Residents looking for written reports of what went on at Menlo Park City Council meetings will get summaries that are briefer than the ones they’re used to — for the next three months, at least.
The council decided unanimously at its Dec. 16 meeting to authorize the use of a more streamlined form of meeting minutes, on a trial basis. Council members said that they would like to hear input from residents on which system they prefer before the council decides whether to stick with the new style of minutes.
The city hopes to compensate for the briefer minutes with a more detailed indexing of the videos of council meetings posted on the city’s Web site. The “summary” form of minutes the city currently uses not only records how council members voted, but also includes a brief description of comments made by every speaker, including members of the public.
The new style approved by the council, called “action” minutes, would entail only a barebones list of actions taken by the council (including how council members voted), along with one-sentence summaries of announcements and presentations, according to City Clerk Margaret Roberts. Ms. Roberts will prepare the more detailed “summary” style of minutes for items involving an appeal, and at the request of a majority of council members for items they think might be of particular interest to the public.
In a letter to the City Council e-mail log, Menlo Park resident Morris Brown argued that streamlining minutes would make city business less transparent, and that it would be more difficult for residents to get information about the context in which decisions are made.
But Councilman John Boyle argued that important context tends to get left out of “summary” minutes, as well, and that the summaries run the risk of distorting council members’ stated opinions. Most residents just want to know how council members voted, he said.
“If someone wants more detail, they can watch the video,” Mr. Boyle said.
Councilman Andy Cohen said he was concerned that the heavier reliance on video recordings might make it difficult for residents who aren’t as familiar with computers to follow the meetings. Ms. Roberts noted that VHS tapes and DVD recordings of meetings are available at the Menlo Park Library, and in her office.
Ms. Roberts cited the time and cost of preparing “summary” minutes as another reason to make the switch. She estimated that she spends 20 hours per week preparing minutes for the council — an expense of $71,380 per year. Action minutes, on the other hand, would take only about 90 minutes to prepare, and would be available the morning following a meeting, Ms. Roberts said.
City staff brought the proposal forward as an information item on the agenda — not as regular city business — because staff viewed it as a “ministerial” topic, and because the council had requested it be brought back as an information item at an earlier meeting, said City Manager Glen Rojas.
Any item on the agenda can be acted upon if staff has made a recommendation, regardless of what category it’s listed under, according to Mr. Rojas. While he acknowledged it is unusual for the council to act on items not listed under the “consent” or “regular business” categories, he said he did not think that listing it as an information item limited public comment.
