SHREVEPORT CITY COUNCIL SHOULD CONSIDER MON-THURS MEETINGS/SPEAKER LIMITS

The Shreveport City Council will resume its Mon. work session/administrative conference and Tues. regular meeting this next week--Oct. 11 and 12.

The Caddo Commission has it work sessions on Mondays and its regular meetings on Thursdays. This schedule has many advantages over the consecutive meeting schedule that the Shreveport city council has followed.

The first is the demands on elected officials and staff. Back-to-back meetings that start at 3 p.m. (council) and often run until 6 p.m. or later provide little recovery time for those who go back to work the next morning facing a second long day.

These consecutive meeting days also limit time for consideration of proposed amendments to agenda items, and in some instances additions to the agenda for next day action.

Often the council will delay a vote on a Tues. agenda item after input from the administration, department heads and/or citizens to allow for more deliberation time. Having the regular meeting on Thurs. versus Tues. will provide an interval for further review that is often needed.

The council should also consider amending its procedures on allowing citizen input.

Initially restoration of the prior rule on speaker comments on agenda items versus non-agenda items is needed. Prior to this council taking office, speakers on non-agenda items were last on the agenda. This expedited action on agenda items and reduced waiting time for citizens who attended the meeting for agenda matters.

Additionally, speakers at work sessions should not be allowed a second bite at the apple by speaking on the same topic at the regular meeting. These instances of citizens wanting their three minutes of fame on the same topic at both meetings is not needed, is a waste of time and is an abuse of the right for citizen input.

And along these lines the 3 minute rule on speaking should be strictly enforced. Unfortunately many "regular" speakers who talk alot but say very little have a habit of wanting additional time to blow hot air. This practice is a big waste of time.

The goal for these suggestions is to improve the governmental process of the council. Hopefully seriousl consideration will be given to them.