Adler weighs in on length of work sessions

Mayor Steve Adler opened Tuesday’s City Council work session by commenting on ways that Council and staff could shorten those meetings, which often spill over into the afternoon. “We have a lot of items that have been pulled from the agenda today. We also have some folks that are talking — longingly — about the prior Council process of having a hard stop to these meetings,” he said. “We haven’t been doing that thus far, as people get acclimated. One thing to think about as we move forward with respect to these work sessions are ways that we might be able to save time at these meetings.” Adler noted the success of the online Q-and-A reports in which staff answers Council questions on pending agenda items, and he suggested that staff could expand the process to include preliminary agenda items. He also said staff could enhance the format for backup material, and that Council could consider scheduling publicly noticed meetings that don’t require a quorum and would not involve action — and therefore Council members could send their aides to be briefed by staff and relay questions and answers. Adler concluded with a reminder to his colleagues that, with a motion, the majority of Council can end a meeting and say, “We’ve had enough work session for the day.”