Sigh . . . I don’t get it. Every time the council gets together to talk about how hard their jobs are they just look whiny and incompetent. Seriously, they can just use the power they already have to solve the problems they think they have. Please see my open letter to the council below.
I’m not blogging this garbage from last night, you can see it here
Dear Council Members:
If you want the council president to serve two years, elect them to a second term.
If you don’t like the mayor’s appointments to committee reject them and tell the mayor what you want to see come back to council.
If you’re serving on committees that prevent you from doing the work you want to do, resign from them.
As a council member, you are a ex officio member of every committee, use that power, sit at the table, make your voices heard.
If you think something needs to be done, introduce an ordinance amendment, budget amendment or resolution and make it happen. But don’t think you’re done once you do that, follow up with staff. If you’re smart, you’ll win them over before you introduce it.
If you think the council president needs more stature in the community to speak for the council, then devise ways to make that happen, issue press releases, direct press and others to speak to that person and only that person. Believe me, when I was council president, I didn’t seem to have that problem, and I was only council president for one year.
If you think the council president job takes a year to learn, have a better orientation and written expectations for the council president. Fire your staff that undermines the council president and lots of other things in that office. (I am slightly empathetic on this one.)
If you think the Common Council Organizational Committee should be the Executive Committee, then change its duties along with its title to make it what you want it to be, its your committee.
If you don’t like the way the budget process is determined, discuss and change your own resolutions. (meeting dates, rules and procedures) Refer portions of the budget to committees.
If you want more council discussions, schedule more council discussions. Suspend the rules at council meeting to allow additional discussion when merited.
If people can’t be council president because they can’t review the agenda on Thursday during the day, then change this ordinance, make the clerk have it available Wednesday night (all items are due to the clerk by noon on Wednesday).
If you think the mayor rushes through the Board of Estimates agendas, make motions to extend the time on items, you can discuss as long as you want.
If you don’t like the budget, make amendments. You have 20 votes, you can override a mayoral veto if you think you have better ideas than him.
If you need more staff, then make amendments to get more staff.
Changing from the mayor making appointments to the council president making appointments will not solve any of the problems of political retaliation, it will just be a different person retaliating and making decisions you don’t like. Some years you will win, some years you will lose.
If the mayor refuses to put something on an agenda, make a motion overruling him and having it placed on the next agenda. Call him out.
If you want to eliminate committees – ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha – I sat on two sub-committees that tried to do that, go ahead, take a shot at it! 🙂
Look, if I’ve learned anything, you have the power you choose to use. You can change the rules all you want, but you still work in a political system that is, you know, political. You’re not a board of directors, you’re not CEOs in a company, you’re politicians. Act like it. Some things will be contentious, this is messy work, friction and disagreement are good because it makes proposals stronger and that ultimately makes the city stronger.
Oh, and one other little thing. Don’t forget the public, I know we’re a pain in the ass, but you still need us to get elected. And we remember how you treat us when its not election time.
With Love
Brenda K. Konkel
Madison City Council President 2003 – 2004
Alder – District 2, 2001 – 2009
p.s. Please read chapter 2 of the Madison General Ordinances.
Well said, Brenda. Think the Council will listen?
No.