MENIFEE: Leaders to study council meeting decorum

Wednesday workshop to include discussion of laws, guidelines governing meetings

By CATHY REDFERN - Staff Writer | Saturday, August 9, 2008 11:44 PM PDT ∞

MENIFEE ---- Decorum may have an old-fashioned ring to it, but a look at the proper conduct, as well as rules and procedures for running council meetings is timely, the new leaders of Menifee have decided.

Those leaders will hold a workshop on the topic at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Menifee incorporates Oct. 1, following the June election in which voters in the communities of Menifee, Sun City, Quail Valley and a portion of Romoland opted to form a new city.

And while the first handful of council-elect meetings have been largely harmonious, some residents have been frustrated by not getting answers to questions posed during the meetings' public comment period.

Anne Pica of Sun City, who led a drive against cityhood, said she got an unacceptable response from one council-elect member when she raised some touchy topics at a meeting ---- term-limits, possible conflicts of interest and the date of the next election.

"They should be responsive to the public; that is who they are working for," she said. "I don't expect them to carry on any big conversations with you, but if they have an answer, I would assume they should answer or say we'll get back to you with an answer. This is the only chance the public has to make a comment to them."

There are basic guidelines for such responses to topics not on the agenda, said Patrick Whitnell, general counsel for the League of California Cities.

Providing answers to basic questions is fine, Whitnell said.

"But the general rule of thumb is to avoid any kind of extensive response," he said. "If they want more of an extensive response, they should ask staff to put it on the agenda so they can have a full discussion, so they are in compliance with the Brown Act."

Wednesday's workshop will include a presentation by city attorney Elizabeth Martyn on the Brown Act, the state's law requiring most government business conducted by elected officials to be held in public. The council-elect also will consider a draft policy that will outline "a whole litany of how to do a council meeting," said Gary Thompson, a municipal analyst who is part of Menifee's interim city management team. Once adopted, the 12-page document will be placed at area libraries for review, he said.

Thompson added that the proposed guidelines leave some discretion for conducting meetings up to the mayor.

Wallace Edgerton is the mayor-elect.

A political science professor who served 17 years on the Long Beach City Council, Edgerton said he is a firm believer in responding to the public as much as possible, as long as it doesn't "cross the line" into a council discussion or a lengthy discourse with the speaker.

"But from what I can see, there is some history in this area of not being responsive to the public, and that's where the public gets angry and frustrated and where you even get recalls," he said.

Councilman-elect John Denver has a somewhat different philosophy. Denver wrangled with Pica and Edgerton at the July 23 council meeting, when both seemed to expect him to respond right away to a pointed question about whether his position as a board member of the Menifee Valley Chamber of Commerce is a conflict of interest. Denver declined to answer, and said Friday that he believes it is not always appropriate to respond, in part because some people use the public comment period to make political statements or to discuss things that are inappropriate.

"From what I understand, the council is not really allowed to talk off the cuff," he said. "You do have to balance that with the reality that it's their city and they need to feel they have been listened to, but I'd argue that you don't have to respond. You can say, talk to me after the meeting, or thank you very much."

Denver added that he is open to learning more and thinks the workshop is a good idea.

"It's like City Council 101," he said. "I'm looking forward to it."

The 5 p.m. workshop will be in Room 105 of the Learning Resource Center at Mt. San Jacinto College, 28237 La Piedra Road. The regular council meeting will follow at 7 p.m.

Contact staff writer Cathy Redfern at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2621, or e-mail credfern@californian.com.

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