
the things we just discussed tonight to
it, we'll send out the revised version
for again hopeful adoption the February
business meeting.
>> This is it.
>> Yep. It's a word document.
>> Okay,
I see. So this is basically an official
version of the presentation that Tracy
gave. Yes, it's actually what she
shared.
>> Okay. Okay. I didn't realize that. I
didn't see the email either.
>> Um,
great.
So, if there are no other comments or
questions from council on any of the
exercises, please thought of one.
>> Okay. Go ahead.
Well, this is always kind of the the
challenge with anything like this, any
policy, any ordinance or any code of
conduct or right or etc.
>> If the person if a person
>> whether it be on council or in the
public
refuses to follow it,
>> then what?
That's I don't know what I'm saying. I
think Melinda touched on this um in her
prior communications with us that it is
on the president to enforce a certain
deorum
um should it get out of hand Jason
looking to you for comments and I I know
another municipality is you know if if
needed um they've asked the police to
stay throughout the whole meeting
hopefully it doesn't ever get that
contentious but um that is other means
that I know places I mean
>> I think from a a board standpoint um you
would recess
or the recess where you would you would
you would motion to adjurnn if it just
gets so far off the rails that it can't
be brought in
>> and that's internally or externally
and that's fine. I guess what I was
asking had more to like similar things
like oh when you're turn your video on
and someone says I refuse to turn my
video on then what
>> well we don't have to allow comment
>> then it just mute the person out or
something like that
>> well hopefully council wouldn't do that
um
>> well I'm just saying I'm sorry to
interrupt
>> um that if we are asking people to
follow certain guidelines and but
whoever it is whichever guideline it is
and they don't what do we do and I'm
thinking that that should be
specifically outlined in the code of
conduct so that people know what happens
if they refuse to follow the guidelines.
So my first thoughts are one that you u
may not be allowed to then make your
public comment or any comment um and two
is um lack of respect and compliance
with our decorum would may
be meeting virtually or in person.
>> So it's just some things to think about.
I mean those are good suggestions but
they're not in the code. So
>> we may need to think about that and add
a couple things, right? It doesn't have
to be exhaustive or
>> I mean it's you there there may be
instances that you're not going to be
able to address in that manner
>> that only alternative is going to be to
recess the meeting and to just move you
know away from the issue. Um because if
you know that's that that's going to be
your you know that is going to be the
you know I would say the nuclear option
right is to eliminate the platform right
if you can't get control of it you
you've got to eliminate it for a short
period of time until you gain control
again.
>> So yeah and and that recess can be we're
going to we're going to take a break. It
doesn't have to be an adjournment.
>> It's just a pause a reset. Let's get our
you know act together. come up with a
game plan of what we're going to do and
then come back in. Right. So, uh that's
a that's certainly an option.
>> Okay. I just wanted to bring that up
because any kind of guideline, rule, law
is as good as it's enforcement.
>> Can I ask you to take a stab at language
regarding enforcement?
>> Oh, I shouldn't have said anything.
>> Thank you, counselor.
Without further ado, we will move on to
section seven of our January 20th
agenda, comments from the public. At
this time, council will hear comments on
public related matters. Please approach
the podium or raise your virtual hand,
state your name and address, and limit
your remarks to three minutes.
>> This is a moment back.
>> Um, yeah. Can we make
>> comments should focus on burough
business policies or actions. Council
encourages thoughtful feedback on
decisions and performance while
maintaining respectful and constructive
dialogue.
>> Trish, may I make a comment before the
public starts?
>> Of course.
>> I would like to thank starting with our
manager, interim manager Jason. You did
a wonderful presentation. You didn't
miss a beat. I thought it was extremely
well done. And council, I think your
questions and some of your answers have
been very, very good.
I feel that as a council person, when we
sit up there, we not only represent
ourselves, we represent an entire town.
And I think we all need to be careful
what we say.
Everybody has feelings. Whether you like
the person or you don't, we're all
human. We all have feelings. I
personally don't even bring a phone into
the meeting. I feel that that's a time
that you shouldn't be on your phone. I
have no reason to be on it telling
anybody what's going on at the meeting.
I'm kind of private about stuff like
that. So, I don't bring a phone to the
meeting. I'm not against anybody
bringing it, but I personally don't. And
I feel that's a time that's devoted
strictly to the meeting and to the
public. And I don't do anything on
Facebook.
I think sometimes that just opens
unnecessary cans of worms. But that's
me. So I guess we just need to
make decisions that are right
and good for everybody. And I think
that's what we're all about. We're
trying to do the best that we know how
to do for everyone.
And uh I think we're doing a good job.
We're never going to satisfy everybody,
but we will do the best that we know how
to do.
>> Thank you.
