Alexandria City Council Adopting New Format, Schedule

Alexandria City Council has adopted revisions to the structure and timing of legislative meetings, to improve meeting efficiency and permit more time for Council to engage in substantive discussion of key policy issues, according to a news release from the City. Here’s more about the new format, from the news release:

Council holds legislative meetings on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month. The revised structure reserves the first legislative meeting of the month to conduct routine business, including proclamations, appointments, consent calendar items, and oral reports. The second meeting will be reserved for policy discussion. The changes do not affect public hearing meetings, which are held on the Saturdays following the first legislative meetings.

Other substantive revisions include:

· Instead of worksessions held prior to legislative meetings or on other days, worksession topics pertaining to policy will be addressed during the second legislative meeting of each month. Although previous worksessions were open to the public, the new format will make discussions more visible to the public, provide for improved television and Internet coverage, and move the discussions from small conference rooms to the larger City Council Chamber.

· Both legislative meetings will include a roll-call consent calendar, which will allow City Council to act on non-controversial resolutions or ordinances that typically do not require discussion. As is current practice, any member of Council may remove an item from the consent calendar to be discussed separately.

· When members of Council make reports and recommendations on behalf of boards, commissions, and committees on which they serve, they will be presented separately from other oral reports given by members, and the body represented by the report will be noted on the agenda.

· Previously, all legislative meetings began at 7 p.m. Under the new format, if a closed session is required it will be the first item on the agenda instead of the last, and the meeting will begin at 6 p.m. If the closed session has not concluded by 7 p.m., the discussion will be suspended and the regular meeting agenda will begin. The closed session may be resumed at the end of the regular agenda if necessary. If no closed session is required for a legislative meeting, the meeting will begin at 7 p.m.

The new format will begin with the legislative meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 9. More information on meeting dates and times can be found on the City Council Calendar Webpage.

PHOTO: Mayor and members of Alexandria City Council; photo courtesy of City of Alexandria