The City Council is looking to run a tighter ship by having councilors get more training and education on parliamentary rules.
At Monday night’s meeting, Councilors Damali Vidot, Todd Taylor, and Norieliz DeJesus introduced a motion requesting that the city manager create funding for council members and staff to enroll in a course for parliamentary rules.
“I think for many of us who came onto the council … the (parliamentary and council) rules were not something that was taught in school,” said Vidot. “So when you come onto the City Council, you are learning so much about the city and the process. I’ve got my Robert’s Rules of Order, but it’s not enough to learn that on your own.”
Vidot said the topic of parliamentary procedure came up during the interview process for the new clerk to the council, who the council is requiring to complete an online parliamentarian course.
“I thought it would make sense for any councilor or any person who gets elected to this body to also be armed with those same tools of information,” said Vidot.
More intensive parliamentary training would allow the council to level the playing field so that everyone has the same information needed to get business done in the council chambers.
“We have wasted a lot of time here on this City Council by either being misinformed of not being privy to how the parliamentarian process works in this setting,” said Vidot. “I don’t want there to be any impediment as to why someone shouldn’t feel they can represent their community. If we are giving everyone the same education to come here and be able to legislate, I think it is a fair thing and a move in the right direction.”
District 8 Councilor Calvin Brown noted that many of the councilors already have many years of service under their belts and know the procedures to operate. He said it was unfair to ask the city to cover the cost of courses when the councilors could elect to take and pay for them themselves if they were interested.
“Many times, we have meetings with the Massachusetts Municipal Association and we try to get councilors to go out and learn different things to help them and educate them on city government,” said Brown.
But, he said many times the councilors who sign up for those educational sessions don’t end up taking part.
“So I think that if this is something that we feel that we need, we should take the responsibility and we should show up as leaders and say hey, I can do this” and pay for the course, Brown added.
Several councilors said they could understand Brown’s position, but also noted that offering some kind of course would benefit the entire council and the public.
“I think this is probably the best money ever spent, with all due respect,” said District 1 Councilor Todd Taylor. “I think there has been an extreme lack of understanding of parliamentary procedure here at the City Council.”
Taylor added he believed all councilors could use an education about parliamentary procedure and their rights as councilors.
“I just think that this is a really good investment and education for all councilors,” said Taylor. “Some councilors have more experience with parliamentary procedure than others, but I think it does put everybody on a fair playing field, and I think everybody benefits, including the audience.”
District 7 Councilor Tanairi Garcia that while the councilors may know all the rules, they don’t always put it into action.
“We look sloppy and I think we are done looking sloppy, and I think we need to get it together and this is a first step,” she said.