>> Thank well. And I didn't mean to exclude
Mr. Daly's work in our burrow earlier
when I was commending the staff. So, I
don't want to want to let it go without
stating thank you for your expertise and
leadership tonight as well as um the
planning process.
>> Oh, no, no. I didn't mean anything like
that, Trish. No, no, no. You do an
exquisite job. Oh my goodness. I have no
>> comment that was just that was just my
personal. I thought his presentation was
excellent and I think
I counel I think everybody presented
well and uh all the comments were well
taken from all
>> and I I thank everybody and I do
apologize. I'm not in a habit of missing
a meeting, but uh I'm having an issue
today with my leg and with ice out
there. I was really reluctant to come
down. That was the only reason. But I
feel very bad that I'm not there. I
enjoy the meetings and I make a point of
it to be at every meeting. I don't think
I've missed maybe one. I don't know. But
I am very sorry. I extend apology.
>> It's okay, Sylvia.
>> It's okay, Sylvia. No worries. Thank you
so much. We're gonna move on.
>> You comment.
>> Leslie, you patiently had your hand up
for some time. You have the floor.
>> Thanks. Let me bring on the video.
>> Can't hear you.
>> Can you hear me now?
>> We can hear you. It's a little soft, so
yell at us.
>> I'll lean way in. Okay. Um, so I was
sort of nominally talking about the
snowstorm, but it actually fits in
really nicely with uh the code of
conduct. Um, because really it's much
more about communication, at least from
from my angle. Um, I don't think anybody
is mad at it snowing. That's that would
be kind of silly. Um, and DPW, of
course, you know, no shade. They are
probably the hardest working people in
in Verona right now. Um, they're doing
doing phenomenal work. For me, the
challenge with the storm was really much
more about communication. Um, and I
think it dovetales really nicely into
the things that you guys are talking
about. So, I first, and this is just
sort of my experience, but just kind of
as an example of of what happened from
kind of one resident's perspective, um,
kind of watching the news as the storm
rolled in, and we hadn't heard anything
yet. I hadn't heard anything yet. No
kind of blast, like no text blast, no
information. I asked around on Facebook.
Somebody pointed me to a I guess a a
text relayed message from the police's
Facebook
that OB and Jeff had shared out. So that
was kind of the first message. And then
there was a message from Verona like
from the the official text source that
spoke to some of the same issues as in
the police one but different answers.
Um, and then of course there's all the
Facebook pages that all have other kinds
of different answers. And so for me,
part of the issue there is just what is
the official channel? And this isn't a
question that I'm asking you to tell me,
but like as you as you sort of figure
this out, um trying to identify what is
the official channel and who is it like
who speaks basically who speaks for the
burrow in terms of getting people the
information because if you get, you
know, the police say something and it's
the same it it's points on the same
topics that are then differently
answered from the burrow and
differently, you know, so just how how
do we figure out who we're supposed to
listen to, I guess is the short version.
Um, and then some of it is also
timeliness. So, today I actually blocked
out time in my work schedule to be sure
to have time to potentially reshuffle
and move the car because that was the
messaging was that we will get fined if
we don't and we need to move it. So, I
blocked out time to be prepared to do
that. the time window for my street
would have ended at 2:30. You know, 2:30
comes and goes, 3:30 comes and goes,
4ish comes. And, you know, again, no
shade on DPW. I can't imagine how they
could have done it any faster. But at
that time, probably somebody in this
that room knew that it wasn't going to
happen. And so, a message that let us
know that we could go about our day, you
know, put away the car keys, go back to
work would have been appreciated. That
would have been respectful to know it's
not going to happen. Again, not saying
it should have happened faster. That's
not the issue. The issue is the
communication that it
>> Yeah. It kind of felt like we were we
were told what to do, but you know, not
given the same reason.
>> Yeah.
>> So, as you sort of do work through the
issues of how you figure out
communication, how you figure out how
>> we are out of time, so I'm gonna pause
you, but I'm highlighting communication
as a big growth opportunity as well as
the time issue. Is that correct?
Yes, that works. Thanks.
>> Thank you so much.
Are there other public comments?
Seeing no other public comments
at this time, I will entertain a motion
to adjourn into executive session to
discuss personnel issues, specifically
to review feedback from our staff panel
on our leading bureau man manager
candidate. Uh do I have a motion for
executive session?
>> Make a motion to go into executive
session. We do not have to return.
>> Thank you for the clarification.
>> Second
>> board. I have a first by councelor
Kender, a second by councelor Sperling,
noting that we do not have to return
back. Any questions or comments?
All in favor?
>> I
>> Are there any opposed?
Motion carries. Thank you members of the
public for joining us tonight. We'll see
you next month.
>> Don't stop it, Jason. Please.
So, what I'd like us to do, Sylvia, stay
on. Okay.
I am. Thank you.
And then we can lock the waiting room so
she doesn't
want to let you know a good job
and And the