How much talk is too much?
The balance between efficiency & transparency in local govt.
On the Council message board last week, Watson chief of staff Colleen Pate proposed canceling Tuesday's work session. The reasoning: there are no staff briefings.
Huh. Presentations from city staff are one of the functions of Tuesday work sessions, but the chief function is to provide a chance for Council members to publicly discuss items they are going to vote on at the meeting on Thursday. Indeed, the work session concept was created in response to a mini-scandal 14 years ago over Council members meeting privately to discuss legislation. The informal Tuesday discussions offered a way for them to discuss the agenda before the meeting without running afoul of state open meetings law.
I presented this reasoning to Watson's office in an email and spokesperson Rebecca Szeto replied:
